My first reaction to this article is if a guy joins our group and is playing Nitros and beats me Im going home and slitting my wrists. Once, youre hooked, move up in a year to better clubs, but that $100 set (and 9 hole municipal courses) is invaluable to the growth of golf. I put together a set for my friends that just want to try golf My backwards grip (right hand on top) and baseball style swing powered me around the course with an 85, beating the other two people we played with that day. over all i enjoyed the read and enjoyed his test. 2 months later, I received my first real set of clubs for Christmas, it was a set of Wilson Staff Fluid Feel Blades and a 8.5 degree Taylor Made Tour Burner Driver. say the pw from name brand was it 47 like most modern blade sets was it 43 like most super game improvement. Uniformly the name brands are better quality, but a dog slips through QC on occassion. Alrighty then, good talk, Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. Why waste the money? He works day in and day out to ensure the tests we produce are unbiased, independent, and accurate. How does a $200 set of clubs hold up against clubs from one of the leading equipment manufacturers in golf? To say my many miss hits were punishing is being kind. He bought a set of Spalding Executives (remember those GIANT soles?) Its a GAME. One other ripple we havent mentioned yet. Start out like I did, have Dad buy you an old set of Northwesterns. Irons are callaway Razor x. I am 69 handicap 6-7 but I am sure I will lose distance so probably a newer iron set Of course you will see good shots if you find the middle of the face all day like a tour pro but what about the 99 percent of the golfing community that isnt? Not a chance in hell. Im guessing most Walmart buyers of golf clubs have no idea about lofts and dont care. Obviously a different result, but you dont know this without trying. So what were the lofts of the irons. I would like to see the irons and driver tested at the same loft to get a actual comparison. I game a set of Taylormade R7XDs that I bought 10 years ago. 5AAAAA. Ps those Brand Name bigots are only thinking about themselves, go figure, and not their beginner friends, kids or grandkids, thanks again. 
$2000 for clubs, $100 per round. Unfortunately, you wont find the Nitro Blaster driver or irons on the demo rack at your local golf shop, but thats fine. Its the stater sets (or a friend with an extra set) just to start playing. A quality set of irons with new grips from 10-20+ years ago can compete with todays clubs when equalized for loft. Knock-offs. And some affordably priced Top Rock balls. I think the most bang for the buck is probably going to a club maker (actually an assembler) and being fitted. This is explained by the significant difference in loft. For what its worth I played Knock off clubs asssembled by a good friend for more than 30 years. Hope you can find time for it. Great fun. If you guys were perfect you wouldnt be doing this for a living. Like you I tested both Epics and the sub zero killed my SLDR. Wow. Guarantee the BLASTERS are bit more user friendly. I FORGOT THE $500 STAFF BAG AND SHOES AND $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. 1. I have mainly bought components and custom made all my clubs throughout my 20+ years of golfing, but used set prices are pretty low and i am lazy so i have a cobra set now, and all i can say is the one good thing about these starter sets is that when you do step up from it , you will appreciate the higher price you paid because you will notice a big difference because after using those stratas on the practice range i was ready to cancel my tee time and hit a pawn shop for some decent clubs. I play golf today because I got one of those sets way back in the day and Im sure there will be more and more people that play because of those sets today. At a minimum, we figured it was worth putting the Blasters to the test. But in this case yes I realize not me or likely any die hard on here would go a Walmart route. Its eye doctor stuff (better like this, or better like this). If wanna just say that the player makes the club, you arent wrong, but its just ill fitting for a response to the above article. If anything, it would be educational to see if they are worth buying at all. i dont aim to criticize cause where else will i get this comparison. Why buy cheap golf clubs when you can buy a very good set of used golf clubs for the same price as new cheap clubs? 7 and 5 degrees are no small measurement in this case. We think most of you will be better off sticking with what you have right now. it was true because at the time they were sending out pws that were lofted at 44 degrees when all the clubs prior were about 47. so yea when you hit a nine iron stamped pw your going to think you just hit a pw farther. Its inherently a difficult comparison anyway, and we chose to compare against a similar design that has different lofts as that leaves more room to extrapolate and normalize than if we were to have compared against a blade. For $99 the irons, wedges and putter are likely zinc. And sweet bonus, they even come with a stand bag. For myself, my Wilsons gave me time to research, test and choose the right clubs for me. All I learned was that the driver was completely whacked. While its easy to see that the Nitro Blaster driver was not able to stand up whatsoever to the name brand, the performance of the Blaster irons wasnt terrible, and the rate of outliers was consistent with that of the name brand offering. No it isnt.14 clubs all for $94.86??!!?? No surprises here. Still, I think a test of beginner sets would be a great idea. What the saying? 2. You can actually do better for about the price of the Wal-mart set by going to a club maker like Giga Golf. Spend less than $500 on a full set? I may even try Playing with guys my age, 66, who have been playing 20 to 40 years longer than me, who are using new T.M. Given that the driver was off the stamped spec by 4.7 we can reasonably assume that iron lofts are likely a crapshoot as well. My pro gave me a wink and said, You made the right choice. However no matter how much I spend there are still guys out there with their 1950 model Mcgregors or Wilson Staff clubs who can out play me 7 days a week. I did that about 15 years ago and was very happy with the result. A study of over 1,000,000 simulated basketball shots done by engineers at North Carolina State University showed basketball players shot 20% better by using[]. If they are at opposing ends of intended users form/function, $99 wins decisively, Thats not exactly what youre asking, but in the instance Ive describe, the answer is obviously yes. As a ten year high school / middle school golf coach I found your article very helpful. if a Walmart p/9 is 47 degrees of loft and a name brand is 43 then that explains the huge change in loft. Until then, I would encourage all of you just to get out there and have fun. Will probably play these for some time as I dont play enough, and just want to play. Test similar lofts in the irons next time, please. There is no stated spec on the walmart clubs, so we have no way off knowing how off-spec they really are. While the Nitro Blaster did show, on average, better proximity to the target line, its important to note that shorter clubs will almost invariably be straighter clubs. There is no stated spec on the Walmart irons. Love to see that level playing field just once before I die, and it better be soon. I kept thinking Adams Golf was a [emailprotected] to me. document.getElementById( "ak_js" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Imagine playing basketball without a backboard? Who is the target audience for a set of Nitro Blaster clubs? I had a hard time following the loft differences.. Another reason why large companies will charge premium price is all the R&D (reasearch and development) , overhead and obviously the Tour pros have to get paid these smaller companies already have an outline of what works and what doesnt they just need to re-brand it and tweek it here and there for copyright purposes. If the lofts were so far apart, how could you ever consider that a suitable comparison? As equipment junkies we all want to know the good stuff is actually better and not just more expensive. Seems to be obvious that the quality is just not going to be there with the Walmart set. And maybe you dont have a garage, let alone own a car. I guess Ill go give him my card.. Not only distance but accuracy. With the current economy some would be players might only be able to afford Walmart or ebay clubs w/o expensive fittings What else is there to do ???? If you have never tried the GolfWorks clubs you may give them a shotI play their 5 wood and 7 wood with their shafts and could not be happierin fact when I bought them I was replacing a $300 YONEX 7 wood that caved in (Cup face on a 7 wood)these were $69 each and are as good as any 7 or 5 wood I have ever hit or played. Remember the Kirkland ball? But comparing old iron sets to new iron sets might be really useful. Happy with putter and sand wedge. find some gear. My best score was last year with a 56 for 12 holes but never beat my best of 95 or threatened the 86 I had with my TNT hybrid irons. I would love to see my clubs actually tested head to head, against the best of today to see. The Nitro Blaster produced shots a full 7 mph slower on average, resulting in significantly lower carry and total distance numbers. Got my first set of clubs 4 years ago when I turned twenty. My golf spy challenges the status quo in equipment reviews and tests and i appreciate their take its why i frequently visit the site. Have to agree with the others on the testing parameters on this one fellas. Back in the late 80s, I was just going into high school and was asked by a friend if I wanted to play junior golf over the summer with him. Crazy. I old them and went with a brand name set or two. Looking at how close that pw generic came to a club 5 degrees stronger I would argue they were actually pretty good. Actually, I didnt mind the article. Ball speed, carry, and total distance favored the name brand set, likely due, in part, to the significant difference in loft. From Head to Head tests to Most Wanted, Sam has you covered. Sam is the Director of the MyGolfSpy Lab X Testing Facility in Yorktown, VA. which I used for part of my Sophomore year of school after those Concords failed. No way! putter=trash. Great idea for a beginner set hahahaha. The Costco ball was the golf equipment story of 2016. (https://www.mygolfspy.com/clone-golf-clubs-vs-name-brand driver comparison). While I appreciate your opinion, curiosity is what MyGolfSpy is all about. why not buy a used set of Pings, etc off Craigslist? When I look at this, I see several flaws. You tested a comparison between two sets of irons using 2 clubs that had 5 of difference & 7 degrees of difference??? But I think my R7XDs do. Why not just buy a set of Cobra Baffler XL Irons for $299? I am a new golfer with 50 games behind me. Its not the stick its the sticker! So So True ! Also, a bonus is a gap wedge in each set so I am going to get the most from my sets! And of course the Nitro driver was horrible. I use Jumbo grips because of arthritis in both hands. For less than $150 including balls, glove, towel etc you can be out the door and on a course one stop shopping. (They do have a disclaimer about club abuse on returns). They were little known outside of Loneys Golf Shop. We dont know what the lofts are supposed to be. Similar to 1990s cast blades. However, spin differences were insignificant. I bought a set of Adams Speedline irons(4-gap) for $99 as a second set for visitors. Lets go to the data. Look Tony, Played with a few years just starting. Very interesting ,good test. Butthe woods and drivers that come in these sets deserve to be thrown out immediately, pure garbage and the article backs that uphow is someone supposed to hit a 6* driverand usually the shafts even in regular are like pool noodles in them. After our lesson, he pointed to the golfer next to us. Golden Bear lol. My point is with the Wal-Mart situationI would consider Wal-Mart the Microsoft of Shopping Centers. So why even read the article? Buy Walmart clubs? I want in that case to see if the cheapie tech could keep up with name brand OEM but if your Walmart 6 iron is modern 8 iron loft & lets pretend your TM 6 iron beats it Ive not learned how the Walmart tech keeps up. there is no specific industry standard to what the loft of a pw has to be. I didnt have clubs, so we went down to a local department store and dropped $100 on a full set of Northwestern Concords and I went to the range. I consider them disposable golf clubs. But hey, you never know, right? Why not test the irons that compare closest in actual loft rather than how theyre marked? If hes comparing against another set, is that likely a blade or a GI? Till my friends dad sold me his Walter Hagen ultradynes, John, I beg to differ with you on newer driver technology. Againthe production of every test is the result of a series of decisions. Diamond tour would do nothing about it when i contacted them. Standard deviations of ball speed and carry suggest similar forgiveness characteristics across the face. Its nice to know that really any iron set could work, even Walmarts Nitro Blaster but maybe a used driver or set of fairway woods / hybrids from Callaway previously owned, second swing or Global Golf would complete the set up. read this old article. They were Walter Hagans, and I believe they were from dicks, not a terrible club, much higher quality then nitro blasters Maybe not though. My point to this long, ramble of a story is that it doesnt matter what you play with, it only matters that you play. I played a $100 set but didnt get the results I was hoping for. and what not, my drives are usually equal to, beyond, or very close to theirs. The name brand driver was measured at exactly 10.5. My one suggestion would be to expand this test to some other low cost alternatives just to get a feel for what the real differences are. I would like to see how they hold up after a golf season. This was certainly one of them. I bought a set of top line clubs had a problem with three of the clubs had them checked for loft and lie and they were way out so even if you pay top dollar you do not always get the best product. It snaps at the hosel every single time. Perhaps 70% of the total? And lots of fun when Tony got to the driver. They were Walter Hagans, and I believe they were from dicks, not a terrible club, much higher quality then nitro blasters Maybe not though. Im just asking for a few more details. So in this particular case, trying to match lofts didnt make a whole lot of sense. Used no periods. Some even have places that deal in nothing buy golf products. 9 times out of 10 its not the clubs that make a player but a player is what makes the club. Theyd certainly be much higher quality. I actually played one of my buddies set who was a beginner and bought a set of Golden Bears from big five I think it was $79 for the irons and wedges I played the mini tours at the time and he bet me $20 bucks I couldnt break par with his set I did however use my own driver wedges and putter but all of the irons i used from his bag and still threw down a 70 As far as overall playability for the average 14 or 15 handicap there will be hardly any difference at all as far as their heads are concerned from say and AP2 to a inexpensive Golden bear to a pro obviously there is a world of difference in every category from swing-weight to camper and bounce to impact and so on .. Sure, if your swing is inconsistent and tops out at 80mph, but if youre playing an X theres not going to be any comparison. When Rick shiels does a comparison he picks irons with the same loft to make it apples to apples. Launch angles for the name brand club are again lower, and spin rates differ by approximately 800 RPM. While I keep an inventory of some 300 golf clubs and have outfitted 20 golfers with clubs over the years I get questions from eager parents and grand parents about buying beginning sets all the he time. The Kirkland ball was a poor reference because everyone knows how good the ball actually was as an overrun of a premium ball, not some shot in the dark by Costco. Unless the methodologies are inherently unsound, and the sample sizes completely insignificant, Id argue theres no wrong way to test either. Im sure there are lots of visuals coming to mind at this very moment. Made by Northwestern Golf. Still play all the same woods with the matching 3-wood to the driver. $100 box set w/bag is tough to beat. Wouldnt it be magical if it turned out to be Tour Edge unmarked equipment and the pros actually hit them better. At the same time, how can you begin to compare clubs that are 5 and 7 degrees different in loft? Here are the first two reviews: Keeps breaking January 9, 2017 A good bit of these decisions have been made over the course of years of testing, so we dont have to think about them for every test, but most tests do present unique challenges. Big box stores can mean big savings, and in the case of the Costco Kirkland Signature Golf Ball, big performance too. If someone sells them, in my mind its lazy and short sighted While I saw my consistency increase I played them for another year, now Im hitting the srixon z745s. Added note anyone buying a set like this should be teeing off with a 3 or 5 wood anyway. To find out, we put big yellow smiles on our faces and headed down to our local Walmart to buy the best (its a relative term) box set the store had to offer. One has to cut a few corners in order to meet that price point my ignorant friend.. To be honest, if you are buying a $99 set of clubs you wont like paying the avarage green fees and more then likely not going to pay a pro for lessons or range fees so why even waste the $99 for a set that will take up room in your garage collecting dust. Now theres your next test Tony. They used to have good sets of dunlops. Must have been a slow news day at MGS to greenlight this mess. Is the target golfer likely someone who is concerned about loft differences? I know there are different few ways to get started in golf, like buying a seven iron and taking a lesson or two. If you put yourself in the position of somebody considering Walmart instead of OEMwhats that OEM set look like? Im just curious as to the data behind it. As you would expect, they also flew higher and spun more. Understand that the shafts lengths were different too, but you did not mention that? OK now please do iron comparisons with clones. Most folks I know couldnt tell the difference between them and a $500 set of irons except for what I call a harsh feel. In that whole statement you made, you didnt form one sentence. Three clubs from each of the two sets were tested. golfwrx is my other go to. Who knew? I still have my used MacGregor Tourney irons and persimmon Walter Hagen Haig Ultra 1,2,3 and 4 woods in the basement that I got when I graduated from 8th grade. but most companies stay with in a degree or two of there competition. What a useless comparison. Everyone knows that players and their inadequacies will show up in results. Everything is good. By then I had a Cally Diablo Octane driver, a couple of Golfsmith Snake Eyes Viper hybrids. Im a self-admitted equipment junkie! i find these are the top two sites for golf research. thats like taking a blade pw and comparing it to a super game improvement pw. When was the last time you missed a meal? Id argue by that the Walmart irons did better. My guess is much more competitive. That way you get the head, shaft, and grip, best for YOU. The talk of this sucks or that sucks only keeps people from playing the game. http://www.diamondtour.com/ $3 shaft and its a crapshoot on what they throw in your P wedge mayfly the same distance as an eight iron .. for a beginner player theyre not sure what supposed to feel good at impact and molecular consistency in the forging or nice quality cast for most everybody whos been at the game for a while its going to be about looks and feel some guys have been playing the game for 20 years and may still be a 18 handicap chances are you give them a set of Golden Bears and a set of PXGs and theyll most likely shoot the same 18 over they always do ..Sidenote going from my Miura Baby blades to the cheaper search felt like complete garbage just felt harsh and clunky I did hit a lot of greens but none of them were down the chimney the dispersion was obviously a little funny and did have to save up and downs with the wedge also the course I played on was a par 71 so I only shot one under but still I was happy to take that $20 spot .. since I dont ever want to have that feeling of trying to ground load an inexpensive club like that Ill just stick with my stuff from now on, I think if I did use an entire set including the putter wedges and driver it couldve been disastrous and unless I took that driver out to the ranch to figure out how it swings through the slot i probably wouldve been losing them to the right all day those shafts would probably stress open. What Ive always wanted to see if a professional tournament where all the golfers played exactly the same equipment, without any brand emblems. There are too many people out there obsessed with the latest and the (so called greatest) who cant hit it for sh*t. Wouldnt it make more sense to test clubs that are similar in lofts to each other? The name brand driver also on average launched higher with more spin than the Nitro Blaster. I liked the club but the club head bottom separated from the rest of the head. The irons also offered similar standard deviations on ball speed and carry, suggesting that the forgiveness of the irons isnt too far removed from their name brand competitors. I would expect the results to be much closer..for most golfers (driver speeds below 100mph). With an actual loft of just above 6 degrees, 4 of our ten testers werent able to achieve a launch angle above 10 degrees. They are how I got into the game, allows you an easy way to just have everything you need to get started. http://www.customgolfstop.com/ Im not the grammar nazibut damn man, at least try! Couldnt agree more. As Spring nears I will test again hopefully a Demo Day on a practice tee. Maybe thats all you can afford. For the last few years I couldnt beat my old driver so didnt buy anything. But if we arent comparing fairly closely I dont get why to do it at all. If that happens I found Callaway stood behind their irons great, Taylor Made not so much. I have used Wal-Mart brand clubs such as the John Daily set but I really wasnt sold on them. All clubs specs to the Pros usual specs as to length, lie, flex etc. I have always thought that these cheap starter sets are not entirely garbage. I could jump on ebay with $200.00 bucks and come up with a pretty playable set. However, my limited research and impressions are completely anecdotal, like yours. to name a few.. (full disclosure, I play Diamond Tour clubs) Beyond a 4 hybrid there are diminishing returns as far as distances go there. i am a data guy and his data correlates with the loft differences. They are toys that help determine interest I love your site overall but this is absolutely ridiculous. they have different lofts across the name brand industry. It it a GI set or is it something like an MP-5? Comparing old wedges with new wedges is a waste of time as old wedges, particularly sand wedges wear out so quickly. Were talking Nitro Blasters, baby. The thing is they were fitted for me and have the right grips and I am used to them. I know your busy but if you come across something please let me know. Dont get sucked into all the hype and b.s. After a year with them, decided to try and improve my game with a set of Cleveland altitudes, and a Cobra amp driver. The name brand club launched nearly two degrees lower. February cold sh!+| weather. Sweet knights of Columbus are they amazing, Ive hit my best rounds with them and wont. I play much better than I sound. You should find a $200 set of 2 year old TaylorMades on ebay and put them against a $1000 set of todays. The ridiculous 4.3 degree difference on the driver goes to show that the quality control of the Wal-Mart set is crap. Is that a consumer thats obsessing over lofts? That discovery process has discovered some incredible performing products for consumers. I am using 2004 Big Bertha clubs that were given to me. One thing about golf new stuff cost way too much but a year or two or three later and its less than half the cost or much less than that. Buying the right club is critical, not brand, A lot of bad fittings result in a lot of bad selections, a lot of bad golf, a lot of money spent, a lot of people frustrated, a lot of people go to the movies instead, #1 on tour couldnt be more irrelevant, yet a lot people buy #1 on tour, and hit it low right in the gunch, By high draw, he means less low right Remaining outliers were identified usingMedian Absolute Deviation (distance, yards offline, and launch angle), and dropped beforecalculation of the final averages. You really seem to go the extra mile. Steve i think you read into my question complete wrong. Copyright 2022. I worked in retail that sold sets like these, if you are athletic at all you will cave the face of the driver the first time or two playing. These are hands down the most forgiving irons on the market!!!! Referring to CG, perimeter weighting, forgiveness of any brand above these irons. We tested the Walmart Nitro Blaster set against a driver and iron set from a leading manufacturer. The ball is a great start, but what would happen if we rolled back prices on the rest of what goes into the golf bag? If the lofts were so different, then its not a very good comparison. Thanks for the test it was very helpful. I took the game up with a Northwestern persimmon/blade set from Kmart. then how accurate were those lofts. Even if the boxed set was on par with the name brands performance wise, Id still never get it because of the substandard materials theyre made from in order to meet that $94.86 price point. I dont really need more than a 3 and 4 hybrid in my bag and playing two Bio Cell 4 irons will be no different for me. Nothing else came close. Headed to Walmart this afternoon to pick up some Nitro Blasters. compared to a $800-$1000 set of Pings, Callaway, Cobra, and their ilk. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. I know they have the ability to check the lofts of the clubs thats why i asked the question. Id bet half the people reading this deep down went oh ]^{% it is going to be the same, particularly after reading the 9/PW results. I played them and they are decent clubs. Now I am getting used to adjustability and have found that the Baffler style hybrid along with the Bio Cell irons, drivers, and fairway woods seems to work best for me. Peak height (not shown in the chart) for the Nitro Blaster reached only 54 feet, while the the name brand driver reached into the 90s. besides waist time at Walmart, since most Pro Golf Shops havent received our new toys. Not a durable club January 3, 2017
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