New Cheap Clubs vs 15yr Old Used

[ZootHornRollo]

Hi, 

I am just getting back into golf after a 20 hiatus. 

I have a set of Ben sayer tradition irons on loan but my instructor has indicated a set of game improvement irons might help at this stage.  Think he's being polite 😁

I am looking at calloway XR irons on gumtree, 6 months old.  I am also looking at a set of Calloway fusion irons. 

The fusion were £1000 back in the day.  The XRs are £400 to buy today. 

With both sets are roughly the same price at under £200 used, has club technology moved on far enough that a set of cheap new clubs would be a better buy than an old set of premium clubs?

Thanks in advance. 

[txgolfer45]

The biggest consideration on used clubs is whether the shaft is right for you.  Your instructor should be able to help identify the flex shaft to look for.

[JxQx]

Assuming similar/the same shafts, I would go with the newer clubs because there is probably a lot less wear on them (fresher grooves).

[pganapathy]

Assuming the used clubs fit you (shaft, length etc) I would say look at the condition of the used clubs.  If they are pretty good, you can take them.  The catch with most cheap sets is they are not very durable and you tend to have very inconsistent distance/accuracy depending on where you hit the club face.  Some shots come off extra hot, while others are short.  The better clubs are more consistent.  What this means is if you hit for 150 yards and hit the sweet spot or close to it, you will rarely be more than a couple of yards off at worst with the good clubs.  The cheaper clubs show you much bigger dispersion.

I say this because I play a set of TaylorMade RAC OS irons, which should be around 15 years old and I am still happy with them.

[Carl3]

I stayed away from Calloway especially used once since I heard that these were very popular with counterfeiters. That was 10 years or so ago, but I have purchased two sets of Pings since then.

[leftybutnotPM]

7 hours ago, JxQx said:

Assuming similar/the same shafts, I would go with the newer clubs because there is probably a lot less wear on them (fresher grooves).

How is that?

How much range time? How many rounds per week.

A 6 month old set of irons owned by someone who practices regularly has perhaps 20 times more wear than a 20 year old set used once a week.

 

[Piz]

The powers that be do not revise distance standards nearly as often as club makers produce new models.  That means this years model cannot hit the ball farther than last years (with exceptions) and remain legal.  

[JxQx]

On 7/22/2019 at 8:26 PM, leftybutnotPM said:

How is that?

How much range time? How many rounds per week.

A 6 month old set of irons owned by someone who practices regularly has perhaps 20 times more wear than a 20 year old set used once a week.

 

Maybe but that seems unlikely. 

[leftybutnotPM]

3 hours ago, JxQx said:

Maybe but that seems unlikely. 

Why would it be unlikely?

I'd buy  a 10 year old car with 10,000 miles per year before I bought a 2 year old ex taxi.

Edited July 24, 2019 by leftybutnotPM

[JxQx]

18 hours ago, leftybutnotPM said:

Why would it be unlikely?

I'd buy  a 10 year old car with 10,000 miles per year before I bought a 2 year old ex taxi.

I get what you're saying but golf clubs don't have odometers for rounds played so you have to use best judgement on appearance only (in terms of use). Obviously one should inspect stuff before they buy but sometimes it's not always to do so (buying online). On average an older golf club is going to have more use than a newer golf club, therefore I'd buy the newer club (assuming there isn't an obvious glaring issue).