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At what point is a purchase worth it?

SuperStroke
I use this useful feature called bill me later from paypal. Purchases over $99 get no interest of payments for 6 months. So keep a revolving line of credit with them. Thats how I make my splurge purchases. Then I pay it off before the 6 months is up and all is good. This gives me a little bit of wiggle room so to speak. lol
 
Golf clubs make me happy and thats whats important. I dont hunt, fish, drink or even smoke cigars. I dont go out with friends or any of that. If I am not working I spend time with my family or I play golf. Golf and golf clubs are my vice and keep me sane.
 
Jman said:
For me, when it makes me happy. In the end, that's all that I care about.
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Best answer. I like to tinker and it's just fun.
 
russtopher said:
Curious to know what moves a lot of THPers to make a new gear purchase when what they currently have works pretty well for their game. Do you go into a sim with a new club thinking "OK, I need to get X amount of yards more to make this worth it?" Is it a feel thing? Or do you just like having the latest and greatest?

I ask this because I find myself looking at new iron prices and thinking of ways to put together enough funds to pick up a new set of sticks... yet I know that my current irons are still very good, I'm comfortable with them, and I'm not immediately going to get down in the the 80's with a new set of clubs (yes for the record I do take lessons, I'm trying to keep this more about purchase decisions than what'll make your game better).

So do you go in with an idea in mind that would make a new purchase "worth it" to you, do you go by feel, or something else?
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Well, PK (that's Pre-Kids), I was like a kid in a candy store. I pretty much spent a lot of time buying clubs, just because I had the discretionary funds to do so. Most didn't improve my to the point they were worth it, but it was my hobby so I enjoyed it. Now, having kids, I've had to be selective about what I buy. I picked up a new driver and fww's last year because the one's I had before were costing me shots on the course (I didn't get fit for the fww's and hybrids and they weren't a good fit for my swing at all). While I didn't get the imagined superior control and distance from the new woods & hybrids, I did stop losing strokes to the equipment, but now to my lousy play. It was worth it.
 
I guess depends. Sometimes I get just to make me happy and have options. Other times looking for gains. Bought my 3rd putter of the year because it was a great deal and I rolled it well. Not sure when I will game but it will be at some point.


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I have found out that you don't have to have the latest clubs to play good golf. I plan to spend no money on clubs this year. I'm happy with what I have. Are there gains from release to release...yes some maybe, but not all the OEM's claim.
 
If it plays better than my current gamer, it's in. It can be better by being longer and as consistent, or just as long but more consistent, or maybe both positives - distance and consistency at the same time.

I don't end up with the newest-model clubs. They just have to be better than what I have in the bag.
 
For me it comes down to want. I might not need new clubs but I want them so if I have the expendable funds I buy the clubs. That simple for me.
 
It varies on what makes something worth it for me. Sometimes its performance, sometimes looks and sometimes price. No one thing makes it worth it for every club to me.
 
the point where it fits the purpose I purchased it for.
 
MDGolfHacker said:
Well, PK (that's Pre-Kids), I was like a kid in a candy store. I pretty much spent a lot of time buying clubs, just because I had the discretionary funds to do so. Most didn't improve my to the point they were worth it, but it was my hobby so I enjoyed it. Now, having kids, I've had to be selective about what I buy. I picked up a new driver and fww's last year because the one's I had before were costing me shots on the course (I didn't get fit for the fww's and hybrids and they weren't a good fit for my swing at all). While I didn't get the imagined superior control and distance from the new woods & hybrids, I did stop losing strokes to the equipment, but now to my lousy play. It was worth it.
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And that was me PK too - to the point where my wife put her foot down when I came home with a third pair of $100 hockey gloves when I had 2 other pairs that were fine... but these were RED so I had to get them!! :D

I completely understand your picking up a new driver because you were losing shots, and that's what I was getting at in my original post. I am mostly curious about how others who play a lot look at a big purchase, especially if they have something that works. Like a set of irons that they bought a year earlier but maybe there's a new set that gives them 3 more yards across the set... is that worth a purchase? Or no?

When I was playing out a lot as a musician I could justify (to myself) a lot of gear purchases because they all had different uses. This drumkit for one situation, another drumkit for another. With golf clubs... not so much. I'm a lot more conscious of my spending now post-kids with all the stuff I have to pay for now - band trips, braces, music lessons, baseball & karate fees, etc. So if I go buy something new, I want to fight the urge to do it just because it's new and shiny and I want it, and wait to actually get something that truly makes a difference in my game.
 
I've got to be pretty darn convinced that a purchase is going to allow me to do something I couldn't do previously, or significantly improve my ability to do something.

The more something costs, the more I have to think it'll help me and the more certain I have to be about it.

I recently picked up a Smart Sole chipper for a pretty good deal ($60), and am already kind of regretting it. I screwed up shots with it on the first two holes of the first round I played with it, then went back to using my 7 iron instead.

I can only imagine how sick I'd feel if I spent $400 on a driver and ended up thinking it wasn't any better for me than the one I already had.
 
Sometimes I do deep thinking about what golf stuff I want to buy. Happy and satisfied after I bought it. Was it worth it ? Not really.
 
russtopher said:
Curious to know what moves a lot of THPers to make a new gear purchase when what they currently have works pretty well for their game. Do you go into a sim with a new club thinking "OK, I need to get X amount of yards more to make this worth it?" Is it a feel thing? Or do you just like having the latest and greatest?

I ask this because I find myself looking at new iron prices and thinking of ways to put together enough funds to pick up a new set of sticks... yet I know that my current irons are still very good, I'm comfortable with them, and I'm not immediately going to get down in the the 80's with a new set of clubs (yes for the record I do take lessons, I'm trying to keep this more about purchase decisions than what'll make your game better).

So do you go in with an idea in mind that would make a new purchase "worth it" to you, do you go by feel, or something else?
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I'm a deal hunter primarily and a really mediocre golfer. I haven't payed full retail for any golf clubs since I've been back in the game. I've bought clubs lately (4-GW and a SW). The irons were driven by a desire to go to graphite to save wear and tear on the body and the SW was driven by a desire for more spin that a set SW.

I'm not planning on any more club changes this year.

Users on the site are much more active with golf than the average golfer and are more likely to upgrade. If people enjoy new equipment and can afford it then good for them!

Dave
 
If I want something I buy it. You only live once. Getting new stuff is fun!
 
Well for me if I don't build my own clubs which is about a 1/3 the price of OEM with custom shafts I find what I like and buy on Ebay.
I found a New GBB for $250
A new 816 BB Fw for $125
And the latest New Z545 irons 3-PW for $520. For those prices if I don't like them i can recover almost all my money right away.
That's the ONLY way I buy new OEM.
 
I spent the last 2 years chasing the latest and greatest trying to improve my game, only to find that I wasted a ton of money and ended up coming back full circle and playing with most of the clubs I started with an was comfortable with. Of all my purchases the only clubs I found that I loved and stuck with were my Bombtech driver, and Wilson , Fybrid. Everything else was a waste. I'm extremely content with every club in my bag except my putter but I have several putters to swap around with because of my 2 years of hoe'in.

I also firmly believe now that the only ground breaking innovation that has happened in the last 10years in clubs is the driver and woods, everything else not enough to warrant the money I would have to spend IMO.
 
It usually happens when I least expect it. Who doesn't like new shiny things. I'm pondering the c200s in steel fiber.
 
Buy what you like dude, if you're happy it's always worth it.
 
Basically being happy and not having regrets makes any golf purchase worth it for me.
 
Thanks again guys, I really appreciate your responses. From what I'm reading, a lot of you don't go into a potential purchase with a set idea or target in mind, like "I want this new $400 driver to give me 10 more yards or else I'm not buying it", it's more of a "Hey I hit these irons and I liked them so I'm going to buy them" sort of thing. And that's perfectly cool - I honestly have been curious how a lot of other golfers approach new gear purchases. Very interesting to me.
 
When i have the available funds
 
I can say I've done it both ways. A few years ago, I had a G15 driver in the bag. Nothing wrong with it except I thought there was distance that I was leaving on the table. Very easy to swing club and I really liked it. During a demo day, a Callaway rep talked me into getting an Razr Fit Extreme. I toggled between going with the Aldila Green or the Matrix black tie 7M3 (which was stouter than anything else I've played). Hit a few and ended up dropping a lot of money on that club. After the first round with it, I knew it wasn't the right shaft or driver for me. Still I stuck it out a season or two. I should of stuck with the G15.
 
PhillyV said:
When i have the available funds
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So let me ask you this - let's say it's irons. You have available funds and a set of irons you hit well. If you go into the store (and we're talking hitting off the shelf, not being fitted) and you don't hit the new irons any better, but they look better to your eye, do you buy them? Or how about if they didn't look or feel any better? That's kind of what I'm curious about, and there's definitely no right or wrong answer here, it's all personal preference.

I suppose the marketing guy in me is curious about what drives purchase decisions in an industry where the latest always promises better performance, but doesn't necessarily always deliver.
 
russtopher said:
So let me ask you this - let's say it's irons. You have available funds and a set of irons you hit well. If you go into the store (and we're talking hitting off the shelf, not being fitted) and you don't hit the new irons any better, but they look better to your eye, do you buy them? Or how about if they didn't look or feel any better? That's kind of what I'm curious about, and there's definitely no right or wrong answer here, it's all personal preference.

I suppose the marketing guy in me is curious about what drives purchase decisions in an industry where the latest always promises better performance, but doesn't necessarily always deliver.
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Nah to me that would be a waste of money. If performance was the same but feel was improved, I might consider it but the way you put it no thanks. I could find a bunch of cool golf accessories for that $1,000
 
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