We'll build you a set in which every club earns its keep.
YOUR FULL
SET
Price-
My prices compare favorably with the prices of off-the-shelf clubs
of equivalent quality... mine just fit you and your swing better. Economy and starter
sets can be as low as $300. A complete set of 14
lifetime clubs, custom fit to you, your swing, and your
game, and custom built, will cost $450-$900, unless you want
some really fancy stuff.
I do not make super-cheap clubs, and if price is your sole concern, you may be better off at Wal-Mart. You can buy a few sets in the Internet , including the bag, for as low as $139.99. Don't buy it! That $140 set is made so cheaply it isn't even safe! The cheap Internet brand you buy will be out of business and re-incorporated under a new name in two months, when you bring your clubs to me for repair.
If cheap is
what you need, go to
Wal-Mart or Sears, and expect to pay $250
for a low-end but adequate set. Best way to tell if its
adequate... twist the shafts firmly, and
insist on less than 6 degrees of torque. If you buy any
"full" 14-club set sold for under $300, ($350 if it
includes a bag), insist on steel shafts... so-called
"graphite" shafts on low-priced ready-made sets will be of
unacceptably low quality even for the most casual of golfers (but
okay for kids under 12, or grandmothers)
Set Makeup- Driver- Because it hits off a tee, a driver can be different
from your fairway woods, and should be, to give you the maximum
distance your swing is capable of producing with acceptable
accuracy. Fairway Woods- All your other woods, if any, should be built for
maximum accuracy and consistent distance rather than maximum distance, because you usually
hit them to a specific target,
like the green. Woods numbered up to 15 are available in the
custom market, and if the higher lofts work for you, I can make you some. Irons- Your irons should produce a
consistent distance gap between clubs, typically 10 yards, but I can
adjust that gap to to suit your game. Wedges- In
a trouble wedge, the vertical
balance point is more important that lateral balance, and the way
the sole of the club contacts the ground is critical. All golfers
should carry a high-bounce sand wedge, and most should carry an
additional heavy trouble wedge with less bounce than the sand wedge
Wedges are available in loft ranges between 46 and 65 degrees, with
a variety of bounce angles and other critical specs, so we
can build a set just right for you. Putters- Set
Make-up -Revisited- For beginning golfers, a good start would be 3-wood and
7-wood with 6 and 8 irons and a pitching wedge, plus a real
sand wedge and a putter. That's all they need. A 9-wood is a great tool for slower swingers,
hitting about as long as a 5-iron, but flying higher and landing
softer. A "hybrid" 4-iron works very well for some
golfers, with results similar to a 9-wood. An interesting
option for people who practice a lot is a 60-degree low-bounce
"loft" wedge... but you gotta practice with
it before you take it n the course. A 3-iron can be effective
if used only for teeing off on narrow fairways, but
you should leave it in the car when the course is more
open. OR, let's have a look at a hypothetical 10-handicap.
He/she may or may not hit a driver better than a 3-wood, so that's
an individual choice at this level. If they do carry a driver,
though, they should allow their clubmaker to spend the extra time to
make it fit them perfectly. A 10-handicapper can probably hit a
3-wood effectively off the fairway, so they'll want one,
unless their golf course is very short or they drive prodigiously
long They'll certainly want a 5-wood, however. If they do
not carry a driver, they would probably want a 7-wood. For the
irons, they should consider paying the extra money for premium forged
clubs. Stick with perimeter-weighted irons, but if they are
improving consistently, they could consider forged blades. They should own a 3-iron, but only carry it when the
course has narrow fairways or exacting tee shot requirements... it
will not be a good fairway club for them. In most cases they
will carry a 4-iron, and certainly a 5-9 set, and likely the PW and
AW from from
the same set. Absolutely they will want a great sand wedge,
but their other trouble wedge(s) is going to be chosen not for
technical characteristics, but because they like the way it looks
and feels. They should own several putters that they have confidence
in.... "Having confidence in it" is the most important
technical characteristic of a putter.
The first step is to decide what clubs you want to carry in the
first place. You need a driving club, some fairway clubs,
some trouble and touch clubs, and something to putt with. A "standard" matched set of
3 woods, 8 irons, 2 wedges, and a putter
may not be (no, it probably is not) right for you, your swing, or your playing style. A
short history of set-makeup.
You will need a club for driving, but not necessarily a #1 wood, and
in some cases, not even a wood at all. Your driving club should
be the club that you can hit to within 20 yards left or right of a
target line 75% of the time... regardless of how far it goes. Beginning golfers should
NOT use a #1 wood for driving. A golfer with a handicap
over 15 will usually score better if he/she drives with a 3-wood,
and so will some 10 handicappers.
The first fairway wood should be built for maximum distance, like
your driver, keeping in mind the accuracy standard above.. But not everyone can get a
12 to 14 degree 3 wood
up in the air off the fairway, so it is not always the best choice.
Mid- to high-handicappers will be better off with a 5-wood off the
fairway, and in some cases, even a 7-iron.
Average golfers should not carry the low-numbered irons; they are
too hard to hit. Most golfers
should not carry the 3 or 4 irons, and a few should not carry the 5
either..
The pitching wedge that came with your off-the-shelf set is really just a "10-iron",
and if your set has a an "AW" or GW", it is in most
cases an 11-iron. In most cases, you should carry both of
them, but they are fairway clubs. Real
wedges are
"touch" and "trouble" clubs, used
differently than fairway irons; and should be designed
differently. Sand wedges that cosmetically match your
fairway irons make sense for the retailer, but not for you.
Despite the $100 price tag you see on many putters in the retail
shops, they are not complicated or expensive to make. I have never
sold a putter for over $80, and can easily make you a quality putter
that fits perfectly, for $30. There are many stories
of golfers improving their putting temporarily by simply
switching putters, so I recommend that you own
several putters of different styles, and change between them fairly often.
So let's take a stab at what a typical golfer's set should be.
Let's assume a 20 handicapper, who plays regularly and is of average
(5'10") height. Let's start with a 13-degree 3-wood
"driver" built 42.5 inches long (15 / 41.5 for 5'6"
women) and a 5 wood, and 7 wood. This golfer has a choice
between a 5-iron or a 9-wood, and it depends on the golfer's
preference. Then for irons; 6, 7, 8,
9, and PW, and if available in his set line, a 51- or 52-degree AW. Add
a 52 degree trouble wedge and a real
purpose-built 56-degree high-bounce sand wedge. Add a putter
and we have only 13 clubs, so we have the option of adding a special-purpose
club.