when is a good time to buy new clubs?

I have decided to take the plunge and buy some new clubs. I was wondering when is a good time? Manufacturers seem to be bringing new stuff out all the time but I wondered if there is a certain time of year when a lot come out at the same time? Dont want to spend my hard earned pennies just to see the same product on offer two weeks later to make way for the latest set out. Any views gratefully received

Never a good time, as someone will always come out with something better. Can usually get better deals on last years range ... for instance Direct Golf have had the TM rocketballz tour for £299 recently, an awesome set of irons at a fantastic price.

At the end of day why worry about new clubs coming out, unless your seriously thinking of swapping clubs every few months then the resale value of clubs shouldn't be an issue.

Someone new to gardening once asked an expert gardener when was the best time to plant a tree? The expert replied "Twenty years ago, failing which today."

Golf is a more forgiving hobby than gardening, as one can turn back the clock.

My advice is:

"Buy today a little used quality set of irons from 40-50 years ago. They will surpass any of today's releases by light years unless you can afford to lay out an extremely large sum of money."

Always choose lateral thinking over indoctrination.

If you have a quality set, a new set will unlikely make you a better player, so why change, unless its an ego trip.

There will always be better clubs coming out after you've bought yours. Personally I prefer to buy the previous years range, cheaper and not much different to the new ones other than price.

Unless you've got money to burn, I'd never recommend anyone buying "new" clubs. Although the "personal fitting" purists will be on my back for this, I'd always recommend buying a decent quality set from Ebay. There are so many excellent sets for sale (because most owners do look after their clubs) that you can almost be sure of finding some locally if you're insistent on seeing the clubs in the flesh before bidding. That way, if the clubs don't work out, you can often resell them with very little loss on your investment. Also, new clubs don't have many "real reviews" on retail websites. Always read the reviews for a particular set of older irons/woods on a website like Goflbidder before adding them to your shortlist.

Finally, don't be put off by the suggestion that certain clubs are only for "better players". My 2nd hand Mizuno MP32 irons (bought from Ebay for £76!) have actually made me a better player (HC cut from 22 to 18 in recent times) - If you read most "professional" appraisals of MP32s they claim they are only for sub-5 handicappers....

I would suggest buying second hand clubs from golfbidder or similar rather than ebay unless the ebay seller is in fact a golf professional you can phone and talk to - ie. somebody with a reputation to lose if they pass off fake clubs,

You can take your second hand clubs to a club fitter to get them adjusted. In many ways this is actually better than a custom fit from a pro who only fits one brand. Lie & loft adjustments are very cheap (and absolutely worth the money). I recommend Lee Porter at Hylands Golf.

Golf manufacturers are always bringing out their latest, longest, most accurate golf clubs, so you will never find a 'Right' time to buy new clubs.

What does normally happen though, is they drop the prices on their older models. That's right, the ones that three months ago they were advertising as their latest, longest, most accurate golf clubs!

If you are certain that you want to upgrade your clubs then I would look out for a set of golf clubs that you like. Don't worry about the name on the clubs, if you like them then you are half way there.

Most of the large golf shops will do free custom fitting (something I recommend you take).

Shop around and don't always go for the latest clubs.

Russ