Outlet Overload

[soupy1957]

I was a very average golfer back in the mid-80s. I have nothing to brag about with my golf game. I remember one time hitting a really long putt and feeling pretty good about myself, but otherwise there’s nothing spectacular about my game.

I played for about four seasons, and then when the cost of playing 18 holes nearly doubled at my local courses, I stopped playing, because I wanted to make sure that whatever money I had,went to raising my kids and supporting my family.

Now I’m 61, and thinking about getting back into golf. I’m not looking for fame or fortune. I just like being out on a well manicured course enjoying nature and hitting a little white ball around. Typically I would take my scorecard and put it in my back pocket, because that wasn’t so important to me.

Because of some unexpected changes in my life two years ago, I moved to the Hartford area of the State of Connecticut. The PGA comes out here and plays in Cromwell, and so as you might suspect, there’s a lot of country clubs and courses available to me. In fact, I have found that membership rates are fairly reasonable, and that’s perhaps because there are so many courses in such a tight proximity to one another. Competition must be pretty fierce for them.

I discovered, when I was looking around for a golf supply store, (not wanting to rely solely on a store at a particular country club, because their inventory tends to be a bit sparse and pricey) that within 4 miles of my house, there is an outlet store that buys and sells clubs from all over the world. 

Talk about equipment overload! I went in there yesterday and was floored by the amount of clubs of every brand shape and size imaginable,  stacked floor to ceiling all over the building! Literally, crates of clubs were being carted in from the back room, by a half a dozen staff members, just from that particular days worth of transacted product! 

My temptation is to believe that because they have so many clubs and so much equipment, that their prices would be a lot lower than buying new (and they were), and if it wasn’t for the turn off of seeing adhesive backed stickers on the shafts of all these clubs, and the work it’s going to take to remove those stickers; and a lack of knowledge about what kind of clubs to buy, I would’ve come home with a set yesterday.

 So here’s my list.......Feel free to tear it apart, or make any recommendations you think are appropriate for this old guy, who probably isn’t going to be a very good golfer, but just wants to enjoy the game.

Golfing Supplies:

-Shoes

-Bag

-Tee’s

-Balls

-Towel

-Glove

-Head Covers

 

Clubs:

-Pitching Wedge (48 degree)

-Gap Wedge (52 degree)

-Sand Wedge (56 degree)

-Lob Wedge (64 degree)

-Putter

-Driver 

-H2 Hybrid

-H3 Hybrid

-Irons (1,3,5,7,9)

 

Brands:

-Taylormade

-Titleist 

-Callaway

-Cleveland

 

Materials:

-Forged Irons

-Steel Shafts 

[Patch]

All the items/brands you listed are quality stuff. Of course we all have our favorites, but in the end it still boils down to individual choice. 

I know an older golfer who took up the game recently. He was away from it for 10 years. He bought a bag, 8 used irons, an old cheap putter, and an old Nickent 4 wood. He plays quite well with his "short" bag. He plays an e7 Bridgestone ball. He plays in tennis shoes. He trollies his clubs in a Clicgear. 

However, his equipment and scores don't mean much to him. He is just out there to enjoy the fresh air, relaxation, conversation, and get some walking in. 

[Club Rat]

1 hour ago, soupy1957 said:

Golfing Supplies:

-Shoes  A good pair that fits can be purchased online for under $50

-Bag     Buy a cart bag, it holds more essentials, online $60 - $100

-Tee’s  Tees are usually free at most courses.

-Balls   Again, buy online. Used are least expensive.

-Towel  Any old hand towel will work

-Glove  Find any generic/synthetic golf that fits properly. Some have better wear, some are better quality.

-Head Covers  Again, buy online. Used are least expensive.

The clubs are and brands you list are also sold online, do a search on Ebay for price reference.
You should stay away from forged irons, they are for high skilled players mainly.
Older players generally prefer regular flex or senior flex shafts. Graphite has less vibration, better for aging hands.
You should be able to find clubs less than five years old priced reasonably lower.
The older the clubs, the lower the price in sets.
Look at cavity back models, they are designed for lower skilled players.

I would suggest starting with a set of irons (5 through wedges), a driver, a 5-wood and a putter.
No need to buy clubs you may not use.

[soupy1957]

Appreciate the initial feedback folks......keep it coming!!

Of the brand name clubs listed, is there an order of expense? In other words, if you had to reorganize that list according to price, how would you list them, most expensive to least? 

The reason I ask, is so that I can gauge the pricing “as marked,” at the Outlet store that is near me, that sells “used” stuff. 

Edited February 7, 2018 by soupy1957

[DeadMan]

Titleist is generally the most expensive of those 4.

TaylorMade and Callaway tend to be slightly cheaper than Titleist, but roughly the same as each other.

Cleveland is generally the cheapest.

TaylorMade and Callaway tend to produce a lot of different clubs, so they'll also be cheaper the further you go back. 3+ year old TaylorMade clubs are going to be pretty cheap at this point. That won't necessarily be true for Titleist clubs.

As far as your setup, don't get an iron lower than a 5 iron. You probably won't be able to hit it that well. I would suggest a matching set of clubs 5-PW or 5-AW (or GW, but most sets call them AWs I believe). I would suggest a game improvement set, and a store rep should be able to point you in the right direction. Or you can google the name of the model to figure that out. Generally, the bigger the iron face, the more of a game improvement club it is.

Don't get a wedge over 60 degrees. I think you would be fine with just a 56 degree or 58 degree sand wedge. Get a lot of bounce for your sand wedge: it will help with the sand.

I'm torn on whether you should get a driver, woods, or hybrids. I didn't really a use driver until I was playing golf for about 6 months. I got great use out of a 4 hybrid for a long time, personally. A used hybrid will also generally be cheaper than a used driver or woods. I would suggest grabbing a 3 or 4 hybrid to start and then figuring out if you want to put more money into your golf equipment. I would suggest hybrids over woods at this point. Hybrids are more versatile and easier to hit. I would suggest getting a driver after hybrids, personally. So if you want something other than a 3 or 4 hybrid, grab a driver as well.

[soupy1957]

Great stuff, DeadMan!!! I never owned a Hybrid........had a Driver, and a full set of Irons and a 64 degree Wedge in my original bag (LOVED Wedge shots to the green from 100 yards out).

Edited February 7, 2018 by soupy1957

[DeadMan]

9 minutes ago, soupy1957 said:

Great stuff, DeadMan!!! I never owned a Hybrid........had a Driver, and a full set of Irons and a 64 degree Wedge in my original bag (LOVED Wedge shots to the green from 100 yards out).

There's not a ton of people that use a 64 degree anymore (ever? - I didn't play golf in the 80s or early 90s). I love my 60 degree lob wedge, personally. I'm not sure I would get much use out of a 64 degree except on greenside shots. 60 degree will probably give you a club that goes somewhere between 60 and 80 yards with a full swing, 64 degree will probably be between 50 and 70 (rough guesses here, could be less). You'll get a lot more use out of the 64.

If you're looking to save money, I would suggest just a 56 or 58 degree wedge.

Edited February 7, 2018 by DeadMan

[soupy1957]

Given the fact that the “Outlet” prices are a lot less than I’d pay for “new” clubs, it isn’t so much a “cost” thing for me. 

 

 The biggest issue for me is going to be that I have not had my clubs “fitted,” and I don’t know what they would charge me to spend time trying to tell me what size clubs I should have; so on the one hand, cost is not important when it comes to the clubs, but I don’t want to put a lot of added cost into this. 

 

 

[DeadMan]

Assuming you're about average size and arm length, standard clubs should be fine for you for now.

[Foot Wedge]

7 minutes ago, soupy1957 said:

The biggest issue for me is going to be that I have not had my clubs “fitted,” and I don’t know what they would charge me to spend time trying to tell me what size clubs I should have; so on the one hand, cost is not important when it comes to the clubs, but I don’t want to put a lot of added cost into this. 

What could help is getting a set of Ping irons.  They use a color code system that works as a static fitting based on your height and wrist to floor measurements.  You can look it up online so you know what you need before going to the store. That way you can get a set that is better suited for you.  Not to mention that their G series irons are basically the standard for game improvement clubs.

[soupy1957]

< is 5' 11" tall, and average build of 235.

Will add "Ping" to my list of possibilities, but will admit that I'm kinda leaning towards Titleist.  The hardest choice for me, will be a Driver.......they are so dang BIG these days!!  I don't know how to approach all the choices out there......

[Piz]

You don't have to get everything at once or stick with whatever you get.  Put your set together a piece at a time.  If you don't like big-ass drivers...don't get one.  If you can cover 50, 100, 150, and 200 yards...the rest is just guess work.  

[soupy1957]

The difference THIS time is, that I don’t have to “sneak purchase” the clubs and accessories, and wrap and address them “to: Steve / from: Santa” like I did before, and act surprised on Christmas morning!!

[soupy1957]

So the Salesman has my list........

I asked him to "build a set like you were selecting the clubs for yourself.  Lowest price possible, for the best possible club(s).

Let's see what he comes up with!!

Meanwhile, a sanity check was done today, when I took the wife the "Golfer's Warehouse" and she was able to see the costs of "new" product.  I'd venture that to buy "new" would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $4,000.00 for everything.

The Outlet, maybe $2,000.00.

What's not to love about that?!

[Fkstang]

I just got a custome fit set, ping irons 4 -sw, 3 and 5 wood and an m4 driver for less than $2,000. You may want to shop around. 

If you think your going to enjoy the game at all get custom fit. Otherwise you may find yourself replacing your used clubs in a year or two. 

 

[The Hook Meister]

It's not that hard really: shoes- comfort is ky you are going to be walking in them for 3 to 4 hours, Bag- figure out how much you want to spend, then look at all the bags in that price rang and pick one out that you like. Head covers- find a style you like and buy some taht go with the color of the bad. shafts - for us older golfers you want to go with graphite shafts and heads because they  are lighter and you can get a.little more club speed, tees - as log as it sticks in the ground and holds the ball up it doesn't really matter. Balls - thats a personal choice some like topflite, some like other brands that you have to figure out for yourself. Brands that depends on your budget, I like to use the net at the golf store and hit a few balls to see what I like, figure out a budget first so you won;t over spend and good lick to you.

[soupy1957]

Driving Range, here I come!!