New drivers, irons, putters: the big equipment brands are launching their latest products in droves and the prices may not be for the faint-hearted.
It doesn’t matter how you dress it up, £500 is a chunk of change for a new driver and a through-the-bag set will now likely run to thousands.
What goes into the pricing? Is it all about profit or is the technology, research, and effort that goes into making new clubs worthy of our investment?
On the latest episode of The NCG Golf Podcast, our equipment editor Hannah Holden was asked the $64,000 question that all club golfers have about new gear.
Why does it cost so much?
“Price points are really interesting because, obviously, you pick up a driver for £500 and that is a lot of money,” she said. “It is an expensive product.
“But I’ve also been in the R&D facilities and the manufacturing facilities where they make this stuff and there is seriously expensive kit in there and a lot of technology going into making these clubs.
“I don’t think they are overpriced but that doesn’t mean they’re not expensive. I think it’s quite a hard debate. Manufacturers are spending millions of pounds just on machinery to build stuff, never mind the costs and spending on developing new technologies.”
With most modern drivers looking to the untrained eye like a hollowed-out shell, compared with the more solid structures in the past, Hannah was also asked to explain the technology that went into making a new driver and whether that contributed to rising costs.
