Equipment advice request

[Return2Golf]

Hello,

Nice to find a golf forum here where I don't have to deal with the awkwardness of stepping into a store and not buying anything out of sheer bewilderment. In Australia the markups on U.S. equipment is quite ridiculous so I want to buy direct from the United States if I can.

I am 5'1" and am considering a women's iron set.  I already have two excellent Lady Cobra II clubs (1 and 3). I am returning to golf after several years out of the sport due to a questionable lower back. I'm fairly accurate with putting but tend to mix my form on fairways.  For me, I have seen -1 iron sets by Palm Springs. They get good customer reviews but that is where emotion and subjectivity can cloud peoples' judgement.  My biggest problem is I have no idea what all this technological jargon is about and wonder if most of the claims are just 'blanket terms' used in marketing.  Every iron set starts to look like the one viewed before.  I just like to hit the ball and hope for the best.  Perhaps I should get a complete set including a bag at least and ditch the driver and other wood that are included.  I'm not sure if Cobra make a - 1 range of irons in any case.

Any advice would be appreciated,

S.B.

 

[boogielicious]

5 hours ago, Return2Golf said:

Hello,

Nice to find a golf forum here where I don't have to deal with the awkwardness of stepping into a store and not buying anything out of sheer bewilderment. In Australia the markups on U.S. equipment is quite ridiculous so I want to buy direct from the United States if I can.

I am 5'1" and am considering a women's iron set.  I already have two excellent Lady Cobra II clubs (1 and 3). I am returning to golf after several years out of the sport due to a questionable lower back. I'm fairly accurate with putting but tend to mix my form on fairways.  For me, I have seen -1 iron sets by Palm Springs. They get good customer reviews but that is where emotion and subjectivity can cloud peoples' judgement.  My biggest problem is I have no idea what all this technological jargon is about and wonder if most of the claims are just 'blanket terms' used in marketing.  Every iron set starts to look like the one viewed before.  I just like to hit the ball and hope for the best.  Perhaps I should get a complete set including a bag at least and ditch the driver and other wood that are included.  I'm not sure if Cobra make a - 1 range of irons in any case.

Any advice would be appreciated,

S.B.

 

Welcome to the site. Have you considered used sets? That would knock down the price and open up options. I have not heard of the maker you referenced. One issue with low profile makers is resale. The clubs won't be worth anything if you want to sell them. High profile makers have better resale.

As for Lady's clubs, if you are reasonable strong, the shaft flex may be too light for you. I may be better just the have the shafts trimmed at the butt end for your height. A good guide to this is on the Ping website. They have an on-line fitting tool where you can input your measurements and club hitting distances and they suggest a club. It will adjust for your height and wrist to floor measurement as well. And it will suggest shaft flex.

Check it out.

[JBailey]

Welcome to the sight.  I, like you, am returning to golf after an extended absence due to a back problem.  You'll get good advice here.

Another option, one I'm going to pursue this winter, is to make your own clubs.  Before my back injury, I made a number of sets until I ended up with a set that fit me exactly.  I would go to this site, http://www.hirekogolf.com/ and read all their information.  There are many others.

Building your own clubs is very easy.  Just get the components and glue them up.  25 years ago, as a 5 handicapper, I felt I had as good of equipment as anybody, and the fit was better.  It's enjoyable and saves a ton of money.

It's not for everyone, but for the hard to fit it's a great way to get great clubs.

Later,

John

[RussUK]

welcome to the site. I agree with @boogielicious that used sets can be a really great way to save cash, just maje sure you either buy from an approved used retailer (we have golfbidder here in the uk) or if through auction check the sellers profile and reviews. 

We get Palm Springs golf here in the uk and their "EZ" range gets good reviews for low priced clubs. Shop around, compare prices and be wary of the sites advertising new clubs as super low prices, if an offer is too good to be true, it usually is.

[rkim291968]

Welcome to the forum.

 

Against my advice, my brother bought a men's hybrid club set from Palm Springs.   I inherited it and played around with it.  The clubs were consistently short, and had extremely high ball trajectory.  Given your story, you don't want to use "short" distance clubs.  The clubs are cheap but you are better off with used set from quality vendor.   

[Return2Golf]

Thank you all for the kind responses to my query. 

Boogielicious  - Your comment about resale had completely slipped my mind.  I was not aware that the better brands can offer a reasonable return for investment upon resale.  This makes sense, dependent on condition of course.   The Ping website is something I have not visited before but it sounds definitive and I will check it out tomorrow with a fresh pair of eyes. Thank you for the sage advice.

JBailey (John) - Yes I enjoy visiting the Hireko website and today read some very good reviews of the Acer XS club heads (I think those were the ones).  It seems they have everything possible for the golf club maker.  If only I had the problem of a handicap of 5. I've never worked mine out. I will be buying the Hello Kitty red and white golf club bag from Hireko.  You can laugh now...It's cute and our family have a thing for Hello Kitty.

RussUK - Thanks for the hands up with used clubs.  Good used sets seem to only trickle through slowly at the local golf club. I'm just waiting for a woman who hates golf to give up within a few games and then want to sell her clubs.  Will check out the used sites but there's something about brand new.  Could get by with a couple of oldies while I fence sit and window shop. A store called me yesterday and recommended a brand new set of Cleveland Blooms without ever seeing me for $700.  It's a jungle out there.

rkim - You are absolutely right! I looked into just how short Palm Springs sets are and they are way too short to be of much use.  People think, great a petite set, but I'd feel hamstrung with such a small set.  I probably learned on full sized irons and didn't even know it.

Again thanks to all for setting me straight.  I will check out Ping but it's hard to run past the incredible reviews of these Acers.

[LeftRightLeft]

I've played the same set of Maltby irons for the last ten years.  I think the quality is excellent.  I just built a new set of Acer XV Pro irons (from Hireko Golf) with some Dynamic Gold R300 shafts I had pulled a few years ago.  Although I'm hitting the Maltby's well, for a $70 investment I had to give the Acer's a try.  The finish on the Acer's is really nice.  I've only hit them on the range once (off a mat), but they feel solid, have a nice trajectory, and hold their line like a laser.  I'm bagging them tomorrow for my first round of the year.