Pinemeadow equipment

Hi guys,

I'm new to this sport and for the last 2 months, I played with a set that belongs to one of my co-worker. I just thought that instead of buying equipment first, I'll be better of investing in some lessons, which I did. Right now I feel that it is time to buy some equipment of my own. I did some research on the internet and I end up at : http://www.pinemeadowgolf.com. They have great prices and I'm thinking to buy either the Pinemeadow Excel High Launch Irons or the Pinemeadow NSE5 Complete Set. I got my swing speed measured (88 mph) and it looks like I'm a regular shaft guy.

Can somebody help me out here - Am I looking at the right thing? Anybody has any comments on the Pinemeadow equipment?

All the best...

My opinion on PineMeadow is here (On having a "set"), part of this thread.

honestly go to ebay and try to find some Tommy Armor 845s... they may not be the best clubs in the world, but they have a nice cavity back design, and they're not hard on the wallet. even brand new ones only run about $300 2-pw. check out the Silver Scotts.

William

If you're going to spend $300 on irons, you could move up to some much nicer irons (Nike Slingshots, any Callaway X series irons), or for the same $300 you could see your local clubfitter/clubbuilder and get something that no-one has ever heard of, but that performs just as well as the 'name brand' clubs.

just checked ebay... the highest that i found on there for a full set of 845s was 199.99 plus shipping. and they're brand new. http://cgi.ebay.com/TOMMY-ARMOUR-845...QQcmdZViewItem


William

Thanks guys,

I looked on ebay for the TOMMY ARMOUR 845 IRONS but that is not going to help me because the shaft is STIFF and I need regular shafts. But thanks anyway. I'll keep looking.

If it were me I would pick up a set of ADAMs GT Irons. You can usually get them on e-bay for 100-150 dollars plus 30-40 shipping new. I think they are just fine for someone just starting to play and they are a name brand with a true temper shaft. I also know a few single digit players who use them.

My guess is that if you play a few times a week you will find (depending on current age etc.) that your swing speed will gradually improve. You are sort of borderline as it is between a regular and a stiff shaft, in 2 years if you like the game and play often enough you may want to upgrade at that point.

Bob

To update the last post technically their GT2 Irons and a few store have them at buy it now for $99.00 and $20.00 shipping.

Bob (would attach a link to them if I knew how )

I am not a good golfer. My brother in law is, he is a five handicap. He has been playing with pinemeadow clubs for years. Because of his good experience I have finally treated myself to a set of Pinemeadows. I am waiting on the Tour 780 Driver, ZR1 3w and 5w, and a set of excel strong irons. I paid $329 for all of this, with lamkin grips and custom height and lie adjustment. With five children I can't justify $1000+ for a set of clubs. The options that exist for me at that price point are either a cheaper name brand set of clubs, used clubs, or what i ended up buying, the Pinemeadow Clubs.

The cheap name brand set: These are just plain cheap. Cheap heads, Cheap Grips, Cheap shafts.

The Used Set: Used clubs are almost as expensive as new ones and the technology is 5 years old.

Pinemeadow Set: Got Aldila Shaft, Lamkin Grips, and Custom Fit. Got my brother in law and all of the testimonials on the site that the product is good.

all in all, i'm probably not good enough to notice if the ZR1 isn't as good as the Ping G5. I saved myself about $150 on the club though. I'll use that for three rounds of golf.

I hope you're happy with your new clubs! It's always great to have shiny new stuff, and I understand your reasons entirely.

Just in case, though, anyone else is reading this and finds themselves in a similar position it's worth pointing out that 2nd hand clubs per se often offer tremendous value, when bought off Ebay or wherever. Sometimes you will find extraordinary bargains (A guy at my club got a set of Ping i3's, Scotty Cameron putter, and Ping woods for £100 - about $190) but that's rare. Even so, you can pitch yourself further up the 'gear scale'.

2 thoughts;

1) It'll probably be a while before you're aware of the difference. It's not so much that the diffreence won't be there, just that you won't necessarily notice it

2) Old gear isn't necessarily bad gear. Yes, technology moves on - perhaps more so in drivers than anywhere else, but even on the pro circuit, there are people playing with much loved older gear. Until recently, Lee Westwood was very much a case in point. Bill Reed plays the golf of my dreams with older clubs that he loves and is used to. 5 year old technology is neither here nor there - what matters is how it feels in your hands.

To use the wrong phrase in the wrong context - it's not the size of the boat, it's the motion of the ocean, as it were...

__________________
~_~_~_~_~
Personal bests 2007;
Best 18: 78 (+12)
Best 9: 37 (+4)
Best Stableford: 45 pts
Best total putts: 28
Best total length sunk putts (ft): 54

Club tourney history this year: Captain's Day - 1st; Club foursomes - 2nd; Dimex Stableford - 2nd; Club Championship - 13/28 gross, joint 5/28 nett; Ferebee Shield - 2nd; Sept Medal 2nd; Autumn Stableford - 1st

Bulldog, Thanks for the great reply and encouragement.

I didn't want to imply that old gear was bad gear. I have hit my friend's TaylorMade R7 draw driver and another's Calloway Driver that were both 460cc. Tough to find a brand name one of those used!

I think the problem is that I have expensive taste!

I'll let you know how it goes.

R

I've just joind GTO and noticed this thread, which didn't seem to address much in the way of Pinemeadow stuff, but talked about other options.

I'm a 9 handicapper who has a Pinemeadow ZR1 driver and Excel hybrids. I cannot fault either the driver or the hybrids. I can work the hybrids either way, hit them high, low, off the deck or out of cabbage.

On the down side, I can't work the 460cc driver so well, but 460's aren't built for workability. On the plus side - I can't hit my mate's R7 as far or as straight. The only way I don't hit 250 metres + is if I stuff up.

I've had the clubs for pushing two years now and the only sign of wear are a few slight scratches on the bottom of the driver from wooden tees. For $130 (with UST shaft) it sure beats putting another $400 into Nike or TaylorMade to pay the pros. I reckon I need my $400 more than Tiger does.

I'm looking at some new irons soon, and while some Mizunos off ebay is one option, so are some brand new Pinemeadows. Apart from the Pinemeadow grips (which are too slippery for being in the tropics) I can't fault the quality or the service of Pinemeadow.

Cheers
Toos

I know it's not all about the looks, but they really do look great! Good finish by the look of the photos.
So much better than most of the other ebay generics out there.
Even if I don't hit them well, it's only a touch over $200 for a set of irons. Can soon sell them to someone else to use, and try another set.

This mob don't look too bad either.
http://www.gigagolf.com/index.jsp

Cheers

Ah Darren, that is one sweet ute, mate!

From an expat Aussie in ute-free Singapore.

I've kind of shifted my thinking on this kind of issue.

I was in a big-box sports retailer yesterday. As I'm browsing the golf balls looking for the supposed clearance of the Strata TL Tour, I noticed a sales associate that I know through basketball (and a little golf) talking to a guy about buying some clubs. This is not a pro shop, so none of the sets are more than $300 - which includes bag, sticks, and 3 free logo balls and a hat!

Needless to say, the clubfitter in me was very curious as to how the sales rep was going to go about selling these clubs. It wasn't a bad presentation - he 'fit' the fellow with a 5 iron, noted whether or not the club was too toe up or down, explained that it points to lengthening or shortening, etc. Now, obviously the sales rep knows a little bit about the importance of fitting (he's had his clubs "worked up" - his term, not mine).

Now, I believe that I've got the perfect system for beginners. It's a long-debated point about whether or not you buy clubs first and then take lessons, or whether you take lessons and then buy clubs. I've become dichotic on this one, embracing both sides. Either get a set built to TLT spec for you, and take lessons with them, OR, buy your conventional set, and only use the club that you feel absolutely most comfortable with to groove and learn how to swing. (Then get the rest of the set built to TLT once your lessons are over).

Not everyone has the coin to get fitted clubs. Perhaps they just need cheap sticks to whack the ball around the course. In this case, I find outlets like gigagolf.com, pinemeadowgolf.com, and even the MCM brand from MyClubMaker.com suit these golfers just fine. If your goal is to go out and have a good time with your buddies, whack the ball around regardless of your score, then these are the perfect sticks for you. I wouldn't encourage you to spend any more money on your golf game than that. Make sure you're buying logo-overrun balls, cheap balls, balls you find in the gunch, etc... golf isn't about being good at this point. For these players, the cheapie set by an online fitter works just fine.

For the guy who isn't coming in with a "I'll try it and see if I like it" attitude, (kind of like myself - I realised I'll be doing golf-things because of business for a while, so I'd better get good at it), then to me a fitted set is a requirement, and off the rack clubs won't do. You may be able to buy some cheap clubs from an online retailer as referenced earlier in my post, and try to have your fitter/builder retrofit them, but if you want the highest quality, you need to buy a quality component head.

The issue with the pinemeadow, gigagolf and MCM branded stuff is that coming out of the foundry, the technical tolerances aren't that great. In other words, lofts, lies, and weights could be far from spec. All heads have tolerances, but cheaper heads have wider tolerances. This is what seperates quality components from cheap heads - the tolerances are tighter AND because the materials are better (again, tighter tolerances) it's easier to bring these heads back to spec for loft and lie, and even some designs make it easy to bring weight back to spec (with an internal weight port like Wishon designs).

IMO, under no circumstances should anyone be playing Nike, TaylorMade, Callaway, Titleist, Mizuno, Cobra, Ping, Cleveland, Nickent or Srixon unless they're being paid to. Companies including SMT, Wishon, Eidolon, Alpha, Geek, Bang and even the SnakeEyes line from GolfSmith and Maltby/Toski lines from GolfWorks are every bit as well built as the names you recognize, but without the huge marketing budgets that we the golfer have to pay for. I guarantee that because you're playing Nike blades, you're not playing the same clubs as Tiger. You may be playing the same head design, you may even be playing the same shafts, and the grips look the same. But I'll promise you the headweights, swingweights, lengths, lofts, lies, and wraps of buildup aren't the same between your blades bought from the proshop or from tgw.com and Tiger's clubs hand-made by Tom Stites.

Find a good fitter who deals in quality components, and like the ING Direct guy says - "Save your money".

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I say it too often: If it's golf club shaped, you can play with it.