When I started playing golf at the age of 14, I was 'given' a set of old, mismatched clubs my father had lying around.  Being only the casual golfer, I played these for about 14 years.   Not til my mid-20's was I able to buy a new set of forged irons (a set of clubs that I only remember had Jack Nicklaus on them) for about $200.  I bought them at a Dallas Golf store without even trying them.  These I played for about 12 years.  I then 'upgraded' to a set of Dunlops with graphite shafts I found at Tuesday Morning...list was $500, I paid $125.  My son benefited from my purchase by now having his own set of clubs.  I played these for 7 years, until my friend took me to Lou's to buy a used set of Ping I2's.  $300 for a 2 year old set of Pings!  Again, my son was the beneficiary of my find, now owning the graphite-shafted Dunlops!

For my 50th birthday, I treated myself to a trip to Pebble Beach.  I couldn't go there with an old set of clubs, so I invested my time and money in a new set of Ping G5's, Taylormade R5 driver, and a couple of Rescue Mid clubs.  Unlike my previous club purchases, I had these fitted.  Shaft length and stiffness, grip size, draw setup...the works.  I found that being 6'4", I shouldn't have been buying off the rack these past 30-some years.   What a difference the fitting made.  My handicap dropped almost 10 pts within a year!  But not in time for my trip to Pebble Beach.

Let's just say, that I enjoyed my round at Pebble, and have no idea what I shot. 

 Great post, and great points, db...  

I know that story of upgrading, and my Mom has been the beneficiary of my old sets, just like your son. I think the cost factor has always scared me just a little bit - I am all about the sale!  But hearing that your handicap improved so much is a true testiment that a little money can go a long way.

I am totally jealous of the fact that you got to play Pebble Beach!  It's a dream of mine - maybe some day.

Thanks for the great advice! 

My story is quite similar ... I played an old set of forged irons (Acushnet, I think) from about age 12-24 ... then bought a set of cavity back "copies" that I played until they were stolen (!?!) about 10 years ago (see side note below) , which I replaced with another set of copies ... then about 4 yrs ago I bought a set of used Bertha irons ($325 for 2-PW, AW, SW ... woo hoo!), which have been great ... 

In late 2006 I attended a free club fitting at the course I play ... I couldn't stomach the cost to buy the clubs ($1100!), but it was an interesting exercise nonetheless ... I took my Berthas to a local guy and had him check them, fix a few errant lofts, and bend them all 2° upright (based on the recommendation from the guy at the fitting), and viola, more GIR!

So your point is well taken, but it's tough for many of us to handle the cost of custom-fitted clubs ... I think many of the manufacturers understand that fact and have developed systems similar to the old Ping (et al.) model of "custom fitted off the rack" clubs ... I'm considering getting a new set of irons this year, and I've been so happy with my Berthas that I'm going to give Callaway the first look (might even splurge for the new X-forged if I get really frisky) ... but I don't have a pro shop nearby that would be able to do a true fitting on them so I may have to wait until the next time I go to Vegas ... or I may just pick up a set from 3balls.com (e.g.) and get them bent to my specs ...

(side note:  when my clubs were stolen, there were two clubs that I really missed ... one was a sweet-hitting Cobra 1-iron with a graphite shaft that I was never able to replicate, although I tried ... the other was an amazing "gimmick" wedge called B.O.B. that I had purchased from Austads a number of years earlier, which also turned out to be irreplaceable ... but now we have milled-face precision-bounce wedges and myriad hyrbid designs from which to choose, so I'd forgotten all about my two old favorites until I started typing this post ...)