Hey, Golf-Pro Matthew!

Why do those golfer guys carry around so many clubs? Seems to me just one good club in the hands of a skilled golfer oughta do the trick!

-- Grant Frederickson, the net

You'd think so, wouldn't you, Grant. Or at most, one driver, one iron, one putter. But you miss The Big Golf Point: Golf is a fantasy game. In the duffer's head, it's perfect; when he/she gets out on the course, it's disaster. Which leads to The Other Big Golf Point: If you throw enough money at the game, your dream might come true. At any rate, that's what club manufacturers tell you. There are nearly 1000 club brands and styles to choose from. Why? Because the club industry is (and always has been) in the business of making instruments designed to compensate for golfers' bad habits. And all but the smallest fraction of the golfing world is riddled with bad habits of grip, stance, swing, etc. Consider figures from Golf Digest. From nearly 1000 different brands and styles of clubs, the average golfer selects a new set of irons every four years, a new wood every ten months, and a new putter every two years. Annual sales: 13 million irons, 6.5 million woods, 2 million putters, almost $4 billion. And why? The dream.