The Average Serious Golfer Spends Nearly $900 A Year On Golf Clubs

[Tom_Doak]

This according to some firm called Golf Datatech, as printed in the equipment issue of GOLF DIGEST.


$900 a year?  How many here spent that much on clubs last year?  I am just trying to get a sense of who they think the "average serious golfer" is, and how many of them there might be.


Judging from golf equipment companies' stock prices, I'd guess there are not millions of golfers who fit the definition, and this is more of a wishful-thinking stat from the equipment industry.

[Jay Mickle]

The average golfer might be better than average if he spent the same dollars on lessons,

[George Pazin]

Note to self: don't believe anything Golf Datatech says...

[Ally Mcintosh]

I'm 42 years old and I've owned only two second hand sets of irons through my entire (adult) life.

I probably average about €25 a year on golf clubs.

[Ruediger Meyer]

Well, I regripped my clubs last year. That was $200. The year before: $0. The year before that: $0.


I don't know anyone that spends $900 each and every year on clubs.

[Ryan Kelly]

Tom, I'm not sure if I fit their profile, but I consider myself a serious golfer.  I'm fortunate enough to be a member at a private club, take at least 2 golf trips a year and play as much as I can when I'm out of town for business.  With that said, I buy a new set of irons every 2-3 years along with a new driver about the same frequency.  After that, I add something every year whether it be a new hybrid, fairway wood or wedge.

[Dwight Phelps]

How is this average calculated (I realize that we'll probably never know).  I have met golfers that swap out drivers every year and sometimes more often than that.  But wouldn't a average also include disproportionately large purchases and thus increase.  Are they just taking data for total club sales and dividing by the estimated number of serious golfers?  It seems like any and every statistic to speak to this would be filled with errors.


FWIW, I, like others, have never spent this much on clubs in a year.  But then again, I've gotten new clubs using men's club scrip and employment benefit programs over the past few years.  I'd assume these count towards the totals even if I don't think of it as spending $200 on a club or something.

[Jon Cavalier]

I hate spending money on clubs that could be spent on courses and travel. I doubt I've spent $900 on clubs in the past decade.

[Andrew Carr]

I'm playing an almost complete 909 Titleist set that I bought in 2008.  I just bought new wedges last year after putting probably 500 rounds on the old ones.  I do, however, know guys that spend well more than $900 per year on equipment, but I don't think all "serious golfers" or even most spend that much annually.  If the phrase were "Golf Equipment" I might believe the figure is closer to that, especially with the cost range finders, GPS and other gadgets.


Separately though, with the cost of driver around $500, it's not hard to spend $900...

[Greg Holland]

Could be skewed by a few big spenders -- saw an article recently claiming that the owner of the new high end equipment company, Bob? Parsons, said he was spending over $250,000 a year on equipment before he founded the PXG company - basically buying every new club that came out. 

[Andrew Carr]

Could be skewed by a few big spenders -- saw an article recently claiming that the owner of the new high end equipment company, Bob? Parsons said he was spending over $250,000 a year on equipment before he founded the PXG company - basically buying every new club that came out.

or just buying two sets of these...


http://www.golf.com/golf-gold/bentley-making-really-expensive-golf-clubs-2016

[Michael Graham]

Since October 2014.

Titleist 714 AP2
Nike Vapor Pro driver
Nike Vapor Flex 5 wood
Scotty Cameron X5
Miura 54 & 58 degree wedges
Scotty Cameron Golo 5
Scotty Cameron Teryllium Newport
Adams Tight Lies 3 wood
Titleist 716 AP2
Titleist 915F 3 wood
Titleist 816 H1
Adams XTD driver
Titleist 915D2

Thanks to all that new equipment my handicap plummeted...by 1.

[John Kirk]

I spent over $900 in 2014.  I bought 13 new clubs, partly because the USGA had ruled most of my 8-10 year old clubs illegal.  A friend and I played in the new USGA two man best ball event last spring.

I don't spend very much on clubs, but I know people who buy lots of clubs because they enjoy that.

[Jason Topp]

A high end Driver and a putter gets you pretty close to $900. 

I do not see that cost as a barrier to people playing the game.  Most people buy such equipment because they want to do so not because they need to do so to play the game.

Used clubs are pretty cheap and probably as good as anything new.  According to a second-hand story Vijay Singh was in town a couple of years ago and without an equipment contract.  He bought Rocketballz drivers from a local second-hand shop after spending an afternoon hitting a bunch of possible drivers.  You can get those on EBay for under $100. 

[BCrosby]

...which means half of serious golfers spend more than $900 a year on clubs?


I must hang out with a bunch of cheapo's. I'll be sure to point that out next time we play.


Bob

[John Kavanaugh]

What's the big deal, I spent $900 last year on balls. Not that I keep track but only 1.8 balls per round sounds like a gross underestimation.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I bought a driver and three wood and. Scotty Cameron putter. Not sure what they cost. This was my first club purchase in a few years. I do know guys that buy clubs every year.

[Sean_A]

Tom


You have seen my spanners...they aren't worth $900! That said, just the other day I started to contemplate that it may be time for a new driver (mine was bought used a dozen years ago) hybrid (same as driver) and perhaps a 5 wood (don't have one). 


Ciao   

[David Wuthrich]

Not a chance, would rather spend the money traveling the world to play all of Tom's courses!!!

[Jeff_Brauer]

Wonder if that factors in serious club throwers......

[John Kavanaugh]

Not a chance, would rather spend the money traveling the world to play all of Tom's courses!!!

Pure rater speak. The longer one is on a magazine panel the less they spend on what keeps the magazine in business.

[John Kavanaugh]

What's the big deal, I spent $900 last year on balls. Not that I keep track but only 1.8 balls per round sounds like a gross underestimation.

I haven't paid for balls this century.  They're like Golfweek. Hang around in certain places or at certain events and they're always giving it to you for free.

Squeezing a new ball out of a sleeve is the best $5 thrill left in my sordid life.

[Peter Pallotta]

GD has been on a great run, what with its recent world's Top 100 rankings and now this snapshot of the "average, serious golfer".  Double plus good, I say! 

[Matt Kardash]

I am 33 and have been using my dad's Ping Eye 2's that he bought in the early 80s since I was 13. When I was in my early 20s I got a driver and 3 wood from my club pro. He sold me his Callaway Hawkeye woods because the shaft was too stiff for him...but it was perfect for my 120 mph swing speed. When I was about 15 I got a Scotty Cameron putter, which I still use today. Needless to say, I haven't spend much on golf clubs!

[JJShanley]

Titleist 910 D2, bought used in Edinburgh in 2014, with shafts on either side of the Atlantic that allow me to just unscrew the head.
Titleist 910F, likewise.
Titleist 910H, likewise but bought new.Mizuno Comp-EZ irons that I bought in 2001, freshman year of college.  Reshafted in 2014.  Will buy new Titleists when I graduate and have a job.
Titleist 2005-era MBs, bought used in Edinburgh, June 2012.

Titleist SM4 wedges, bought new on clearance in 2014.
Odyssey White Hot, bought new in January 2013.


Happy with all that for now.  Would rather spend money on actually playing.