Bagging a Great Big Bertha - golf gifts for Father's Day - includes related Web sites for shopping

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, June, 1999 by Elizabeth Razzi

As Father's Day approaches, our shopper thinks tees, not ties.

I have finally caught on to something that should have been obvious all along. There's a reason why Father's Day is in June and not March--a month that really could use the attention, if you think about it.

The reason must be golf. Even the snowiest parts of Minnesota and Maine have golf weather by June. Golfers love gear. Dads need gifts. I get it! A gift-giver should think tees, not ties.

Armed with my new enlightenment, I cruise the Internet for gift-worthy golf gear. I'm shopping for a safe bet, a crowd pleaser: the Great Big Bertha titanium-and-graphite driver by Callaway. Callaway just introduced a new Great Big Bertha Hawkeye with a "tungsten gravity screw" designed to lower the club's center of gravity, get the ball airborne more easily and reduce slice. But it has a list price of $500, so I'm hunting for a bargain on the Bertha that is tried, true and cheaper, too.

In the rough

Some of the best-looking sites are affiliated with golfing magazines or television networks. Aficionados can get their fill of articles on golfers, tournaments, the latest gear and tips for perfecting their game. But the dowdier sites tend to have the lowest prices.

For example, Golfdiscount.com has all the onscreen ambiance of the Yellow Pages. You'll have to look to other sites for technique tips and clubhouse chatter. The site sticks pretty much to clubs, bags and shoes. But it was the all-around winner for best price: $259.99 plus $15 shipping for a Great Big Bertha, for a total of $274.99. That was a $48 saving over the most expensive Web site (counting shipping).

Before I order, I need advice on choosing the club's "loft" and "flex." The one fancy feature Golfdiscount.com has allows you to call up your own live online chat with an equipment expert during Pacific time business hours. If your computer has a microphone and speakers, you can download Microsoft NetMeeting and conduct a teleconference with a "live golf expert." But my computer already has multimedia software loaded--and I'm loath to upset the delicate harmony. All I want is an on-screen chat. Unfortunately, four tries produce nothing but error messages and depleted patience. A simple e-mail draws a reasonably quick reply, advising me to go to a local retailer or driving range and have someone measure club-head speed, then come back to Golfdiscount for a recommendation.

Proshop@golf.com is the shopping service for Golf.com, which is affiliated with NBC Sports and Totalsports.net, an online sports netcaster. Golf.com offers extensive golf news and articles. But I want to know less about how golf.com columnists long for the old days, before boorish fans drove etiquette off the fairways, and more about how to track down my club. The "Pro Shop" is a little hard to find in the crush of information (you can bypass the articles by going to proshop.golf.com), but I manage to track down my club. The price is second-lowest: $289.99 plus $13.75 shipping, for a total of $303.74. Proshop@golf.com carries the broadest array of merchandise of all the sites I visit: shoes, books, tapes, computer programs and screen savers, and even golf sculptures and prints.

According to the site's Frequently Asked Questions, the greater the loft, the farther the ball will carry and the less roll you will get. Eleven degrees is the standard loft for a driver. Flex, it says, is the bending action of the shaft, and the amount of shaft flex necessary to make good contact depends on how much club-head speed the golfer generates. Okay, I understand all the words--but I still have no clue what to buy. And no luck with my e-mailed question.

Shop.golfonline.com is the online pro shop for Golf magazine (whose Web site, golfonline.com, is packed with info on courses, equipment and the big-name pros and tournaments). The pro shop, run by International Golf Outlet, had the highest price of the sites I visited: $299.99 plus $23 shipping (also the highest), for a total of $322.99. It also has a decent selection of gear and clothing.

You can chat online with a salesperson during business hours (9 A.M. to 6 P.M. central time). I called up an on--screen chat with Greg, asking for help in choosing the flex and loft. I had to wait about 15 minutes for him to get to my question, but he advised me that a 10D loft and regular flex would be average--and therefore my best bet.

I didn't find a Great Big Bertha--or even a GBB look-alike--at Chipshot.com, a site that specializes in selling off-brands purportedly as good as the big names. You'll have to hunt through the look-alikes to find it, but Chipshot does sell the real Callaway Biggest Big Bertha for $349 plus $13.40 shipping. (I found the club for $309.99 plus $15 shipping at Golfdiscount.com.) Chipshot pitched, as an alternative to the Biggest Big Bertha, the custom-built Acer Titan jumbo titanium woods with graphite shaft for $139.99 plus $13.40 for two-day FedEx shipping.

Chipshot specializes in selling custom-built clubs from generic parts. Chipshot also offers extensive beginner's tips and advice on selecting equipment. But I still wasn't sure how to pick loft. My e-mailed question was answered promptly by Douglas, who said if I hit the ball low, get more loft; if I hit the ball high, get less loft.