New Drivers Are Too Expensive. Or, Are They?

[Denny Bang Bang]

New drivers go for more than I’m willing to spend.  The last two drivers that have been in my bag (Ping G30 LS TEC currently, Ping G15 prior) I purchased lightly used and saved a bit of cash.  I do try new drivers out of curiosity, but the results are insignificant.  2-3 yards isn’t worth another $500-700.

[mohearn]

2 minutes ago, Denny Bang Bang said:

New drivers go for more than I’m willing to spend.  The last two drivers that have been in my bag (Ping G30 LS TEC currently, Ping G15 prior) I purchased lightly used.

In all honesty my last 3 drivers have all been used also, even the one my spouse gifted me. Saved about half off the retail.  Maybe not half price, but still significant discount off retail.

I wish I hit my fairway 3W and 5W more often, I really like to hit them and would be fun to try out something newer (mine are 2014 vintage). But depending on the course, I may not even use my 3W and hardly my 5W so not much to be gained.  I sorta feel that way in general about clubs, fun to shop and get something new (new to me) but whether it really helps bring down the score, I dunno.

 

[Vinsk]

50 minutes ago, Denny Bang Bang said:

New drivers go for more than I’m willing to spend.  The last two drivers that have been in my bag (Ping G30 LS TEC currently, Ping G15 prior) I purchased lightly used and saved a bit of cash.  I do try new drivers out of curiosity, but the results are insignificant.  2-3 yards isn’t worth another $500-700.

PXG has their new driver at $299. I doubt they are really Inferior to the + $500 drivers out there.

[ChetlovesMer]

16 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

PXG has their new driver at $299. I doubt they are really Inferior to the + $500 drivers out there.

PXG has some very good deals lately. I think they are trying to grab up market share. Although, I will say their prices continually shift all the time. I just looked up their drivers and they're going for $349. Last year's are going for like $199. Their proto driver is $249. 

I have to confess to being impressed with what they've done recently. I got fitted at a PXG event near my home early last year. I got a custom built split set of GEN 2 0311P (PW thru 8-iron) and GEN 2 0311X's (7-iron thru 5-iron) for $79.00 per club. That was fitted and custom built with graphite shafts. They also shipped me the grips loose in the box, so I could pop on PURE DTX grips. 

Best part they told me it would take 2-4 weeks because I was getting legacy product, not current models. I got fit on Sunday, I had my new clubs on Friday. 

I have nothing bad to say about PXG. 

[Denny Bang Bang]

1 hour ago, Vinsk said:

PXG has their new driver at $299. I doubt they are really Inferior to the + $500 drivers out there.

Fair point, and not the norm price point for a quality driver.  I have heard good things about PXG, but have not tried their clubs.  Buying new at the $300 range would certainly be more acceptable to a value minded person who’s in the market for a new stick.

[ChetlovesMer]

5 hours ago, Denny Bang Bang said:

Fair point, and not the norm price point for a quality driver.  I have heard good things about PXG, but have not tried their clubs.  Buying new at the $300 range would certainly be more acceptable to a value minded person who’s in the market for a new stick.

I know it's a little more expensive but Tour Edge's newest and Cleveland's newest come in at $399.

I hit the Cleveland. I thought it was really nice. 

Oh, and don't sleep on Wilson. They don't have the name recognition that they used to have. But they have current models in that 300 range which are every bit as good as anything out there. 

[DrvFrShow]

I picked up a TM Sim Max for $400 brand new. 10.5 deg. with the stock 60g Ventus Blue. I think the prices on the new drivers are too high. I don't hit them $150 - $200 better. They don't go $150 - $200 further or straighter. One or two yds. is statistically insignificant. 

I know this is in the same price range as Cleveland but I liked the sound and feel of this one.

[DoubleAce]

Are drivers now expensive? Yes. Were drivers 27 years ago expensive? Yes.

But that doesn't mean they're unreasonable. I just wasn't willing (or really able way back then). Now, I could. But I just don't see the benefit. When anything within the past 5 years (or maybe even longer) can be every bit as good. And prior models can be had for significantly less.

I just picked up a SIM Max (USA Edition) for under $300. Had the exact shaft I wanted (Ventus Blue). The thing basically looks brand new. And I don't feel like I'm leaving distance or accuracy on the table by not going with this year's hotness.

I won't fault someone who does. In fact, I encourage it. As they keep the quality used market alive. 😆

[Big Lex]

Golf clubs seem more expensive than ever. It seems like irons have gone up in price more than drivers. 
Production costs are higher because they are doing quite a bit more (multiple materials, in almost all clubs now, for example) with designs than even 10 years ago. As somebody said, shaft options contribute to higher prices….grips cost more even, and are better. 
This year’s club may not be much different than last year’s, but small incremental improvements each year have made this year’s models significantly better than 10-15 years ago. 
I think all things considered, clubs are a better value for the money than they were 20 years ago. Much better. 

[wakefield724]

My biggest pet peeve with new drivers is you are not able to buy them without a shaft. That could easily bring the price down from the ridiculously high mark. Its nearly impossible to justify new drivers. I'll always buy 2-3 year old models. Still rocking my M5 and have 0 plans on changing that in the near future. 

[saevel25]

7 minutes ago, wakefield724 said:

My biggest pet peeve with new drivers is you are not able to buy them without a shaft. That could easily bring the price down from the ridiculously high mark. Its nearly impossible to justify new drivers. I'll always buy 2-3 year old models. Still rocking my M5 and have 0 plans on changing that in the near future. 

You have to consider that golf companies are buying golf shafts in bulk, probably at a greatly reduced cost versus buying the golf shaft aftermarket. I would suspect that your intuition on how much you would save by buying only the club heads is not correct. 

[Vinsk]

46 minutes ago, wakefield724 said:

My biggest pet peeve with new drivers is you are not able to buy them without a shaft. That could easily bring the price down from the ridiculously high mark. Its nearly impossible to justify new drivers. I'll always buy 2-3 year old models. Still rocking my M5 and have 0 plans on changing that in the near future. 

Driver heads are all over EBay.

[wakefield724]

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

You have to consider that golf companies are buying golf shafts in bulk, probably at a greatly reduced cost versus buying the golf shaft aftermarket. I would suspect that your intuition on how much you would save by buying only the club heads is not correct. 

Smaller boxes to ship in. No grips or american labor to install the grip. Cost of material with the shaft. Easily could bring it down to a $399 level. Just seems like such a waste for people who are very content with their current shaft but would be interested in the new technologies in the head. 

[DoubleAce]

3 hours ago, wakefield724 said:

Smaller boxes to ship in. No grips or american labor to install the grip. Cost of material with the shaft. Easily could bring it down to a $399 level. Just seems like such a waste for people who are very content with their current shaft but would be interested in the new technologies in the head. 

Agreed. I know you can find heads on the used market. But it's pretty surprising none of these companies have thought to offer the heads only. 

[iacas]

5 hours ago, wakefield724 said:

My biggest pet peeve with new drivers is you are not able to buy them without a shaft.

You're talking about saving like $30, and you'd have to buy a shaft and a grip. For 95% of golfers, one of the stock shafts is all they care to get.

[solarbear88]

Just bought a nearly pristine G20 off someone last night.  I think that says exactly what I think about the Driver replacement cycle.

[ChetlovesMer]

I wanted to revive this thread. 
I've been getting all the pre-order emails from Callaway, Taylormade, Cobra, PING etc. on their new drivers. 

Callaway and Taylormade look like they are coming in at more or less $600 each, Ping and Cobra at $550 each. 

With the insane inflation we've had this year I'm actually kind of pleased they didn't come in higher. 

I don't plan to buy a driver this year. But I will definitely test a few of them. I love when new clubs come out. 

 

[GolfLug]

4 hours ago, ChetlovesMer said:

I wanted to revive this thread. 
I've been getting all the pre-order emails from Callaway, Taylormade, Cobra, PING etc. on their new drivers. 

Callaway and Taylormade look like they are coming in at more or less $600 each, Ping and Cobra at $550 each. 

With the insane inflation we've had this year I'm actually kind of pleased they didn't come in higher. 

I don't plan to buy a driver this year. But I will definitely test a few of them. I love when new clubs come out. 

 

Has the driver design maxed out yet?

Having said that, to me it is not as much about the tech improvement as much as it is that new designs sometimes resonate better because it has a different, not necessarily better structure as a whole. So I think there is something to be said about testing new designs.

Agreed on the prices. Honestly I was expecting at least some if not all of the top Tier guys (TM, Callaway, Titleist, Cobra, etc.) to cross $700 this year.