Callaway Epic Irons..

red ears

Has anyone seen the price of these irons. €1995.00 for a set of 5 to SW on one of the big Irish websites and £1650.00 Stg on one of the big British websites.

Can this price possibly be justified or are golfers being treated like fools. I can't imagine what could possibly have improved so much to justify that sort of pricing. If they sell well then god help us regarding the price other manufacturers will think they can get away with too.

Has anyone tried them out?

death1234567

red ears wrote: »

Has anyone seen the price of these irons. €1995.00 for a set of 5 to SW on one of the big Irish websites and £1650.00 Stg on one of the big British websites.

Can this price possibly be justified or are golfers being treated like fools. I can't imagine what could possibly have improved so much to justify that sort of pricing. If they sell well then god help us regarding the price other manufacturers will think they can get away with too.

Has anyone tried them out?

Here are your answers.

1. No the price isn't justified.
2. Yes Golfers are being treated like fools but a fool and his money are easily parted.
3. There is no improvement in these irons or new technology that makes any difference.

/close thread.

red ears

My fear is if these sell well then other manufacturer will ramp up their prices too.

CMOTDibbler

The price of irons has been rising gradually over the last few years. The latest offerings are all coming in at around the €1,000 mark. A few years ago, they would have been around €700. But the guts of two grand is nuts.

Still good value to be had in older models though.

death1234567

CMOTDibbler wrote: »

The price of irons has been rising gradually over the last few years.

Nike couldn't turn a profit selling clubs and addidas are trying to offload Taylormade for similar reasons. Less people are playing golf and those that are aren't buying new shiny clubs as often, presumably because they know all the new technology is just marketing nonsense. The result is the manufacturers have to find a way to make more money and the way they have chosen is to charge more.

neckedit

death1234567 wrote: »

Nike couldn't turn a profit selling clubs and addidas are trying to offload Taylormade for similar reasons. Less people are playing golf and those that are aren't buying new shiny clubs as often, presumably because they know all the new technology is just marketing nonsense. The result is the manufacturers have to find a way to make more money and the way they have chosen is to charge more.

Adidas have sold TM a few weeks back.
Every brand has always and will have a premium priced set of irons in the family of product. They don't expect to sell massive volume, they are for a very niche market. Nearly 20 years ago Callaway brought out the Hawkeye Irons.... huge price, think they where in the region of 1200 punts..... it's always been the same.
You can get a set of callaways 5-as from under 500.

martinkop

It is their premium range to compete with PXG, not targeted at every golfer, only the ones with wads of cash!!! They still have sets at more realistic prices

Dtoffee

But they are new, shiney and have go faster stripes ! walking out with those bad boys is bound to intimidate the opposition. Can you imagine the fear of those lesser mortals in your company as you step up with your supreme 'greatest ever' set of irons and show them who's 'the man' !........ now all you've got to do is hit the ball :eek:

I'm amazed that we dont have a nation of scratch golfers given the longer, further, straighter etc etc equipment on offer, but we dont and year after year .... the usual suspects spring into action with their new clubs and repeat the same failings as the year before. Whats the definition of madness ???????

CMOTDibbler

Dtoffee wrote: »

But they are new, shiney and have go faster stripes ! walking out with those bad boys is bound to intimidate the opposition. Can you imagine the fear of those lesser mortals in your company as you step up with your supreme 'greatest ever' set of irons and show them who's 'the man' !........ now all you've got to do is hit the ball :eek:

I'm amazed that we dont have a nation of scratch golfers given the longer, further, straighter etc etc equipment on offer, but we dont and year after year .... the usual suspects spring into action with their new clubs and repeat the same failings as the year before. Whats the definition of madness ???????

You clearly have someone in mind.

I actually don't know anyone who goes out and buys the newest gear every year. Anyone I know who makes a purchase spends months agonising over it and usually because they have to due to wear and tear or breakage.

red ears

Dtoffee wrote: »

I'm amazed that we dont have a nation of scratch golfers given the longer, further, straighter etc etc equipment on offer, but we dont and year after year .... the usual suspects spring into action with their new clubs and repeat the same failings as the year before. Whats the definition of madness ???????

I watch a lot of those comparison videos (sad i know) the pros do on youtube, Ali Taylor, Peter Finch, Mark Crossfield etc. When they compare one companies irons with their next model. The differences in results are generally minuscule and on occasion are actually a little worse. If someone is using irons that don't suit them and then get fit for a set that do it can make a difference. But if they have been fit for a set in recent years and think these epics are going to improve their game then they are mad.

Some people like shiny news things and sometimes people like to move to players irons or back to GI irons etc. Or fancy an update after 5 years or so.

I'm not sure where these epics fit though. There are better looking irons out there for half the price and the tech will not be much better in these epics.

red ears

The fairway woods and the hybrids seem to be expensive too. €350 for the hybrid and fairway woods.

Anyone see the irons or hybrids on the course yet?

BigChap1759

They look absolutely awful - not sure who they are marketed at

CMOTDibbler

death1234567 wrote: »

Nike couldn't turn a profit selling clubs and addidas are trying to offload Taylormade for similar reasons. Less people are playing golf and those that are aren't buying new shiny clubs as often, presumably because they know all the new technology is just marketing nonsense. The result is the manufacturers have to find a way to make more money and the way they have chosen is to charge more.

I don't think Nike couldn't turn a profit on equipment. I think it wasn't a big enough profit relative to their clothing that put the kiss of death on the equipment division. Much easier to turn a profit on high priced, low cost clothing than a division that has R&D people and a much higher input cost.

Jawgap

death1234567 wrote: »

Nike couldn't turn a profit selling clubs and addidas are trying to offload Taylormade for similar reasons. Less people are playing golf and those that are aren't buying new shiny clubs as often, presumably because they know all the new technology is just marketing nonsense. The result is the manufacturers have to find a way to make more money and the way they have chosen is to charge more.

From what I've read, it's not that they couldn't turn a profit, it's that they couldn't turn enough of a profit because they were probably the two 'worst' examples of companies who got locked into an incredibly rapid equipment refresh cycle - whereas Ping take an idea and squeeze the living life out of it over several iterations of club, with there being - usually- 2 years between each iteration......Nike, Taylormade and a few others were refreshing the kit every year, and sometimes twice a year - that means a lot money being poured into R&D and design and a lot of deep discounting on 'old' gear to get it to sell through.

Golfers can be a bit silly, but there's precious few of us who are going to drop serious money on a new driver every year!

I wonder with these clubs, if Callaway aren't banking on a certain ego effect - people will buy them just to show they can? It's a stupid reason to buy a set of clubs, but fools and their money etc etc etc

CMOTDibbler

Jawgap wrote: »

I wonder with these clubs, if Callaway aren't banking on a certain ego effect - people will buy them just to show they can? It's a stupid reason to buy a set of clubs, but fools and their money etc etc etc

That's possible, but I suspect that it's mostly to attack PXG's growing market share with a comparable product. There may not be many people willing to part with that sort of cash, but if PXG can do it, then there's a market there that could be exploited.

TaylorMade are doing the same with their P750 and P770 ranges.

CMOTDibbler

If anyone is interested in the TaylorMade P750 proto irons, there's a set currently for auction on eBay for £850 currently. If it's the sort of thing floats your boat, that's a knockdown price.





Gorgeous looking irons tbf. :cool: