Should I update my clubs?

[realdealblues]

Quick background:

I started Golfing in high school. I played quite a bit back then because I had a junior membership that was really inexpensive. When I turned 18 the membership price Quadrupled and I couldn't afford to play anymore. I didn't golf again for probably 10 years.

I've played maybe once or twice a year over the last 5 years but now I'm trying to get out and play at least once a week. I'm getting older and an hour and a half or three hour walk out on the golf course is good exercise and I have fun and enjoy myself.

I have no intentions of being a "great" player, I am just concentrating on being consistent. I could drive 300+ yards in high school but I never knew where it would land. Now I swing easy and drive maybe 220-250 but I can hit the fairway or the 1st cut 6/9 times on 9 holes. I'm hoping I can get closer to 9/9 this year in the fairway or 1st cut.

Ok, enough babble...here's the deal:

Right before I quit golfing I bought a brand new set of King Cobra Oversized Clubs. They came out in 1994 I think and I bought them in 1996 on a discount just before the King Cobra II's came out.

To be honest I bet my clubs have maybe 30 rounds on them. They are really like new. They are all "firm" steel shaft, including the Driver (a King Cobra .350 Oversize Offset). That said, I don't swing near as hard as I used to too and I'm not sure I really need the "firm or stiff" shafts anymore.

I see there are all these new hybrids out there and lots of graphite shafts and massive size driver heads that look like they belong in a cartoon . Technology has obviously changed over the last 16 years and even though my old set of clubs are like new I'm thinking about upgrading to something newer.

The newer clubs are more forgiving, lighter, etc, but my old set of clubs are still in great shape and they aren't just a cheap Walmart set. They were very high quality clubs back in the day and should last a long time and they have, especially since I didn't play at all for about 10 years.

So, I guess my question is would it be to my advantage to update to some newer clubs? Would the newer technology help me shave strokes off my game and help me be more consistent by at least putting the ball in the fairway more often. I know a good deal of having a "good golf game" is in the mechanics, your swing, your grip, etc, but I've also heard lots of people say that some of these new irons and large drivers, even when you mis-hit, still land the ball in the fairway instead of in the woods and perhaps the newer clubs would help with that.

What do some of you think?

[showtime583]

You're probably ok on the iron front - technology has certainly improved, but not as much as drivers / hybrids.

[ajst22]

Well I would use those for a few rounds now and see how well you do. Try to demo some clubs the next time you play (the pro shop would let you do that) and compare the results to your clubs now. There is some better technology out there, but as long as you are a good consistent golfer, you will be fine. The player makes the club not the other way around. But if you do decide to buy new clubs, don't buy cheap Walmart clubs like you said because the ones you have now are much better. Cobra makes good clubs. They may be older but they are definitely still good.

[realdealblues]

I've been out and played a couple rounds with them in the last couple weeks.  I'm hitting better after spending some time at the driving range and working on my grip, balance, setup, etc, but I do have a tendency to go right, and I don't hit very high either so I'm thinking maybe the stiff shafts are working against me.  They also "sting" pretty good unless I hit it dead perfect.

The Pro Shop at the course I usually go too is pretty sparse.  They have like maybe 3 or 4 drivers and maybe 2 sets of clubs.  It's pretty sad but it's in the middle of nowhere, they still have to hand water the course, etc, but I like the layout of the course.  There's another course I occasionally go to that's a little further away, but it's really about the same for a pro shop.

I still haven't hit a hybrid yet, although I've never really had a hard time per say hitting my 3 or 4 irons either.  I've heard that they are pretty easy to hit and generally go further than the irons which is appealing.

I did order a new putter.  The only cheap club in the bag was an Accu-line or Accu-tek or something that I bought for like $20 at Walmart when I was 14 or 15.  I always wanted to try a Mallet putter and I always wanted an Odyssey so I just ordered a White Ice 330 yesterday.  I got it on discount and I figured worse comes to worse I can always sell it on ebay and probably get 90-100% of my money back on it.  But it got me thinking about just updating my whole set.