By Alan Watson, President GOLF+, Dothan and PCB
Golfers who frequent social media, YouTube, or golf periodicals are probably familiar with the explosion of DIY golf repair gurus who promise to help you fix your own equipment easily and for less, or maybe just for the satisfaction of doing it yourself. Sure those things might be true and perhaps you already have a garage space or a workshop. Let’s even suppose you love working with your hands. All that and a healthy dose of pride make you want to say to your foursome, “I did this myself!” Before you get too caught up in this whole thing let’s take a practical and realistic look at golf club repair and whether you should, or shouldn’t, attempt it yourself.
Grips
Yes, grips are the simplest of all golf club repairs and yes, there are only a few basic tools needed and not too much brain power to accomplish re-gripping a set. The skill it takes is minimal and I think most golfers could do a pretty good job with some practice. But, much like I could change the oil in my vehicle if I chose to, I would prefer letting someone who does it all day every day do it rather than expending my valuable time and energy.
The cost for changing your swing grips (not including the putter) at a professional shop is $8-20 per grip including installation depending on the brand and model of the grip.
Cost to do it yourself at home:
Hook blade knife – $13
Vise – $90-$130
Solvent -$25
Flat knife – $23 (for removing tape)
Torch or heat gun $30 (for removing tape)
Squirt bottle for solvent – $2
Build up tape – $5
Double-sided grip tape – $20
Towels – $5
Total – $213-$253
These prices do not include tax or shipping and I also didn’t include anything like a catch pan to recycle the extra solvent or a tape dispenser that you might want if you were going to be doing this more often.
Now you have to buy grips which could cost between $4-$13 each depending on quality and style. By the way, there are many sites online that will sell you grips and some are legit but others sell counterfeit grips that have no warranty and also don’t perform like the real thing. Buyer beware for sure when it comes to golf grips from some sources. Basically, if the price seems too good to be true… well, you know the rest!
So if you were to grip the 13 swing clubs in your bag with a $6 grip and all the supplies I mentioned you would spend approximately $315 after taxes. That’s an average of over $24 per grip. In a shop like mine, that same transaction would be about $140 or $10.77 per grip all in and installed. Now I realize that if you purchase the DIY parts you need you can use them over and over again. I love having tools at my house so I am ready when I need them for home projects or when I’m working on my motorcycles. If that’s you then by all means go ahead. But if that sound like too much trouble then just let the professionals handle it. Another benefit of professionals do it for you is that the job will be done correctly the first time. Grips are authentic. Time to re-grip in most shops is an hour to a day depending on how busy they are.
Look, I’m not saying you can’t do it or shouldn’t do it. I encourage people to learn new skills and I even have YouTube and social media videos of my own that teach people how to do this. I’m a live-and-let-live guy on the subject for sure.
Hopefully, this gives you some insight into the most basic of club repairs. We might tackle some of the other types of repairs and their cost in later articles. In the meantime if you need quality, professional golf club repair and you are near Bay County, Florida, or Dothan, Alabama, I have shops in both areas that can serve you. We offer a great selection of products and a staff that will help you and get you back on the course as quickly as possible.
GOLF PLUS PCB is located at 541 Richard Jackson Blvd, Panama City Beach. Call: 850-249-2726. Visit www.golfplusdothan.com on the web.
