When You Should Buy New Clubs And Other Equipment Hints

Buying golf equipment has never been easier–and more confusing. It takes time, patience and an open mind. Contemplating factors include appearance, custom shafts, high-tech materials and price can be a real research project.  

From personal experience, today’s club fitting technology is absolutely necessary to potentially find the best match for your game.

GolfDigest.com posts a good Q&A with their equipment guru Mike Stanchura.

How often should I buy new equipment?
Stachura: The minute you get excited about a new club, start the process of demo-ing and fitting. But own nothing older than five years except maybe a divot tool.

When my partner says he’s hitting it 20 yards farther with his new driver, is he only justifying the $500 he spent?
Certainly possible if he wasn’t fit for his old driver. Put him in front of a launch monitor with his old and new clubs. Numbers. Do. Not. Lie. Every shot we hit at the Hot List testing is captured by a launch monitor, so we’re not going only on hearsay and feel.

What’s the biggest breakthrough in golf equipment for 2018?
Highly forgiving, supersize drivers used to pay a penalty for slightly higher spin, but that compromise no longer exists. These new drivers give you higher launch with less ball spin, which means more carry and overall distance.

What’s happening with driver lengths? Is longer longer?
Driver lengths have settled back down, generally to around 45½ inches. Longer isn’t longer; properly fit for length (and loft and face angle and weight and bend profile) is longer. Although longer shafts generate more speed, shorter shafts might give you more distance because you find the center of the face more often. Rickie Fowler went down to a 43½-inch shaft last year and lost only one yard, but fairways hit went way up.

Should I buy the stock shaft for my driver or spend another $100-plus for a super-duper shaft like DJ’s got?
Stock shafts are somewhat better than they used to be. I look at it this way: Stock shafts are like shoes. If you wear flip flops all day, one size fits all. But if you want to run, I’d get some running shoes that fit my feet.