Equipment
Online golf equipment shopping is up 50 percent year-over-year, says Golf Datatech
Golf Datatech’s Serious Golfer Shopping & Purchasing Habits Study, published roughly every two years, is one of the industry’s most significant indicators of what’s going on at the heart of golf retail.
“Like most consumer shopping preferences in the United States, serious golfers’ choices about shopping for golf equipment or apparel have changed significantly over the past few years,” says John Krzynowek, a Partner in Golf Datatech LLC.
“The retail environment is rapidly evolving across all consumer products in the USA, and the purchasing of golf products is no exception. In fact, shopping for, and buying golf products is frequently a multi-step process. Gone are the days when golfers would buy without shopping for product features, as well as comparing prices. Today’s golfer is savvier about product life cycles and price/value relationships.”
Golf Datatech tapped over 2,500 golfers from its database, surveying multiple demographics, including: golf handicap, gender, facility played, geographic region, alpha consumers (those that buy products most frequently) and price points, along with a special investigation of online shopping habits.
The survey found online shopping for golf equipment is up more than 50 percent year-over-year. Just last year, a GPAU study found participants were most likely to make their next equipment purchase online just 13 percent of the time.
Interestingly, buying more equipment online hasn’t made consumers more impulsive: The average respondent said it takes him/her three months to pull the trigger on a new piece of equipment.
Also worth remembering in evaluating the increase in online sales: More than 100 brick and mortar golf shops have closed in the U.S. in the past year.
Krzynowek also says, “Purchase cycles in clubs have shortened slightly over the past few years, but still remain elongated from an historical point of view.”
Another tidbit: Here’s what Golf Datatech found with respect to average equipment purchase cycles.
- Drivers: 4 years
- Irons: 5 years
- Wedges: 4 years
- Putters: 6 years
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- Daniel Berger what’s in the bag accurate as of the Farmers Insurance Open. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X
6-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 Tour (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X
Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3), TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC 2011 (4-PW)
Shafts: Project X Denali Blue 105 TX (3), Project X 6.5 (4-PW)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (50-12F), Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (56-14F), Callaway Jaws Raw (60-08C)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (50), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (56, 60)
Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Mini DB
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy PistolLock 1.0
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Wrap
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Check out more in-hand photos of Daniel Berger’s clubs in the forums.
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What are the driver and shaft combinations of the best golfers in the world? For gearheads, it’s an endlessly interesting question — even if we can only ever aspire to play LS heads and 7 TX shafts.
At this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, GolfWRX got in-hand looks at the driver setups of a wealth of players.
Check out some of the most interesting combos below, then head to the GolfWRX forums for the rest, as well as the rest of our galleries from New Orleans.
Rory McIlroy
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees @8.25)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Alex Fitzpatrick
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Daniel Berger
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees @9)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Wrap
Rasmus Hojgaard
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Blue 60 TX
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Alejandro Tosti
Driver: Srixon ZX5 Mk II LS (9.5 degrees @10.5)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS T1100 75 6.5
Grip: Golf Pride MCC Plus4
James Nicholas
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (8 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Kevin Streelman
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Sang-moon Bae
Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond (9+ @8)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Russ Cochran
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke (9 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD TP 6 X
Grip: Golf pride MCC Align 
MJ Daffue
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max (10.5 degrees @9.5)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green RDX 65 TX
Grip: Golf Pride ZGrip Cord Align
Check our more photos from the Zurich Classic here.
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- Rasmus Højgaard what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic.
Driver: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Prototype (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX
Utility: Callaway Apex UW (21 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw White 85 TX
Irons: Callaway Apex Pro (3), Callaway X Forged (4-PW)
Shafts: KBS $-Taper 130
Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (52-10S, 56-10S, 60-06C)
Shafts: KBS Tour 130 X
Putter: Odyssey Ai One Milled Eight T DB
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Check out more in-hand photos of Hojgaard in the forums.
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Dave Portnoy places monstrous outright bet for the 2024 Masters
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Daniel Berger WITB 2024 (April)
Daniel Berger what’s in the bag accurate as of the Farmers Insurance Open. More photos from the event here. Driver:...
Rasmus Højgaard WITB 2024 (April)
Rasmus Højgaard what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic. Driver: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)...
Rory McIlroy WITB 2024 (April)
Rory McIlroy what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic. Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus...
Sam Burns WITB 2024 (April)
Sam Burns’ what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage. Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond S (9 degrees...
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19th Hole2 weeks agoDave Portnoy places monstrous outright bet for the 2024 Masters
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19th Hole2 weeks agoTiger Woods arrives at 2024 Masters equipped with a putter that may surprise you
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19th Hole2 days agoJustin Thomas on the equipment choice of Scottie Scheffler that he thinks is ‘weird’
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19th Hole2 days ago‘Absolutely crazy’ – Major champ lays into Patrick Cantlay over his decision on final hole of RBC Heritage
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Mad-Mex
Oct 29, 2017 at 10:14 pm
Yet on another article online shopping and K-Sigs get bashed,,,,
Tamanna khan
Oct 11, 2017 at 1:09 am
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Oct 6, 2017 at 7:09 am
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moses
Sep 22, 2017 at 12:03 pm
Buying last year’s model or buying used = big’money savings.
I got a used 917D2 from Globalgolf for $230. No way in heck I’m paying $450 for a new club that’s worth $250 after I play a few rounds.
Justin
Sep 20, 2017 at 6:12 pm
M2 driver AND 3 wood, new in plastic, globalgolf.com for $299… what would that retail for? $649!!! you tell me who’s the asinine one
JCC
Sep 20, 2017 at 7:40 pm
Um no – not the 2017 model you moron. It’s $650 at global. My local shop sells that for $600. If you’re talking about the 2016 model then you’re trying to deceive people.
Justin
Sep 20, 2017 at 8:19 pm
I’m deceiving people or the manufacturers are deceiving people?????
JCC
Sep 20, 2017 at 11:01 pm
Show us where globalgolf is selling the 2017 M2 driver and fairway for $299. Prove it.
Justin
Sep 21, 2017 at 5:07 pm
ok i’m sorry i combined two arguments and you didn’t comprehend, 1. shop online 2. buy previous year models 3. SAVE MONEY
birdie
Sep 21, 2017 at 3:04 pm
lol blaming the manufacturer for you stupidity it seems
Mark
Sep 20, 2017 at 12:09 pm
Ok, with a sampling of 2500 from a population of 26,000,000 what is the confidece level and margin of error in the statistics?
Johnnythunders
Sep 19, 2017 at 8:50 pm
For all of you uniformed people saying all golf equipment sold on EBay is fake, get real. You have no idea the current state of how a very large portion of golf clubs are sold in the United States. And by the very manufacturers that also sell to brick and mortar. Callaway has a great preowned site, best trade-in prices, authentic certificates and there “like new clubs” are in a large number of cases, new. They have the number one selling driver now on there, Epic. And the prices are good but get really great when they have sales like ever other week. And guest were Callaway also sells clubs, right now they have 66,667 clubs listed on EBAY.. Mizuno is different they don’t have a preowned site but they sell clubs to lots of small internet dealers or brick and morter who sell on eBay, you place your order, it’s built by Mizuno and shipp d by them to you at a lower cost.
Now if you play Pings or Titelest they are still trying to control pricing especially Ping. So you have to pay way more to get your shiny new clubs.
And that’s the key lower cost, authentic clubs, faster. Retail stores are dead. The golf store is dead.
Internet has enabled a new retail model. Get on board.
SoloGolfer
Sep 20, 2017 at 6:08 pm
Only idjits buy a set of clubs online and just to brag about WITB. That’s why golf is the game for goofballs and gearheads.
JCC
Sep 20, 2017 at 7:46 pm
how do you know what lie angle you need? what shaft you need? what loft you need on drivers? keep acting in ways that will result in not being able to test clubs out. “the internet” isn’t selling clubs at 1/2 the price of a brick and mortar. that’s just not logical. most brick and mortars will price match if you give them the chance.
birdie
Sep 21, 2017 at 3:07 pm
anyone can go to a reputable fitter, get fit, and then buy the clubs online new or used.
no, we don’t need to go beat balls with random clubs at the closet golf galaxy to figure out what to buy. this is actually probably more detrimental as their launch monitors aren’t all that accurate to begin with.
Bert
Sep 19, 2017 at 7:39 pm
Why is it when eBay is mentioned I immediately think counterfeit? Maybe it’s because when the price of a set of irons is $1300 and you can get a new set on eBay for $600, something doesn’t seem correct. Some mfr’s are listing their authorized eBay Sellers. That’s a good thing for the buyer.
birdie
Sep 20, 2017 at 9:09 am
can’t help but laugh at those who think everything on ebay is fake. the joke is on you for paying retail prices when same clubs can be bought at a steep discount. your example is an exaggeration of course.
Boobsy McKiss
Sep 19, 2017 at 6:50 pm
Seems some people here are still in denial about the future of brick and mortar stores. Do we really need stats to tell us this? Amazon and other online retailers are growing quickly and so are the number of people buying from them. Sure it’s nice to support local from buying local, but it’s dumb to believe this is somehow going to stem the tide permanently. And a lot of people seem to believe they can stop the train.
Like it or not, the future is a lot of empty retail stores (not just in golf) and almost everything you buy will be from online retailers. Toys R Us just became the next victim of Amazon. Who is next? Best Buy is on the brink. And it will take some time (10-15yrs) but eventually the sporting goods stores will go too and that will be that for the in-store golf buying experience. Send all thank you cards to Amazon and Walmart.
Justin
Sep 19, 2017 at 4:25 pm
If you don’t buy online, you probably enjoy wasting money
JCC
Sep 19, 2017 at 7:26 pm
asinine comment
birdie
Sep 20, 2017 at 9:11 am
sorry, but he’s right. if you walk into a store and pay retail you are over paying. its that simple
surewin73
Sep 19, 2017 at 3:59 pm
If I know my specs I would be comfortable purchasing equipment at one of the larger sites (TGW, PGA Superstore, etc.). But I rather purchase from a local shop.
Thomas A
Sep 19, 2017 at 2:50 pm
I bought a set of brand new Wilson Staff v4 irons 4-GW on ebay for $330. Brand new, in the Wilson box with all the plastic head wrap and everything. Why the heck would I pay $900 in a store? Or even $650 when they get marked down after a product cycle?
JCC
Sep 19, 2017 at 8:09 pm
because they are probably fake or stolen. how do you logic out that you can buy clubs for 1/3 or even 1/2 the price online? do you honestly think there is that much margin in golf clubs? if you do then you’re a moron.
birdie
Sep 20, 2017 at 9:13 am
you couldn’t be more wrong. hope you enjoy wasting your money. yes, for a set of clubs that are one to two years old, the margin between online discounts and retail prices is huge. sometimes more than half.
I can walk into a retail store today, see the 716 ap2 irons still near their original price. online, i’d pay hundreds less for the same set.
continue assuming anything online is fake. its your money your wasting
birdie
Sep 20, 2017 at 9:15 am
lol you couldn’t be more wrong. enjoy wasting your money
JCC
Sep 20, 2017 at 7:48 pm
enjoy double posting like an idiot
BIG STU
Sep 21, 2017 at 3:23 am
SERIOUSLY??? Just had to say that and who in the hell would want to counterfit Wilson clubs to begin with?
RonMcD
Sep 19, 2017 at 2:25 pm
I suspect a majority of the online purchases is for balls and other such golf accessories. Buying club equipment online is moronic.
LaBraeGolfer
Sep 19, 2017 at 7:12 pm
This could very well be possible. I have made over 100 online purchases in the last 3 years buying used clubs, through various sites. I have been a club fitter so I know what my specs are and it is fun to try new equipment just to have something new in the bag. It doesn’t effect my scoring at all and I still go to lessons like any serious golfer.
Mark
Sep 19, 2017 at 2:21 pm
This is based off a sampling of 2,500 golfers from over 26 million golfers in the US. Real convincing.
JDR
Sep 19, 2017 at 2:30 pm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampling_(statistics)
Boobsy McKiss
Sep 19, 2017 at 6:41 pm
+1 for your reply to Mr. Mark. LMAO
birdie
Sep 20, 2017 at 9:14 am
apparently you have no idea how poll sampling works.