The price for modern golf equipment is absurd

[Mr. Grumpy]

3 hours ago, anth said:

I guess my purpose in starting this thread was to see if others thought the price for new equipment was excessively high. I understand the price of everything has increased but as someone pointed out I think we’ve now crossed a threshold. And while it may make sense to sell something for whatever someone is willing to pay at some point that strategy fails over because there are just fewer and fewer people willing to pay the premium.

 

So you’ll find people prepared to pay the price because they “need” a new (insert item here) but you may exclude those buyers who were prepared to tinker with their bags, forever searching for the holy grail. At $180 I might be prepared to try a new wedge even though I don’t need it. Not so at $300. At $300 I might consider a new hybrid, fairway or driving iron. Not at $500 though.

 

It’s not a matter of can or can’t afford. It’s a question of perceived value, and I feel that currently it’s just not there. Some good tips anyway from people on how to get the best value for money.

 

And for those complaining that this topic comes up all the time - maybe just scroll on, no one’s forcing you to post 🤷🏼‍♂️

 

Well, I for one don't think they are excessively high, but I'm also not looking at $300 wedges..

[mshills]

You can get a great bag without dropping thousands with a little work and research. 
 

My driver, 4w, and 7w were built by WRX and were priced accordingly. Ouch! They will stay in my bag for a few years. I then added a Maltby 9w for less than $100. I don’t like it as much as the 425 Max FW woods, but it was $90! Ping had a long (and totally understandable) backlog on irons, so I went with a fully custom Sub 70 build which I will also keep in my bag for a few years. Got lucky and found a LAB putter in my odd specs on the outlet, so that saved me some cheese. That putter is going nowhere!

 

If the equipment side of the game is where the fun is for ya, yeah, it’s going to be costly. But it’s totally possible to get set up right once — buy once, cry once, and that bag can stay static for at least 3 or 4 years. 

[DB Golf]

23 hours ago, Driver Eight said:

Wedges hurt the most as for any level player it's easy to see how much difference it makes to have new/fresh grooves on shots inside 100 yards.  Double whammy as buying used is only worthwhile for mint condition which isn't that much of a discount anymore.  The rest of the bag you can at least make the case of a useful lifespan of 4-5 years minimum.

For me, there’s no better deal out there than buying new Maltby wedge heads every couple of years and installing them myself. 

[Tzoid]

Just remember when you see the Pro's with Manufacturers logos and clubs in their Staff Bag, Cap, Shirt that the cost of the clubs the consumer buys pays that Professional literally

hundreds of thousands of dollars.  The cost of golf equipment pays for the pro endorsements, marketing. 

[mister2cool]

Golfers believe in pixie dusts and many would rather pay up for new clubs hoping they could buy a better game, rather than spending time and effort to actually improve. I admit that I went through that phase too until I finally realized no arrow would save the Indian who can't hold the bow straight. Then I went on quest for the opposite trying to see how cheap a bag I could put together with respectable, albeit older equipment but work on improving my swing instead. It was my way to give the middle finger to the industry for all the fake marketing and ridiculous product release cycles and more and more outrageous prices.  

Yes I agree the the prices have become absurd. Bottom line is that they can charge whatever they want, I don't have to buy if I don't think the money is well spent. My current bag of nearly all PXG were put together earlier this year for right around $1,000 all in, and driver\wood\hybrid\irons were all brand new. Putter is like new. I have been stock piling wedges since those went past $100 mark whenever I come across wedges I like in like new condition for next to nothing. They are getting harder and harder to find but you'll be surprised how cheap they can be. Before the PXG's, I was perfectly happy using a 2 generation old TM driver\woods with Srixon irons that were ~$400. 

Today I don't even care how much these new TM\Callaway\Titleist\PING offerings go for because they are completely irrelevant to me. Sure there are cool tech in there but the performance gain is so marginal, if any at all, that it's become more of a marketing game. Clubs seem to have become less and less durable with all the new tech introduced. Plus it's good marketing because, well, you'll have to buy new clubs when old ones break. 

If you got the money to throw around or the itch that you have to have the latest toy, by all means go for it. 🤷‍♂️ Those guys exist and that's what's allowing the manufactures to push the price level to these levels. 

[mshills]

7 hours ago, mister2cool said:

Golfers believe in pixie dusts and many would rather pay up for new clubs hoping they could buy a better game, rather than spending time and effort to actually improve.

 

I do not believe many golfers really think it's possible to buy a better game.  There is a large segment of golfers for whom the equipment side of things, trying new stuff, buying and selling, researching, testing, etc. is a huge part of the fun of the hobby.  For some, it's the main part, and that is totally fine.  No value judgment here, and I don't think you should accuse someone who gets their enjoyment of the game from the equipment side of trying to buy a better game, or that those guys aren't also putting in the time and work to get better.

[Bad9]

Here in NE Canada that $60k truck is more like $80 and 75% of the ones here (we have 5-6 months of winter with lots of snow) never go off the paved highway or a well-maintained gravel road. I had zero issues using a Mazda 2 as my primary, year round car with good winter tires.

[Cwing]

As OEM prices increase, other options such as Sub70 have space to grow, build, thrive.
 

High OEM pricing should also allow for growth of components, club builders, etc.

Edited December 29, 2022 by Cwing

[mister2cool]

1 hour ago, mshills said:

 

I do not believe many golfers really think it's possible to buy a better game.  There is a large segment of golfers for whom the equipment side of things, trying new stuff, buying and selling, researching, testing, etc. is a huge part of the fun of the hobby.  For some, it's the main part, and that is totally fine.  No value judgment here, and I don't think you should accuse someone who gets their enjoyment of the game from the equipment side of trying to buy a better game, or that those guys aren't also putting in the time and work to get better.

 

Easy tiger. No one is accusing anyone of anything. I highly doubt the segment of golfers " for whom the equipment side of things, trying new stuff, buying and selling, researching, testing, etc. is a huge part of the fun of the hobby" is as large as you might think. Of course I didn't mean that most golfers do not try to improve, but how often do you hear someone say oh I never go the range or I don't have time to practice.

 

Surely there are ones who want to try out different gears simply for the sake of trying but that is the minority. We buy and try things because we are searching for something that would work better. That is true even for the biggest tinkerers among us and there is nothing wrong with that. Manufactures are feeding into that desire to find something better and ran away with it. When new equipment is advertised as longer and more forgiving, plenty of us drink the koolaid and jump on the band wagon. 

 

 

[Trouble_shooter]

Its absurd whats going on in the golf industry as far as pricing goes. Ive owned 3 sets of irons in 25 years of golf. In my mind anyhow, nothing will take away from practice, and im competetive enough that I want to rely on what im playing. Being a machinist/welder, the golf industry is running away with prices because they know people will pay it. Until that stops, neither will they. I still have my original taylormade M1 that I bought on clearance for $250.00. Think about how many drivers taylormade has dropped since then, its absurd. Its not about telling somebody to find another hobby or sport. Golf is a great game that I absolutely cannot wait to play with my son when he gets old enough. Dont wave your finger at the consumer, wave it at the companies that are gouging people through outright greed.

[propman]

1 hour ago, Trouble_shooter said:

Its absurd whats going on in the golf industry as far as pricing goes. Ive owned 3 sets of irons in 25 years of golf. In my mind anyhow, nothing will take away from practice, and im competetive enough that I want to rely on what im playing. Being a machinist/welder, the golf industry is running away with prices because they know people will pay it. Until that stops, neither will they. I still have my original taylormade M1 that I bought on clearance for $250.00. Think about how many drivers taylormade has dropped since then, its absurd. Its not about telling somebody to find another hobby or sport. Golf is a great game that I absolutely cannot wait to play with my son when he gets old enough. Dont wave your finger at the consumer, wave it at the companies that are gouging people through outright greed.

Bingo.

[nsxguy]

1 hour ago, Trouble_shooter said:

Its absurd whats going on in the golf industry as far as pricing goes. Ive owned 3 sets of irons in 25 years of golf. In my mind anyhow, nothing will take away from practice, and im competetive enough that I want to rely on what im playing. Being a machinist/welder, the golf industry is running away with prices because they know people will pay it. Until that stops, neither will they. I still have my original taylormade M1 that I bought on clearance for $250.00. Think about how many drivers taylormade has dropped since then, its absurd. Its not about telling somebody to find another hobby or sport. Golf is a great game that I absolutely cannot wait to play with my son when he gets old enough. Dont wave your finger at the consumer, wave it at the companies that are gouging people through outright greed.

 

Well, I get your angst, but without knowing a company's costs and sales figures, you can't possibly know whether or not they're gouging anybody.

 

But, as mentioned earlier in the thread, given (roughly) the rate of inflation over the last 60 years, golf-related items (now) are considerably lower-priced than they "should" be.

[Golfinfloridaafter40]

On 12/22/2022 at 10:13 PM, MtlJeff said:

Buy DTC brands like Sub70 or New Level or PXG or etc.....Great pricing and their stuff works. 

This is the correct answer

[EddieEdwards]

If you want to do it on the cheap, you can.  I have 2 friends that have sub $100 bags.  One of them is mostly hand me downs from me and other friends for nothing. The other bought a bag full of clubs off craiglist for $75 because we needed a 4th for a scramble.  We all can find clubs that we once played for pennies on the dollar used.

 

New clubs you'll have to go DTC, last years models/ new old stock.  Buy a driver for the shaft, sell the head...