Banchory Buddha
Well-known member
Yup, and they had to roll back as folks stopped buying them, so people power can work.
Is Golf now too expensive???
- Thread starter Jacko_G
- Start date
CliveW
Tour Winner
Back in the day, you didn't have the market for clubs that we have now. A set of clubs were passed down from father to son.
Banchory Buddha
Well-known member
Much the same. Whole new bag last year (except utility wedges & putter), I am delighted with my G425 everything, I'll make one more change in my life, and that'll be when Regular shafts no longer suit me and I need to drop to auld fogie spec if I last that long. That'll be it. Still likely to change those two wedges in near future, but it'll wait till pro shop credit covers it, same with any putter upgrade.
BiMGuy
LIV Bot, (But Not As Big As Mel) ?
Someone must have bought them?
Crow
Crow Person
This (excellent
) video shows costs for various clubs in the 1970s and also the wages of the time.Canary_Yellow
Journeyman Pro
For me the new kit is too expensive to justify. But that's just me. It's not that I'm tight, I just waste my money on other things that other people would find as unpalatable as I would find spending £500 on a driver - for example, cars, which probably cost me £500 in depreciation on a near monthly basis!
When it comes to golf kit, my view is very much wizard over wand, within certain parameters.
When it comes to golf kit, my view is very much wizard over wand, within certain parameters.
Mandofred
Well-known member
I've been thinking about getting back to tennis lately. I haven't played in over 20 years and I'm not sure my body can take playing or not....but I've been checking the prices out. Jeez....the tennis world has sure changed in the last 20+ years (duh). A good racket is £200+, and if you are playing quite a bit you will need at least 2. Restring job will cost at least £30 and could be £50....and again, if you are playing a lot will need to be done fairly regularly. Shoes?.....they don't last as long as golf shoes, I'd go through a pair at least once a month I'd think. Extra cost at the gym to allow playing tennis....at least £40+ a month. If you are playing a lot....at least as expensive as golf I think.
BiMGuy
LIV Bot, (But Not As Big As Mel) ?
This (excellent
Interesting thanks. I’ve not the time to look into the maths, but I’d say there is just as much spread in cost from cheap to expensive back then as there is today.
You can buy a brand new Wilson iron for £17, or a whole set of Slazenger clubs and bag for £220. Which is just over a 3rd of the current average weekly wage.
Albo
Well-known member
I’ve been thinking more and more about this as the reply’s come in and looking at it from a personal perspective (I’m very aware that last night I was quoting club costs which can be lower and not talking personally), I think golf is just affordable at the moment but pushing towards not being so.
I tend not to spend money personally on much else save for what we need as a family to have a reasonable life. That said I went Xmas shopping for the good lady in December and as I was out in town had myself a beer £6+ a pint in central Edinburgh, I know plenty of mates who are out regularly twice or more a week for a few beers, let’s say they have 5 pints twice a week that’d be £60 a week and £240 a month, so by the end of March they would have drank the cost of a new driver.
I’m glad I don’t go out often drinking in town.
Is there value in playing the top end courses at the prices they charge these days, again, for me personally, that depends, I’d certainly rather pay £200 for a top course and have the memories of that, than pay £200 on two nights out and have no memory of either.
I tend not to spend money personally on much else save for what we need as a family to have a reasonable life. That said I went Xmas shopping for the good lady in December and as I was out in town had myself a beer £6+ a pint in central Edinburgh, I know plenty of mates who are out regularly twice or more a week for a few beers, let’s say they have 5 pints twice a week that’d be £60 a week and £240 a month, so by the end of March they would have drank the cost of a new driver.
I’m glad I don’t go out often drinking in town.
Is there value in playing the top end courses at the prices they charge these days, again, for me personally, that depends, I’d certainly rather pay £200 for a top course and have the memories of that, than pay £200 on two nights out and have no memory of either.
BiMGuy
LIV Bot, (But Not As Big As Mel) ?
I’d been considering getting into vets ice hockey. Until I looked at the prices of kit (nothing at all to do with my failing body or the boss having an opinion ?).
As with golf, there are cheaper options. But I wouldn’t want to play in cheaper kit. Especially the more safety critical stuff.
stefanovic
Medal Winner
I can believe that soon some golfers will be happy to pay £800 for a driver and £1000 for a round.
People with money will pay anything.
As a budget player I paid £6 for a round last week.
As a member of Mytime which is free to join I am sometimes charged only a fiver to play some decent courses off peak.
The driver I've had for years cost £30 second hand.
I remember a time when it only cost a fiver to play at St Andrews.
£1 for a day ticket on Bonar Bridge.
£0.20 to play Musselburgh links.
£12.50 for 5 day season ticket to play 10 courses on the Moray coast.
People with money will pay anything.
As a budget player I paid £6 for a round last week.
As a member of Mytime which is free to join I am sometimes charged only a fiver to play some decent courses off peak.
The driver I've had for years cost £30 second hand.
I remember a time when it only cost a fiver to play at St Andrews.
£1 for a day ticket on Bonar Bridge.
£0.20 to play Musselburgh links.
£12.50 for 5 day season ticket to play 10 courses on the Moray coast.
r0wly86
Head Pro
too expensive? probably not as other have said there are cheaper option
But it is worrying how much prices are increasing, and it isn't just the top courses and clubs. Green fees that were £20 10 years ago are now £60-70 which has moved from affordable to most, to quite an outlay for 4 hours enjoyment. At the current rate it won't be long before a lot of golfer won't be able to afford access to the most basic level of golf
But it is worrying how much prices are increasing, and it isn't just the top courses and clubs. Green fees that were £20 10 years ago are now £60-70 which has moved from affordable to most, to quite an outlay for 4 hours enjoyment. At the current rate it won't be long before a lot of golfer won't be able to afford access to the most basic level of golf
stefanovic
Medal Winner
Look at that new 2023 driver from Ping or Callaway.
It will add yards and straightness to your drive. Guaranteed to make you happy.
Another few yards with those new Titleist balls they want to sell you.
It works! To begin with. But golf is all about confidence.
When you lose that confidence, you'll be looking at other clubs.
Stick with what you've got. A bad workman blames his tools.
It will add yards and straightness to your drive. Guaranteed to make you happy.
Another few yards with those new Titleist balls they want to sell you.
It works! To begin with. But golf is all about confidence.
When you lose that confidence, you'll be looking at other clubs.
Stick with what you've got. A bad workman blames his tools.
GB72
Money List Winner
New club prices will always be high, always have been and drivers have always been at the forefront of this.
With regards clubs, the more concerning increases have been in the prices of putters and wedges. I may be wrong but they seem to have increased dramatically over the last few years.
My real bugbear is golf shoes though. The quality appears to have been decreasing over the years but the prices have skyrocketed. Was not that long ago what £100 bought the top of the range shoe and they could be bought for £50 the next year. Now £100 is the lowest price with come brands
With regards clubs, the more concerning increases have been in the prices of putters and wedges. I may be wrong but they seem to have increased dramatically over the last few years.
My real bugbear is golf shoes though. The quality appears to have been decreasing over the years but the prices have skyrocketed. Was not that long ago what £100 bought the top of the range shoe and they could be bought for £50 the next year. Now £100 is the lowest price with come brands
KenL
Tour Rookie
I hear that there is a course in the hebrides that is £1600 to play. ?
Voyager EMH
Slipper Wearing Plucker of Pheasants
Read it and weep all ye Philistines. I know that I own a really well made and expensive golf bag.
.. and that is without the travel cover.
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
Indeed. I drive a 08 reg 1.2 VW polo with 110k on the clock, we have a newer Golf but my Mrs uses that. I have no wish whatsoever to have any sort of powerful or dead fancy car…it’s not what we spend our money on.errr what?
Orikoru
Tour Winner
Totally agree on shoes, some are shocking. A £100 pair of Skechers only lasted me 7 months. Now I have four pairs of golf shoes that I can run alternately through the year, whereas I used to only run two pairs. It'll make me feel better than rotating them makes them last longer, but obviously it's false economy since I've had to spend twice as much! Remember when I was a kid a good pair of golf shoes would last 3-4 years minimum. Now 18 months is a good innings.
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
Absolutely. I can’t imagine any young lad starting golf today with the muddle of golf clubs my dad had…some shafts hickory, some brown painted steel - all different makers.
And only when I was 17 did I get my first set of irons, when I think my dad told my mum a little fib about the real cost of my first set of irons…(very well used probably late 1960s Macgregor Tourneys) bought for my birthday. I played with these irons for nearly 15yrs, buying the occasional inexpensive laminated wood along the way. I just made do pretty much with what came my way and the little I could afford…and just learned to hit them.
Oh yes..shoes…started with the cheapie rubber ones with the kiltie, and stuck with that shoe until my mid-20s.
Crow
Crow Person
It's the turf/soil condition at golf courses these days, much more abrasive than it used to be.
