Bags of choice, but at what price?

So, what's new for 2000 in golf equipment? Well, there's a lot. And before dashing out to find the funds by selling what's left of your hi-tech shares, it may be no harm to consider some fundamental thoughts on clubs, gloves, bags and balls, and their relevance to your particular game.

Of course you may be a "must-have" golfer, in which case no amount of advice will deflect you from your determination to acquire the new Callaway Hawk Eye Tungsten Titanium irons, or the Ben Hogan Apex Plus, or the Lynx Black Cat MTW, or the Ping i3 Blade or i3 O-Size, or the Orlimar Trimetal or Taylor Made Supersteel.

As with buying a motor-car, price can help narrow down one's options considerably. But most important of all is the suitability of clubs to your needs. For instance if you happen to be a high-handicapper, you have no business even looking at the Yonex Rekin Super 10 Tour or the Mizuno T-Zoil Pro-II, or the Ping i3 Blade.

In fact the rules don't change from year to year. Which means that you should be advised by a professional golfer you can trust, not one who is interested simply in improving his bank balance at your expense. The good club professional will treat his/her customers honestly, if only in the belief that it will probably guarantee their ongoing custom.

So, what are the fundamentals? Be assured that the driver which delivers two or three booming tee-shots and 10 that veer disastrously off-line, won't be much help in your quest of competitive consistency. Trial and error is the only solution here, while ensuring that the models you're testing all have the correct shaft-flex for your game.

Low-profile fairway woods, which have an obviously shallow look from top to sole, have the effect of keeping the centre of the club low, which in turn helps to hit the ball low-down. This in turn creates backspin, so helping to get the ball airbourne.

With irons, the most common look is the investment cast cavity-back head, with lightweight steel shafts: graphite shafts remain a popular option. Investment-cast means the clubhead has been shaped by pouring molten metal into a mould.

Cavity-back means simply that weight has been concentrated in the perimeter of the iron's clubhead, a development which was pioneered by the late Karsten Solheim, founder of Ping. Perimeter-weighting tends to be more forgiving, delivering longer, straighter shots, even from off-centre hits.

Blade-shaped irons are usually forged, which means they are hammered, blacksmith-style out of carbon steel. Generally less forgiving for the average player, they are favoured, with a few exceptions, by the more skilled practitioner who is likely to make more regular contact with the sweet-spot.

When selecting irons, it is recommended that they first be tried off a "lie-board" with the help of a professional. He will know whether the lie-angle of the irons is correct for your swing and physique, by ensuring that the sole of the club is an exact "fit" with the ground through impact, instead of having the heel or toe digging in and twisting.

Buying a putter is a lot like buying a driver: its success will depend to a large degree on how it feels. Indeed the importance of these two clubs cannot be overstated. It explains why most professionals sign 12-club endorsement deals, so as to be free to carry a driver and putter of their choice.

Putter feel comes in three forms. First is its so-called waggle weight, which is how the putter feels initially in your hands. It is recommended that this judgement should be made with your eyes open, then closed.

Putter feel is also influenced by grip size and material. You should avoid a putter with a handle that's too thin or too thick, insofar as comfort equals control. The third feel aspect is at impact, which is influenced by the material in the putter-head.

Putter-heads and their inserts encompass a variety of materials from aluminium to brass to bronze, tungsten and even ceramic. Many of these inserts have a reputation for causing putts to come off the blade slow and dead, so be wary. Meanwhile, the body of the putter-head will have most of its weight in the heel and toe, so as to reduce the tendency to twisting at impact.

When testing a putter, it is helpful to have a friend stand directly behind the blade so that he/she can check the alignment when you feel you have it square to the target. The putter which responds best to this test, assuming all other key aspects are satisfactory, is the one you should consider buying.

In acquiring a bag to put your precious purchases in, the focus should be on four factors - size, quality, dividers and pockets. This, of course, is on the assumption that the price is right.

The modern, larger bags have features which include cell-phone pouches (for phones that are switched off, naturally), 14-hole grids at the top opening to accommodate each individual club and fur-lined pockets for valuables.

To check the bag for quality, work the zips for ease of movement and feel the fabric to ensure that it's sufficiently strong and sturdy for your needs. The hangtag will point out high-stress areas and how they have been reinforced. Finally, think of special items that you like to take with you onto the golf course - a handwarmer in winter, for instance - and ensure that there is an appropriate pocket.

Buying a glove, the choice is generally between synthetic fabric and natural leather. Synthetics are more durable, whereas leather permits greater feel. As a compromise, you may choose a synthetic glove with a leather inset in the palm area.

With leather, you should not be concerned if the velcro tab doesn't close fully when new: one or two rounds will cause it to stretch significantly. Finally, it is recommended that gloves should be bought two at a time so that they can be rotated and stored flat in the package in which they came.

The average round of golf involves a walk of between four and five miles, often over difficult terrain, so it is hardly necessary to emphasise the importance of wearing the correct shoes. And the key to buying the correct shoes is in your hands.

Grip the heel of the shoe with one hand and flex the front of the shoe with the other, imitating the natural flex of the foot. There should be resistance, but not stiffness. And when the shoe is twisted length-wise, it should hold its shape.

Most important of all, however, is the nature of the sole. In these days when quite a number of golf clubs insist on plastic cleats - the so-called soft spikes - it is crucial that the metal spikes in your shoes are removable. Unless, of course, you feel disposed to keeping two pairs in operation at the same time, with metal spikes in one and soft spikes in the other.

Lastly, there is the ball, which comes largely in two different compressions, 90 and 100. And like it or not, there is strong evidence to prove that amateur golfers of all handicap categories, perform better with a 90 compression ball.

Dimple patterns are also important for the manner in which they determine how high or low the ball will fly and how it is likely to react when it hits the green. A ball made for a greater spin-rate is likely to stop more quickly on impact. As against that, a ball designed to roll more would be more desirable off the tee.

So, as a general principle, the golfer must sacrifice a little distance to achieve control, feel and manoeuvrability. And all the relevant information regarding compression, spin-rate etc, may be found on the package.

A good way of testing a golf ball is to go through a simple, pitch-and-putt routine. For short chips, avoid any ball which feels like it's coming off the clubface "hot". And be wary of balls with particularly soft cover materials, such as balata. If your putter happens to have a particularly soft insert material in the face, the combined effect may be an excessively dull feel when putting.

Of course we now have "Rule 35", the new Callaway golf ball on the market. It comes in two models - the Softfeel (blue logo) and the Firmfeel (red logo). According to the manufacturers, they have the same spin and feel characteristics; only the feel is different.

"There are currently tour balls, distance balls and feel balls," says Callaway president Chuck Yash. "But our balls offer the entire package." Indeed from personal experience, I can strongly recommend the Firmfeel version, which is nowhere near as hot as its competitors.

Callaway refuse to disclose details of the construction of their balls but, not surprisingly, the competition have done it for them. Apparently the balls have a urethane cover surrounding a "solid mantle layer and a solid core".

If you tend to hook or slice the ball - and who doesn't? - you should opt for a ball which doesn't spin as much as others, in that spin will exaggerate the waywardness. Certainly, you should avoid a maximum spin-ball at all costs.

As Barney Adams pointed out in these pages a few weeks ago, golfers have never been better-served by golf equipment. And the intention is not necessarily to make the game easier, but to make it more enjoyable.

In that context, high-handicappers have long since discovered that however bravely they protest, there is no great joy in searching for wayward balls at every other hole, to a background of heavy sighing from one's playing partners.

The best equipment for your particular game is out there at your favourite outlet. The trick is to make sure you know how to identify it.