So last season, I was playing nine holes after work one evening with a co-worker. Last hole of the round and I’m taking my approach shot with the old pitching wedge. I swing, then watch in horror as the head of my club sails down the fairway. Are you kidding? These clubs are only three years old and one of them snapped already? They cost four times as much as my original set that lasted me twelve years and have since been passed down to my kids! Tip: You don’t always get what you pay for.
Maybe I was just angry and being irrational, but I refused to spend the money on a new wedge. I borrowed one from another stinky golfer, but I just couldn’t hit it right. I tried going back and forth between my nine iron and another wedge, but quickly realized that was also not going to work. However, it was late enough in the year that the season was winding down and I could just wait until the off season to pick one up. Well, it’s the off-season.
Now, as I prepare to bring myself out to a golf shop to pickup a new wedge, I wonder how I should decide to buy one. What I mean is, do I look for one from the same brand as I currently have? Do I get more specific and look for not just the same manufacturer, but also from the same line? Or do I ignore that entirely and just buy the one that feels best to me after trying them out?
In my own opinion, the latter option makes the most sense – just buy the one that feels best. However, is that the right thing to do? Would it make more sense to buy the one that matches the rest of the set and therefore feels the same as all of the other clubs in your bag? Would I rather hit a club that feels better, but at the same time feels different than all of my other clubs? Would I mess up every time I hit it because I’m trying to compensate in some way? But in the same sense, do I purchase the one I may like less simply because there will be no difference between all of my clubs and, therefore, no compensation necessary?
You know what…this is way too much to comprehend and consider in order to purchase just one club. I plan on doing this after the new year, but honestly, I’m getting such a headache just thinking about it! Maybe I can just make the nine iron work…
Swing ’til you’re happy!
Err, why not just have the broken wedge fixed?
Replacing a iron-shaft is easy for a clubmaker, and takes only a few minutes once he has the replacement shaft in his hands…now-days he can even re-use the grip most-times. Personally I’d use the opportunity to re-grip at-least all your wedges. For what you paid for a new high-end wedge, you should be able to have the shaft replaced, and all your irons re-gripped.
And you should be re-gripping your irons and fairways every year or two if you play regularly.
DId you recently have the club that lost its head regripped? I have seen the machines they use, and it looks like it could loosen club heads during regripping procedures. BTW, I am fairly certain that “The Rules of Golf” state that borrowing clubs from fellow-competitors is a violation.
All you need to re-grip a golf club is a small air-compressor like you carry in the trunk of your car, or in your garage for the kids’ bicycles. You use the small nozzle provided for beach-balls and inflatable mattresses; stick in the small hole at the topof the grip, and the air-pressure will pop the grip right-off. You don’t even need a vise.
As for replacing a shaft, I just use a standard propane torch to heat and break the epoxy-bond to the shaft and twist the club off with my gloved-hands — no machine required. And assembly is with room-temperature 2-part epoxy and two hands.
Just remember to re-shaft BEFORE your install a new grip.