How Often Should You Upgrade Your Golf Clubs?

When it comes to golf equipment, there’s a difficult balancing act between moving with technology and finding gear that you love and trust. Some players prefer to chop and change frequently, others are loyal to trusted weapons that they stick by season after season. Jack Nicklaus famously kept the same MacGregor 693 3-wood for 37 years and used it in all his 18 Majors victories.

There are different reasons why you might choose to upgrade your clubs and different clubs probably need to be upgraded more often than others. Here are six questions you should ask yourself when considering when, why and how often you should upgrade your golf clubs…

Are you improving?

A starter set is a great option for someone beginning their journey in golf and it can help you get a footing in the game. But as you start to improve and your handicap begins to come down, you will benefit from an upgrade. Moving to a custom-fit game improving set, from driver right through to wedges, could give you the edge you need to step things up in your game.

As you get better still, you might be looking to move away from clubs that are designed for game improvement and forgiveness to those that offer a little more in the way of workability and predictability.

Basically, as you improve in golf, your equipment should follow your trajectory. Beginners should be looking at a relatively cost-effective option as they decide whether golf is for them. Mid to high handicappers should look at woods and irons that are playable, forgiving and produce a nice high flight. If you start to threaten single figures, you might want to upgrade to equipment that is more precise, perhaps slightly stiffer shafts, in order to gain more control.

Are you losing distance?

On the other side of the coin. As we all, inevitably, get older we might find we’re losing distance and we need to upgrade our equipment to something that helps us out a little more.

Perhaps five years ago, you were still getting the most from those stiff-shafted blades and pro-spec driver, but now distance is dropping and you’re finding shots leaking to the right. It’s time to upgrade.

Go to your local qualified PGA Pro and see what the options are for staying in the game at the standard you want to. You can continue to perform at the level you were just by going for slightly more forgiving shafts and heads in your woods and irons. Swallow your pride and find something that gives you an extra 10 yards… Why wouldn’t you?

Has technology moved on?

You might absolutely love the driver you have. You might have trusted those irons for 20 years. But, be honest – How much has technology moved on and are you missing out?

It’s not uncommon to hear people say – “Technology has barely moved on since I bought this driver in 2004.” Well, newsflash… It has. Tests prove that modern drivers outperform great models from yesteryear. You could be missing out on vital yards and extra consistency. If your driver is out of date, it’s time to upgrade. Same goes for fairway woods.

And when it comes to irons, there have been considerable advances in weight placement and aerodynamics that make today’s irons better than those of previous decades. The thing to do is go and try new ones on a launch monitor and compare the results to what your old ones produce. You will be surprised.

How Often do you play?

If you’re a regular golfer, you’re likely to upgrade your equipment more frequently as your equipment will make more of a difference to your performance relatively speaking, compared to an irregular golfer.

If you only knock it about a few times a year, then it’s probably not worth the investment to get a new set of sticks every six months. But, if you’re playing five times a week, then a new driver, a new 2 iron, a new putter, could just give you that edge you’re looking for.

Are they worn out?

Pretty obvious this one, again it will depend on how much you play. Are your clubs worn out? If the shafts have lost their zip, if the grooves on your wedges are gone, if the heads of your forged irons are battered out of shape, then it’s time to upgrade.

Wedges need to be upgraded more frequently than other irons because they are used so much. If they lose their grooves, you’re massively missing out on performance. If you notice you’re not getting the spin you once did on short shots, it could be time to upgrade.

Have you fallen out of love?

Most of us have at least one trusted weapon in the bag that has probably hung around longer than it should. Often, it’s a putter. But putter technology has also moved on considerably and being custom fit for a new putter could be the single most important club upgrade you could make. Imagine if you could knock just two putts off each round with a new, more reliable putter! Your handicap would be two shots lower.

But generally, you should upgrade any time you fall out of love with any club in your bag. If you don’t absolutely trust your driver anymore, an upgrade could be the key. If you no longer find the sweetspot of those bladed irons on a regular basis, an upgrade to something with a bit more meat on the clubhead could be required. Sometimes a change is what you need to reignite that golfing spark.

It's totally up to the individual how often they upgrade their clubs, and finances will obviously come into it. Each of the questions above should be considered but to give a rough idea, for the average 15 handicapper who plays once a week, here’s an idea of how often you might start to think of an upgrade:

Driver – Every 4 years

Fairways – Every 4 years

Irons – Every 7 years

Wedges – Every 2-3 years

Putter – Personal choice