Advice On Club Upgrade

[WildTurkey]

OK... It is time to upgrade my gear.  First a little about my game.  I am recently coming back to the game. Used to play Weekly back in my teens and 20's.  The life came along and I got away from the game.  Maybe playing at most 1 to 2 times per season for a company function or bachelor party. Last year I rededicated myself to the game and played once  a week.  When I put the time into practice I can score in the low 80's.  The off days low 90's.

Except for my driver my current gear was purchased back in the 1988.  They are I believe Ping knock offs.  The Driver is a Callaway Razr X Black.  My question is I am looking to upgrade the clubs on a budget. In other words I cannot afford to drop $1500 a whole setup.  I plan to keep the Driver a bit.  So how would you proceed.  Buy a fairway wood or rescue.  Or maybe a couple of wedges, or irons 4 to PW.  I am happy with the putter.  What would you do to start knowing upgrades to the other gear will need to wait for funds down the road.

[LuciusWooding]

Set of irons 4-GW: 200$ for component heads. Shafts and grips and assembly bring the total price into the 360-500$ range or so for custom irons. Or you could go off the rack for last year's sets, which won't have good quality shafts and won't be fitted for about the same price.

Wedges: about 80$ a piece, look on RockBottomGolf. Something a couple years old like the CG15 works fine for me, and they're conforming.

Leave your driver alone, get one hybrid or fairway wood. I recommend Adams but it's your bag. Should be around 100-150$ if you shop around, maybe less.

[WUTiger]

For irons, go to a demo day or a golf expo if possible. Hit some different club models, and take notes of what you might want for follow-up.

You might be able to find a set of used irons which meet your needs. Many quality golf shops can identify any adjustments (shaft, shaft trim, etc.) which have been made to the clubs. You would need to find something in the range of shafts you need. Many sets these days go 4i-PW (and sometimes AW/GW). If you get that, add a SW and you will be set for starting.

Don't automatically assume that off-the-rack clubs have poor quality shafts. Just make sure they're what you need for weight and flex. You can read about shafts elsewhere in this forum.

As you are getting back into the game, you could get a used 4W for longer shots. Not as long as a 3W, but more forgiving and versatile. Later on, you could look for a 7W or a hybrid to split the distance between your fairway wood and your longest iron. RazrX Black had a 4W if you can find one.

[Buzz1967]

I went through the same thing after not playing for ten or so years. I first purchased a new driver then a fairway and a three hybrid in Cleveland launcher series. After a year or so I purchased a new set of Cleveland golds. Played eight or ten times a year for a few years and now have the time to play . I'm getting better every round so the newer technology is helping me.

[WildTurkey]

Thank you Buzz 1967 and WUTiger. Buzz you got it. While I would love to just go buy the whole set, I need to pace it and upgrade over time.  Currently I am thinking like you and going 3 wood /hybred. next year irons.  But I can't help but think I might get a quicker improvement with irons. Anyone else feel free to chime in.

[Jakester23]

If you can afford it go with the irons first. I heard somewhere the average player changes irons every 7-10 years. They change their driver every 2-5 years. If you can't afford the irons I'd go forward in this order. 1: Putter (get fitted its the best $ I've ever spent) 2: Wedges ( Most people use them a lot I use my 58 degree wedge all the time) 3 & 4 are more personal preference. Id say go either fairway wood or hybrid first based on which one you think you will use more. My advice on wedges is go hit a bunch of them and make sure you get wedges with as much bounce as possible.(if you need help pitching and chipping look up quick pitching video on this site for pitching and the chipping thread is pretty easy to find as well) As far as fairway woods Id go with last years model Im currently looking for a Callaway X Hot 3 wood. My friend got the X Hot last year and he paid $229 for his. Ive found a bunch of nice used ones for right around $100. I don't have a problem getting an older model of a fairway wood or hybrid being that I don't use them all that often. Ive went a few rounds without hitting a 3 wood or hybrid. Good Luck and keep us posted on what you end up picking up. Jake

[jscomp]

There's always Gigagolf. :) Even with Dynamic Gold shafts they still come in way cheaper than most name brand sets. Stick with their stock True Temper Feather Flight shafts and they're cheaper still. It even comes out to less than building a set yourself with comparable components because you don't have to buy the tools and supplies.

[LuciusWooding]

There's always Gigagolf. :) Even with Dynamic Gold shafts they still come in way cheaper than most name brand sets. Stick with their stock True Temper Feather Flight shafts and they're cheaper still. It even comes out to less than building a set yourself with comparable components because you don't have to buy the tools and supplies.

I learned that buying the tools and supplies and doing it yourself is worth the money. Regripping and reshafting are not worth paying someone to do, IMO. I did play GG clubs for a bit and the quality was worth it for a beginner's set, but I like the deeper options you have doing it yourself, including being able to use heads from OEMs. Plus their selection of components is limited compared to what you can buy separately; I'm not a big fan of Dynamic Gold. The tools and supplies more than paid for themselves in the first set of irons, and I have done over 400$ worth of work myself for free on this set. The tools cost maybe 10$ for epoxy, 10$ for shaft cutter and the grip kits they basically give away or you can use an air compressor to save time and money. If you grab a heat gun or torch maybe you pay 30$, and that's just for clubs you're reshafting, not necessary for component heads. You're down 50 bucks but you can do like 25 clubs for the cost of components. Plus you can upgrade your set for a lot less than buying new clubs if you reshaft and regrip.

[jscomp]

^Swing weight scale is another $50 minimum. Plus supplies to change swing weight if needed. Plus ferrules. Plus extra cutting blades (unless they're stronger today than 15 yrs ago). And so on. lol It starts to add up. Gigagolf says their heads do come from manufacturers that make heads for the name brands. Couple that with the name brand shafts and grips they offer and I fail to see how they're only suitable for beginners. Also, I don't know if they still do this, but I did have them install Winn grips that weren't on their site. The up charge was still less than buying them myself, plus it only delayed the order by a day or 2. So I believe they can give you whatever you want from the manufacturers they do business with. You'd have to ask them to be sure. PS - I built a set from components years ago, and am building another now. :)

[LuciusWooding]

^Swing weight scale is another $50 minimum. Plus supplies to change swing weight if needed. Plus ferrules. Plus extra cutting blades (unless they're stronger today than 15 yrs ago). And so on. lol It starts to add up.

Gigagolf says their heads do come from manufacturers that make heads for the name brands. Couple that with the name brand shafts and grips they offer and I fail to see how they're only suitable for beginners. Also, I don't know if they still do this, but I did have them install Winn grips that weren't on their site. The up charge was still less than buying them myself, plus it only delayed the order by a day or 2. So I believe they can give you whatever you want from the manufacturers they do business with. You'd have to ask them to be sure.

PS - I built a set from components years ago, and am building another now. :)

The swingweight scale and supplies are a bit of a stretch, I don't consider them necessary as long as you have a regular gram scale and a ruler. Ferrules and other small parts and lead tape all cost me about 12$ combined I'd say. Assembling one set as a straightforward job is very cost effective if you stick with basic tools; anything you buy later for other projects doesn't factor in. The labor isn't that tough either, it just takes a bit of time your first few jobs to learn it.

I'd say the heads from Gigagolf are comparable to hireko or golfworks but they aren't offering the same selection of components. I also don't like the specs on some of them as well as I did golfworks, and none of GG's options have .355" hosels which some shafts are only available in, though you could use a brass shim. In terms of build quality they don't differ too much but I like the transparency golfworks gives you in terms of measuring each component's weight for you and their selection of tools available.

If Gigagolf wanted to fit someone with a 5 iron swing speed of, say 96 mph, what would their shaft choices be? Dynamic gold or shop elsewhere. That's my experience anyway, and I'm glad I didn't settle for it. They just don't offer any other premium choices in terms of shafts. They also don't sell heads separately and they charge for assembly so that's their business decision.

[jscomp]

^You're not the OP. I'm not discouraging him from going the component route; I did it and was thrilled. I'm just pointing out the simple fact that if he sees a particular Gigagolf club with shaft and grip that suits him, it'd be cheaper and far less hassle than putting together the Golfworks-Hireko equivalent. (Did Golfsmith drop the clubheads? That'd be a shame. Always liked their designs better than Golfworks.) And like I said, they put my set together with grips that weren't offered on their site, so they might be able to give the OP more options as well. He'd have to ask.

[Mozgolf]

Pretty easy really, Irons Nike VRS X, Wilson Ci11, Adams Super S (includes good 3 and 4 hybrids), Cobra Amp all can be had new for between $250- $300

Adams Tom Watson 3 wedge sets can be had for $100 (I have played with about 3 or 4 sets over the years down as low as a 5 handicap. Not the fancy name but they get the job done)

Plenty of decent new fairways can be had for between $50-$100. TM Superfast 2.0 or Adams Speedline 12 for $79 Cleveland Classic about $60 etc etc

with your putter and driver you are looking at about $450 for an almost complete bag of new sticks. Try the online sites for window shopping

[gophinmedic]

If your looking to uprgrade everything but the driver, start with the irons. You will make more shots every round with your irons than any other club. A 3 wood or whatever wood you wants and hybrids are nice but they are once in a while clubs. I think if you want to see tangible change and improvement you should start with your irons. Tons of good deals to be had out there, from last year or two years agos clubs, to gigagolf as mentioned above, to ebay and used clubs on TM preowned, Callaway preowned etc. You can be in a new set of quality irons for less than $300. Once your comfortable with those, move on to replacing something else. Trying to replace the whole bag at once can get to be a pain in the arse not to mention crazy expensive. I agree with the above again with the TM burners, Wilson C11, and gigagolf. Great clubs for the money.

[jmanbooyaa]

With the way golfers trade in clubs you can get great pricing on clubs. I was able to get Cobra Amp Cell irons for $199. All I had to do was clean them and put new grips(preference only). They are in great condition.