Choosing a golf club to join (1)

What do you look for in a golf club? A lot will depend on your level of play and your experience. But for those who have gripes about their current club, or for ‘nomads’ thinking the need a golfing home, the winter months are a good time to research the possibilities. Two years ago, with five or six years golfing experience behind me and a handicap that was approaching something respectable, I was in this position and thought it would be easy. All I needed  was

• a well-kept course in pleasant surroundings
•  decent clubhouse facilities
• and subs that wouldn’t break the bank

Simples?

Too bleak in winter?

Being on my own, I was also looking for somewhere with a welcoming atmosphere where I would soon feel at home and be playing lots of golf.  But if courses and prices were easy to investigate, how could I find a club where I knew I would fit in, especially as I’m one of that great golfing minority –  women!

At least living near a major conurbation, I am lucky to have a good half-dozen courses within easy reach, all with ladies sections, but of these half were quickly dismissed (too expensive, too busy, too bleak in winter months) which left me with three.



Of these, the first two (let’s call them A and B) were well-respected member clubs with nice courses and reasonable subs. The third (C) was privately owned, more expensive, and due to ongoing refurbishment, had its clubhouse in “temporary accommodation”, but it did boast 36 rather nice holes, some with spectacular views, and so I kept it on my list, albeit on the back burner.

On the back burner

Which came out on top? That would be telling. Check back soon for the rest of my golfing odyssey!

World's Most Dangerous Golf Course?

Hitting your ball into the rough on this Korean golf course is a minefield, literally...

Worlds Most Dangerous Golf Club

A golf course larger than Britain?

If you're a fan of large golf courses, this takes the biscuit. Australia's Nullarbor Links opened in August and crosses two time zones and is a staggering 848 miles in length. The course also boasts the world's largest green at 28,000 square feet. According to the owners you can tee off in 18 towns over desert highway and outback terrain and a round will take you in the region of 4 days to complete...don't forget to pack your toothbrush!

http://www.nullarborlinks.com/

Custom fitting not as scary as expected

It’s no good. A true goddess of golf needs decent irons, and those Callaway X20s have been calling to me for too long, so today I took myself to one of the local pro shops for another look. MOH was with me and he had to agree they looked good even in my inexpert hands, but observed that the angle of the head at set-up wasn’t quite right, and, before I knew it, I was in a custom fitting session.
Scary or what? I thought you had to have a low handicap for any of the scientific stuff to make a difference, and I was convinced I’d make a complete fool of myself. In fact I did duff several shots in my ‘warm up period’, and MOH took a diplomatic walk, saving himself the embarrassment of being married to the first ever golfer whose swing/impact/launch speed would fail to even register on those electronic sensors.
Luckily it didn’t go too badly. The first good thing was that the fitting took place in a covered area of the driving range, not in an indoor centre. (It’s easier to get into your swing when you can see where the ball ends up. The technical name for this is feedback.) And before long I was managing some pretty decent shots with only the odd rubbish one. The equipment was also unobtrusive, and until the Pro started explaining the analysis (please don’t ask!) I wasn’t really aware anything was being measured.
What did it prove? Apparently I have a shallow angle of attack, a good launch trajectory, and a reasonable amount of back-spin. Most importantly, the best club for me is a Callaway X20 with some fairly small adjustments. Result!
Since these were the clubs I’ve been fancying anyway, you might think this was a bit of a waste of time, but apart from any difference those small adjustments might make (and every little helps!) I came out thinking I really had made the right choice. I was also greatly cheered to find the price before fitting wasn’t any higher than other local suppliers, and only marginally more than I had found on the wonderful worldwide web. I might have got free fitting elsewhere, but I felt the £25 I paid for the hour was reasonable, and the Pro also gave me a few constructive tips on my swing and made some recommendations about balls (of which more later.)
Conclusion: Custom fitting isn’t scary or expensive and it might actually help.
My gorgeous new clubs will arrive next week. Stand by for a report!

Bring 'em on

With my search officially launched (impending birthday) for a new set of irons, I took myself down to the local range last week where the sales staff gave me six to try out which I quickly whittled down to two. I was surprised to find that these included the Ping G5 L which initially felt odd and I thought looked clumsy. But there was no getting away from the fact that the balls I was hitting with these were going at least 5 yards further. (Distance may not be everything, but in my book it counts for a lot). Otherwise my favourites would have been the Callaway X20s. Balance? Feel? I don’t know, but as soon as I picked up the 7 iron it somehow just felt right.
Needless to say neither of these are budget clubs, in fact top of the range would be closer to the mark. I’m not sure I’m worth that much even on my birthday and am envying my golfing buddy who recently bought some MacGregors with a very similar feel to the X20s but as far as I can see are no longer on the market.
As for those long-hitting G5s? As I was driving home and reflecting on my experience (as all we educators like to do) it struck me that not all of the clubs I’d tried out had been 7s. I have a sneaking suspicion that the Ping was a 6. Maybe I should go back and check!

Don't Get Done!

At the end of March I happened to catch one of the series Don’t Get Done Get Dom, a BBC consumer affairs programmes in which Dominic Littlewood either tracks down rogue traders or incites customers to get the best deal possible. In this episode there was a guy who wanted to buy a set of Ping G5 irons and a driver, and Dom took him to a golf store and coached him through his ‘negotiations.’ I can’t deny Dom’s hard bargaining worked. Basically, despite the shop manager’s insistence that he was going to sell at a loss, he was beaten down to £630 for all the clubs including the driver with custom fit, free range tokens and a brolly thrown in. (This was over £300 less than the recommended price, but as the shop already had £100 discount on the irons, the saving was more like £200).
My first thought was, if most shops can knock off 12-20%, surely charging the full price is daylight robbery? But secondly, why should we have to haggle to get the best price? Dom claimed the negotiations were all done in a friendly way, and that this helped clinch the deal, but I’m not sure all retailers would have been so happy, (especially if they weren’t up for some free T.V. publicity!) and as a customer I’d be embarrassed to push so hard.
So, where do you shop for clubs and do you haggle over the deal? Should we all brush up our ‘negotiating’ skills, or is it easier to avoid confrontation by paying up or shopping online?