Getting new irons. Did I get a good deal?

[jpasiczn]

Warning: Long story
I have been playing serious golf for 5 years now, and I am still with my original TM rac OS irons, and I feel like my game is stagnant. My iron striking is fine right now, not great, not terrible. Im hitting the ball well, but cannot get GIR as much as Id like. My index has wavered from ~15-12. Its hard to get a true reading because Ive been in dental school for the past 4 years, not playing much. Now I have much more time to play.

I was visiting my folks a few weekends ago, and played a few rounds at my dad's country club. I was talking with the pro, who has been following my game since I started taking the game seriously back in college, and we started talking about my game. He agreed that it looked like my scoring and my game in general were just stagnant. Not getting better, or worse. He recommended that I may want to switch something up, just try something new to see how it would work.

He thought that with my swing, I may benefit from either a blade or a players cavity back. A more "aggressive" club. So I went to local Golfsmith and hit quite a few sets of ironos. Nothing felt so good in my hands as a set of TaylorMade rac MB TP. They had a set of display clubs that had never been hit, in the smoke finish. An amazing set of irons. Unfortunately the manager would not budge one bit from his $800 asking price. Not one dollar less than that. So fine, I started searching the scourge of the used golf club world (I say that with equal sarcasm and seriousness), eBay. I found a set of the exact clubs I wanted with FCM 6.0 flighted steel shafts. Gently used 2-PW for about $380. This was more up my alley. A reasonable price for gently used clubs that I feel like I hit well. If when I get the clubs, I cannot hit them, or don't like them, I can resell them and hopefully not lose that much money, and if I love them, I feel like I got a good deal on irons. I ordered on Friday, will be here Wednesday.

Part 2.
Went to Golfsmith yesterday, because I got an email about their tent sale. Buddy gets a few shirts, Im just walking around checking things out, and what do you know, they have a brand spanking new, wrapped in plastic, never been touched, TaylorMade r7 TP irons 3-PW with Project X 6.0 shafts. For $400 dollars I go back inside, there's a set of well used, banged up r7 TP irons, 4-PW, for $650. I go back outside, ask the associate, is this serious? They check the price and say yep. Another sales associate comes up saying he can tell Im going to get them but he wishes I wouldnt because he wanted to buy them. So after making sure I can return in full because its a new item, I buy the irons.

So now I have 3 sets of irons (rac OS, rac MB TP, r7 TP). And its going to be a hard decision to pick which I like more. I know I like the way the rac MB TP feel when I hit into a net. But that may change when I get to the range and course. I have 30 days to return the r7's. $400 is a pretty good price for these brand new clubs, right?

Any recommendations on how to proceed? Im thinking I will forget about the r7's for a while, hit the heck out of the rac MB TP's and see how I like them. If I like them, Ill just return the r7's straight up. If I dont like the blades...I'll cross that bridge when I reach it.

Just thought I would share my journey with everyone, see if anyone has any words of wisdom, please dont let them be "Don't even think about blades with your HDCP" "you won't hit them well" etc. I know what Im getting myself into.

John

[NativeTxn]

First, it seems to me that Golfsmith often has used sets and clubs that are more expensive than the same set or club new (or if not more maybe only a little bit less). Makes no sense to me at times, but I'm sure that the used clubs prices are set somewhere and they more or less have to follow them based on condition, etc. So, I'm not surprised that the used set of TPs was more than a new set.

Second, who gives a sh** if the store associate was going to buy them or not. Quite honestly, I'm sure he can get a set just fine, and in my opinion, that should not factor into your decision in any way, shape, or form.

Third, it may not be a bad idea to hit the ones you got on the bay to see if you like them or not before you hit the TPs. That way, as you said, you could return the TPs for a full refund during the return period. Plus, I'm not sure if at $400 they meet the price requirement to fit under the 90/90 playability guarantee, so if you did hit them and wanted to take them back, it might only work out under the trade-in program.

In any event, sounds like you got a couple of solid deals no matter what your final choice is (especially since on Golfsmith online, the r7 TPs show up at $699 new).

[jpasiczn]

Well I didnt let the fact that he wanted the clubs influence my decision at all. Ive heard that the r7 TPs are pretty solid irons so thats what piqued my interest.

Ill give the MB's a shot and see how I feel with them.

[mdrengl]

Hey guys. Just figured I would shine some light on the situation for returns at Golfsmith.

90/90 (90 days to try, can return for 90% refund - store credit) Threshold for a NEW set of irons is $550.
There is NO threshold for pre-owned clubs. All pre-owned clubs have 10/90 (10 days to try, can return for 90% refund cash back.)
Not sure on the 30 day return policy you speak of, not something I've heard of for clubs.

Source: I work at Golfsmith, and if you'd like, http://www.golfsmith.com/ps/display_...ifference_9090

As for the pricing of new vs. old, I've never seen a brand new set of clubs go for less than the same club pre-owned. There are times when the prices on pre-owned haven't been updated, and usually you just need to talk to someone to look up the new price. The databases are kept up to date by hand, there is always a possibility that something hasn't been updated just yet.

In regards to the employee who wanted to buy the used set - usually we get cut really good deals on used clubs. But it's a huge no-no to tell customers that we want to purchase a set in hopes of shooing away a customer. I'm glad it didn't influence your decision.

I like working for Golfsmith and I enjoy talking to people who have had good experiences there. It is the first retail job I've had that I've really been proud to call myself an employee. I think it says a lot about a company when an employee can admit that it is a good company to work for.

Let me know if you have any other questions about Golfsmith. I don't know everything, because just like all retailers, there are a few things screwy once and awhile.

[jpasiczn]

Hey guys. Just figured I would shine some light on the situation for returns at Golfsmith.

These are brand new clubs I bought at Golfsmith

#1. Please dont think I meant the employee was trying to poach these clubs. Im sure he just saw it was an amazing deal for good clubs and would hae been interested if they were still available after the sale. Secondly, I plan on not hitting the clubs from Golfsmith at all, and hopefully can just return them brand new for full refund. (Which as long as the brand new clubs have not been hit, you can get a full refund). If I do hit these, I will end up keeping them. I also would like to point out that, there were 3 sets of used r7 TPs at this location for over 400: one of them was $800 and marked with todays date! Anways, enough Golfsmith talk, lets try to keep my thread on topic please.

[EZ Swinger]

Thats a pretty sweet problem you have there. 3 sets of awesome irons and no matter what you choose you got a good deal on really nice irons. By the way, about golfsmith(sorry to go back off topic) i once bought used rac OS's from there for 200 and after trading them back in for like 80 bucks or something i saw them back on the used rack for 400. That was really weird.
About the irons though i have rac lt's (very similar to r7 tp) and they are very easy to hit so even if the r7 tp's are a little harder to hit then the lt's you should have no problem using those.

[mdrengl]

...I plan on not hitting the clubs from Golfsmith at all, and hopefully can just return them brand new for full refund.

Oh okay, I missed that point

...Anways, enough Golfsmith talk, lets try to keep my thread on topic please.

Yeap, sorry buddy.

Back on topic, I like the r7 TP's the best out of the bunch. I have more fun playing when I play with r7's vs. my Titleist irons

[Balto]

sounds like you got a heck of a deal