By NICK STEWART
With numerous styles, types and price ranges varying wildly between hundreds to thousands of dollars, purchasing golf clubs can be a bewildering experience even for the seasoned golfer.
“Not all clubs are created equal,” says Murray Young, owner of Thunder Bay’s Paradise Golf, a club customization and repair business.
“As a customer, you need to understand what works for you and what works against you.”
The first thing to consider when purchasing clubs, he says, is to understand what your expectations are for your clubs, and how that matches up against how frequently you play.
Recreational golfers who play twice a month and want something to carry them through a round of golf may think about buying the cheapest clubs available, though this would be a mistake, Young says.
“If I pay $199 for a set of clubs, I’m going to get an inferior head, and I’m going to get clubs that aren’t matched because quality control on the lower end of clubs isn’t there.”
However, there are areas in which aspiring duffers can save money.
Clubs with a low loft such as 3- and 4-irons, whose faces are at near right-angles to the ground, give the ball a much lower trajectory and thus additional yardage. However, Young says only those with a swing in excess of 100 miles an hour can gain any real benefit from low-lofted clubs. This makes an investment in such clubs somewhat wasteful for the average person who swings between 75 and 95 miles and hour, he says.
“When you buy them off the rack, you purchase them and they sit in your basement because you can’t hit them. The lower the loft is, the tougher it is to hit.”
Additionally, cast-iron clubs are offered at a lower cost than forged clubs, which typically feature softer metal as a result of the different processes used in their manufacture.
While newer players are unlikely to be able to tell the difference between the two types, Young says forged clubs rewards mid-level and advanced players with a smoother swing.
Players who wish to improve their game through forged clubs but don’t want to replace their entire bag can instead substitute their cast-iron “scoring clubs,” or their 7, 8 and 9-irons as well as their wedge, with forged ones. This allows players to save money on lesser-used clubs such as the low-loft irons.
While online auctions such as eBay offer such clubs for reduced prices, Young strongly suggests purchasing clubs from a reputable seller who offers warranties and can guarantee repairs.
In fact, he suggests that those seeking to purchase clubs should find a seller that allows them to take some practice swings, preferably within an in-house test facility or on a nearby driving range.
“You wouldn’t purchase a car without taking it for a test drive, and you should take the same attitude when buying a club. This is especially true since you can’t really get a feel for a club unless you’ve swung it, and if it doesn’t feel right, you won’t play right.”
To maximize the connection between one’s clubs and playing style, Young strongly encourages club customization.
This allows the player’s club to suit their swing, rather than forcing the player to suit their swing to the club.
For instance, players with a slower swing speed may find that a club with a shaft rated at 100 miles-per-hour swing speed will feel as though they’re swinging a bat, he says. This may also affects the physics of the swing, in which an improperly selected club shaft can reduce the swing’s power transfer to the ball, thereby reducing yardage.
Young says customization is the wave of the future as older generations of players, who have ingrained brand loyalty, are giving way to a newer generation willing to pay for whatever best serves them on the golf course.
“People are beginning to view their club purchases as an investment in their enjoyment of the game.”
