What golf gear did you buy today?

yeah, that's insanely bad value. Use sites like 2nd Swing or StickHawk. StickHawk does a Deals of the Day with 6 items on extra sale. I got my basically new TM Qi35 Max driver for like $220 shipped.

Callaway Pre-Owned is also excellent, I got a set of Elyte irons 5-PW still in plastic for $620 or so.

was also going to mention Callaway (and have in the past). the club condition you receive will probably be a notch or two better than you expected. they also sell non-Callaway clubs.

Thanks. One of my issues is I'm pretty sure I need longer than standard clubs. I'm not sure how much though. I'm researching how to make that measurement.

pretty sure Callaway pre-owned can customize if you know the numbers.

Great! Thanks.

Yeah, I'm going to do this. There's a place here that charges $95 and gets clubs for you at retail. The first place I called charges a ton more. This seems fairly reasonable.

I did a wrist-to-floor measurement. Google says standard is 34-36" Mine is 39". It says I should go with 1" longer clubs but that's a 3-4" difference which doesn't make sense to me.

Anyways, I'll just go to a fitting place. I talked to the guy a while and he seemed pretty on top of things.

Keep eyes open for things like Titleist or TaylorMade or Callaway fitting days. They do them at courses, PGA SuperStore, etc., all the time and are almost always free.

I had an interesting fitting today.

I checked out all the places that do this, read a ton of reviews, and asked people at the course I play at. I didn't get a great feeling from golftech (a chain), mostly because they have a reputation for hard sell. There's another place that I got several lessons from, but they were pretty expensive. I settled on a guy that has his own shop. Fittings is pretty much all he does. And, he gets absolutely stellar reviews.

First, he had me swing this thing with some sort of monitor on it to determine which shaft would be best. Verdict-steel.

Then he took measurements. He determined that I needed 1" longer than standard.

Then he put together a 7 iron of each of the major manufacturers. He ended up with 6. Callaway, taylormade, ping. Can't remember the other 3.

Then he had me swing my 7 iron, and each of the ones he put together. 6 swings each, monitored by a computer.

I liked the Callaway the best, but I think it was because the shaft was a tad lighter. Honestly, I didn't see a lot of difference between any of them.

The computer spit out the results and they surprised me. At number 1 was the callaway. However, at number 2, just barely behind, were my old clubs.

It turns out my clubs are 3/4" longer than standard. Steel shaft. Suggested grip based on my hands. The guy told me there was very little difference between mine and the new callaways and said he would be happy to sell me a new set, but if were him, he would save the $1800 and keep playing with the old ones.

I'm fine keeping mine. I'm hitting them well when I get my grip right.

He did lengthen my sand and gap wedges that were standard length.

Got out of there pretty cheap.

As a footnote: He gave me all the details if I wanted to order clubs. Just looked at them online and the same clubs he recommended were $600 cheaper if I order them online vs. through him.

That's good info to have. Curious, you mentioned he recommended a grip based on the size of your hands. If you haven't already, I would definitely re-grip the old clubs. They're probably a bit larger than standard and will help keep the club from spinning in your hands.

Had a simular experience with my Ping driver. Was convinced I needed anew one. Went to PGA Superstore. Guy had me hit 4 balls with my driver and then 4 balls with the latest and greatest new ~$500-$600 a stick drivers.

He looked at all the data and said you hit your old driver the best by far, I'd put it back in my bag and not worry about a new one for a while. That was 8 years ago and I still haven't hit one I like better. I resisted the urge to tip the guy $20 for not trying to sell me something I didn't need.

a refreshing honest opinion without the upsell
lucky to have found two auto mechanics in my live who would to the same thing.
currently on a fruitless search for the third

Stories like this really tend to piss me off.

1, had you swing some sort of gizmo to determine steel vs. graphite? Lazy. And probably not very effective.

2, Steel. That's it? Just steel? When I fit we had over 100 different steel shafts in our matrix. Something like 8 different manufacturers. Weights anywhere between 80g to 130g. Flexes between R and X. And this guy just says steel and that's it? Holy ****.

Those are static measurements, a good place to start but this also depends a lot on posture, swing, etc. More ignorance and/or laziness.

Chances are the reason you liked the Callaway was because you liked the feel of the lighter shaft.

Think about it, he had you test 6 different irons with all different shafts in them. How are you supposed to tell the difference in head?

The way this is done correctly is to fit for head first with a decent guess on shaft(which any good fitter will be able to do on the fly) and then once head is determined then you dial in the shaft. I've done iron fittings where we went through a dozen or more shafts in the desired head to find just the right one.

Good on him for not trying to sell you something you didn't necessarily need. Part of the reason for that is because he had no clue as to what he was doing. It's honestly pretty easy to gain much better numbers through a good fitting as compared to store bought sticks.

I've had a very few iron fitting where I couldn't drastically improve over whatever stock sticks someone arrived with. And with drivers fittings, I've never failed to improve. Once we were at an out of town club with our mobile fit cart and a loudmouth member strolled up and bet us $100 that we couldn't fit him better than his current gamer. Less than 5 minutes later he was admitting defeat. We didn't take his $100.

It can be very difficult to find a good fitter with access to a proper matrix of shafts. Once you find one, keep going there. It makes a world of difference.

how might we arrange a big bag of ntnBO at biggerboat meeting fit for posting in this thread?

I have to say, the whole thing makes my brain hurt. I could go to ten different fitters I think, and get 10 different opinions. And, my choices were this guy I went to, golftech, and another chain. Would I get any better advice from them?

Maybe I'm wrong, but at my level, does a change in irons really make that much difference? I hit them pretty well imo, and when I don't it's my setup about 90% or more of the time. I have a problem with it just like lining up my putter. Both fixable imo. Would new irons really fix that? Doesn't feel like it would.

That being said, I did like the feel of the callaways with the lighter shaft. The guy gave me a copy of the order form for a new set. I went to the callaway website and I put in all of the details he had written down. Then I did research on the lightest steel shaft and added that in. Doesn't cost a penny more. I have the set in my cart ready to order if and when I choose. I just have trouble spending $1100 on a nice to have. I'm on their mailing list and if they ever go on sale, I can grab them.

bb, do the same at the callaway golf preowned website just for grins

I check it every once in a while. So far they haven't had anything that fits the bill.

Totally understand this making your brain hurt, it's a ton of info that may or may not initially make sense. That's why finding a fitter that knows his stuff that you can trust is so important and difficult. And yes, the 10 different fitters may give you 10 different recommendations although if they're decent all those 10 will be in the same ballpark.

You can find good fitters everywhere, at a chain or an independent, they are just tough to find. Part of the equation is what kind of shafts do they have access to. Some fitters only have access to stock shafts, that is, whatever the equipment manufacturers offer in their clubs. Other, higher end fitters have access to all sorts of different models and manufacturers and can truly custom fit.

Well, what is your level? How far do you carry your 7-iron? What irons do you currently hit? Those are starter questions in this puzzle.

The new club question is always about utility, and that is different from person to person. There are those that will spend thousands on new clubs that gains them 3 yards and half a stroke per round. There are those who won't spend $500 on a driver that goes 20 yards farther and saves 4 strokes per round. It just depends.

So just ask yourself how many strokes per round would new irons save you? Then ask yourself how much happier that would make you. Then calculate how many rounds you play in 5 years and determine the cost of the new irons per round. There's no right or wrong here, everybody has a different answer.

Give me the specs on the lighter shaft please. That info combined with the above 7-iron carry will let me know if you're in the ballpark with that shaft. One can get shafts that are too light resulting in overstressing the shaft which leads to inconsistencies.

Yes, it's a lot to take in. That's one of the reasons I like posting here and sharing advice I know is going to make a difference. And perhaps keep some from getting fleeced by unscrupulous and/or poor fitters.

Thanks for your help ntnBO

So, I shoot in the mid 90s. I've only been playing about a year now. I'm 68 years old if that helps. And, 6'4"

I hit my 7-iron 140-145 usually. I hit my irons very very high if that helps. Higher than anyone I play with.

I've put a picture of my current clubs here. Sorry about the picture quality. They are hand-me-downs so I don't know much about them.

The shaft I picked out for new clubs is True Temper Dynamic Gold MID 90 Steel, Regular

I honestly think my irons are the club I'm most comfortable with. I do tend to pull my shots but I really struggle with getting the club face square when I set up. It's a known issue that I just need to work on. I strike them pretty well in general. A lot of folks I know won't hit a 4 iron. I use it all the time.

As far as what would help me post better scores I would say 1) chipping/pitching less than 50yds 2) putting 3) driver 4) long woods 5) irons. So, yeah, it might not really help my scoring a lot to get new ones I guess.

However, I do play three times a week and if something felt better in my hands and made me more comfortable I guess it would be a benefit.

awesome feedback Chris
was hoping you'd take the time to help out

Good info. Typically, at that age and swing speed I'd immediately be looking at graphite. But can think of two reasons why that might not be ideal for you. 1, you already hit the ball high enough which is typically the issue players have at that age with your speed. 2, being that tall and needing a longer shaft makes graphite just that little bit more unknown.

You definitely don't need anything heavier than 90 grams.

So like you, I'm tending to think there's more important areas of the game to focus on than irons. The three most important clubs in the bag are 1a and 1b, putter and/or driver. Depends on the player, both clubs are of almost equal importance. 3, wedge.

Think about it, if you can hit those three clubs reasonably well, you're not going to bleed too many strokes. Spend the majority of your time working on those parts of the game and you'll be pleasantly surprised seeing your scores drop.

OK, final lesson for now, what's the #1 rule for better golf?

Thanks for the feedback.

Not sure on the #1 rule? Don't hit it in the water?

Mine is don't sweat anything. Just have fun.

Perfect, the #1 rule is have fun. Otherwise, why are you voluntarily playing?

.

They had a bin full of range finders that I assume people lost, in the clubhouse today for $40 each. Google says this one retailed for $200. I guess it's an older model I gave it a test run before I bought it. Works fine. Decent deal imo.

I've been wondering if I should buy a new set of p790s to replace my old set, sort of for the thrill of it on top of the fact that my 5 iron clubhead has some fissures and is caving in, or to just swap out the five iron for a new one, or just do nothing at all for now! Isn't that amazing, I'm willing to entertain three vastly different options, so it's no wonder I've simply not done anything so far.

A note on the 5 iron: Google's Gemini was extremely informative regarding the situation and gave me some trunk storage tips to prevent extreme heat fluctuations going forward, a likely factor in the clubhead's breakdown, although I have to admit I've been too lazy to enact any of the measures while my 7 iron is showing the beginnings of very minute fissures. :shocked: