Why are brand name clubs so expensive?
[continued]
What's in it for you?
So what's left for you by playing a brand name club? I've been told many times, especially by beginners and wannabes, that playing with a $500 branded driver increases their confidence. I always just smiled - you should have seen them hit it. Ultimate reality is that a club has to suit a player's style, just recap Billy Maifair's and Tom Herron's tough decisions mentioned above. Does this have anything to do with paying top dollars for a brand club? The choice is yours.
What is your alternative?
There are many manufacturers out there who produce top quality clubs without taking part in the 'count' race. Most of the time they are called 'clone' or 'knock-off' manufacturers which is, in my eyes, very discriminating. In fact many of theses less-known-brand manufacturers use the same club components from the same small number of club head or shaft foundries that also supply the big guys. And there are only so many grip makers, and they actually supply everybody, even the club fitter in your mall. Going for clones allows you to buy the club that fits, without the promotional hype and at a fraction of the cost. Even tour players use them, in fact many actually do so even in major events. Just because they don't get paid to promote them they don't hold them up after every shot, or wear their fancy cap at the press conference. They play them because they are good for their game. I couldn't put is better than Robert Wilson, Director of Product Development at GigaGolf, who said "a beautiful golf shot does not care where you bought your clubs".
As I said, the choice is yours. Even if it comes to major developments like interchangeable weights and big clubheads, less well known manufacturers offer those as well, sometimes with a one or two month delay, but at a fraction of the brand's price. My simple advice is to go for what works for you without spending your money for somebody else's benefit. With today's tournament purses you are really not disadvantaging less known tour players, so you shouldn't have that 'charity' thought in you. Buy what's good for you, not what the brands want you to buy. It's your game, keep that in mind.
We have been dealing for years with arguably the two top clone manufacturers in the business, namely
GigaGolf
Pinemeadow Golf
and never had a single complaint. I urge you to check them out. With the money you save you can pay for some extra lessons, this would be money well spent - and it would be for YOUR benefit, not somebody elses!
Reader's feedback to this article:
Great article, thanks. To me it is like buying store brand green beans or DelMonte or Green Giant. They all are grown and processed the same. Store brand costs less due to less advertising costs. No brainer for me.
Phil Baker (email contact on file)
I can't agree with you more! I am a totally blind golfer, and I have always built my own clubs. More because I can't afford the brand name. Last year I was dealing with a swing problem and my distance. I went to my teaching pro and we took my 6 iron and a brand new Callaway out to the range. Being a shade over 6'3 tall, I make my clubs longer because it's easier on my back. I hit my iron first, starting out cold. I took 5 shots with it, switched to the Callaway and hit 5 more. My pro watched them all and said the only thing he noticed was that the more I swung the looser I looked. The distance was within 5 yards from first hit to last. So my cheap little $35 iron was in the same distance grouping of the $110 Callaway Fusion iron. So I'll keep building my own. The fun part is putting my own label on a club and hitting a great shot. I love it when someone asks what I'm playing. "Never heard of them." I don't doubt it, but I can afford the round instead of paying for the clubs over time...
Bob Kennedy (email contact on file)
Thank you for another interesting article. I found this one especially interesting as I, (like many other rec. Golfers) certainly cannot justify spending $500.00 for a single club. In fact, my whole set cost less than that! That being said, I have always wondered if a 'brand name' club would actually improve my game. I have never gone to a pro shop and asked to try one as I felt it would be under false pretenses....I could never actually buy one.
I will certainly visit those links you provided, and best of luck to you. Keep up the good work.
Bruce (email contact on file)
Just to touch base with u.....i enjoyed ur latest article on "Brand name or Clone clubs". It makes so much more sense to buy the clone ones instead of paying the extra for brand name ones. I used clone clubs for many years and have only bought brand name ones in the last few years, but they are not expensive brand name ones...i try to get them on sale.
Rob M. (email contact on file)
I just finished reading your excellent article ,re above, and could not agree more.
I was involved as a partner in a golf retail shop for seven years and our business was very successful because we concentrated on marketing and selling clubs of numerous brands at the lower end of the market, cost wise. All clubs we sold were branded, but it was obvious that most were clones of the most expensive of that time.
I have now found that after being out of the business for several years ,that as people have become more affluent and better players,in their mind, they now buy the top end clubs, but after playing with and watching them, they would play at the same level with a much cheaper set of cloned clubs, provided that they were from a reputable dealer and not the rubbish quality that are also available on the market.
Kevin Martin (email contact on file)
Thanks for your insight into this "problem?" that some golfers have with using the clones, or knockoffs - whichever name you use it boils down to the same thing, in more ways than one. As you stated, there are only so many suppliers, and they supply everybody in the assembly part of golf, the most noticeable being the major golf companies.
Another example would be the use of radio tubes (for those of us who are old enough to remember such things) by RCA Victor, Electohome, etc. 95% of all tubes used were made by Northern Electric and then rebadged to the name of the radio maker, so all the radios of the old days were pretty much the same inside.
I personally have only one "brand" name club in my bag (actually two- see next para), that being a six year old Wilson Fat Shaft putter, which I purchased new and think is the best there is on the market, and I've tried them all. But I guess I'm the only one who thinks that, as I haven't been able to see anyone on the tour using one.
My drivers (have three of them) are a 430cc Cobra clone, along with a 290cc Cobra clone - both offset, and long and straight drives usually result. The other fairway metals are all Taylormade clones, and the irons are all Mongoose (which should tell anyone what they are a clone of). The other driver is a mid 1970s aluminum shafted Wilson Staff II laminate head, and it's the best thing around for long shots off the fairway. It too is offset.
I would love to use the name brands, but I don't have the $$$, so have to get by with what I have, and I don't normally suffer at the hands of others with the big name clubs. I have tried some of them, and can truthfully say that I didn't really notice any difference between them and mine, with one exception, that being a Big Bertha II with one of the very expensive lightweight shafts.
Brian Oster (email contact on file)
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