Budget Beater: Don’t Try To Pay More To Score Better

Grabbing some new gear to make the ball go farther, won’t help. Grabbing new irons to hit closer approach shots won’t either. Getting a new putter that feels perfect in hand might help a bit, but in all honesty, it’s not going to make that big of difference. Yes, I’m addressing the biggest myth in golf right here, right now – getting new gear will not help you score better than what you have in your bag right now. In fact, I see a disturbing trend just about any time I go to the course or the range. I can gain another ______ if I just get one of those.
It’s a trend that every golfer wants to believe, but there’s just zero truth to it. Sure, technology has come a long, long ways over the years, but honestly, there is more to perfecting your swing than there is to technology helping you along. Take a great comparison between Tiger Woods in 2009 and Jack Nicklaus in 1968. You would probably expect to see a huge numbers difference in favor of Tiger, but in reality, the numbers are scary close.
In 1968, Nicklaus used a 10.5 degree persimmon driver with a 42.75” stiff steel shaft. Woods used a 10.5 degree titanium driver that was 170cc larger than Nicklaus’ and featured the latest Mitsubishi Diamana Graphite shaft. Nicklaus averaged 276 yards with his driver, while Woods pushed his out over 298 yards. Still, Nicklaus hit 3% more fairways than Woods and 11% more greens in regulation while only dropping one putt per round to Woods. This is 40 years of technology that translated to just over 1 stroke per round difference between these two golfing legends.
So, when you think that adding 15 yards to your drive with that new $400 driver or grabbing those new irons for $1000 will lower your scores, keep in mind that Nicklaus was hitting wood-woods and forged carbon irons back in the day just as well as Tiger was hitting his latest generation clubs in his prime. It’s far more important to work on your swing than it is to change your equipment to fit someone else’s version of your swing. It’s also much easier on the pocket book.
Stat comparison posted at http://www.franklygolf.com/whoisthebettergolfertigerorjack.aspx