52 - A Hundred Isn't THAT Much For Better Quality...

I haven’t been to the driving range as much as I have wanted to over the last couple of weeks due to a combination of the credit crunch and work commitments. What it means is that I’ve been able to drool over golf porn a lot recently, which is both a good and bad thing at the same time.

I’ve decided that I’m getting a set of Mizuno ‘game improvement’ clubs and until very recently I would happily tell you that it is a set of MX-100’s. Thing is, the more I read about the slightly more expensive MX-200’s the more my head is being turned.

What is the difference between the two sets I hear you cry? Well, apart from about £100, the fundamental difference is that the heads on the 100’s are cast and the 200’s are grain flow forged. Yeah, but what difference does that make I hear you sigh? It is all about feel boys and girls.

Casting the heads makes them cheaper to manufacture (meaning the MX-100’s are the entry level bats from Mizuno) but it also makes them have less ‘feel’. You know what it is like when you hit the ball with the heel of the club and you feel that ‘clunk’? That is similar to what it feels like using clubs with cast heads albeit not quite as bad.

Conversely, grain flow forged heads make hitting the ball sweetly feel like hitting the ball sweetly. They are softer and more rewarding when you hit the sweet spot which, seeing as they are still ‘game improvement’ clubs, is bigger than normal thanks to the weird Y-Tune insert built into the head.

Another difference is the size of the heads. Although both look pretty similar the 100’s are slightly bigger than the 200’s and slightly bigger than traditional clubs as far as I can see which is good initially but as I get better they will look like clowns clubs or summat. It is important how they look, just as Lucky who has spent a fortune on Nike clubs because he likes the yellow and black look!

So the 200’s have the same hazard dodging technology built into them, they are manufactured in a better way, they provide more feedback and they look better. The only problem is the price but I can justify buying them if I don’t buy the Mizuno long iron replacement club, the Fli-Hi, straight away and stick with Dougie Howson for a month or two. Sounds like a plan!

46 - £250 Off? Every Little Helps...

I hate being confused, which is a shame as golf confuses me daily. The latest head wrecker is the new clubs I’m going to get after Christmas. I’ve pretty much decided that I’m plumping for a set of Mizuno MX-100’s as they tick a lot of the boxes on my wish list. They are relatively cheap, they are ‘game improvement’ clubs and they have received good reviews in the magazines.

So what is the problem Rob? The problem is that I’ve just been to The American Golf Shop and found that I can pick up a brand new set of Callaway Big Bertha’s for a hundred quid less than the Mizuno’s. A set of Callaway irons (4-SW) for £269 (RRP £600), which are ‘game improvement’ clubs that have received good reviews in the magazines.

Hmmm. After a bit of research the deal isn’t quite as good as it first sounds. The Callaway’s are actually Big Berta 06’s meaning they have been about for around three years and aren’t exactly at the cutting edge when it comes to club technology. Although saying that, they aren’t exactly budget shite knocked up by a no name manufacturer from behind the former iron curtain either.

One of the reason’s I am getting a new set is to take advantage of the developments that have been made in club design in a desperate attempt to get better at this Goddamn game. So, do I choose the slightly older but almost certainly better quality Callaway’s or the brand new, totally up to date Mizuno’s?

The question gets more complicated with the aid of Google. A quick search shows that I can get my chubby little mitts on the Mizuno’s for a tenner more than the Callaway’s, which makes them even better in my eyes. Decisions, decisions.

Actually, what I think I’ll do is wait until the January sales and see what the shops have on offer. The imminent recession should help me get more for my money as the stores desperately clamour for cash that may well not be there. “£350 for those bats? Pah! What can you do? I want money off, I want custom fitting, I want a discount on hybrids and woods oh and throw in some other free shit”.

Come to think of it, American Golf actually do most of that with the Callaway’s and I bet if I turned up with an envelope stuffed with cash they would do it with the Mizuno’s too. For fuck sake, I’m back to square one.