$479 For a Golf Club?

That is what I saw at a local golf store, a few months ago. What is it about this driver that makes it almost $500.00 dollars? More to the point does it really matter? I mean can you actually hit $500.00 worth of driver with that piece of equipment? Well, I guess that’s relative to the person. I can say, the reason why that driver is that much money are endorsements, marketing and R&D (R and D is such a distance third it’s not even funny). The irony about the endorsement part is the players they are endorsing are not paying $479.00 dollars for that driver.

All golf clubs have the same basic characteristics – 1. Clubhead 2. Hosel 3. Shaft 4. Grip – that’s pretty much it. Now, there are obviously innovations that set one club apart from another, like different materials and weighting blah blah blah, but with the USGA basically telling all club manufacturers you have to conform to our rules and our rules limit how much distance a club can create, why would you pay $479.00 for a driver you know is not going to hit any farther than any other USGA conforming driver? Two reasons. 1. It is hard to find a combination of looks and feel in a club that you will like. 2. Marketing Marketing Marketing. And reason two is much more a cause than reason one.

There is another question I’d like answered, why do pro’s not play with clubs right off the rack? If the $1200 iron sets are that good, why aren’t pro’s just grabbing a set and playing with them? Why do they have to have them re-adjusted to their swings and closed 2 degrees and opened 1 degree and why do these huge manufacturers have to have semi-trucks (mobile club adjustment facilities) come and adjust a pro’s clubs on the fly? I mean a pro will go the range and hit with clubs and go back and say, I need the ball flight lowered or I need this or that and the club maker will do that for him right there on the spot. Don’t get me wrong club adjustment and having a club fit to your game is important, but for $1000-$1200, that club should hit for me!

From the clubs that I have hit with, and I have hit with everything from Taylormade, to Nike, to Callaway, to Nickent (I have never hit with a Cleveland though…don’t know why) I can say that there are differences in feel, as I mentioned earlier but not much else. I can also say, I have gotten the same feel from Dynacraft and Powerplay drivers that I have gotten from Taylormade but only if I do two things. I have to change the grip and shaft of the Dynacraft and Powerplay. I have to upgrade the components. When I do that, believe me when I say this, I have an excellent looking club that can launch the ball perfectly. Both feel and look great. With the Powerplay I use the Fujikura Saishan and with the Dynacraft I use the Aldila VX Series shafts. The grips are usually Karakal, but Golfpride or Winn grips are fine as long as they are soft. When I do that, I have an amazing product for under $160.00 because I already know the technology is there and they are USGA conforming. So, I know, the Nike and Taylormade are not going to hit it any farther because they cannot. The USGA capped distances!

So, if you want to pay that much money for a stock driver, then you may do so, but I can almost guarantee they will not out perform anything that is made from a smaller Amercian club manufacturer who is not cloning – And I do not carry any clones or deal the manufacturers that do. All of the manufacturers that we use have had products evaluated by some kind of independent source…i.e. Golf Digest, Golf Magazine, GolfTips Magazine…etc and every one of the manufacturers has at least one line of clubs that has been mentioned as a, “best buy” or “Great Value”.

http://www.sj-golf.com

By the way, I went back to that same store and that $479.00 driver is now $199.00. Which makes one wonder…what would make someone drop the price of a driver worth $479.00 more than $250.00? Makes you wonder how much it’s really worth, doesn’t it?

James Hutchinson
Owner/Operator
sj-golf.com
Amateur Golfer with intentions on turning pro by 2011.

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