This guy can relate to what you said, except that he still wants name brand recognition, so the Golf Works, DTG’s spin off and such probably would not be preferred by him.
He didn’t get a Tesla when the price point was high but, he now owns a Tesla model 3. Yes, not only he wants a nicely fitted set of golf clubs but, also the blanketly blink shine. Like I said his game, hangs around mid-teen for handicap index, so a little shinning in the bag would boost his ego.
I believe he will look into the PXG in late Spring this year unless something else worth taking a look comes up before he makes a decision.
Yes, he should be brand agnostic; he is not very good of accepting advice like most of the smart successful person. Until the undeniable result laying in front of him.
Trick is to get him to test most the brands out there. As a friend for more than 2 decades, I’d offer my opinion and back off from further suggestions. I’m still driving my 2004 SUV with 200K+ miles and happy with it; he had gone through half a dozen vehicles in the same period of time and everyone of them looked worse than my older vehicle.
Different stroke for different folks, I guess.
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I guess there is no magic bullet.
Let’s try another way. What if he “know” his fitting numbers and could order online ?
Is there anything out there which beats the PXG offering ? Product and price point, respectably ?
I haven’t shopped for irons for about 8 or so years now. Changed my driver 2 years ago, and wedges this year. I’ve never hit PXG, but I think that is a safe bet on price and name-brand recognition with their current discounts.They used to be one of the more expensive clubs.
I would throw in one more high name-brand recognition and lower price point - Cobra. Loved my irons (before switching to Mizuno)…and love my newer Cobra driver (much more than my old Cleveland). I bought the Cobra irons years ago because they were made by Titleist, but at much lower cost…and still a recognizable brand. I assume the lower price point is still accurate.
One additional thought. I bought a driving iron 2-3 years ago from TourEdge (love it). High quality and Super competitive price…and getting more and more name-brand recognition every day…especially with the large stable of Champions Tour players they have signed now.
I did throw the names of both Cobra and Callaway his way a few weeks ago.
His sons have newer model of Titleist and Callaway ( because the professionals use them ? ) Heard that they are skilled golfers , both played for their High School golf team and both captained the Junior and the Senior years. Young men could carry 5 irons to 200 yards ( according to their father ).
I was just curious of what’s new on the market since I did not pay attention to the equipment for about a decade now. Used to be the first one to see the new arrivals at our local shops.
Couldn’t keep up with all the waves of the new stuff. Still love my iron sets from the 80’s and the 90’s and nothing could kick my current driver out of the bag, just yet ( I did manage to get several new shafts for the driver ). Only considered switching to a lighter shaft in the irons but put that on hold now.
Looks like we have reached the end of the suggestion for my friend. Shouldn’t worry too much for his game, as long as he is happy, even not making the best decision for his next bag of golf clubs.
That’s where they really stand out now IMO. The products are good and some of their models are much lower priced compared to others…and you get them in within 2 weeks. I do agree with being brand agnostic, but I don’t think you should force yourself to have 4-5 different brands in your bag.
I recently heard from a former golf buddy who would almost never play OEM stuff. He built clubs like I did and if he did buy an OEM set, he bought it used and ripped it apart and installed his own shafts and grips. He currently has a PXG driver and irons in his bag. I was shocked, but he said he couldn’t beat the price. Plus the resale value will probably be really good and he’s not one to play the same stuff for too long.
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I agree with the quality and the new price point from the PXG.
Plus they have many of the fitting stations around the metropolitan area in the Nation. This is a huge plus for someone who absolutely wish to know if they will get the “right” equipment.
Making the product accessible to the majority of the end users is a wise decision, keep up the effort and quality , eating away on the market share will be in the future.
If no other better alternatives, then, my friend will be visiting the PXG fitting center in the Spring.
Has he looked at Hogan?
I doubt that he has looked at the “new” Hogan line. Hogan line has always represented certain segment of the golfer population.
I’m guessing that probably not enough blink for him. Difficult part is, the new line has no physical representation locally in a place where golfers could touch or to demo.
The same with a few other newer boutique line. Not many will make a major purchase based on their understand of their game and able to determine what’s best for them.
All of the sudden, everyone want to get on the L/M to get fitted just like the professional.
Problem I see is, they don’t have the ability to take the benefit from the fitting.
However, it would be nice if they could actually demo the clubs, side by side. That’s the way we did it 3-4 decades ago. Taking out a bunch of 7 irons to demo, narrow down to a few then, try out the longer and the shorter from the sets , then decide which one will be the new purchase. No digital fitting, what we see with the ball flight is what we had to make decision.
The new Hogan line is scarce with appearance around my region. Only saw a couple sets of irons in the last few years, and probably none of the driver/fairway woods.
I am not so sure the question is the BRAND… it should first be the STYLE of club. Is his handicap getting better or worse? What does he do well, and not-so-well? Can he “work” the ball? Only when he’s confident of the style of club (Super-Game-Improvement, Game-Improvement, Players-Distance, etc.) that would help him the most should he be considering BRANDS.
This advice could come from one private lesson if the objective was made clear to the pro at the outset.
Good luck.
How should I put it ?
I have know this guy for more than 20 years, out of which we had been golfing off and on together with other friends for that long.
He is such a frugal person. He’d spend money on his kids for golf lessons and equipment fittings and Pro-line golf clubs. Ushered his sons through the high school golf program; chaperoned the teams for competition with other schools. I know for I had called up the private golf clubs to arrange for a pre-run before the competition to let the kids at least see the golf course once.
He has audit the golf lessons taken by his kids and supposed to “learn” something from that. Last I golfed with him, he was still a 12-14 index.
loves to watch the golf shows and the videos. He would golf the twilight rate to save money and to spend time with family.
I’m no professional by any means, only been immersed in this game for 4 decades, from playing to dabble on maintaining and repairing golf clubs ( basic stuff).
You’re right about giving advice. He would be the one to make decisions since he would be the one spending the dough and taking the consequences.
Although, he could hit some decent shots with player’s golf club. I believe the game improvement style will be best suited for him, since he is not retired, just yet. not much time to practice and play.
The reason I mentioned “brand” for Hogan, is purely because the name is associated with players synonymously !
We’d automatically assuming we’ll see a player whenever we see “Hogan” irons in someone’s golf bag. Perhaps that was history and “Hogan” is geared toward game improvement style now ?
Not enough “blink” for show and tell comparing to the PXG, where automatically the commercial voice will come into mind when we see the PXG clubs in the bag.
Kind of assuming he will go the PXG route, just curious as what might be the alternative. I have not paid attention to the latest and the newest on the market for quite a few years now.
Thanks for reminding me to leave it to the “pro” to guide my friend for equipment selection.
Now, we just have to find a real pro, not someone who is fairly new in the business and taken a few lessons of equipment and sales. Some of these “pros” can only exercise their talent digitally. Really.
I spent one hour at a local golf academy hitting several clubs with Trackman. My shots were very inconsistent and Trackman showed my strikes were all over the clubface. I am admittedly not very good.
The pro told me to get past my ego and get Super-Game-Improvement clubs (where irons look like small hybrids). Cleveland, Cobra, Wilson and Tour Edge (plus probably others) all have models in this arena. Any one of them would be fine. Buy whichever of them I want. I chose Cleveland and lowered my handicap 6 strokes in a year.
The take-away is not that your friend needs these clubs too. But once he gets informed advice on the TYPE of iron that would be best, he can buy whatever brand’s offering suits his eye and wallet. Once one gets past the marketing baloney, everyone’s clubs in a given segment are very similar.
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I believe he knows all that.
Hence why he got his sons fitted for golf clubs.
Have you ever seen any parent today who will do everything for their kids instead of for themselves ? In my father’s days, maybe, hard to come by these days.
I’m in the middle of a fitting process for irons. To be honest I am a TM fan, with no real reasoning just how I ended up. I have tried a lot of GI Irons (Cobra, Mizuno, Ping, TM, Callaway) and surprisingly the Callaway Rogue ST irons have shown out as the most consistently longer and straighter. TM Stealth are close and I will make a choice after another sessions next week. So my advice really is be open minded and try as many as you can. Though after 154 full iron shots, I was pretty tired…
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Thanks.
As we (myself) have always been test drive the new golf clubs before purchasing. It will be a major purchase for golf , not just the price tag but for those who tend to keep their sets longer than a few season should take extra consideration before making decision.
His sons, like all the young men like name brands, he is a shopper.
I believe he will go the route of testing ( perhaps L/M fitting ) before his next purchase.
Testing all the major brands will be tough, at least he could try out T/M, Callaway, PXG, and Titleist on a limited base ( not the whole bag, just from the fitting cart like a 6 iron ).
I also guessing, the final price tag would be the determining factor for his selection. He is not loyal to any brands.
It does feel like a big decision. I had a two hour session and am going back for another an hour. I hope to play whatever I pick for a fair few years so no need to rush.
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It would be a big decision for most of us.
I know a few who will change out their bag every season or two for no reason, their game is hanging around 15-18 index and honestly, I don’t see it drop much lower.
However, they can afford it and the new stick brought them happiness, if not a better game.
This friend tend to keep his golf club a long long time and he does not have multiple sets like most of us. I think he needs to justify between the proper fit and the price tag for himself. I stopped helping him hands-on, since the modern day fitting system is available in every corner of the City and he is a tech guy working in the industry, feeling comfortable and trusting the technology.
I was thinking of, if he might have missed anything he could have considered.
He’s decision is to go with the PXG. I told him to get it soon before the luster on the name brand faded.
He’ll still be okay since the company he works for will contribute about a grand for sporting equipment ( or membership to a health club ) to encourage employees to exercise.
Green fees will go up this April across the region, by 12%-20% than last year. I guess they’ll figure the golfers could afford the increase of the green fees.
(edit), I was going to say, he might be getting a new bag of fitted clubs but ended up golf less because all the green fee hikes.
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I’m a little late to the conversation, but I just came here to post my experience with a fitting for PXG 0211s and wanted to share with you in case it helps: PXG Fitting Experience: 0211 Irons, Driver, and Hybrid. I know you said your friend was leaning toward PXG anyway, but I figure positive reinforcement is always good. Ultimately, after my first fitting, I fully believe in the benefit regardless of the brand and would recommend it to anyone who has a remotely dialed-in swing.
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Thank you; he had not purchased anything just yet. I will forward your fitting experience to him.