Who bought or is buying new clubs for 2008?

[C. Squier]

John, I'll grant you that they aren't particularly ugly (not nearly as ugly as Ping Eye2 was, certainly)  But the price sure is ugly!  Are those really $600 better than these?

http://www.diamondtour.com/grand-hawk-xp22-4pw-rh-golf-clubs-p-1969.html

They should be cheaper.....after all, they didn't have to pay for any of the R&D, marketing or Goodwill that Callaway did to become the brand name they are.  There are many great "component" companies, Nakashima comes immediately to mind, but they develop their own clubs.  Knockoffs are just plain stealing and only makes real OEM designs more expensive because the manufacturers need to waste money on paying IP lawyers to chase the knockoffs down.  Not to mention the unregulated labor used to make them. 

Sorry, didn't mean to turn it into a rant.....but ditch the knockoffs and buy the real set. 

[John Kavanaugh]

For one thing my local pro always beats the discount house price and for two thing I will never buy a knock off.  I had some garage douche for brains local make me a driver once and the head spun off during a tournament.  No ebay for me either.

[Garland Bayley]

For one thing my local pro always beats the discount house price and for two thing I will never buy a knock off.  I had some garage douche for brains local make me a driver once and the head spun off during a tournament.  No ebay for me either.

So how good is your pro? Is there any reason he can't build you really well designed clubs like Wishons for less than those Callaways that fit your swing? My pro built me a couple of hybrids (not Wishons, but not knock offs either) and I went out and aced a 180 yarder with one of them.

[Richard Boult]

Did anyone hear the comment by Johnny Miller in yesterday's telecast regarding VJ's more upright swing change and subsequent change in club lie (from 2* flat to 1* upright)?  Along these lines, I decided to buy new clubs this year after playing my first 3 years with used Ping Zing2 irons and Orlimar metals. My irons were 2* flat. I decided to buy new Ping i10's right off the shelf that were regular lie, regular length, regular grip size, stiff shaft and figured I could just make a small adjustment in my swing or ball position to accommodate the new lie, length, and offset. Although I had trouble digging in the heel at first, I've since made adjustments and am hitting 'em square. I've now knocked my index down from 4 to 3. Followed this purchase up with a new G10 driver, then G10 4W, then G10 3h (all off the shelf without fitting or prior use). Although I understand the value of proper fitting, my feeling is that our bodies are very capable of hitting a stationary ball off a tee or fairway with just about any club. The key is how you score on and around the green.

[Steve Lang]

 
B Richard, you've played three years and you knocked down your index from a 4 to a 3!  Imagine what you do if you got properly fitted.. you'd be a Plus 1..

Re Callaway.. i remember reading once a long time ago in the WSJ that in the beginning,  sly ol' Ely bought $7 heads from china, put them on $3 shafts, with a $1 grip and sold them for $500, and discounted to $450..

ahhh, capitalism, that's what makes america great..  and the price of golf has never been the same.. for many folks

[Criss Titschinger]

There are many great "component" companies, Nakashima comes immediately to mind, but they develop their own clubs.

And Wishon, SMT, Infiniti and others.  There's rea$on$ Wishon's (and others) stuff doesn't fair as well in the Golf Digest lists.  The fact that there's any Wishon stuff in there is amazing.  Matched with the right shaft and fit to the golfer, Wishon's clubs are just as good as any.  Don't mean to toot his horn, but plenty of my playing partners play his clubs (I have a set of irons) and not only swear by them, but they play pretty well too (well, except for me, but it's not the clubs' fault).  What's unfortunate is that most consumers group legit companies like those mentioned above with the clones and that couldn't be further from the truth.

To the topic on hand, I bought a Alpha Rx LowPro 4 hybrid (http://www.alphagolfclubs.com/products/Hybrids/rx-low-pro-hybrid) that's been working great so far on the range.  I plan on getting a 3 hybrid as well, possibly a 5 that I'll swap in and out with the 5 iron depending on conditions.

[Mark Pearce]

John, I'll grant you that they aren't particularly ugly (not nearly as ugly as Ping Eye2 was, certainly)  But the price sure is ugly!  Are those really $600 better than these?

http://www.diamondtour.com/grand-hawk-xp22-4pw-rh-golf-clubs-p-1969.html

They should be cheaper.....after all, they didn't have to pay for any of the R&D, marketing or Goodwill that Callaway did to become the brand name they are.  There are many great "component" companies, Nakashima comes immediately to mind, but they develop their own clubs.  Knockoffs are just plain stealing and only makes real OEM designs more expensive because the manufacturers need to waste money on paying IP lawyers to chase the knockoffs down.  Not to mention the unregulated labor used to make them. 

Sorry, didn't mean to turn it into a rant.....but ditch the knockoffs and buy the real set. 

Whilst I strongly agree with most of that (as an IP lawyer I guess I ought to) there was a report here last month (on the BBC, so it has at least some credibility) that the knock off foundries and club head making factories in China pay their employees rather more than a number of the big brands.

[Larry_Rodgers]

Order yourself a set of Hickories. Play them for practice on your local par 3 and you will develop smooth swing skills that may delay your selection of latest and greatest.

[Patrick Hodgdon]

I'm with David...

As a college student/caddy my set has slowly evolved but not much. I got a steal on my driver, my sister won her school's raffle at their golf fundraiser which is how I got the putter, and I picked up my Mizuno blades for $150 used. I got the wedges as demos from the club I caddy at around 60% off. The fact that I only play once a week doesn't allow myself to justify buying anything new as much as I want to. If I could I'd upgrade to a combo set of Mizuno MP-30's/37's and maybe new cleveland black pearl cg12 wedges.

My Set consists of the following:

Driver: Taylor Made R7 Quad TourPreferred with a Tour-500X Mitubishi Rayon Extra Stiff Shaft (Easily my best ebay purchase ever at $163 new, retais at something like $700)
4 Wood: 17* Sonartec
2 Hybrid/Iron: Mizuno Fli-Hi 18*
3-PW: Mp-14's with Rifle 6.5 Extra Stiff Shafts
Gap Wedge: 52* Titleist Vokey Black Nickel
Sand/Lob Wedge: 58* Titleist Vokey Oil Can
Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Design 1.5

Ok well after having seen some really good putts out on the course by someone with a Yes! putter I decided to do a little research on the clubs. The videos of the technology were convincing. Then I tried my buddies Yes putter out on the putting green and loved the feel of it and the roll. So... I caved in and I bought a Tracy II on Ebay and can't wait until it gets here. I haven't bought a club in a while so I'm like a kid on Christmas Eve waiting to get my present.