The Emperor's New Clothes

Sometime around December 2023, I couldn’t decide between dumping money into lessons or new clothes.

An employee for a major equipment company asked, why not both?

Financially, I had decided that wasn’t possible.

Unless, I wanted to purchase nicer, used clubs and only take a few in person lessons.

One month, I was convinced upgrading from a 4 year old driver and a hodgepodge of blades from middle school (1998) and Play It Again fill ins would produce immediate results.

The next month, I broke 90 for the 4th time and believed lessons made more sense because I was already so close with what I owned.

My handicap got down to 17.1 last fall thanks to two sub 90 rounds in a week. Around February, enough people had told my downswing was too steep which was producing an aggressive right to left ball flight.

I’ve been fighting through self teaching myself a more shallow swing ever since.

My handicap vaulted back over 20 in mid April and has been as high as 21.1. Blame it on a stretch of 104-99-108.

Blame the 108 on playing a new course on the North Carolina coast without a warm up.

Blame it on a lack of belief in my 20 year old blade irons.

My financial situation settled in late May to the point where I reached out to a club fitter in Goldsboro and Greensboro to schedule a fitting. Neither responded.

I continued to waiver between spending money on coaching and new equipment.

Then, one day I visited the local Dicks.

A week later I visited again.

A week later I saw a financing sign for Callaway AI Smoke woods and irons.

It was tempting but despite my increased passion for golf equipment I mistakingly thought the AI Smoke line was for high end players.

What would be better for a 20 handicap, high end clubs off the shelf or waiting for fitted clubs? What if the fitted clubs didn’t produce immediate results? What if the Callaway clubs didn’t produce immediate results?

What was a better choice financially? A monthly payment or a much larger initial investment?

In the end, I learned that the AI Smoke line was a player improvement line and the financing option from Dicks was easier on the wallet than a big payment to a fitter who didn’t even have the time to respond to an email.

I have joined Team Callaway and now lug them around in my 1998 Cobra cart bag while making a monthly payment to Dick’s.

As is my tradition of not paying attention to details, I didn’t strap my bag into the cart the first round I took the new clubs out.

I will not confirm or deny if there is still a chip mark thanks to the parking lot at Cypress Landing on one of my new irons.

Do I have $2000 worth of new golf clubs and a $10 swing? Maybe, but I feel infinitely more confident with modern technology in my hands and that is one less thing off my shoulders.

A week ago, I was 170 out in the rough, thought about the 6 iron and opted for the 5 iron. The ball landed on the green. This time last year, I might have chosen the 6 iron because it was a more recent club from Play It Again Sports.

My scores have not plummeted but I do feel a bit longer and a lot more confident. My good shots are a lot better than my good shots were this time last year.

Is there enough time to win my November 15th bet?

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