The Golf Jock

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.

The statistics tell us that Phil Mickelson is the world #2 golfer. That’s a remarkable feat until you see just how far he is behind Tiger.

Nevertheless, with Tiger out of action for the rest of 2008 and possibly into 2009, it is a great opportunity for another golfer on tour to emrge as the go-to guy. Prevailing wisdom would have Phil be that guy. But recent play has not given any indication that Phil is the guy. Maybe he never will be.

Case in point was last week at the WGC at Firestone. Phil was in control on the back nine, at one point sitting at -12 with a 2 shot lead. But poor play down the stretch really hurt Phil.

After coming back to the pack, he came to the 17th tee needing a par-par finish to most likely tie for the lead and go into a playoff. So what does he do? He pulls out a driver and promptly pushes his tee shot into the fairway bunkers on the left side of the narrow fairway. I emphasize “narrow.” In fact it is so narrow that Tiger (who usually “owns” Firestone) never hits more than a stinger 3 wood, and usually just goes with a 2 or 3 iron off the tee. Even shorter hitters like Jim Furyk never hit a driver there. It’s just too risky for the small reward you get if you atually do find the fairway.

In case you didn’t see the debacle, Phil bogied that hole and had to try to birdie the tough 18th to get back into a plyoff. Didn’t happen.

In my mind, I knew that Phil was going to lose the tournament as soon as I saw the driver in his hand on the tee at 17. It just didn’t make sense. I understand his desire to be aggressive and his need to play his own game. But what he has to make into his own game is the smart types of plays that win tournamets.

It’s hard to criticize a guy who’s won over 30 times on tour. No other active player has won more expcept for Tiger. And that’s the problem. Tiger is an aggressive player too, but he has learned how to temper his aggressiveness at the right time and play smarter. It’s why he has doubled Phil’s win total in half the time.

Phil has an awesome opportunity to really dominate on the tour with Tiger out. But unfortunately, it is the inconsistent course management strategies that will keep Phil from doing it this year. Unless he learns to be like Tiger in that regard, he will always play second fiddle, even when Tiger’s not in the field.