[Sensbachtal]

$500 in my neighborhood could buy anywhere from 12 to 1 golf lesson(s). That actually means the poorer quality the lesson, the more lessons $500 would buy. Very few, if any instructors offer a money back guarantee. You can sue a doctor for malpractice, but what can you do after purchasing suspect golf swing instruction. That means as far as lessons, you are gambling, unless you know what you are looking for in a golf swing instructor, and know how to interpret that instructor's teaching method. Questions; how long would a student retain this type of instruction, before needing to revisit their instructor after the original $500 was gone? Did the instructor include video, and/or swing notes to be used at a later date? $500 would not purchase a complete series of instruction, because golf swing instruction is never ending. How many strokes would $500 of instruction would save a student golfer is up to that golfer. Cost per stroke saved might be a factor

$500 would buy a set of clubs, with great quality, playability, forgiveness, and in most cases a club fitting, while leaving a few bucks left over to purchase a quality golf swing instruction book authored by any of the 10, or so better instructors with books in print. A book that describes the geometry of golf, also known as the cause, and effect of ball flight would be a must. These book instructions would last longer than in house, personal instruction because you would have that instruction at your finger tips anytime you wanted to review a certain topic of instruction, with no out of pocket, continued expense. The down side with this scenario is not every every instruction book in print will have all the info needed, or otherwise be the right book for every student. The book would have to match the students's learning curve, and vice versa. Can the wrong book be returned for another book? Sure it can. At some point, like personal instruction from a pro instructor, another book would be needed to fill in the instruction gaps the first book created. The challenge is finding that second, correct book. However once found, the student has that instruction for life.

Giving the parameters of this thread's original question, it would be tough to decide, but knowing what I know now about golf instruction, I would go with the club fitting, new clubs, and book(s) scenario. In fact I would probably purchase the book(s) first, then the clubs.