How do you feel about buying clubs online?

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by golf4tito

What other online sites do you find to be a bit more reputable and reliable than ebay?

Ebay is generally okay if you're buying used gear and their rating system is trustworthy. For me, getting the items from most sellers involves paying for international shipping. That's a pain, especially with FedEx and UPS which always tack on extra charges. 3-balls is fast but somewhat rude. Whatever.

[golf4tito]

I feel pretty torn from the opinions I'm reading so far. I can certainly acknowledge the great deal you can get from purchasing clubs online but I've always heard that the only way to have a set of clubs that truly fit is to go to a brick and mortar facility for true customization. I guess I can always go to a brick and mortar facility and determine if I fit the "standard" club setting.

[paulballs]

I feel pretty torn from the opinions I'm reading so far. I can certainly acknowledge the great deal you can get from purchasing clubs online but I've always heard that the only way to have a set of clubs that truly fit is to go to a brick and mortar facility for true customization. I guess I can always go to a brick and mortar facility and determine if I fit the "standard" club setting.

Please don't take offense but you are a 30+ handicap and are concerned about custom club fitting? I'm sure off the shelf superlaunch irons would be fine.

[golf4tito]

Originally Posted by paulballs

Quote:

Originally Posted by golf4tito

I feel pretty torn from the opinions I'm reading so far. I can certainly acknowledge the great deal you can get from purchasing clubs online but I've always heard that the only way to have a set of clubs that truly fit is to go to a brick and mortar facility for true customization. I guess I can always go to a brick and mortar facility and determine if I fit the "standard" club setting.

Please don't take offense but you are a 30+ handicap and are concerned about custom club fitting? I'm sure off the shelf superlaunch irons would be fine.

I guess I just want to lay a strong foundation as my skills develop rather than having my clubs potentially undermine my growth because they are poor fitting.

[jamo]

Originally Posted by paulballs

Quote:

Originally Posted by golf4tito

I feel pretty torn from the opinions I'm reading so far. I can certainly acknowledge the great deal you can get from purchasing clubs online but I've always heard that the only way to have a set of clubs that truly fit is to go to a brick and mortar facility for true customization. I guess I can always go to a brick and mortar facility and determine if I fit the "standard" club setting.

Please don't take offense but you are a 30+ handicap and are concerned about custom club fitting? I'm sure off the shelf superlaunch irons would be fine.

They might be fine, or they might be 4 degree too flat (or whatever), which could lead to nasty compensations down the road.

[Harmonious]

Originally Posted by golf4tito

I feel pretty torn from the opinions I'm reading so far. I can certainly acknowledge the great deal you can get from purchasing clubs online but I've always heard that the only way to have a set of clubs that truly fit is to go to a brick and mortar facility for true customization. I guess I can always go to a brick and mortar facility and determine if I fit the "standard" club setting.

Many of the brick and mortar places that would love to sell you clubs  also have clubfitting and club alterations available.  I bought my Mizuno irons  on Ebay, then did a dynamic fitting here at my course, as they had a lie board & tapes.  I took the clubs to the local Golf Galaxy and had them bent 1-2* upright for, I think, $3 per club.

[paulballs]

I realize people get fitted for a reason. Ive never done that, granted I just got back into the game in 2009 after a long, long absence. I bought some cheap clubs to get me started in 09 and just this year invested in something better (TM Burner Plus). Im hitting the ball much better, I like to think due to the new irons, but Im sure its a combo of going to the range more often and having more experience than I did 2yr ago.

Im probably a 25 handicap, and while I know virtually nothing about fitting and lie angles etc, I highly doubt having all that done is going to improve my game by any significance. Later down the road, when Ive really put in some time and shooting in the mid-80s I might potentially look into that. But at my skill level straight off the shelf clubs are going to be as good as anything.

To use this analogy my 11yr old wants to be a drummer. For Christmas I got him a drum kit, spend a fair amount of $ on it, about $650, but that was more or less a "starter" set. I didnt want to get him a total piece of crap, but I wasnt going to drop $2k on a drum kit either. I figure once hes played that for a few years and I see he is really serious about playing then we will looking into a more high-end set of drums. Same with the clubs. If the Superlaunch are anything close to the Burner Plus Tito you will be happy with them as-if. Buy something off the shelf. Play them a while, work on your game. Then later down the road when you are ready to upgrade look into all that.

Im not a golf professional, I just play one on tv.

[Zeph]

My current clubs are all bought online with no fitting. It is a dilemma, getting fit or paying half the price. I will probably go with getting my next set of clubs fit to see if it feels any different. I do believe that chance can give you a perfectly fitting set of clubs, but it may just as well not. My biggest woes when it comes to fitting is the lack of knowledge from the store helping you. Some only do a static fitting, which you should avoid. How do you know if some stores are pushing a certain brand or not? Lots of variables that easily can make people think twice about getting fit. If you don't know the person helping you personally and can trust him, you are pretty much putting your money in his lap, hoping he'll be able to do his job.

If you are unlucky with the person assisting you, having knowledge on the topic yourself is very important. What to look for, what it should feel, how many different models you should try.

The most important things I would think is shaft length, flex, lie angle and club weight. Clubhead design is a personal preference, but I think you can play well with most clubheads as long as you are a somewhat decent ballstriker. Swinging with a wrong flex is imo a bigger problem. If you use the results from one fitting, you may use parts of it for future reference and perhaps shopping online.

[jldavis73]

Originally Posted by paulballs

Quote:

Originally Posted by golf4tito

What other online sites do you find to be a bit more reputable and reliable than ebay?

I've bought from rockbottomgolf and hurricane golf and had great experience with both. Low prices and fast shipping.

DiscountDan'sGolf.com is great.  I ordered a set of custom R9's last year and save quite a bit, and just ordered/received a Sun Mountain C-130 from them.  Saved a nice bunch there, too.  I highly recommend them.  I've purchased from Ebay as well, and look for ratings and "power sellers" like everyone else.

Originally Posted by paulballs

I realize people get fitted for a reason. Ive never done that, granted I just got back into the game in 2009 after a long, long absence. I bought some cheap clubs to get me started in 09 and just this year invested in something better (TM Burner Plus). Im hitting the ball much better, I like to think due to the new irons, but Im sure its a combo of going to the range more often and having more experience than I did 2yr ago.

Im probably a 25 handicap, and while I know virtually nothing about fitting and lie angles etc, I highly doubt having all that done is going to improve my game by any significance. Later down the road, when Ive really put in some time and shooting in the mid-80s I might potentially look into that. But at my skill level straight off the shelf clubs are going to be as good as anything.

To use this analogy my 11yr old wants to be a drummer. For Christmas I got him a drum kit, spend a fair amount of $ on it, about $650, but that was more or less a "starter" set. I didnt want to get him a total piece of crap, but I wasnt going to drop $2k on a drum kit either. I figure once hes played that for a few years and I see he is really serious about playing then we will looking into a more high-end set of drums. Same with the clubs. If the Superlaunch are anything close to the Burner Plus Tito you will be happy with them as-if. Buy something off the shelf. Play them a while, work on your game. Then later down the road when you are ready to upgrade look into all that.

Im not a golf professional, I just play one on tv.

Here's a hypothetical situation that might better explain the benefit of using "fitted" equipment, and there's a difference between "fitted/custom" and "expensive".  For argument's sake, let's say your 6'2" tall with a bit of a steep swing because of your height.  If you're playing standard length/lie irons, chances are your going to hit the ball to the right even when you make perfect contact.  With a slight adjustment, you can really see a significant impact on your ballflight.  The benefit is hitting better shots.  Just because you get custom or fitted equipment doesn't mean it has to come with a huge investment.  I went through a pretty simple fitting 3 years ago, and know what specifications I need to play my best.  I just look for those modifications or have them done when I buy something new.  If you're just getting back into the game, you should really give it a try!

[RyanR]

I buy almost everything on ebay from actual pro shops that have really good ratings.  Never had a problem, and you can't beat the prices.  Just bought a brand new set of Burner 2.0 irons for $490 and a new Cleveland Launcher DST driver for $80.  As for other websites, you should google www._______.com reviews to see what other people say about it.  Good luck!

God bless,

Ryan

[golf4tito]

Originally Posted by RyanR

I buy almost everything on ebay from actual pro shops that have really good ratings.  Never had a problem, and you can't beat the prices.  Just bought a brand new set of Burner 2.0 irons for $490 and a new Cleveland Launcher DST driver for $80.  As for other websites, you should google www._______.com reviews to see what other people say about it.  Good luck!

God bless,

Ryan

Thanks for the input Ryan,

Now the Burner 2.0's are cast rather than forged, did you go and try and get the clubs fitted after purchase?

[titushem]

Like many others have mentioned, I buy most of my clubs from Ebay as well. I've never had any problems with them, although I only buy clubs from reputable sellers (with at least 1000 transactions). This is a pretty useful site that tracks Ebay seller feedback: http://www.toolhaus.org/  I also google these sellers online, and often times you can find golf forums talking about if a seller if legit or not.

In terms of the club fitting, there are a lot of places that can fit clubs once you buy from Ebay. However, I would ONLY go to a reputable fitter. I've had my MP-52 for about 2 years now, and I tried 4 different fitters. First time was from Golfsmith, and the sales person obviously had no idea what he was doing. I paid $20 dollars just to hit on the lie board, with no measurement or launch monitor stats (since I'm a lefty and the monitor was set up for righties). The next 2 times were at local golf courses, and both fitters claimed that they were professional fitters. Both times were with lie board only at outdoor ranges, and both concluded that the clubs fit me perfectly! Each of them ended up trying to sell me golf lessons instead. Since I was never comfortable with the fitting sessions, I never got my clubs fitted, until recently...

2 weeks ago I went to a famous club fitter located in South San Francisco area (I think some of you should know who he is). He does his work in his garage, which kind of worried me in the beginning. After warming up, he got me on the launch monitor. Instead of letting me hit right away, he spent the next 10 minutes adjusting the launch monitor to ensure that the readings were correct. He then measured my height, arm length, wrist to ground distance, and the whole nine yards. I didn't start hitting until 30minutes into it. He also asked me to hit at least 20 to 30 shots with the lie board so that he can get a good range of data. He changed the impact tape after every 3 shots, which really impressed me. Immediately he noticed that the clubs were too upright for me, which caused me to pull my shots. He bent my 6iron right on the spot for 2* flatter, and OMG the pull shots were gone. My shots became so much more consistent and I also noticed a 5 - 10yd gain per hit. He also suggested that I am hitting my shots too high due to the Project X shaft; however, instead of trying to sell me some Dynamic Gold S300, he just told me to move the ball farther back in my stance to lower the ball flight.

During the fitting, he also noticed a few flaws in my swing. He gave me great tips right away instead of trying to sell me lessons, which helped me improving my golf swing tremendously. The whole session took about 2hrs, and he adjusted all of my irons right away. I was so impressed with the experience that I went back on Thursday to get my driver and 3 wood fitted. I did spend a pretty penny on the new shafts but i can't wait to get them back in 2 weeks!!!

So what I am trying to say is that yes, you can definitely fit your clubs even if you purchase from Ebay. Cast irons can be adjusted as well, but probably within 2* by a good fitter. If you have a pretty consistent swing then I would definitely go get my clubs fitted. It's the best golf investment I've ever spent! I am no longer a club ho...

[mikefjohnson]

Just another example of prices online.  Just bought a set of R9 irons 4-GW for $420.00 from a reputable ebay seller.  They are currently on sale for $698 at Golftown (Canada's biggest retailer).  So after taxes I saved about $300.  Hard to argue with that!!

[golf4fun12]

Originally Posted by mikefjohnson

Just another example of prices online.  Just bought a set of R9 irons 4-GW for $420.00 from a reputable ebay seller.  They are currently on sale for $698 at Golftown (Canada's biggest retailer).  So after taxes I saved about $300.  Hard to argue with that!!

yup. and that's why buying online can be a huge saver. 700 for the r9 irons is a lot. canada dollars are a little more than u.s. dollars. over here, the r9 irons are going for 500. r9 tp new is 600.

[jldavis73]

Excellent call on the R9's.  I believe you will be very happy with them.

Originally Posted by mikefjohnson

Just another example of prices online.  Just bought a set of R9 irons 4-GW for $420.00 from a reputable ebay seller.  They are currently on sale for $698 at Golftown (Canada's biggest retailer).  So after taxes I saved about $300.  Hard to argue with that!!

[NEOHMark]

Originally Posted by golf4tito

How does fitting work out when buying clubs online? I've heard that it's a bad idea to buy cast irons online because it is extremely difficult to adjust the lie angle and that there is potential to break the club.

I bought my previous set of clubs online and had the lie angle bent upright about 2 degrees.  They were cast and also had some hybrids in the set.  I found a good pro shop with a Mitchell Golf Steelclub Angle machine (you can find a listing of shops that use their machine on their website) and they did the whole set for $40. They also measured the loft of every club in the set and documented it for me in case I ever wanted to go back to tweak anything.

Contrary to popular belief, hybrids and cast heads can be bent a couple degrees with no harm if a quality piece of equipment is used by a knowledgeable repairman.

[golfismyworld]

Originally Posted by golf4tito

What other online sites do you find to be a bit more reputable and reliable than ebay?

I usually try to buy from sites I trust like golfsmith, tgw, or golfclubs.com they all have the newest equipment at the best deals and if they don't you can usually find a discount code from the just typing into google.