Labs

Walmart Golf Clubs (vs) Name Brand Golf Clubs

BY Sam Robinson
Feb 7th 2017
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What do you think when you hear the word Walmart?

I’m sure there are lots of visuals coming to mind at this very moment. I’m willing to bet golf clubs aren’t one of them. Today might change that.

Big box stores can mean big savings, and in the case of the Costco Kirkland Signature Golf Ball, big performance too. The Costco ball was the golf equipment story of 2016. Nothing else came close. That got us wondering if maybe non-golf, big box retailers might hold the key to performance on a budget. 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?

To find out, we put big yellow smiles on our faces and headed down to our local Walmart to buy the best (it’s a relative term) box set the store had to offer. We’re talking Nitro Blasters, baby. And sweet bonus, they even come with a stand bag.

We’ll keep you in suspense over the price for a little bit longer, but let’s just say, our first impressions – the cavity badges…cavity stickers, actually, don’t exactly scream high quality or any quality for that matter.

But hey, you never know, right? At a minimum, we figured it was worth putting the Blasters to the test.

HOW WE TESTED

We tested the Walmart Nitro Blaster set against a driver and iron set from a leading manufacturer.
Three clubs from each of the two sets were tested.
From each set, a driver, 6-iron and pitching wedge^*were tested.
Ten golfers with handicaps ranging from 0-15 and driver swing speeds between 90 and 110 mph participated in this test.
Each tester hit 12-14 good shots with each club, rotating frequently rotating between clubs.
Gross mishits were eliminated and are not included in shot counts.
Remaining outliers were identified using Median Absolute Deviation (distance, yards offline, and launch angle), and dropped before calculation of the final averages.
All testers hit Bridgestone B330-RX Golf Balls.
Ball Data was recorded using a Foresight GC2 Launch Monitor.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

^*With the name brand set we tested with the 9-iron, however, for the Walmart set we used the set’s combination P/9-iron.
The stamped loft for both drivers is 10.5. However, we measured the actual loft of the Walmart driver at 6.2 degrees. The name brand driver was measured at exactly 10.5°.
The playing length of the name brand driver was 45″, while Walmart driver measured 44″.
Both the Walmart and Name Brand driver’s were marked as regular flex.

THE RESULTS

How does a $200 set of clubs hold up against clubs from one of the leading equipment manufacturers in golf? Let’s go to the data

9-iron

OBSERVATIONS:

It is important to note the name brand 9 iron measured a full 5° degrees stronger than the Walmart P/9.
Ball speed, carry, and total distance favored the name brand set, likely due, in part, to the significant difference in loft.
The name brand club launched nearly two degrees lower. However, spin differences were insignificant.
Although the name brand club flew lower with less spin, shots on average finished marginally closer to the center line.
All but one tester achieved higher ball speeds and total distance with the name brand 9-iron over the Walmart equivalent.
Standard deviations of ball speed and carry suggest similar forgiveness characteristics across the face.

6-iron

OBSERVATIONS:

This time, the name brand 6-iron measured a whopping 7 degrees stronger than the Walmart offering.
The strong-lofted brand name 6-iron produced higher ball speeds, carry and total distance numbers.
Launch angles for the name brand club are again lower, and spin rates differ by approximately 800 RPM. This is explained by the significant difference in loft.
Ball speed and carry standard deviations again suggest similar forgiveness characteristics.

Driver

OBSERVATIONS:

As mentioned above, The actual loft of the Walmart driver was more than 4 (4.3 to be exact) degrees below the stamped spec. With an actual loft of just above 6 degrees, 4 of our ten testers weren’t able to achieve a launch angle above 10 degrees.

In general terms, the Nitro Blaster was no match for the name brand competitor.
The Nitro Blaster produced shots a full 7 mph slower on average, resulting in significantly lower carry and total distance numbers.
The name brand driver also on average launched higher with more spin than the Nitro Blaster.
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.
The likelihood is that the launch conditions produced by the Nitro Blaster would be unplayable for a majority of recreational golfers.
Standard deviations (used as a measurement of consistency) for both carry and total yards suggest the name brand driver is significantly more forgiving across the face.
The Nitro Blaster Driver was responsible for a significantly higher number of outliers, suggesting a greater likelihood that any given shot will produce a poor result.

THE VERDICT

Unfortunately, you won’t find the Nitro Blaster driver or irons on the demo rack at your local golf shop, but that’s fine. We think most of you will be better off sticking with what you have right now.

While the Nitro Blaster did show, on average, better proximity to the target line, it’s important to note that shorter clubs will almost invariably be straighter clubs.
While it’s 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 wasn’t terrible, and the rate of outliers was consistent with that of the name brand offering.
Both the P/9 and 6-iron, while shorter, were marginally more accurate than their name brand competitors. As you would expect, they also flew higher and spun more.
The irons also offered similar standard deviations on ball speed and carry, suggesting that the forgiveness of the irons isn’t too far removed from their name brand competitors.
As mentioned previously, the badge is cheaply made. Also noteworthy, there is a significant difference in durability between the name brand set and the Walmart set. Despite only being used indoors for this test, the Nitro Blaster irons already show significant wear.
While the Nitro Blaster irons may be suitable for a beginning golfer, the driver is a liability and is reason enough not to purchase this set.

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Sam Robinson

Sam is the Director of the MyGolfSpy Lab X Testing Facility in Yorktown, VA. He works day in and day out to ensure the tests we produce are unbiased, independent, and accurate. From Head to Head tests to Most Wanted, Sam has you covered. #PowerToThePlayer

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Sam Robinson

Driver PING G400	Fairway Honma TW737
Hybrid PXG 0317 19*	Irons Srixon Z565 4-PW
Wedges Cleveland RTX-4 (50,55,60)	Putter Evnroll ER2

Sam Robinson

comments

Join The Discussion

Gerald Teigrob

6 years ago

For a number of years, I played TNT Golf irons and hybrid irons. They were little known outside of Loney’s Golf Shop. I swore by them and played my best golf with a set of stiff graphite irons and then I moved to a set of graphite hybrid irons in the TNT set. I even played the TNT wedges and played some of my best golf. I went to Golf Town and they didn’t see the value in TNT irons and hybrid irons. So I traded up and moved into Adams Golf with the A7OS and A7 irons. I moved over to the Redline game improvement irons and stuck it out with the Adams A7 irons. 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 stayed with Adams golf until this year. I noticed some demo Cobra Bio Cell irons so I went with them and it has been a bit of a re-learning process. 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. I am slowly getting back to enjoying my long lost iron game and that can only mean greater confidence and improve scores. I have used Wal-Mart brand clubs such as the John Daily set but I really wasn’t sold on them. I kept thinking Adams Golf was a [email protected] to me. Now that I am playing Cobra irons i am finding the same thing there. Unlike Adams Golf I realize that Cobra has established itself for some time now and the Bio Cell irons have done well for me overall and I am adjusting to the distances with each club. Also, a bonus is a gap wedge in each set so I am going to get the most from my sets!

Ron

6 years ago

I know I’m late to the game on this, but they just re-ran this post on Twitter so I thought I’d share my story…

Back in the late 80’s, 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. I didn’t 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. 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.

Those clubs lasted me about 3 months of playing (about $30 a month or about $5 a round) before the aluminum head driver was cracking and the chrome was flaking off the irons, but they still played the game and I took extra time cleaning them after each round. My dad also picked up the game that summer. He bought a set of Spalding Executive’s (remember those GIANT soles?) which I used for part of my Sophomore year of school after those Concords failed. I hated those Spalding’s, but they played the game just fine.

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. He tossed in a Wilson R20 sand wedge and a Bullseye putter and my bag was set for the next few years – and honestly, the irons are still in my garage right now – almost 30 years later.

My point to this long, ramble of a story is that it doesn’t matter what you play with, it only matters that you play. The talk of “this sucks or that sucks” only keeps people from playing the game. If all someone can afford is a $100 set of clubs, but they can somehow scrape $50 a month together to go play, then by all means, get that Wally World/Amazon/Department Store set and go out and play. Obviously the clubs won’t last forever and they won’t go through the stringent testing that a pro-line club will, but for a beginner it really won’t matter. What matters is falling in love with this game. I love the idea of going used, but there’s something magical about that first set of clubs – unwrapping the cellophane from the heads, smelling that cheap rubber grip, and hitting that first good shot with them. Sure, the materials are cheaper, and they use stickers instead of paint, but those Concords were my first set and I will always remember that first driver that I cracked and that first wedge that found the cup from the fairway. I play golf today because I got one of those sets way back in the day and I’m sure there will be more and more people that play because of those sets today.

John Willson

6 years ago

Amen, brother.

JOEL GOODMAN

6 years ago

THE ENTIRE GOLF INDUSTRY CRIES ABOUT THE LACK OF GROWTH IN THE GAME BY NEW PLAYERS. THE COST OF EQUIPMENT AND HIGH FEES ARE THE CAUSE. I PLAY 5 DAYS A WEEK AND I’M RETIRED. BUT I HAVE $1200 IRONS, $500 DRIVER, 2 MORE $400 WOODS AND A $300 PUTTER. ADD IT UP AND YOU WILL UNDERSTAND WHY THERE IN ZERO GROWTH IN GOLF. I FORGOT THE $500 STAFF BAG AND SHOES AND ……………$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Bob K

6 years ago

So So True ! $2000 for clubs, $100 per round. If you aren’t already addicted to the game, why spend that money on something that you’ve never done before? It’s the “stater sets” (or a friend with an extra set) just to start playing. Once, you’re 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.

daviddvm

5 years ago

Bravo ! Well stated Ron

darreng

6 years ago

recently went to vegas and decided to play golf and called the starter and he said they had callaway clubs for rental, so i was stoked. got there and found out they were callaway strata which is also sold at walmart for less than $200 complete, they are the same, short irons were decent, the mid irons actually felt unbalanced, hybrids were ok, 3 wd ok, but driver was horrendous, i was getting more distance from the 3wd, the shaft was whippy even though it was supposed to be stiff, head was supposedly forged titanium composite, though it looked and hit like it was cast aluminum. putter=trash.
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 strata’s on the practice range i was ready to cancel my tee time and hit a pawn shop for some decent clubs. can’t believe callaway actually put their name on it.

JohnnyA

6 years ago

I LOVED this article. Great fun. I couldn’t wait to read each of the data tables. If you ever get the urge to continue the theme I’d enjoy reading more comparisons of inexpensive sets vs name brand leaders
Lots of fun guys.

Joe

6 years ago

Please do this with the Bombtech clubs. I’m so sick if seeing Sully’s posts about his irons being better than any big company.

Gorden

6 years ago

If you have never tried the GolfWorks clubs you may give them a shot…I play their 5 wood and 7 wood with their shafts and could not be happier…in 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. I have never tried their irons but I know their drivers, woods and putters compare very well with OEMs, In fact I think Their clubs could be considered OEMs as they carry the Maltby name.

Dave

6 years ago

Very interesting ,good test. 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.

Dennis

7 years ago

Started with a set of Pro Select CM7’s. Made by Northwestern Golf. Played with a few years just starting. Paid like $100 new in box. Upgraded all the heads to Golfsmith P2’s, changed grips(Golfsmith), and played with that set for 6 years till I got some Cally X-20’s. By then I had a Cally Diablo Octane driver, a couple of Golfsmith Snake Eyes Viper hybrids. Still play all the same woods with the matching 3-wood to the driver. Will probably play these for some time as I don’t play enough, and just want to play.

Tim Peters

7 years ago

If you’ve got a kid that wants to try the game but you don’t have the money to spend or aren’t sure that he or she will stick with the game buy a used set off of some place like EBay. You can also find a Flea Market in your area as many of them will have dealers that have all sorts of clubs available. Some even have places that deal in nothing buy golf products.

Shortside

7 years ago

$100 box set w/bag is tough to beat. Especially figuring in search and leg time. I took the game up with a Northwestern persimmon/blade set from Kmart. And some affordably priced Top Rock balls. To say my many miss hits were punishing is being kind. Guarantee the BLASTERS are bit more user friendly. Added note anyone buying a set like this should be teeing off with a 3 or 5 wood anyway.

Jerry

7 years ago

My first reaction to this article is if a guy joins our group and is playing “Nitro’s” and beats me I’m going home and slitting my wrists. Maybe a 12 year old who’s just taking up the game and Mom and Dad just want to see if he likes golf. So an intriguing question then is this; if price is the issue (and what else would make anyone buy Nitro Blasters?) why not buy a used set of Pings, etc off Craigslist? Now there’s your next test Tony. Start comparing new brand models against the clubs they are replacing. Every year I do my own annual test with my driver. For the last few years I couldn’t beat my old driver so didn’t buy anything. This year however the new Cally Epic was not only longer but also as straight as my current driver. Now this was a 20 minute purely anecdotal test that could have been an outlier but I suspect not. As Spring nears I will test again hopefully a “Demo Day” on a practice tee. But to summarize MGS does these tests and they are all well done and interesting. I do think tho that most of us would rather see how new gear compares with the sticks they are replacing as well as the category leader. Not only distance but accuracy.

Jon

7 years ago

Jerry, great point about comparing new to used. MGS I think did this with Drivers a few months back, seemed to show as I remember, that the new Drivers were better than the old, no surprise there. Like you I tested both Epics and the sub zero killed my SLDR.

Comparing old wedges with new wedges is a waste of time as old wedges, particularly sand wedges wear out so quickly.

But comparing old iron sets to new iron sets might be really useful. I game a set of Taylormade R7XD’s that I bought 10 years ago. From time to time, I hit new irons side by side my irons and I don’t really see the difference. In fact mine seem to perform better. My 7 iron flies as far or farther than any other 7 iron I’ve ever hit.

The thing is they were fitted for me and have the right grips and I am used to them. The others I try are not fitted and have standard grips so maybe the comparison is not that good.

I’ve read plenty of articles out there that say 10 year old irons can’t hold a candle to todays offerings. But I think my R7XD’s do. However, my limited research and impressions are completely anecdotal, like yours. I would love to see my clubs actually tested head to head, against the best of today to see.

Ross Johnson

7 years ago

Got my first set of clubs 4 years ago when I turned twenty. They were Walter Hagan’s, and I believe they were from dicks, not a terrible club, much higher quality then nitro blasters… Maybe not though. After a year with them, decided to try and improve my game with a set of Cleveland altitudes, and a Cobra amp driver. I had no idea if they were the right clubs for me, but I figured they would help, based on reviews and being a quote on quote, “SUPER GAME IMPROVEMENT CLUBS”. While I saw my consistency increase I played them for another year, now I’m hitting the srixon z745’s. Sweet knights of Columbus are they amazing, I’ve hit my best rounds with them and won’t be looking back, so pure! I do believe getting a lesser quality club is crucial to try playing, and then play a brand name club to truly see the differences, and how much better name brand clubs are.

Ross Johnson

7 years ago

Oskars

7 years ago

I have always thought that these cheap starter sets are not entirely garbage. They are how I got into the game, allows you an easy way to just have everything you need to get started. I upgraded in about a months time to some real stuff but I found that the irons that come with these sets are really perfectly good for most golfers, at the end of the day its just a metal rod with a metal piece on the end, if lofts are the same how much different can they honestly get.

But…the woods and drivers that come in these sets deserve to be thrown out immediately, pure garbage and the article backs that up…how is someone supposed to hit a 6* driver…and usually the shafts even in regular are like pool noodles in them.

Greg Moore

7 years ago

You can actually do better for about the price of the Wal-mart set by going to a club maker like Giga Golf. I think the most bang for the buck is probably going to a club maker (actually an assembler) and being fitted. That way you get the head, shaft, and grip, best for YOU. I did that about 15 years ago and was very happy with the result. I am about to do it again because I’m now 15 yrs older.

Shortside

7 years ago

I could see putting together a set relatively cheap at GigaGolf when they’re running one of their big sales on returned clubs. They’d certainly be much higher quality. But you’d still be over $300 after finding a bag. For less than $150 including balls, glove, towel etc you can be out the door and on a course one stop shopping. That’s tough to beat for the budget minded just trying the game. I won’t knock them.

Mca Kev

7 years ago

The arrows are only as good as the bowman

Shane Wickham

7 years ago

9 times out of 10 it’s not the clubs that make a player but a player is what makes the club.

Edley

7 years ago

So why even read the article? The purpose is to show the differences between the clubs you can buy at Walmart and the clubs you buy at your local retailer. Everyone knows that players and their inadequacies will show up in results. The idea here is that by normalizing the results through quantity removing outliers, you end up showing the true differences between the clubs w/o bias.

If wanna just say that the player makes the club, you aren’t wrong, but it’s just ill fitting for a response to the above article.

john lyon

7 years ago

So what were the lofts of the irons. say the pw from name brand was it 47 like most modern blade sets was it 43 like most super game improvement. then how accurate were those lofts. did the name brand advertise 43 degrees of loft and the actually club was 40. then i would like to know the same info about the Walmart clubs. if a Walmart p/9 is 47 degrees of loft and a name brand is 43 then that explains the huge change in loft. thats like taking a blade pw and comparing it to a super game improvement pw. they have different lofts across the name brand industry. so if wall mart is lofting super game clubs at blade lofts then there is no true way to compare numbered clubs. also if a driver is 4.3 degrees off what is the rest of the set?

Tony Covey

7 years ago

Your last sentence is one of the challenges we faced in this test. There is no stated spec on the walmart clubs, so we have no way off knowing how off-spec they really are.

The first thing all of us have to accept is there’s not such thing as a perfect test. Something…shaft length, loft, shafts, and about a hundred other things, won’t align perfectly. That’s reality.

Unless the methodologies are inherently unsound, and the sample sizes completely insignificant, I’d argue there’s no wrong way to test either. We literally could have done this test 10 different ways – all of them perfectly legitimate.

For every test, we have to make a series of decisions. It’s eye doctor stuff (better like this, or better like this). A good bit of these decisions have been made over the course of years of testing, so we don’t have to think about them for every test, but most tests do present unique challenges. This was certainly one of them.

The Blaster is a Game Improvement Design with lofts weaker than any current blade on the market. I suspect no OEM has made clubs with this spec in probably a decade…maybe more.

So do you test with a closer loft spec (blade – knowing the blade would still be stronger) or a closer design spec (Offset GI Cavityback)?

So then we ask ourselves:

Who is the target audience for a set of Nitro Blaster clubs?
A: Casual, recreational or beginning golfer.

If he’s comparing against another set, is that likely a blade or a GI?
A: Likely not comparing at all, but if he is, it’s almost certainly against a GI set.

Is the target golfer likely someone who is concerned about loft differences?
A: No – he’s probably never considered it.

So in this particular case, trying to match lofts didn’t make a whole lot of sense. I get why a number of you are focused on it, but we’re confident that the actual demographic for this set isn’t.

Again…the production of every test is the result of a series of decisions. We expect that with every test there will be some who believe some aspect should have been done differently, but in many cases, we’d already considered the alternatives and chose a different fork in the road.

Steve S

7 years ago

Uh, Tony…..probably shouldn’t bother trying to explain yourself. It’s wasted on the nitpickers…the rest of us appreciate what your trying to do. If you guys were perfect you wouldn’t be doing this for a living.

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 bought a set of Adams Speedline irons(4-gap) for $99 as a second set for visitors. I played them and they are decent clubs. Most folks I know couldn’t tell the difference between them and a $500 set of irons except for what I call a “harsh” feel. Similar to 1990’s cast blades.

john lyon

7 years ago

Steve i think you read into my question complete wrong. I’m not nit picking his process. i am a data guy and his data correlates with the loft differences. I know they have the ability to check the lofts of the clubs thats why i asked the question. there is no specific industry standard to what the loft of a pw has to be. but most companies stay with in a degree or two of there competition. when the TM burner irons first came out remember they sent out thousands of demo clubs for free stating they could gain 10 yard a club. it was true because at the time they were sending out pw’s 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. I’m just asking for a few more details. read this old article. http://mygolfspy.com/mygolfspy-labs-the-worst-kept-secret-in-golf/ we pay hundreds and this is what we get. how could i expect nitro to even be close to those standards. that sparked my curiosity. what is the actual loft of these 6 irons and p/9 that nitro is advertising. we already know there is no industry standard to shaft flex so we won’t do down that road of what flex is nitro actually using. over all i enjoyed the read and enjoyed his test. I’m just curious as to the data behind it. i don’t aim to criticize cause where else will i get this comparison. My golf spy challenges the status quo in equipment reviews and tests and i appreciate their take its why i frequently visit the site. golfwrx is my other go to. i find these are the top two sites for golf research. i go to the other ones like GD and g.com and the G-channel. but i like the data sets that these two sites will put out from time to time. but i digress thanks for the article it was a good read look forward to more in the future. can’t wait to see a review on the new flightscope mevo. hopefully you guys get to.

cheers greens and fairways to all
simba

Rev. Bill Swann

5 years ago

For what its worth I played “Knock off clubs” asssembled by a good friend for more than 30 years. I never hit anything much better, but that changed when the Major Manufacturers started cracking down on the “Knock offs” around 1998-1999. I was in for a sticker shock when I started purchasing “Name” clubs. Uniformly the name brands are better quality, but a dog slips through QC on occassion. If that happens I found Callaway stood behind their irons great, Taylor Made not so much.

What I’ve always wanted to see if a professional tournament where all the golfers played exactly the same equipment, without any brand emblems. All clubs spec’s to the Pro’s usual specs as to length, lie, flex etc. Wouldn’t it be magical if it turned out to be Tour Edge unmarked equipment and the pro’s actually hit them better. Love to see that level playing field just once before I die, and it better be soon.

RAT

7 years ago

Why didn’t you pick some of the TM,Cally,Wilson,,Bridgestone clubs to test that Walmart sells against your picked set?

Don Hollingsworth

7 years ago

I’m telling you man you should go all Adams with matching bag ???

Kelly Thompson

7 years ago

Another great article. If these $99 sets get more people engaged in the game of golf, then awesome. However, it is unfortunate about the very loose tolerances. Although not nearly as bad, I once measured a ‘big name’ driver that was overstated by 2 degrees.

Thomas

7 years ago

February cold sh!+|¥ weather. What else is there to do ???? besides waist time at Walmart, since most Pro Golf Shops haven’t received our new toys

Nick Vavoudis

7 years ago

As a ten year high school / middle school golf coach I found your article very helpful. 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. I get numerous donations from the local retirees with clubs that are 3-6 years old. Most of the time I can outfit new golfers so they don’t have to spend too much before they know if they are going to stick with the game. Most kids want there own “new set” and I try to direct them to Pinemeadow or Giga Golf. It’s nice to know that really any iron set could work, even Walmart’s 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. Thanks for the test it was very helpful. Ps those Brand Name bigots are only thinking about themselves, go figure, and not their beginner friends, kids or grandkids, thanks again.

Mark Drake

7 years ago

I don’t do wal-mart period…..

Pete

7 years ago

Must not be a Republican, eh?

Tim

7 years ago

Can you take that somewhere else please?

Tom Duckworth

7 years ago

I could jump on ebay with $200.00 bucks and come up with a pretty playable set. I put together a set for my friends that just want to try golf
for less than that. My wife likes thrift stores and without much effort I find Callaway and Cleveland wedges Ping and Mizuno irons and a
983K Titleist driver. Nice stand bags all the time
One thing about golf new stuff cost way too much but a year or two or three later and it’s less than half the cost or much less than that.
So it is not too hard to started and get good stuff with a little effort. That’s a good way to grow the game help a friend who wants to try it out
find some gear.

John

7 years ago

Couldn’t agree more. my first set of clubs was a 1/2 set (3, 5, 7, 9 iron, driver & 3 wood) in the early 80’s, don’t remember the brand, but they were questionable at best, couldn’t break 100 with them. A year later, got a full set of Nicklaus golden bear muscle backs and was breaking 90, within a few weeks. might have to break them back out sometime.
A quality set of irons with new grips from 10-20+ years ago can compete with today’s clubs when equalized for loft.
I believe where you see big differences is newer driver technology. 10+ years ago doesn’t stand up to today’s drivers.

Pete Melissis

7 years ago

My first clubs were the same. Golden Bear lol. Till my friends dad sold me his Walter Hagen ultradynes

ray weber

7 years ago

John, I beg to differ with you on newer driver technology. I am a new golfer with 50 games behind me. Been playing for 1.5 years, primarily in the last 6 months. I am using 2004 Big Bertha clubs that were given to me. Playing with guys my age, 66, who have been playing 20 to 40 years longer than me, who are using new T.M. and what not, my drives are usually equal to, beyond, or very close to theirs. My hc. is 28. theirs is 16. Once I get a better handle on the game and feel like I’ve exhausted the potential in these clubs, then I will start exploring new clubs. Until then, I would encourage all of you just to get out there and have fun. It’s a GAME. Don’t get sucked into all the hype and b.s. Cheers! Ray

Joseph R Dreitler

7 years ago

You said it. 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? It makes no sense. 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. Used them for years until I could buy a new set. That was more than 50 years ago and today there is so much more good used equipment for a low price that buying stuff like this doesn’t seem to be necessary.

Jeremy Raulinaitis

7 years ago

“The stamped loft for both drivers is 10.5. However, we measured the actual loft of the Walmart driver at 6.2 degrees.”

A 6 degree driver? Great idea for a beginner set hahahaha

Ryebread

7 years ago

Fun article. I actually enjoyed it and it did speak to the quality or lack there of for a low end boxed sets. As equipment junkies we all want to know the “good” stuff is actually better and not just more expensive. I’d bet half the people reading this deep down went “oh ]^{% it is going to be the same,” particularly after reading the 9/PW results.

Sean S Farrell

7 years ago

I had a hard time following the loft differences..

John Bulahan

7 years ago

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 doesn’t… they just need to re-brand it and tweek it here and there for copyright purposes.

chrisk

7 years ago

Start out like I did, have Dad buy you an old set of Northwesterns

Nathan

7 years ago

Same here, now I am a pro thanks to my North Westerns!

Caleb

7 years ago

If the lofts were so different, then it’s not a very good comparison. Why did you not find the iron that had about the same loft, then it might be closer? Understand that the shafts lengths were different too, but you did not mention that?

James T

7 years ago

2.9 handicap here. Headed to Walmart this afternoon to pick up some Nitro Blasters. Looking to get my handicap to scratch.

Actually, I didn’t mind the article. It was fun. And lots of fun when Tony got to the driver.

mcavoy

7 years ago

I don’t understand the point of the whole exercise. For $99 the irons, wedges and putter are likely zinc. Aluminum heads on driver/fw/hy. Al dente shafts. Loft accuracy? Who cares? It’s Walmart. Must have been a slow news day at MGS to greenlight this mess.

MyGolfSpy

7 years ago

While I appreciate your opinion, curiosity is what MyGolfSpy is all about. This is all one big research and discovery process. That discovery process has discovered some incredible performing products for consumers. Remember the Kirkland ball? Obviously a different result, but you don’t know this without trying.

Sam Robinson

7 years ago

Heads up, the irons in the Nitro Blaster set end at the 6-iron

McaseyM

7 years ago

Have to agree with the others on the testing parameters on this one fellas. I understand that you wanted to compare the same iron number, but as has been stated on here before, loft jacking for distance has made numbers nearly pointless, and especially that 5 and 7 degree differences in lofts is 1.5-2 irons stronger. The ridiculous 4.3 degree difference on the driver goes to show that the quality control of the Wal-Mart set is crap. I would like to see the irons and driver tested at the same loft to get a actual comparison.

BerkeleyBob

7 years ago

My first set of clubs was a Wilson set (perhaps the version before Ultras) with graphite shafts. I got it on sale for about $100 because it as a left-handed display model that didn’t include a bag. The first time I took them out for a lesson, my golf pro took a look at them, hit a few balls and said that he was surprised at the quality of the beginner set. After our lesson, he pointed to the golfer next to us. It was easy to spot, he had brand new Callaway X-18s, driver, woods, putter and bag, and from his swing, it was clear he’d never taken a lesson.

My pro gave me a wink and said, “You made the right choice. I guess I’ll go give him my card.”

I know there are different few ways to get started in golf, like buying a seven iron and taking a lesson or two. Still, I think a test of beginner sets would be a great idea. If anything, it would be educational to see if they are worth buying at all. For myself, my Wilsons gave me time to research, test and choose the right clubs for me.

Steve Servison

7 years ago

That was an interesting test altho the difference in quality was too obvious. How about testing sets of Ping,Taylor, and Callaway clubs against their knockoffs (clones) to see if differences are measurable between them?

Shane Curlee

7 years ago

They used to have good sets of dunlops. I think they would’ve been a better comparison

Carlos Rodriguez

7 years ago

Bout time things are being done to lower equipment prices.

Jordan

7 years ago

You should find a $200 set of 2 year old TaylorMade’s on ebay and put them against a $1000 set of today’s. Make sure to bend the old ones to account for today’s juiced, I mean “progressive” lofts…

Kevin Martin

7 years ago

Why not just buy a set of Cobra Baffler XL Irons for $299? These are hands down the most forgiving irons on the market!!!!

Shortside

7 years ago

A big OEM against comparable Maltby’s or GigaGolf would be more interesting. Hope you can find time for it. My guess is much more competitive.

Sharkhark

7 years ago

You tested a comparison between two sets of irons using 2 clubs that had 5 of difference & 7 degrees of difference???

What a useless comparison. I learned nothing.

I love your site overall but this is absolutely ridiculous.
When Rick shiels does a comparison he picks irons with the same loft to make it apples to apples.

You compared irons that are 1 1/2 clubs stronger? I’d argue by that the Walmart irons did better.

Very disappointed

Tony Covey

7 years ago

Taking a moment between your huffing and puffing to consider that there may not be much at all that makes for a direct comparison to the Nitro Blaster. It’s a game-improvement design with lofts that are weaker than any blade design on the market today.

It’s 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.

If you put yourself in the position of somebody considering Walmart instead of OEM…what’s that OEM set look like? It it a GI set or is it something like an MP-5? Is that a consumer that’s obsessing over lofts?

Sharkhark

7 years ago

Look Tony,
I love your work. But in this case yes I realize not me or likely any die hard on here would go a Walmart route.

Nor would comparing generic clubs to a beauty mizuno make sense.
But if we aren’t comparing fairly closely I don’t get why to do it at all. All I learned was that the driver was completely whacked.

I actually read the thread title & was curious, that’s why I’m here.
But with clubs these days having 4-5 degrees between them the club with 9 degrees stronger lofts is literally 2 clubs stronger. 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 & let’s pretend your TM 6 iron beats it I’ve not learned how the Walmart tech keeps up.
Looking at how close that pw generic came to a club 5 degrees stronger I would argue they were actually pretty good.

Anyhow if you look you’ll see majority in this thread posted the same refrain on not comparing lofts as did it.

Keep up the overall good work.

Gerald Teigrob

5 years ago

Tony, I was in the Wal-Mart boat for a while. I played a $100 set but didn’t get the results I was hoping for. I old them and went with a brand name set or two. Later on I went back to Wal-Mart and found a good complete set of John Daly signature complete irons, woods, and stand bag with a 3 hybrid and a iron to pitching wedge and putter. I found it better than some of my other Wal-Mart clubs but decided instead to go back to the Adams A7OS hybrid irons. It wasn’t until I did more testing that I found out the SGI OS hybrid irons I was playing were not ideal for my swing. I also discovered that I had become so used to adjusting my irons to play a slice\fade from the troublesome midsized irons that were hit and miss for me. Now I have been playing the Cobra Bio Cell irons and have gained confidence playing the 4 iron to gap wedge. Huge encouragement for me to know I can get that muscle memory back in my longer irons. Realistically. I don’t 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. I like the feel of graphite as I get a better idea of what distances those 4 irons will be valuable for. Beyond a 4 hybrid there are diminishing returns as far as distances go there.

My point is with the Wal-Mart situation…I would consider Wal-Mart the Microsoft of Shopping Centers. Costco will always sell what they figure will make them money. Walmart realizes that if they can come out with a recognized name brand that generally has a good reputation, even though they may be more generic to many of us, they might be a wise decision for someone looking for a set of clubs and doesn’t play enough to justify an $800 set. The things that Wal-Mart has already improved on it will improve on even more, and drivers and fairway woods as well as hybrids will give even the name brand OE sellers a good run for their money.

James T

7 years ago

Did any of the heads fall off the Walmart clubs?

Tony Covey

7 years ago

Not yet. I suppose there’s still time.

Bob Venekamp

7 years ago

They had a pretty legit set of Wilson ultra back in the early 2000’s

Gary Kirkpatrick

7 years ago

Sure, if your swing is inconsistent and tops out at 80mph, but if you’re playing an X there’s not going to be any comparison. Add 2 degrees up, 1/2″ longer, or other specs and you’re miles away!

David W. Couvillon

7 years ago

OK… now please do iron comparisons with clones…

http://www.customgolfstop.com/
http://www.theaceofclubs.com/
http://www.diamondtour.com/
to name a few..

(full disclosure, I play Diamond Tour clubs)
(http://mygolfspy.com/clone-golf-clubs-vs-name-brand driver comparison)

James T

7 years ago

David… I went to the Diamond Tour website and looked at their longest-hitting driver. Here are the first two reviews:

Keeps breaking January 9, 2017
I absolutely love this driver when it works but I have broken it 3 times now in a matter of 4 months. It snaps at the hosel every single time. I have even changed shafts but they all break and then I got the club back the last time and now the head rattles. When it worked I was hitting it at least 300 yards every time.

Not a durable club January 3, 2017
I liked the club but the club head bottom separated from the rest of the head. Diamond tour would do nothing about it when i contacted them. Club was about 1.5 years old. If they do not stand behind their products, I cannot buy them.

David W. Couvillon

7 years ago

James – Been playing DT for about 10 years now. They’ve backed up everything I’ve bought from them (irons, drivers, putter) – did have one driver head separation – they made good on it, including shipping. (They do have a disclaimer about ‘club abuse’ on returns). More disclosure, I now play Mizuno 780 irons; but still play DT Driver, woods, wedges and putter.

Jericho Das

7 years ago

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 couldn’t 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 .. The main difference was the shafts a nice dynamic gold or project X are tried an trued even without being CPM matched compared to a cheap set that may throw in a
$3 shaft and it’s a crapshoot on what they throw in your P wedge mayfly the same distance as an eight iron .. for a beginner player they’re not sure what supposed to feel good at impact and molecular consistency in the forging or nice quality cast for most everybody who’s been at the game for a while it’s 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 PXG’s and they’ll 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 don’t ever want to have that feeling of trying to ground load an inexpensive club like that I’ll just stick with my stuff from now on

Jericho Das

7 years ago

I think if I did use an entire set including the putter wedges and driver it could’ve been disastrous and unless I took that driver out to the ranch to figure out how it swings through the slot i probably would’ve been losing them to the right all day those shafts would probably stress open

Nick Cedar

7 years ago

In that whole statement you made, you didn’t form one sentence. Used no periods. I’m not the grammar nazi…but damn man, at least try!

Brian R Murphy

7 years ago

Seriously??

Craig Conklin

7 years ago

THey price match too. ????

Lee Shaw

7 years ago

Who cares if that’s your price point to get out and play go do it. There are too many people out there obsessed with the latest and the (so called greatest) who can’t hit it for sh*t.

Steven

7 years ago

Wouldn’t it make more sense to test clubs that are similar in lofts to each other? So the name brand clubs have loft jacked their irons we get that, but I feel maybe more apples to apples would make sense. 7 and 5 degrees are no small measurement in this case.

Robert Dwyer

7 years ago

What exactly do we learn from this test?

1. Junk is always junk regardless of the price, major brands have produced some junk at times!
2. Major brand golf manufacturers still have not accepted the truth about an over priced shrinking market place.
3. With the current economy some would be players might only be able to afford Walmart or ebay clubs w/o expensive fittings
4. I’m a self-admitted equipment junkie! However no matter how much I spend there are still guys out there with their 1950 model Mcgregor’s or Wilson Staff clubs who can out play me 7 days a week. What the saying? It’s not the stick it’s the sticker!
5. If you are a recreational golfer (less than 5 rounds a year) do yourself a favor go to Walmart!

Steve S

7 years ago

No surprises here. What I would like to see is a test of one of the $179-$250 complete sets(with bag) sold by Adams, Wilson, Ultra, B52, etc. compared to a $800-$1000 set of Pings, Callaway, Cobra, and their ilk. I would expect the results to be much closer…..for most golfers (driver speeds below 100mph)

solly5

7 years ago

Seems to be obvious that the quality is just not going to be there with the Walmart set. At the same time, how can you begin to compare clubs that are 5 and 7 degrees different in loft?

Tony Covey

7 years ago

One other ripple we haven’t mentioned yet…

There is no stated spec on the Walmart irons. We don’t know what the lofts are supposed to be. 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.

James T

7 years ago

I’m guessing most Walmart buyers of golf clubs have no idea about lofts and don’t care.

Andrew Taylor

7 years ago

I enjoy your information. You really seem to go the extra mile. I just had my right shoulder surgery for Rotator cup and bicep muscle tear.
Left shoulder done 9/15/16 I will probably be in the market for driver and 3 wood .hopefully used to save some money. 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
But again used if possible. I use Jumbo grips because of arthritis in both hands. I play much better than I sound. I may even try
Knock-offs. Knock offs would be new. I also use Calloway Chrome soft balls. ( lost balls )
5AAAAA. Happy with putter and sand wedge.
I know your busy but if you come across something please let me know.

Craig Conklin

7 years ago

Hmmm

cgasucks

7 years ago

Even if the boxed set was on par with the name brands performance wise, I’d still never get it because of the substandard materials they’re made from in order to meet that $94.86 price point. I consider them disposable golf clubs.

ed davison jr

7 years ago

The materials are equal….

Johnny Choy

7 years ago

No it isn’t….14 clubs all for $94.86??!!?? One has to cut a few corners in order to meet that price point my ignorant friend..

Mike Geary

7 years ago

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.

Nils Nelson

7 years ago

Why “waste” the money? Maybe that’s all you can afford. And maybe you don’t have a garage, let alone own a car. When was the last time you missed a meal?

Jeff

7 years ago

I noticed you threw out all of the “gross miss hit shots” and I am wondering what percent of those misses could be attributed to the club? Referring to CG, perimeter weighting, forgiveness of any brand above these irons. 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 isn’t? This test is grossly misleading and all shots should be accounted for. Human error is golf and you are eliminating how the designs of premium brands can help a average Joe enjoy the game more. 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. I really can’t believe you guys wasted your time on this test.

Jericho Das

7 years ago

As far as overall performance with the heads say a In AP2 compared to say a golden bear set for the average player of say a 12 handicap there wouldn’t be much difference ..where the difference comes into play is the shafts A dynamic gold versus a $3-$4 shaft you don’t know what you’re getting you may have a nine iron shaft that loads and kicks better then the 8 iron shaft it’s a crapshoot your P wedge may fly just as far as your eight iron

WILLIAM J

7 years ago

When I look at this, I see several flaws. If the lofts were so far apart, how could you ever consider that a suitable comparison? Test similar lofts in the irons next time, please. Stronger lofted club went farther? Shocking.

And of course the Nitro driver was horrible. It likely has zero R&D attributed to the final product, and clearly no quality control.

My take away, and advice I give to any beginner – get a decent set of used irons, because they will perform just fine. Do some homework on the woods though, and buy a strong brand. Go for older models, because paying $500+ for one club is ridiculous, and you will not see the benefits.

Buy Walmart clubs? No way! Spend less than $500 on a full set? Totally achievable, and can have some really nice used clubs!

xjohnx

7 years ago

Why not test the irons that compare closest in actual loft rather than how they’re marked? I understand it’s relative to actual playing with the given set but, it’s not really an accurate comparison of performance.

Kirby Oaks

7 years ago

6.5° of loft!? Crazy. That would frustrate any beginner.

Richard

7 years ago

If those clubs can bring more people to play this game, that’s great!

Robert Kirk Provart

7 years ago

Not a chance in hell. Box set are made for swings speeds of less than 90 mph. 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.

Mark Brown

7 years ago

There are a tremendous amount of sub 90mph swing speeds in hell
Perhaps 70% of the total?
Box sets aren’t golf clubs
They are toys that help determine interest
If someone sells them, in my mind it’s lazy and short sighted
Just my opinion

Michael D. Corley

7 years ago

That is pretty close for a 900 dollar difference. Always made me realize no matter how expensive your clubs are, a cheap swing will win every time.

Michael Albrecht

7 years ago

Nice job. I would like to see how they hold up after a golf season.

Matt Weber

7 years ago

My clubs are awesome when someone else uses them other than me

Informed Golfer

7 years ago

Wow. Who knew? $100 Walmart golf set BLOWS.

Mark Brown

7 years ago

Yes, given the $99 set is fitted more precisely than the $1000 set. If they are at opposing ends of intended users form/function, $99 wins decisively

That’s not exactly what you’re asking, but in the instance I’ve describe, the answer is obviously yes

I’m bothered when the fitting end, or even buying the right model of driver within the same brand, is neglected.

‘I hate their club, it goes low right. The other brand is way better, high draw’

That’s correct, and exactly what they are supposed to do. Everything is good. 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 couldn’t 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
Alrighty then, good talk

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