When buying clubs, do you support your pro or buy elswhere.

When you see Roundhay you will be shocked its owned by the same fella, that said it has had some new bags put on the walls, some hi-tec shoes on the rack (replacing the FJ's) added in the past month or so. Roundhay was meant to be getting the same type of fitting centre with putter fitting as well, not a word on this in about 8 months. Its a shame really as we had a very good Pro in Jim Page who is at Garforth driving range now (though not knocking the guys corrently there now).

 
I bought my MP30's when they were released 2003/4 ish from a friend of a friend who works at a well known shop for £265, they were £549. Now that is serious profit.

We don't have a Pro shop at my club so i can't use him for gear though he does do lessons on certain days.
 
Must be Garforth course.

Speaking of which, you seen the posters they have up outside on the road pretty much begging for new members?

There was a 3yr waiting list for Garforth only 12 months ago...
 
Nar I live the Ryder cup side of Leeds ;)

Most are Keef Cobble Hall, headingley, scarcroft and some others have dropped joining fees inc Wike well down to £100 from £450. Cobble's meant to be a good course, not played it but my friends a member. Always wanted to play Moortown & Alwoodley, but prices are high so might wait for out of season.
 
I know Cobble Hall has canned the joining fee, I spoke to the secretary there a few weeks ago who offered me a look round and a round for a tenner as I was thinking of joining.

Spoff had a round there a while ago I believe.

Its still £800-£900 or so a year annual fee's though and i'm not sure I can warrant paying that much out yet :(
 
tbh my mate said through winter its been crap, all on poor temp greens and the greens are now still in bad nick, also they don't have any practice facilities as well if you don't count a 130 yard strip between fairways.

If Wike had matured and had more of a club feeling it would be great, but its more of a pub with a golf course but the practice facilities and size of it would be worth its weight in gold if ran like a proper club.
 
My pro has just got himself the tour exotics custom fitting studio so can offer to C/F. To be fair I got all my clubs from the ex-manager at Bird Hills AG at staff discount (20%) plus a trade in so I was getting a deal that my pro simply could never match.

That said I will always use him for shoes (with my collection I must have paid for two family holidays!!!) and most of my clothing, my SC, my balls (he'll order in). I do fairly well out of him and tend to get a few quid knocked off most things or a sleeve of balls etc so I can't complain. He's also very good with his time if I'm on the practice ground when he comes out to hit a few and will always give me pointers. Add in things like regripping etc and I think I support him pretty well.

Now the manager of AG has moved on I know if I go to him with a price off the internet he'll do what he can to match it and if he's only £20-30 more on a set of clubs or £10 on a wedge or putter I'm happy to pay that.
 
Golf equipment is generally a rip off with high profit margins so i tend to shop around and get a deal usually buying last seasons equipment.
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Do you know what you are talking about ?

I think not, compared with the rest of the retail trade the mark ups on Golf Equipment are tiny, I have a clothes shop and generally use a mark up of 2.7 (Buy for 10 sell for 27)golf equipment especially the big boys (Callaway and Titleist) you get less than 1.8 mark up, but you still have to pay VAT your rent and employ staff not easy.

So don't assume you know what your talking about, the reason Golf Equipment is cheaper on line is generally to do with not paying rent for an online shop.
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Not sure I agree with this....

I phoned my old club up (my present one doesn't have the clubs i'm after) and was told RRP £550 but as it was me £500
I then phoned the pro at another club who only stocks Taylor Made (I have bought gear from him before) and for the same sticks, but with 2 lots of tape under the grips £395....now the £395 pro's still making money with overheads, so how much does he buy them for?
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The last guy you rang can be pretty sure he wouldn't normally get your business. So he has a decision to make, gamble on quoting a price that gives him a decent profit, and either make that, or nothing.

Or go with the lowest possible price and guaranteeing he gets the business.

I mean, if he put in hours with you on the range, and advised as to the best clubs for you, and did all those things Bob mentioned, then he probably feels he's worthy of making a reasonable profit.

But for answering the phone, and taking the order, he might think a quick £20 is enough.

For some guys any profit at all is better than trying to be price consistant. Horses for courses and all that.

Personally, I'd see what price I can get, then ask the Pro to get as near as he can. If it's within a reasonable range of the cheaper price, I'm happy to pay a premium to buy locally. But if it's too far out, then I'm afraid I have to take my business elsewhere.
 
I bought my irons and wedges from my pro and i would not go anywhere else

In total we had four sessions with the fitting,two with the irons and two with the wedges to get a great set of clubs which are as close as perfect as they can be

Free loft and lie checks and he retro fitted my Scotty Cameron for nothing just charged for the grip.

And the price was pretty good too £720 for 4-pw and 3 vokeys with upgraded shafts and he put the yellow multi-compounds on which were not on sale for no extra

It might not seem much of a extra but thats is £80 worth of grips

I enjoy the personal service so i will,when i can support my local pro
 
Pro all the time. If you support him regularly you can pick up some little benefits along the way. Invite to pro ams, trial of new kit, hand outs from pro's prizes, quick snippets of free advice instead of having to book lessons etc.

If any of you use FJ Classics, try finding a pair in the near future as the British factory is closing down. My new classics are winging their way in from the states via my pro & his FJ rep........support your pro & they will take care of you.
 
Use my pro as much as possible got my AP2S for £549 custom fitted H.is only problem is he wont take trade ins which lets him down a bit .But if you see a price on the net and its cheaper than him he'll match it cant say much better than that , he's now called naveed from Still Game the shop keeper with the best deals :D :D :D
 
I agree also, to a point. I make sure I get gloves, tees, drinks and the odd item of clothing even though dearer than elsewhere but when it comes to clubs,, the pro would have to have a good offer on.

I know they have difficulty competing price wise and I would love to get everything in the club pro shop for sure, I have done so in the past at other clubs and when Im due a change I would do the same at this one but only if I can afford it, if not I would go elsewhere. Id like to help a good club pro if I can but not if it means a financial burden for me by doing so.
 
bottom line is i dont waste money cos i cant afford too. £40 saved on clubs pays the electric bill for the month etc...
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You define supporting your pro as wasting money ?

Don't believe you. :p

£40 extra on clubs gives you free advice pre/post round for the duration.

I bet you'd be quids in in the long run

You don't buy your beers at Tesco, then sneak them into the clubhouse post round do you ? ;)

( Not judging you here, coz I know what you mean about money being tight, but I'm assuming that a) you are a club member - which some would say is an unnecessary expense in itself, and b) you've spend a grand or so getting some good kit in your bag, so you're not going to be changing clubs every 6 months or so. So £40 over several years is even more watered down. )

I'm not trying to start a fight here - with anyone. But I've been in retail before, ( high street, not golf club, admittedly ) and the number of people that make that 'extra' saving of £20 or £30 quid by buying out of town, or on the internet, but then complained when their traditional high street shops were disappearing was huge. From where I was, the nearest OOT centre was about 12 miles away - say £5 worth of petrol, and about an hours driving time wasted. For me, an hour of my time is worth £10 -£15 straight away. Add to that the expensive mistake that can be made by getting the wrong advice, and soon that small top line saving is a bottom line loss

Also people assumed that by buying locally they would be spending loads more than from the nationals, which is very often totally wrong - smaller independants ( eg your local pro ) can be flexible in working out their margins, giving a damn fine price in the end, even if their original ticket price is higher.

Talk to your pro, to at least see if he's willing to meet you halfway ( or better ).

Look at that club up in Scotland which is getting rid of their pro. It CAN happen, and if people don't support their club, it WILL happen more often.

Sorry for getting semi serious on a Sunday morning.

I'll shut up now :o
 
I can see his point though Mr Hacker, £40 saved in these demanding times is £40 saved, and £40 is a decent wedge of money no matter how you look at it.

Yes if you look at it as £40 saved on a set of clubs that last you 2-3 years then it isnt a lot, but even so, its here and now that is more important and if someone can save £40 today then 99% of those 'someones' will, regardless of whether a pro's life depends on it or not!
 
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