Are there really people here spending $600 on a new driver?

[MtlJeff]

6 hours ago, boggyman said:

You mean people actually listen to him?? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

they USED to! lol

[subrew]

1 hour ago, boggyman said:

Of course or they wouldn’t be on the market at that price.  Has the price of materials went up that much? Look at irons how  the price has increased over the last few years. It’s ridiculous!! 

 

The price of basic raw ingredients for composites manufacturing has gone up tremendously.  Basic raw ingredients like cloth, resin etc.  Everytime you hear about a chemical plant explosion/fire outside Houston, Texas, it's likely something in the resin or base petroleum world.  They store this stuff in Texas because they have the most lax regulations.  When things go well, we all get to enjoy cheap equipment.  When things don't go well, like fires, explosions, floods etc., they basically don't seem to go well every 10 months or so, raw ingredient pricing goes through the roof.  The trade journals try to put a good spin on it, but it is basically "another chemical plant goes down in Texas, expect raw ingredient pricing to go up again."

 

I deal with large pre-fabricated composite structures in my day job.  The cost of a barrel of resin has more than doubled over the past few years, when you could get it.  Same with cloth.  Remember all those tariffs on non US sourced goods?  Well, we simply don't mfg enough raw ingredients in the US to support the fabrication industry we have.  So we pay tariffs and pass it along.  Or we try to get inline for the US sourced goods, that are more expensive.

 

The real trick during and post covid is to have a mix.  You can't have your eggs all in one supplier/vendor pocket anymore.  Because at any given time they will announce lead times have gone from 2 weeks to 20 weeks.  LOL, sorry, we can't fulfill the 27 open purchase orders you have with us.  

 

With all the specialty resins and cloth being used for drivers, they likely aren't being effected quite as much as the shop making boats and swimming pools.  But a drum of resin was a sought after commodity for a long time over the past couple years.   We had large orders sitting for weeks waiting for drums of resin to arrive.

Edited August 24, 2023 by subrew

[Roejye]

I have. I bought my driver new at a discount when the sim2 came out. I eventually bought my go-to cheap aftermarket shaft, then l got fitted, and ended up spending $300 on a shaft. I generally buy new to me, but I had decided to treat myself, golf is my main hobby and I will allow myself 1 big purchase a year.

[mantan]

23 hours ago, DoubleDawg22 said:

Many years ago I worked summers at a high end course - most super/ultra/mega rich people had cheaper/economical buying habits from the cars they drove and clubs they used.
 

It took me awhile to realize/accept that the WITBs I saw while cleaning clubs was often 2-3 generations behind current and basic gear. 
 

Obviously there are exceptions and skill level/passion influences a persons gear choices. 
 

Contrast this with my drastically lower income/net worth but wildly larger monthly/yearly expenditures on clubs/bags/shoes/tech!

 

I'm not sure I draw the same conclusion out of this that you're inferring.

 

Those very rich people likely spent large sums of money on some passion in their life that wasn't golf. The fact they were happy without the newest and priciest equipment isn't some great lesson to be learned by the rest of us.  

[gsrjc]

I’m sure there are folks doing that. 

[glm]

Of course it's worth $600. It's made in China

[st1800e]

On 8/23/2023 at 12:48 PM, ace919 said:

I'm all for buying the latest and greatest equipment if that's your cup of tea. But there really is no evidence that the price tag is correlated with performance, so I'm more so curious if people buying the club actually think they will hit the ball straighter and further than, let's say, a 2011 Cobra Long Tom. 

People replace things for many reasons: just to have a new one , and some to brag about it; new clothes, to be fashionable, even though the old clothes are not worn out and perfectly serviceable; a new car every 2-3 years, because?; the latest iPhone, even when the old one is working just fine, etc.etc.etc.  
 

In the case of golf clubs I’m sure there are many that buy just to get a new one, some thinking that it’ll help their game, but their handicap never goes down. Some get properly fitted and do find some performance benefits, I’d think those are in the minority.  
 

We’re a consumer culture and we consume…

[puttingmatt]

I use two bags at two locations, and the clubs are always being swapped out for newer current models. Yes, the MSRP on this Paradym driver with tax is around $600. But that is just incentive to find and pay less for it.  With a two times trade allowance from a Callaway boost I have a  $400 all in cost. 

Also, look for deals on all clubs when shopping, no need to pay full price.

Shop for your best deal, 

[R5Two]

I didn't even read the rest of the comments, the answer is yes. After sourcing for my ZX5 LS 9.5 with Blue ventus Vel 6TX it was around $615. Most important club in my bag period. 

[Mike_Honcho]

On 8/23/2023 at 11:50 AM, tatertot said:

This will not end well ...

 

[DoubleDawg22]

53 minutes ago, mantan said:

 

I'm not sure I draw the same conclusion out of this that you're inferring.

 

Those very rich people likely spent large sums of money on some passion in their life that wasn't golf. The fact they were happy without the newest and priciest equipment isn't some great lesson to be learned by the rest of us.  

Yea I don’t know what their spending habits outside of golf were like. 

I also don’t think they were all happy. It’s an observation versus a great lesson - if it was i’d be their worst student given how much I spend!

[byoshio82]

Depends on if the gains warrant changing drivers. If it’s a big jump in carry, ball speed then for me it’s likely I’d pull the trigger but I’d definitely try to find a deal or reach out to some contacts to get a deal on them. 

[roundersmitty]

I am waiting patiently for new driver models to be released so this year's release drops in price to $600 

[boggyman]

9 hours ago, SollyinGA said:

You have to also throw in the money for logistics, R&D, sponsorships, graphic artist, advertising. I know it seems ridiculous, but I can somewhat see it.

Key word, somewhat! I can see it as well but it’s still ridiculous. I recently found a m5 Tour in new condition I used when it was a new product. Put a shaft I’d had stashed and found my old flame again. New is definitely not always better, but that’s just me. 

Edited August 25, 2023 by boggyman

[st1800e]

9 minutes ago, boggyman said:

New is definitely not always better,

Same with everything.  

[Kai Slater]

7 hours ago, puttingmatt said:

I use two bags at two locations, and the clubs are always being swapped out for newer current models. Yes, the MSRP on this Paradym driver with tax is around $600. But that is just incentive to find and pay less for it.  With a two times trade allowance from a Callaway boost I have a  $400 all in cost. 

Also, look for deals on all clubs when shopping, no need to pay full price.

Shop for your best deal, 

What is this about a two-times trade allowance?  Where is this deal available?

[bvanlieu]

Full Retail is for suckers! The fine people at Callaway want to give me 2X on trade in, my Paradym cost me < $100.

 

Never mind how much it cost me to buy those clubs I traded in...nope. That never happened. The bill was < $100. That's all that matters 😄

 

 @Kai Slater check out their main web site, the deal is for Paradym equipment through 9/18 or so.  They ran this in June as well.

 

 

[bcjim]

On 8/23/2023 at 3:44 PM, tippethor said:

I would never fork out $600 for a new driver. Just ordered a TSR4 with gen4 black tx for $480 🥳😂

Did you order it layaway?

 

Or are you hoping they won't notice you transposed the 8 and 4?

[Tdsjfb]

Troll central. Irony is, many are spending more than $800.

[Kai Slater]

2 hours ago, bvanlieu said:

Full Retail is for suckers! The fine people at Callaway want to give me 2X on trade in, my Paradym cost me < $100.

 

Never mind how much it cost me to buy those clubs I traded in...nope. That never happened. The bill was < $100. That's all that matters 😄

 

 @Kai Slater check out their main web site, the deal is for Paradym equipment through 9/18 or so.  They ran this in June as well.

 

 

Thanks for the tip; I checked on the double trade in and it looks like I would only get $90 for my Epic Speed; x2 would bump it up to 180.  Something to think about I suppose.

[Mike_C]

5 hours ago, bvanlieu said:

Full Retail is for suckers! The fine people at Callaway want to give me 2X on trade in, my Paradym cost me < $100.

 

Never mind how much it cost me to buy those clubs I traded in...nope. That never happened. The bill was < $100. That's all that matters 😄

 

 @Kai Slater check out their main web site, the deal is for Paradym equipment through 9/18 or so.  They ran this in June as well.

 

 

I'm doing the same thing.  Going to go pick up a Paradym TD today, trading in my 2 year old set of Srixon ZX5/7 irons that I replaced earlier this year with the new models. 

 

Hope its about a wash with the 2X trade in.....its all about the cash flow......

[Jab3384]

I personally won’t. But I hope everyone else does… more things to flip through on the BST! 

[Baconator]

I blew  at least $600 on drivers that I never was fitted for because of great deals and then ended up flipping them and getting a $600US driver that showed much better flight and dispersion. Are clubs too expensive? Absolutely. Is it necessary? Not for everyone. 

[Jeff58]

When Ping introduced the i59 iron set, the justification for the $2000 price tag was that the price of shipping from China had risen dramatically. They were absolutely correct. It had tripled. From around 25 cents to around 75 cents.

 

Now we hear that the cost of shaft materials has risen dramatically. And that is also true. The retail price per gallon of a CF resin may approach $1000. However, the actual cost to someone like Fujikura has nothing to do with retail, and the amount used for a single shaft is on the order of a few tens of CC’s.

 

A low end shaft costs somewhere in the low $ teens to produce. A quality model using high tensile strength materials is high $20’s. The high end, High Modulus models are in the $30’s. You’re paying a 10x markup for your Velocore shafts. While one may still choose to commit to that from an informed standpoint, to me at least, that’s not the current situation.

[MtlJeff]

I do definitely feel bad for all of the people forced at gunpoint to buy these expensive things...

 

It's just a weird thing to complain about when there's also more low cost options than there used to be. PXG's 0211 line basically gives clubs away for free and they are perfectly good quality

[Mrgreen36]

On 8/25/2023 at 12:50 AM, st1800e said:

Same with everything.  

Except for a new woman, but they should be rotated out every few weeks before their aunt shows up and ruins everything for everyone. 

[phizzy30]

1 hour ago, Mrgreen36 said:

Except for a new woman, but they should be rotated out every few weeks before their aunt shows up and ruins everything for everyone. 

Sounds like you have some experience dealing with the crazy aunt.......

[Mrgreen36]

1 hour ago, phizzy30 said:

Sounds like you have some experience dealing with the crazy aunt.......

 

Two teenage girls.....

[mogc60]

I have no idea the $ amount of my golf bag but I know I buy what I want when I want to. Validation…I don’t need any. Some guys have bikes or boats or cars or shoes or watches, golf clubs are my impulse and passion. I don’t need the best or the most expensive but that doesn’t mean im not in my current driver $900. My last driver was $350. Same brand different model, different shaft different setup. Better maybe but am I happy with it yes. Tune your own bike 🏍 

[mvvraz]

600$ is really not that much Imo... 

 

I've been back to golf full time for almost 2 years now, and in that time I've bought the Callaway Rogue ST LS last year, and the TM Stealth 2+ this year 

 

I play close to 100 rounds per year I reckon (2x rounds on weekends, vacations are pretty much full on golf etc), and practice a fair bit too 

 

A 600$ purchase once or twice per year is pretty alright compared to green fees for example - I probably spend my driver's worth every month in green fees alone

 

The why - I just enjoy it. I don't think I'll play better with the new big stick, I just enjoy changing gear and trying new stuff