Bag changes sure are fun. I did it a ton when I played in high school, but after I found what worked for my game, my bag pretty much stayed the same for a solid 12 years. I then made a pretty major change to put some new technology in my bag, but ended up taking my leave of absence about a year a half later. Since I came back to the game about 15 months ago, I’ve rotated through 4 sets of irons, (only purchasing one) and 3 drivers, purchasing them all used. It hasn’t been a ton of money out of pocket, but it really has made it tough to get my game in playing form. I haven’t even changed anything too dramatically as I moved from my 1989 Fluid Feel irons to the eventual 2014 FG Tour 100 irons that feature the same Fluid Feel technology. Even still, with that change, my yardages changed, my shot height changed, my shot shapes have changed, pretty much everything has changed.
Gear tweaking is something we all love to do, but it comes as a pretty severe price. We aren’t tour professionals that will have 20 rounds in a month to get our gear tweaked the way we want it. We aren’t even serious amateurs that play 3 rounds a week. We are the type of player that needs to do the right thing and get a proper fitting, purchase a set of clubs that fit our game (please consider slightly used to save some money) and stick with them. Watching people swap clubs faster than they play rounds is amazing to me. How can you even know if you hit your irons well if you have only played 5 rounds with them? There is no chance of developing a better game by upgrading your gear every few months, but there are a few reasons you should consider upgrading every few years.
Number one: If you are an amateur player that plays more than 40 rounds a year and you are in a club where you play for tournament prizes, you should upgrade every 5 years. That’s 200 rounds on your clubs (or about what a PGA Tour player puts on them in a year) and there will be some wear on them. You might want to consider purchasing two sets of matching wedges for them as you will use them very heavily over the course of a few years. After about 100 rounds, wedges will start to react differently, so rotating them in to your bag every other round will keep them playing similarly. The same could be said for the shaft in your driver. Rotating that will keep the shaft fresher and keep them matching longer.
Number two: You play recreationally, but play more than 25 rounds a year. Generally speaking, a good set of clubs will last you a 10 years. If you regrip them every year or two, and keep them in a dry place, you should get an easy 8 years from them. Of course, if you are only playing 25 times a year (think once a week during the summer months) you’ll probably want some new technology in that bag at about the 5 year mark, so treat yourself and buy that newer set.
Number three: Your currently clubs can’t be fit to you any more. I can’t stress enough how important a proper fitting is. If you buy an off the shelf set of irons like I do, and they fit you well, that’s one thing, but if you need a set with .5” over length shafts, a 2° upright lie and 1° weak loft to make your set yours, you really need to consider how long your set will last you and how many times it can be adjusted. Clubs, over time, can lose their loft, lie and shaft flex settings very easily. They can be bent and tweaked to a certain degree, but they can only be bent so far, so many times. Once you reach the point that they have been moved too far, they will crack and be lost forever. You’re better off selling them and getting something new right before this happens. Again, this shouldn’t be an every year thing, but if your swing has moved more upright than your irons will allow, you might just want to get a new fitting done and add some new gear to the bag.
Number four: Your current clubs will cost more to fix than to replace. For example, my 1989 irons have over 1,000 rounds on them. I haven’t had them checked in years, but when I did the last regrip on them, I found the 6 iron was actually 1/4” short from what it should be. I put a plug in the end and called it good, but how many 6 irons came up short during my playing days because of it? A few more of the shafts had some rust damage and the shorter irons had some head creaking. It’s nothing that couldn’t be fixed or repaired, but at what cost. Taking them in for a checkup and reset can take care of is pretty inexpensive, but when it works out to be $400-500 to reshaft a set, like my Fluid Feels, it’s almost cheaper to buy a new one, even a new new one.
I can already hear the golf store sales people shunning me for this, but honestly, nobody wants to spend $2,000 a year on golf gear. It’s just not cool when that two grand could get you on more courses every year. Of course with a tone like that, this is sounding more like a Budget Beater than a Stroke Saver, and that’s ok with me. The bottom line to scoring well in golf is consistency and confidence. If you find that setup of clubs that delivers both, ride them as long as you can. Regrip them, have the loft and lies checked, not only at purchase, but every 50 rounds or so. The $50 you spend having that check done will keep them 100% consistent for you and help you score better. Better scores means more enjoyment and the more fun you have, the more you will want to play. Let’s not forget, the more you play, the better you’ll get.
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