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Golf

 
author and iconoclast
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I was in Dicks's Sporting Goods Megastore the other day to buy my daughter a sleeping bag for an upcoming camping trip. While I was there, I wandered past the golf department. There were multiple displays of many different kinds of golf clubs, and the average price was about $450 for a single club. Apparently a typical golfer walks around with a sack full of these things.

So my question for golfers is:

Are you people insane?
 
Rancher
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I work in the golf industry. Yes, golfers are insane.
(No, I don't own a single club. No, I have never played a round)
 
lowercase baba
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How is this different from any other hobby? I know amateur photographers who carry around half a dozen lenses, some of which cost over $1000.

RC Airplanes can cost many hundreds of dollars.

I know a guys who every 6 months used to buy a new graphics card for his pc, just so he'd always have the most up-to-date one.

If you do any of these activities, you're saying "well, of COURSE they're spending that much - you have to to be good at it". for all the activities you don't do, you think "those folks are CRAZY!!!".
 
Ranch Hand
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Originally posted by Ernest Friedman-Hill:
So my question for golfers is:

Are you people insane?



 
Bartender
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Golfers are insane. But they are very different people from those of us who sometimes play golf. I grew up just outside St. Andrews so figure I had a good view of the various types.

There are groups of (usually elderly) golfers who hack their way round the Old Course with a bag containing six or so 30 year old clubs that are probably worthless by today's standards. They seem to enjoy themselves hugely.

Then there are groups of golfers (usually ludicrously dressed) that puff their way round with huge, gleaming bags of shiny clubs. They will agonize over shots for an age, use a new tee at every hole, regularaly change balls because the old one is "skuffed" and so on. These people almost always look really grumpy. And no wonder, their expensive kit has raised the ante; they have to play well or face the fact they've wasted vast amounts of money.

I have a whole bag of clubs I got off eBay for �75 (so just over $150). Suits my ability to the ground - better clubs would just be wasted on me. It gives me immense pleasure to hit a better shot than a playing partner who is going round with a their set of Callaways that cost more than my car.
 
Ernest Friedman-Hill
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Paul sums up my thoughts exactly. Physics being what it is, those hundreds of dollars per club are only going to buy you a small percentage; much less, I imagine, than what practice and skill will win you. Therefore I cannot imagine that the money is well spent for anyone who is not a top-tier pro. For anyone else, I'm thinking it will only reduce their enjoyment of the game by focusing their attention on how much they suck.

That's rather different than the photographer with an expensive bag of lenses, or the dollar-each colored pencils that I'm learning to use. These things give real, measurable results in the act of creating something of lasting value. You could stretch a bit to say the same thing about model planes and trains. But for a game like golf, if you don't have fun, then what have you got? Bupkus.
 
fred rosenberger
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I am not a golfer by any means. I've whacked at the ball a few times, but the clubs i have were given to me by a friend who had bought himself a new set.

You have to also remember the mental edge they can give you. You have a new, 'better' club, so you should hit the ball better.

further, if the new club via physics gives me a 1% advantage, who's to say it's not worth it?

"lasting value" - again, lasting value to WHOM? i garantee you any drawing I do with a golf pencil is going to have the same value as one done with a $1 pencil - exactly 0.

"fun" is also subjective. My wife says that golf is this:

A: "i hate this game. i hate this game. i hate this game."

B: "hey, nice shot!"

A: "i LOVE this game. i LOVE this game. i LOVE this game".

ONE nice shot in golf can sustain you for weeks. Just like fishing. You can make hundreds or thousands of casts that return nothing. Buy you'll talk about the ONE fish you caught that was THIS big for the rest of your life.
 
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I've had my clubs for about 20 yrs. They were copies of Pings, and I think I probably paid $500 for the set. A few years back I thought to myself that maybe it was time for an upgrade. So I brought a few of my clubs to the pro shop and I hit some balls with them while being monitored by a fancy swing analyzing computer, and then I hit some balls using the new "high-tech" clubs - no difference!
 
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I've actually just recently decided to take up golf. I've been to several places pricing sets and talking to friends that play. I'm buying a set for $150 at Wal-mart. I can't imagine spending more than that just starting out and not knowing if it's something I will continue pursuing or not.
 
ranger
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Actually, the best way to get really good clubs, custom fit, and be cheaper than store bought is to go to some of those "knock-off" stores. In many cases they aren't knock-offs, but actually the original design that the big name manufacturers knock off.

As far as difference between todays clubs and say even just 10 years ago is a huge difference in technology in many areas. Regardless of how you play, they are much more forgiving when you break them over your leg. They go much further when you throw them, and straighter into the lake too.

Actually, I jest, the clubs that are $400+ are only the woods (maybe have 3 in the bag). The irons and putters are cheaper. so for a set of 3iron-sand wedge can be between $100 walmart special to $600 some really nice high end, so that is 9 clubs there divided into $600, so about $66 per club there.

About th eprice of Balls, some of the cheapest golf balls are actually some of the best. Yes Titliest Pro V1s are worth their value at that high price, but some Calloway and Nike balls got high ratings in Consumer Reports and under $20 a dozen.

Mark
 
Paul Sturrock
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About th eprice of Balls, some of the cheapest golf balls are actually some of the best. Yes Titliest Pro V1s are worth their value at that high price, but some Calloway and Nike balls got high ratings in Consumer Reports and under $20 a dozen.


Its not so long ago that one ball would do you round after round. The cynic in me thinks the manufacturers noticed they could make softer balls allegedly for "spin" (how many high-handicappers can actually put spin on the ball?) and suddenly you needed a new ball after each round. Did you know they now make balls "designed" for women? I can't yet work out what on earth could be, or indeed would need to be, different when picking a ball based on the sex of the person who is going to whack it with a bit of metal?
 
Mark Spritzler
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Originally posted by Paul Sturrock:

Its not so long ago that one ball would do you round after round. The cynic in me thinks the manufacturers noticed they could make softer balls allegedly for "spin" (how many high-handicappers can actually put spin on the ball?) and suddenly you needed a new ball after each round. Did you know they now make balls "designed" for women? I can't yet work out what on earth could be, or indeed would need to be, different when picking a ball based on the sex of the person who is going to whack it with a bit of metal?



They have always had women's golf balls. Lady by Precept have been around for over 30 years at least. It is just a lower compression ball, because the majority of women have a slower club head speed, and need a lower number.

The old face Rock balls were just that Rock with no feel. You can always still use Top Rocks er Top Flite or PinnaRocks, if you want those, and cheap too.

Mark
 
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Wow, those are expensive!

My drivers and putters are typically only 9 bucks.

Oh, and I usually get angry after throwing mine in the water.
 
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