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Rent to Own: Why leaving your own clubs behind is now a good play

By Eric Flowers for River’s Edge Golf Course 
 
Until recently rental golf clubs were on par with rental ice skates  –something to be avoided at all costs if you knew anything about skating. Like the ubiquitous flimsy leather boots and tattered laces that define rental skates, rental clubs often constituted a hodgepodge of irons that were thrown together and tossed offhandedly into whatever bag happened to be laying around.
 
The whole rental process felt like a bad joke — on the renter. Like coming to the golf course without a collared shirt, arriving without your own set of clubs felt like a first breach of golf’s unspoken code of etiquette.
 
In the past few years, that’s all changed.
 
These days rental golf clubs often represent the best of what big name manufacturers have to offer in a given year. That means the latest in driver technology, forgiving irons and more hybrid and fairway woods.
After returning from a recent trip where I opted to borrow rather than rent clubs for a couple of rounds, I decided to test drive the River’s Edge rental fleet, which includes both Titleist and Nike clubs.
I assumed that I would lose feel, control and confidence. 
 
I couldn’t have been more wrong. With blessing of Director of Golf Troy Eckberg, I grabbed a set of Titleist AP2 irons. To say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. From the powerful and playable Titleist 910D driver to the Vokey wedge and Nike method putter, I found that I was driving, chipping and rolling the ball more confidently than I was with my own clubs just a few minutes earlier.
 
One of the biggest surprises was the AP2 irons, a Golf Digest Hot List item in 2013. This particular set came with a graphite A flex shaft. Without so much as a practice swing, I grabbed a six iron for a difficult 160-yard, uphill approach to the elevated tenth green, one of the toughest to reach on the River’s Edge golf course. The result was an impossibly high approach shot that seemed to leap off the clubface. It was one of those rare shots where you don’t so much feel the cover of the ball as you do the mantle as it compresses and rockets toward what you hope is the flag. In this case, it was. When I reached the green I found my blind approach within six feet of the cup, a result that was more luck than skill, but a welcome opportunity for a rare birdie — which I duffed.
 
It was the first of several mid-to-long iron shots that has me rethinking my commitment to my current set of wrenches.
 
It was the rescue and fairway woods that really opened my eyes to the impact of technology. I already carry a rescue/hybrid that I use for tee shots and long approaches. It’s a staple of my arsenal and effective club for a variety of situations. Apparently manufacturers agree. Many of the new club sets abandon mid-to-long irons entirely in favor of rescue clubs that are easier to swing and more forgiving, helping mid to high handicappers get the ball where it belongs — in the air. The set I used included not one but four rescue/hybrids in addition to a 17-degree fairway wood. After playing just nine holes, I’m convinced that I should ditch my own unreliable five iron for a 21 degree or 24 degree hybrid. It’s a point that was hammered home on the 12 the hole when after duffing a tee shot I nailed a 190 yard approach shot to a difficult green that I failed to reach from much better positions in earlier rounds.
 
After nine holes, I’m not ready just yet to ditch my old standby clubs, but I am no longer wondering what I’m missing in my arsenal. I know what I’m missing. The next step is an actual club fitting session to ensure that when I am ready to spend the money on a new rescue club or two, that I have the right wrench in my hands. I’d recommend that unless you’re consistently shooting under 80, you consider doing the same. Or do what I did, and take them out for a test drive.
 
Eric Flowers is a Bend-based freelance journalist and the former editor of Bend’s Source Weekly. His work appeared in 1859 Magazine, Oregon Business, Central Oregon Visitors Association and the Drake. He spends his free time with his wife and two daughters, chasing trout, fresh snow, firm trails and an even-par round of golf.

 


Source: River’s Edge Golf Blog