Have golf clubs improved in the last 10 years?

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And so the weather gets nicer and another season starts for us fair weather golfers. Rather than join a club, I've joined a society to get to play more courses.

To whet the appetite, I got a copy of Today's golfer and wondered if club technology has actually moved on since I last bought a set of clubs or is it all marketing nonsense.

I'm currently playing off 24 with Taylor Made putter, RAC OS irons, Rescue clubs plus an (apparently illegal) R580 driver which I've never quite managed to get consistent so leave it in the boot most of the time.

So, has technology moved on enough to warrant new clubs and is there any particular type (irons, rescue, driver) that has improved more?

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DocJock said:

If your HC is 24, you'd get more benefit from spending the cash on lessons.

Agreed, I had some lessons last year and they certainly helped my short game. The main problem for me is finding the time to have them as most evenings are busy and I'd rather go for a round than have a lesson.

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fat80b said:

Lots of stuff

Thanks, I'll still get the odd lesson in when I can and if I get some spare cash for a new toy I'll try out some new drivers to see if they're any better.

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Thanks all for the comments.

A couple of local clubs have proper fitting centres so I'll have a look at them.

As my driver is no longer legal, I'll look at replacing this first, combined with a couple of lessons to get me hitting it with enough confidence to use it for the society days.

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Well, I just had a fitting session at a local club with all manner of computer assessment of my swing and how I was hitting my current R580 driver and then a Mizuno driver they recommended based on the original stats.

10 shots of each showed my swing speed was pretty consistent around 88mph. The dispersion on my original club was high at 65ish yards with 6 on the fairway, 2 on the edges and 2 lost. The next club, I got 7 on the fairway and 3 on the edges but the dispersion was down to 32 yards i.e. I was more consistent.

Although the new club was the same flex, regular, and the same loft, I was hitting the ball straighter and higher which was the aim. I also got an average distance of 197 yards compared to 176 although this was skewed by a duff shot with the first club.

I hit a few more balls out on the range with the new club and still managed a couple of wild hooks (trying to smack the hell out of it ) but the rest were pretty straight and long (for me) and the flight looked much better.

So now I'm 200 notes down which almost certainly could have been better spent on lessons but I do have a nice new toy to hide from the wife. The lessons will come anyway.

Thanks for the advice guys.

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SpeckledJim said:

At the acknowledged risk of my sounding a proper Johnnie Large-Potatoes, 197 yards and 88mph from a driver isn't really worth the added risk of using one. A crisply-struck 3 wood will probably go just as far because the additional loft at 88mph will give you more carry. It'll also give you more accuracy and repeatability, and the bad ones won't be as bad.

The pro isn't in the game of talking you out of a spondooly new driver because you've just bought him a tank of fuel, but genuinely, I don't think he's done you any favours there at all.

True and I do hit my 3 wood near enough the same distance but there's nothing like hitting the big dog sweetly. I suppose I could probably score lower if I concentrated on a 7 iron and putter but would get bored soon enough.

Of course I would like to get lower scores but realistically I don't have the time to put in so the main importance for me is to enjoy the game and make use of all the clubs.

BTW Top marks for sneaking in a spondooly there.