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Has anyone ever made a cheap vs expensive clubs comparison test?


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Originally Posted by golfingnooob

Anyway, I just want to see as well, does anyone think using cheaper clubs will give me any bad habits? say if I was to upgrade them, would the fact they might be "heavier" or something make a big difference, or is that the same as going from say a set of Pings to a set of Callaway irons?

No, a good golf swing will result in a good golf shot, regardless of the club in your hand.  The clubs you bought will be fine to learn with.  As you come to enjoy the game more, you will start to appreciate the differences in the clubs, and then you yourself will be able to start to form an opinion of which clubs are right for you.

At this point in time, enjoy the game.  Don't worry that the clubs you bought didn't cost alot.  Also, never judge a golfer by his clubs.  I once had a guy show up with a nasty old leather bag filled with mismatched clubs including some Spaulding Executives from the mid 80's, a permission driver, a Taylor made burner bubble fairway wood and a cheap putter.

After shooting 3 pars in the first 4 holes, I got to talking to the guy, he was an experienced golfer that was traveling on business for several weeks and when he discovered what the local courses wanted for rentals he want to the 2nd hand store and picked up that bag.  He even said that one of the clubs in the bag he was probably going to ship home because he holed out a shot for eagle with it a round or 2 prior.

In my bag:

some golf clubs

a few golf balls

a bag of tee's some already broken the rest soon to be

a snickers wrapper (if you have seen me play, you would know you are not going anywhere for a while)

and an empty bottle of water

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Originally Posted by golfingnooob

Anyway, I just want to see as well, does anyone think using cheaper clubs will give me any bad habits? say if I was to upgrade them, would the fact they might be "heavier" or something make a big difference, or is that the same as going from say a set of Pings to a set of Callaway irons?

Originally Posted by clearwaterms

No, a good golf swing will result in a good golf shot, regardless of the club in your hand. ...

Yes, and no. A beginner who uses good-quality component clubs or better box-set clubs probably wouldn't notice much difference.

But, golfers who use counterfeit clubs often notice a difference. In drivers and fairway woods, a counterfeit RBZ or X.Hot probably doesn't have titanium in the heads like the real ones. One test suggested by Callaway: put a magnet to the head. Titanium is not magnetic, while a lot of the metals in knock-off heads are.

You will also notice in the hitting. Expect a lot of pushes and slices because the heavier junk metal slows down your clubhead speed.

Golf Digest had an equipment-section inset story that explained the problem, and compared how the balls might fly off of real vs. counterfeit heads. (I found several GD articles on counterfeit clubs, but can't find the one with the inset and diagrams. If anyone can find it, please share).

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I have Cleveland CG Tour for my main "learning" club. I also have ping i10, burner 1.0 and really cheap Zevo clubs. To be honest, they all hit about the same now. I would say the the Clevelands are the easiest to hit a consistent distance with the I10 coming in a close second. The burners and the Zevo clubs could hit much farther, but I just don't like the look of the clubs. They are much easier to hit, but they look kind of big. My hybrids have the same size head as the SW on both the burner and the Zevo clubs. My two favorite clubs sets are the Clevelands and the pings. I wouldn't mind finding a second hand set of taylormade MB or CB clubs. The ultimate clubs I would like are titleist or mizuno, but they are expensive even for used clubs. It would take quite a bit for me to get a brand new set of $1000 plus clubs, perhaps I am too cheap?

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TM White Smoke Big Fontana; Pro-V1
TM Rac 60 TT WS, MD2 56
Ping i20 irons U-4, CFS300
Callaway XR16 9 degree Fujikura Speeder 565 S
Callaway XR16 3W 15 degree Fujikura Speeder 565 S, X2Hot Pro 20 degrees S

"I'm hitting the woods just great, but I'm having a terrible time getting out of them." ~Harry Toscano

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Originally Posted by Lihu

I have Cleveland CG Tour for my main "learning" club. I also have ping i10, burner 1.0 and really cheap Zevo clubs.

To be honest, they all hit about the same now. I would say the the Clevelands are the easiest to hit a consistent distance with the I10 coming in a close second.

The burners and the Zevo clubs could hit much farther, but I just don't like the look of the clubs. They are much easier to hit, but they look kind of big. My hybrids have the same size head as the SW on both the burner and the Zevo clubs.

My two favorite clubs sets are the Clevelands and the pings. I wouldn't mind finding a second hand set of taylormade MB or CB clubs. The ultimate clubs I would like are titleist or mizuno, but they are expensive even for used clubs.

It would take quite a bit for me to get a brand new set of $1000 plus clubs, perhaps I am too cheap?

I don't think TaylorMade released the TP MB in lefty, just the CB and MC.  MC's can be had for around $300 on eBay and Global Golf.  Replacements for Mizuno MP-53 and Titleist 714's will be released by end of year which means you should be able to pick up MP-53's or 712 / 710's pretty cheap by end of year.  Some people are already trying to sell their 712's so they have the cash for new 714's.

I don't think it means you're cheap if you don't want to spend $1000 on new clubs when you can wait a year and get the same clubs for $400 or less.

Joe Paradiso

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I don't think TaylorMade released the TP MB in lefty, just the CB and MC.  MC's can be had for around $300 on eBay and Global Golf.  Replacements for Mizuno MP-53 and Titleist 714's will be released by end of year which means you should be able to pick up MP-53's or 712 / 710's pretty cheap by end of year.  Some people are already trying to sell their 712's so they have the cash for new 714's.    I don't think it means you're cheap if you don't want to spend $1000 on new clubs when you can wait a year and get the same clubs for $400 or less.

I have had my eyes on the MP53s. :-)

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TM White Smoke Big Fontana; Pro-V1
TM Rac 60 TT WS, MD2 56
Ping i20 irons U-4, CFS300
Callaway XR16 9 degree Fujikura Speeder 565 S
Callaway XR16 3W 15 degree Fujikura Speeder 565 S, X2Hot Pro 20 degrees S

"I'm hitting the woods just great, but I'm having a terrible time getting out of them." ~Harry Toscano

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Get these for $249...Thats cheap...

http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=23478076&ab;=TopNav_Golf_MensGolfClubs_IronSets&jsessionid;=gKwLSDLBghL9SvMzqkJCYp5bdLDdL9GbhqpshwRp0L71lQs2x3L5!-577594085&cp;=4413989.4414118

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  • 2 years later...

Idk about any real in depth testing but I did my own experimenting and its been an eye opener. It started when i fell in love with a set of fairly inexpensive Wilson irons from dicks sporting goods. Wanted to try some thinner soled irons and this was the cheapest way to test them long term and on course, so I took the plunge. To this day they are my favorite irons ever and they were 300 dollars cheaper than each of my previous sets. Found a wilson driver i liked the look and feel of so I bought that too. Its just as long as tm and or callaways I tested. Unfortunately for me its not available in higher lofts and thats where I need the help so Im about to drop 250 for one of the expensive ones. I refuse to support those who steal ip. That being said, there are companies like Wilson who dont drop billions a year in advertising and some of their products are just as good if not better than the competition. Just my personal experience but hope it helps. P.s., sry, just noticed Im way late to this party.

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Since the thread is being bought back I have watched several golf vlogs using old clubs vs new vs cheaper clubs as well as a comparison between a 915d to a dunlop. Dunlop 10 yards + / - shorter so in that comparison about $460 got you 10 yards. Also if the shafts were equal that difference would probably have been less IMO.

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On August 7, 2013 at 5:01 AM, clearwaterms said:

 

No, a good golf swing will result in a good golf shot, regardless of the club in your hand.  The clubs you bought will be fine to learn with.  As you come to enjoy the game more, you will start to appreciate the differences in the clubs, and then you yourself will be able to start to form an opinion of which clubs are right for you.

 

At this point in time, enjoy the game.  Don't worry that the clubs you bought didn't cost alot.  Also, never judge a golfer by his clubs.  I once had a guy show up with a nasty old leather bag filled with mismatched clubs including some Spaulding Executives from the mid 80's, a permission driver, a Taylor made burner bubble fairway wood and a cheap putter.

 

After shooting 3 pars in the first 4 holes, I got to talking to the guy, he was an experienced golfer that was traveling on business for several weeks and when he discovered what the local courses wanted for rentals he want to the 2nd hand store and picked up that bag.  He even said that one of the clubs in the bag he was probably going to ship home because he holed out a shot for eagle with it a round or 2 prior.

Agree with the above, skill level of the one handling the wand trumps all else most of the time, at least up to  a reasonable level of expectations.  Also, having some experience under your belt will assist you in selecting a set in the future.   I play the Maltby TE forged irons after playing Mizuno's for 15 years and I can tell you they are very good quality and I was able to build a custom set (lie, length, grip etc) for around $350 a few years ago.  I don't think their pricing has changed in the past few years.  

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Stay away from those cheap box sets at Wallyworld, they're junk. They are indeed "cheap". I've bought clubs from Hireko and Maltby and can honestly say for the cheap prices you get quality with them.

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  • 4 weeks later...

In no way scientific at all, but I found that in terms of actual playing and scoring, the clubs quality point makes very little real difference. A number of years back I bought something like a $150 boxed set of Pin-Hi because I was working overseas for a year. Sure the course we played was not mega long, but I still shot the same or even better scores (down to a 5 for a while) than I had back home with "proper" clubs, or since. All the same I keep buying new toys even though I basically know they make little discernible difference and certainly not as much difference to my scores or handicap as more regular play and practice would do (handicap now out to a 12, largely because I don't play as frequently the last few years)

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UKCustomgolf  have a comparison between OEM gear and the clones they sell for a fraction of the price, they tend to belive the average golfer wont see much difference in performance. 

Of course the more expensive the club, generally speaking, the better the materials and more tech. 

A Taylormade R1 clone for example may not have the adjustability. For my game i cant see cheaper clubs being an issue.

Russ, from "sunny" Yorkshire = :-( 

In the bag: Driver: Ping G5 , Woods:Dunlop NZ9, 4 Hybrid: Tayormade Burner, 4-SW: Hippo Beast Bi-Metal , Wedges: Wilson 1200, Putter: Cleveland Smartsquare Blade, Ball: AD333

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  • 2 months later...

I almost only buy component clubs, but with premium shafts and grips so that the shafts and grips are as good or better than the equivalent "branded" clubs that I could get off the shelf. For instance, if you take a US$699 set of irons 4i to PW (7 clubs) by {insert brand name}, that includes US$25x7=US$175 True Temper shafts, US$6x7=US$42 Winn grips. Total> US$217.  

If you want a like-for-like comparison with the component clubs, consider the branded heads are implicitly priced at US$699-217=US$482, i.e. US$69 per head. That`s not even considering the higher priced US$1,200 models from this year, I am talking about your midrange last year`s model... If you take the top of the range clubs, you`re getting the same shaft and grips, usually, and your heads are costing a whopping US$140/head!  

By comparison, you can get very good club heads from Hireko, Gigagolf or Maltby for roughly US$15 to US$30 per head. There is no way that the branded heads are worth 2 or 3x (let alone 10x!) as much as these, having tried both. What you are paying for is the marketing, branding, the "new product" premium. The "tech" is progressing in minimal increments from year to year, and very few technological breakthroughs are actually patented/patentable, which means the component heads are actually very similar in performance and design to the branded clubs (without breaching any intellectual property laws). 

If you want to upgrade your shaft, most component companies will do that for... the incremental cost of the shaft. If you ask a major OEM to do the same, they will charge you... 2 or 3 times the cost of the shaft you are asking for (e.g. a Graffaloy Prolaunch Supercharged upgrade for a Ping driver at Golfsmith is going to cost US$114 as of today, whereas the shaft is being sold for US$59 on most component websites - and that's not to criticize Graffaloy, any shaft would have produced similar results). 

As far as quality of build and fitting is concerned, my personal view is that the quality service you get from the top component manufacturers is much better than any brand offers to off the shelf buyers. In particular loft gapping, weight, loft and lie tolerances are much more carefully checked by component companies than by the major OEMs. On the other hand, the OEMs do have tighter quality controls when it comes to paint, logo, finishing etc, which means the appearance of the clubs, and particularly the club heads, will be more reliable and consistent... which has no bearing on the performance of the club. 

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On 8/7/2013 at 5:12 AM, newtogolf said:

 

 

I see a lot of people show up at the local range with "cheap" box set clubs and it seems the quality of these clubs is far below the Knights I owned and major brands given the number of heads that break off and go flying into the grass at the range.  I watched a guy break three irons and his driver from his brand new set in less than a 1/2 hour this past Sunday.

Quote

 

Sheesh! I've been golfing for close to 50 years and never seen that! My first set of clubs was a set of Sam Snead "Blue Ridge" clubs from God knows where! Kresge's or Woolworth's or something like that. Maybe some of you will remember those names.

Looking back, I think they might have been swingweighted at about a D-37! Lord they were heavy! But, I never broke one. Apparently "cheap" golf clubs aren't made as well as they used to be. Well, what else is new?

As I understand it, the top quality companies examine, and X-ray, every head they make, while the clone or knock-off outfits do it every so often. This is to look for voids and imperfections in the castings or forgings, and would obviously add to the cost of manufacture for the top flight outfits.

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I've seen some comparisons between iron sets and the cheap sets sometimes have their specs all over the place. Like a couple clubs have the same lofts even though they might be 6 and 7 irons. All I can say is when I ordered my Titleist AP2 irons at D4 swing weight when I measured them on my swing weight gauge that's what they were. 

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9 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

Sheesh! I've been golfing for close to 50 years and never seen that! My first set of clubs was a set of Sam Snead "Blue Ridge" clubs from God knows where! Kresge's or Woolworth's or something like that. Maybe some of you will remember those names.

Looking back, I think they might have been swingweighted at about a D-37! Lord they were heavy! But, I never broke one. Apparently "cheap" golf clubs aren't made as well as they used to be. Well, what else is new?

As I understand it, the top quality companies examine, and X-ray, every head they make, while the clone or knock-off outfits do it every so often. This is to look for voids and imperfections in the castings or forgings, and would obviously add to the cost of manufacture for the top flight outfits.

In the instances I was referring to, it wasn't the heads, but the shafts that broke.  If you're selling an entire set for $150 it's not likely being built with the best components so overall quality is going to suffer.  

Joe Paradiso

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15 minutes ago, newtogolf said:

In the instances I was referring to, it wasn't the heads, but the shafts that broke.  If you're selling an entire set for $150 it's not likely being built with the best components so overall quality is going to suffer.  

I had Golfsmith Zevo shafts break at the hosel a few times when I started golf. Golfsmith replaced them without question, and the last time the club repair used a TT shaft.

My next set was TM burners, these were much better. My son and I both used them a season or so before I started buying only used clubs for myself and Ping i20 for him. There's something to be said about using name brand clubs, but I agree that it's the shafts that count.

One person posted somewhere on this site that he caved in an iron in the winter, but it must have been a fluke iron that got through quality control.

:ping:  :tmade:  :callaway:   :gamegolf:  :titleist:

TM White Smoke Big Fontana; Pro-V1
TM Rac 60 TT WS, MD2 56
Ping i20 irons U-4, CFS300
Callaway XR16 9 degree Fujikura Speeder 565 S
Callaway XR16 3W 15 degree Fujikura Speeder 565 S, X2Hot Pro 20 degrees S

"I'm hitting the woods just great, but I'm having a terrible time getting out of them." ~Harry Toscano

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Note: This thread is 1924 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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