Why do drivers cost so much money?

Steve Carroll

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We know buying a new driver can hit us hard in the pocket. But what justifies the price? One of the world’s top equipment experts explains

Buying a new golf driver can be a wallet chastening experience. It’s can be tough now to find a latest model weighing in at less than £500 and many of the top brands are now pushing the £600 barrier.

The price of new equipment is often cited as a barrier to participation and fuels accusations golf is elitist.

But how do brands justify the price? One of the world’s top equipment developers has given us an answer.

On The GBQ Podcast, hosted by The PGA, Dr Alan Hocknell, Titleist’s VP of advanced research and innovation, broke down to host Sarah Stirk some of the costs.

Why are golf driver costs so high?

He said: “The bulk of the cost of a driver is in the head. That might make sense – it’s where the most expensive materials are. It’s the part that makes contact with the ball. It has the most influence over your success in where the ball goes.

“It’s the part we focus on the most, but in order to get the most out of the performance – within the limits of the rules these days – we do have to use fairly exotic materials.

“Materials like titanium and carbon-based composites are pretty expensive. They’re the same sorts of materials that are used in fighter jets or in Formula 1 cars and they are put through manufacturing processes with very expensive tooling to create the shapes that we need to make with high precision and high quality.

“Those are expensive processes as well. There is all the research that goes in beforehand and the innovation funnel might be years long.

“There are people working at all stages of that, working with new technology, proving things for the first time, making lots of prototypes, breaking things, doing computer simulations, using expensive computer software and large computing resources to study things like aerodynamics.

“All those are genuine costs that we take on during development and some of those are a component of the final cost of the product as well.

“I will say that while brand new golf clubs are noticeably expensive because of the technology, there is a healthy pre-owned marked too for people who are really just putting their toe in the water to not have such a great outlay to start with.”

Now have your say

What do you think of golf driver costs? Do you appreciate the research and development comes with a price, or do you think they’re just too expensive? Let us know by leaving a comment on X.

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About the author

Steve Carroll

A journalist for more than 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long.

A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A’s prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.

Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men’s Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.

A part of NCG’s Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He’d like to tell you he floats around 10. The reality is more like 13.

Steve plays at Sandburn Hall, in York, and is a country member at Close House in Newcastle. He has served on various club committees during his time in the game, and is the current Rules Secretary at Sandburn.

Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NCTJ exams at Darlington College of Technology. He began his career working on weekly papers in Newcastle, before joining the York Press in 2001. After five years as a news reporter, he joined the sports desk – specialising in horse racing and snooker – and was Digital Sports Editor when he joined National Club Golfer in 2016.

What’s in Steve’s bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; Caley 01T irons 4-PW; TaylorMade Hi-Toe wedges, Odyssey 2Ball Microhinge putter.

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