If you’ve ever gone shopping for a used car, you’ve probably been warned from purchasing a “lemon.” A “lemon” is a vehicle that, despite its new-looking exterior, has an engine that will break down shortly after purchase. Even a first-time shopper can tell you how important the engine is to the car. Without a quality engine, no matter how good the car looks, it would lose a majority of its appeal when curbside and broken down.
It is fair to say that most of us would not enjoy a soggy apple. Apples are best when they are crisp, sweet, juicy, and crunchy. The same goes for steaks. It would be rare to find a person who prefers their steaks tough and leathery. Instead, we want steaks that are soft, juicy, and well seasoned. The way food feels in your mouth is just as important as how it tastes. The same can be said of women’s golf clubs sets.
Bob Hope once joked, “Golf is a game that needlessly prolongs the lives of some of our most useless citizens.” Although this is simply just a joke, this is a stigma that enshrouds the sport of golf. You think of golf and you imagine old people wearing sunny colors mismatched with plaid, earth-toned knickerbockers, quiet mannerisms and stiff country clubs. But it’s becoming something more than that…its not grandma’s sport anymore.
Choosing a set of golf clubs is like choosing a pair of shoes. For some, it can be a daunting task with too many variables and alien language—like stilettos, wedges, flats, open or close toe shoes, and so on. For those that understand the often-minute differences and the benefits of each style, find shopping for shoes not a burden but a blessing. The same goes for golf clubs.
At any given LPGA tour event, if you ask one of the pro golfers who they owe greatest thanks to, almost everyone mentions Annika Sorenstam. Although many women before her have made amazing strides in making ladies golf more pleasurable to watch, it was Annika who had made history by shooting a 59 in a professional round (a feat that even men’s no. 1, Tiger Woods, had never achieved). It was Annika who was the first women ever to compete in a PGA-sanctioned event. It was Annika who, despite her worldwide fame, helped countless golfers in many of her free clinics. And yet, despite these accomplishments, it is still merely the physical attractiveness of some of the ladies pro golfers that draw men to the sport. Ironically, it is healthier for golfers, both men and women, to watch LPGA events than PGA events.
Some students claim that the most disheartening school assignment are writing exercises in which the teacher does not give specific directions, but gives the students freedom to choose as they please. This seems disheartening because often the most difficult process in creating something is simply starting. Choosing between multitudes of variations easily becomes confusing and hopeless. Sometimes, this is what it feels like trying to buy golf clubs. Golf stores have entire walls devoted to sets of irons, entire sections devoted to complete sets, areas specific for putting, and rows upon rows of different golf balls (all claiming to be the longest, softest, and most durable). But where does one start in purchasing women’s golf clubs? How does one even begin purchasing a set of irons? Are complete sets a better investment than separately sold items?
Imagine: 206 yards to a pin that is stuffed in the front left corner of the manicured green. There is an ominous tree only thirty yards shy of the green, with it’s outstretched branches longing to swipe at any ball that comes near. Between this tree and the green lies 6 in. deep rough, leading to a deep, powdery sand bunker that promises nothing less than a bogey. If this scenario were presented just ten years ago, the chances of landing the ball anywhere within 25 feet from the hole would be miraculous. To even consider carrying the tree and the bunker would be a golf-score-suicide. But Y.E Yang would consider no other option because he was armed with a club that allowed him to imagine such a shot. His weapon? A 3-hybrid that he was able to hit high enough to clear the tree and with enough backspin to take two short hops and stop dead in it’s tracks on the tightly mown green. He landed only 8ft. from the pin, sank his putt, and went on to be the only player in history to defeat Tiger Woods in the final round of a major championship, with Tiger starting the final round with the lead.
It would be absolutely frustrating trying to prepare a meal with crude tools. Even a professional chef would have trouble cutting a fragile tomato with a dull knife. It is not so much a lack of skill, but a lack of proper equipment. The very same goes for women’s golf clubs. Manufacturers are making it easier for golfers to obtain women’s custom golf clubs without having to pay an arm and a leg. But customizing golf clubs is no easy task. Often, fitting sessions take up to an hour and a half just for the driver. Irons, putters and wedges are fitted separately. The only clubs that do not necessarily need it’s own separate fitting session are fairway woods.
The golf glove is probably one of the most overlooked pieces of equipment in a golfers bag. Too often, people walk into stores and base their glove selection on style and price. But a properly fitted glove, just as properly fitted golf clubs, could do wonders for both one’s enjoyment of the sport, and their score. Just as there has been a rather substantial increase in women’s golf clubs, so the same for golf gloves. Gone are the days of thick, brittle gloves. Read the rest of this entry »
The LPGA has recently experienced a boom in international exposure. The top twenty on the money list are no longer representing a handful of countries. Quite literally, every continent is now represented within the rankings, and club-makers have responded to this by broadening the market for women’s golf clubs. Finally, women are being recognized as major contributors to the golf-industry. Read the rest of this entry »