Can $75,000 Clubs Save Your Golf Game?

It is a well known fact that golf is an expensive sport to play.From greens fees and cart rentals, to attire, equipment, and accessories the dollars can add up in a hurry. Of course, a beginner could go over to the Goodwill store and get into a complete set of used clubs for under $25 bucks. Can you imagine spending  $75,000 for a set of clubs? Yes, really.

A lot of golfers spend a lot of money on new clubs and equipment, hoping to find a miracle cure for their golf game. You could easily spend $1000 or more on a set of custom clubs, or as much as $450 for a single driver. And while having the right equipment can certainly help a golfer perform his best, it is in no way going to transform you into a scratch golfer. There are no short cuts. Competent instruction and practice, practice, practice are what will ultimately make the difference in your golf game.

But, back to these high priced sticks.Japanese golf gear manufacturer Honma's set of 14 clubs — woods, irons and more — costs $75,000 and is made to order.One woud hope that at that price they would throw the bag in for free and maybe a sleeve of balls.Unfortunately, the bag is going to be another eight grand.

Honma claims to have more than 100 "artisans" working on each club. The company believes its club engineering can allow golfers to strike the ball more powerfully, maintaining that a special head polishing technique can "make a difference."

How much of a difference is open for debate, and since the chances of me ever swinging one of these jewels is as likely as growing radishes out my ears, I'll have to take someone else's word fo rit. The thing is, if you suck at golf, you suck at golf. While I have no scientific proof, I'd assume that an iron in a $75,000 set of Honma clubs is likely to go just as far when thrown as one of my Shopko specials. On the other hand, the $75,000 set of clubs may not make me play better, but I would sure look better playing badly.

Some golf pros speculate that many golfers buy Honma clubs as a status symbol; Honma says celebrities Donald Trump and Marc Anthony own a set.  Of course, don't you think that if you owned a set of these clubs you'd be afraid to play with them for fear of getting them scratched up? And if  you did choose to play with them and you still suck, you're out of excuses. At least  until I actually own a set  I'm able to say, "if only I had a set of those Honma clubs..."