By Dan Bennett

Last Saturday I went to the Colossal Golf Store not far away. They have everything. They must have fifty different brands and types of irons alone!
That’s the problem!

Here is why you could very likely end up with the absolute worst set of clubs at a price that will cost you an arm and a leg.

You just do not know what makes a good iron and what makes a bad iron. Very few people do.

That is why you rely on the salesperson to help.

I watched a guy come into Colossal Golf Store and start looking at the iron sets.

Salesman came up, “Looking for new irons?”

“I’m thinking about it, my Callaways are three years old now.” Said customer.

“Well, you’re looking at some dandies there. Those XXX (I can’t use the name – lawyers and all, you know) are really hot. Used by plenty of Tour Pros. They’ll sure make you play a better game.”

“Well, I’d sure like to get my score into the eighties and stay there,” said customer.

“These are the sticks for you,” replied salesman.

A little more chat and then Customer puts over $800.00 on his Mastercard and leaves.

This poor guy better not sell his Callaways. That is a set of irons that will forgive his mistakes not magnify them! The clubs he bought are used by Tour pros and scratch golfers. Their design is for absolute top players – not weekend golfers! A slight bit off dead center and good-bye golf ball.

I don’t blame the poor guy. How is he to know. But, I do believe the salesman had an obligation to tell the poor guy the clubs he was looking at were designed for scratch golfers not somebody trying to get to the 80’s and stay there. Instead, all the salesman wanted was a quick sale.

There was only one choice this guy could have made for under 800.00. There is a specific set of irons in the 400.00 range that is really super helpful. But then it would be just a 400.00 sale for the salesman and not the 800.00 sale he made!
So the poor guy ends up $800.00 poorer and with clubs that will make him miserable! I truly believe some golf companies will pull the wool over our eyes in a herartbeat if they could.

You do not have to know what makes a good club or a bad club. I must know. It’s what I do.

There are clubs designed for pros and 1 handicappers. There are clubs designed for weekend golfers.

Pros need to work the ball. By that, I mean they want to draw or fade their irons and woods. They can use clubs with a much smaller sweet spot because they hit so consistently. After all, they hit a few hundred practice balls every day! That is their job! You and I don’t.

You and I need irons with a low center of gravity. As much perimeter weighting as is possible and a center of gravity that also helps correct our mis-hits.

It is not always black and white. Not; yes, this one helps this one does not. Although it certainly is in some cases – like the poor guy at Colossal Golf.

It is a matter of degrees. Some clubs help a little, some a bit more, some a lot, some a whole lot.

A club head can be weighed and measured. You can know before you even hit it – actually, before it even goes on a shaft.

That is what I do here. I weigh a head; I then locate the center of gravity both horizontally and vertically.

Only then can I determine if a club head is designed for you and me or a touring pro. Of course, you and I can just glance at some of the blade or muscle back designs and know right off the bat they are not for us. But for the rest – and that is far and away most of them, they must be weighed and measured and centers of gravity located.

Dennis, my partner, and I will not sell any club unless it greatly enhances your game. If a club is extremely forgiving – extremely helpful, then you should use it. If it is anything less than that – why in the world do you want it!!

Club company sales reps want us to carry their clubs. We will only if they genuinely help you and are forgiving and easy to hit. Once we start offering all kinds of clubs we become Colossal Golf Store and you are up a creek again in picking a set of clubs.

When we offer a club, you can bet it will right at the upper extreme of “Game Help Design.” And it will be extremely affordable.