What place/site has the best deals on golf equipment (drivers, sand wedges, etc.)? I'm particularly looking for a SW55* If it's from a site, it would help if the site shipped internationally (specifically to the Philippines) as my Uncle there made a last minute request for one of these.
I work for Callaway golf doing demo days. You'd laugh at how many people come up to me to complain about the Callaway equipment they bought like, I'm supposed to give them a new one, and then I ask them if they bought it on Ebay and they say yes, so I show them where the little differences are and that they bought a counterfeit piece of equipment. Now granted that mostly happens with $500 drivers, but one guy showed me a full set of Callaway irons and woods he bought in Shanghai for $200, but the color was wrong so you know they were counterfeit. Are counterfeit clubs bad? In the high tech hollow body drivers, yes, absolutely. Those are designed and engineered with very specific tolerances for weighting and materials. For irons, not so much, but the density and purity of the metals is somewhat important and the some of the channel cuts and cavity backs take more manufacturing skill than the knock off guys care to use. But as I have always told you guys, if you are a few rounds a year 100 shooter, a $300 box set like Top-Flights will serve you well, you don't need $2000 worth of clubs. What brand of SW are you looking for? 55 is just the loft. Of course, I'll be pimping the company line: http://callawaygolfpreowned.com/default.aspx Guaranteed no knock-offs!
I'll second callawaygolfpreowned.com - thats where I got my irons (x20's) and some other clubs (taylormade woods). they have other brands other than callaway, just not as much. if your in austin you can go pick it up from them also. I've got some great deals from them.
How much should golf equipment run you? Let's say I want a set of clubs to play 18 holes, what does a good set of golf clubs costs?
Actually, I'm looking for a Callaway haha. I'm not too familiar with the golf club ling. My uncle sent a text asking for an AND SW55* I'm assuming the SW is sand wedge? I figured the 55* is the loft, but most callaway wedges I've seen only have 54 and 56. The only one I've seen with a 55* loft is the X-20. I want to buy from the you provided, but I need it shipped to the Philippines. Unfortunately, it's not listed in the int'l zone list. Is there ANY way I can get it shipped to the Philippines from the site?
I just upgraded my clubs last year after playing with the same clubs for about 8 years. I always by used or "demo" clubs. Saves a ton of money and often they are "like new." Especially irons. A good set of irons last years and you can often buy used ones that rich players will play for six months to a year then trade in to get the new exciting set. On Drivers, woods, and my hybrid...I purchased all of those for about half priced as demo clubs. My driver was brand new, but an employee had mistakenly taken the shrink wrap off of it and hit 2-3 balls with it. My sandwedge was a pretty well used, but spectacular Titleist Vokey spin milled club. Bought it for $12 at a pawn shop..put a new grip on it for a few bucks and its like new. It also happens to be my favorite club in my bag.
New top of the line Callaway Clubs: Driver - $429 3WD - $250 5WD - $250 3HB - $179 4-A - $1000 ($200 more for grahite but don't unless your old) SW - $115 P - $129 Bag - $170 Throw in some shoes, balls and tees and you're looking at $2500 to hit the first tee styling like a pro. But you can go to Academy and get what is called a boxed set that includes all your woods irons etc. and a bag for $200 and be just fine for recreational golf with brand new equipment. A lot of it is ego like the difference between driving a Scion and a M3 though, so you can go anywhere in between those options to suit your budget. Don't go buy some old garage sale irons though. They are probably not perimeter weighted or offset and that really make newer clubs easier to hit. There are a hundred intracies of custom fitting clubs and that's what I do all day when I work but it's not really required for recreational golf. Most sets off the rack come with uniflex shafts (in between stiff and regular) that fit about 80% of all golfers swing speeds (about a160 yard 6 iron).
Then get the box set for $200, that's why I put the link on there. They look good, they play good and nobody will snicker at you on the first tee at the Muni. till you whiff it.
You've been watching me play, huh? Serious question, though. Why do all of the sets have hybrids now? I just tried to get back into playing, and I bought a box set similar to the one that you linked figuring that I could get used to the hybrids. I can't. I end up borrowing long irons from friends when I play. Are hybrids really meant for casual players? They feel wierd to me.
Hybrids are exactly for high handicappers for the same reason pros carry them. They are easier to hit than long irons. For any club, when you move weight (center of gravity) of the head further away from the point of contact, you raise the MOI number (Momemnt of inertia) which means the club twists open or closed less when the ball is not struck in the center of the face. You can be a little less perfect and hit the ball a little further because the club more efficiently transfers energy to the ball and a little straighter because the face imparts less side spin. Also, moving more weight below the point of contact, like on the sole plate of a hybrid, gives the ball more backspin and lift. More backspin means less side spin so the ball goes straighter. More backspin goes higher because the dimples provide more lift. More backspin means the ball stops quicker...not good when you want it to roll out but good on the green. MOI and center of gravity are the Holy Grail of club design. Unless of course you have Ben Hogan's swing where you can hit a sweet spot the size of a dime every time. Then you want head speed and responsive feel. You might just want to carry a 5,7 and/or 9 wood to get the same effect but typically fairway woods have longer shafts and longer shafts are harder to return to square. So they took the idea of behind a fairway wood and put an iron lenght shaft in it...tada! The Hybrid. I admit I had a period of adaptation to them myself. I tend to make a more downward attack angle with my irons and a more sweeping attack angle with my woods. I started trying to sweep my hybrid and I hit it thin all the time because the shaft was too short to sweep it. I finally learned that even with that big ol' head you just swing it like an iron. It's even easier because the soleplate keeps you from hitting too fat.
If you have a PGA superstore anywhere close, they have a good selection of used clubs and new ones for that matter.
titleist vokey wedges are the best IMO. i bought mine off ebay. cleveland also make very good wedges.
A good portion of the clubs in my bag are from ebay and I would be pretty surprised if one was among the counterfeit variety. Though it is pretty troubling that counterfeit clubs are starting to turn up there for those of us that do buy used clubs that way. With this becoming more common paying what looks to be at most a slight premium from that site you posted make quite a lot of sense. Off topic but I had a chance to hit Callaway's x-20 tour irons a few days ago and was quite impressed. Thought it was quite a nice balance between a pure players iron and good forgiveness that is appreciated when only being able to play a few times a month. I want to hit the x forged first but I could definitly see myself playing the x-20's by the end of this season.
Unfortunately 55* is not a very common loft. 54 and 56 are far more common and have a lot of great options. At a better discount the classic Cleveland 588 is a nice option. The recent models that seem to be the hottest are the Cleveland G12, Titleist Vokey Spin Milled and the Callaway Tour X (the Callaway Forged + is also nice). Another good used site to check is http://www.3balls.com/.
I'm pretty sure the x-20 sw is 55... Kilgore, the x-20's are real nice, demo them somewhere and then buy them from callawaygolfpreowned.com. I bought a set (+.5", up 2) that was returned by someone and never used.
For somebody that has NEVER played golf, how do you guys think I should go about getting into the sport? What's a step-by-step procedure I could use to get on the golf course? I have been told numerous times it is impossible to just go out on the course and learn golf nowadays because of the sport's immense popularity now. Any hints, tips, suggestions?
