Confessions of A Club Ho

I love golf clubs...all things about them. I love trying out new clubs. I study the lofts of the newest clubs and compare them with what is already out there. I read about new club heads, new shafts and new grips. I dream of the day that I can use the stiffest shafts like Tiger, Vijay and Phil.

This love of clubs means I can do things no ordinary human can do. I can identify the brand, model of a golf club from 100 yards away. In one particular case I even identified the year the club was originally issued. For the record, it was last year's TaylorMade Burner fairway wood.

But before you write me to tell me how you envy my superpowers, let me assure you that it is also a terrible burden. Because I am never ever satisfied with the 14 clubs in my bag. I am constantly "ho-ing" out my clubs at the golf store looking for the perfect combination of clubs that will turn me pro. It is a never ending and ultimately fruitless quest; one I intellectually know is folly. Yet I'm considering buying new clubs even as I type this.

I once actually got giddy with excitement because the local golf club had expensive Japanese forged wedges for sale.  

Before you decry me as a degenerate, hopelessly beyond help, let me assure you that the rabbit hole is even deeper than you might imagine. Because while I limit my club ho-ing to off the rack items, there are others who aren't content with such pedestrian pursuits.

There is a sub group of people who desire only tour issued equipment. Believe it or not, Tiger Woods doesn't go to the Sports Authority and buy clubs off the rack. Tour issued equipment is built to the specs of the particular golfer. The weight, feel, lofts, bounce, and shaft might all be different. Supposedly Ian Poulter's clubs had $30,000.00 in special grinding. But its not enough to buy these hand me downs...because there is something more. Tour players get to play prototypes; clubs that joe sixpack may never ever get to play. Or, worese yet, might have to wait months to play--if ever. Good examples of this are Callaway's x-forged iron prototypes, and the TaylorMade Spider putter. There was a frenzy of buzz amongst club ho's as to when these might be available if ever. For the record, the Spider Putter is a good one, but I've still three putted (ugh). I'm frankly not good enough for the x-forged prototypes, and if I was to spend $140 or so per club, I might as well get properly fitted instead of buying them off the shelf.

There is even another sub group of people who specialize in Japanese equipment. The Japanese market is often way ahead of the rest of the world. This is due to their demand of newest cutting edge technology, and a willingness to pay high premiums for exclusive products. For as expensive as golf is here in the US, it is almost prohibitively expensive in Japan; this is a bit of a generalization, but from what I saw, most golf equipment cost almost five times as much. An example of the cutting edge technology the Japanese golf consumer demands: square headed drivers were available to the Japanese market five years before they were available in the United States. As mentioned Japanese clubs are also extremely exclusive and unavailable here. Items that are high coveted include the square headed TaylorMade Driver, Mizuno's red five sided driver.  Check them out here:  http://www.tourspecgolf.com/Japan-Market-Only-Clubs

Perhaps the only saving grace is that I buy lessons from my golf coach. Many who ho their clubs fail to do what is probably the surest and fastest way to improve your game, and invest in lessons. So in my mind, that is progress :)