The Golf Jock

In case you haven’t heard, Tiger Woods just announced his return to the PGA Tour at next week’s WGC Accenture Match Play in Tucson, AZ.

I’m jacked.

Not just because Tiger’s back, but because I scored tickets for this event about 8 weeks ago in anticipation.

Scouring the schedule in late December, my guess was that Tiger would come back at either the Buick at Torrey Pines (which would have been a really cool way to come back at the same course he last had played), the Match Play in Tucson or the Doral closer to home in Florida. My gut reaction was that the Match Play was the perfect spot, so I put my guess into action and got tickets for myself and my 8 year-old son who wants to become a professional golfer.

When I first got the tickets in December (not easy on the pocket book, mind you, especially in the current economy), my son was excited, but the first thing he asked was, “is Tiger gonna be there?”

My best answer at that time was, “I hope so.”

As the weeks dragged on. my doubts grew. I just knew it would be so much easier for him to choose the Doral being closer to home.

But a few things kept my hopes alive. He was the defending champion. He always speaks nicely of Tucson and was pretty instrumental in getting the Match Play moved there instead of at La Costa where it rained every year.

But most of all, I held out hope because Tiger likes big tournaments, and whether or not the golfing world has accepted the WGC tournaments as majors, no one should doubt that Tiger views them as very important. Who knows, 30 or 40 years from now, the WGC championships could be viewed as the most important events. After all, the Masters wasn’t always considered a major. The point is, if you look at Tiger’s record, he definitely makes sure he’s available for every major he can, and also for every WGC event. He also elevates his game for the WGC’s in a similar way that he does for the majors. Just look at the record. It’s pretty obvious that Tiger thinks the WGC events are important.

Of course, the only important thing for me is that Tiger is playing in Tucson. And I have tickets. So now I get to go home and tell my 8 year old, without any doubt: “Tiger’s gonna be there!”

That moment will be worth as much as the tournament itself.

What Are Custom Golf Clubs

Custom golf clubs are clubs That are built just for you according your body build, swing type and ability. They may work for somebody else who is similar in stature and ability, but they are going to be especially suited to you and your swing.You can get custom clubs as a full set, or as individaul clubs. If you only get a few clubs custom made, these are usually the “money clubs,” like the driver, wedges or putter (these are money clubs because they are used the most and either set up or finish off a hole).

Clubs that you get off the rack can work okay, but they don’t maximize your potential. Think of it as if you were getting fit for an expensive suit or dress. You have several options:

Option 1 – You go to a general department store and browse around until you see something fashionable and then buy it and hope it fits you OK and is comfortable. That is the normal way most people buy their golf clubs.

Otion 2 – You can go to specialty shops and try a few different designs, maybe even mix and match top and bottom of the outfit, and eventually you will get something that fits OK but you may need to have altered, within the leeway the existing clothing gives on sizes and lengths and quite a lot of people will get a reasonable fit. This is very similar to custom modifications you can have done on your new off-the-rack golf clubs. You are still limited by how the original club was built, and it can be a time-consuming process to adjust an existing club to new specifications (and sometimes it can “ruin” the original club, especially if someone tries to do the alterations themselves or if they are not experts of if they don’t have the proper equipment, etc.)

Option 3 – If you want the best suit or dress that fits you perfectly, you go to a tailor or to a bespoke outfitters. Thy would take all your measurements, find out exactly what you wanted the item for, how often it would be used, etc. This is a very expensive option, but gives great results. This is the same as custom club building.

So it sounds like custom clubs are going to be too expensive for the average golfer, right? Not so. The good news is that, unlike the clothing business, custom golf clubs can actually be less expensive than the first option, and usually always cheaper than option two. How can that be?

Well, almost all golf club heads, with very few exceptions – if any – are made in the far east, mainly China. It’s probably safe to say that ALL golf club heads are made there,  but several of the big manufacturers refuse to reveal their sourcing locations. Once the designs are in, the forges in China can crank out the clubhead components for pennies on the dollar. Really.

Another thing most amateurs don’t realize is that the shaft is the most important part of the club. Clubs you buy off the rack or in a discount sporting goods store usually have the cheapest shafts available. That means their most important component  will be the most inferior of its kind. Not what you want, trust me.

So why are the major brands so expensive? It’s mostly the huge advertising they do. It’s not that they are bad clubs, per se. It’s just that you don’t have to pay that much for similar quality. So why do Tiger and Phil and all the other pros use the name brands like Nike, Callaway, Titleist, etc. if they can get the same quality in a non name brand club? That’s easy. Money.

Pro golfers get paid millions (yes, sometimes even 20 to 30 million dollars!) to play and endorse these clubs. In order to pay them these high amounts, golf club manufacturers have to jack up the price of their clubs to huge amounts. The $500 driver you are drooling over cost them about $50 to make. But with the high advertising and endorement costs, the cost goes up to $200-$300. Then they have to make a profit on top of that (typical retail practice is to double the wholesale cost).

What would happen if you could only pay for the club components and assembly. Remember I said they cost about $50? So if you double that whoelsale amount, you’d be paying about $100 for a quality driver? Sound too good to be true? It’s not. There are internet companies that buy components from the smae forges in China and then assemble them with quality shafts and grips and do it all to your own specifications using online fitting forms. These are called custom clone drivers.

Once you play with clubs that are built specifically for you, you will wonder how you ever did without them. Custom golf clubs will help you play golf to your maximum ability.