Inexpensive Used Clubs

I know I am not the only one who loves finding great deals good used clubs.  For me the less money I spend on clubs, the more rounds of golf I get to play.  If money was no object perhaps my bag would look diffently, but since it is, I love me some deals.  I have spent a grand total of $85 on the last 4 clubs I have added to my bag.  This includes the $40 I spent on a brand new Wilson tw9 gap wedge.  On a side note, I got this club a few weeks ago from Budget Golf and expected a Wilson shaft and grip; to my surprise, it arrived with a Dynamic Gold s300 shaft and Lamskin grip. Obviously, I didn't complain or send it back.

Here is a breakdown of how the other $45 was spent on 3 clubs.

Hybrid: Finally decided early in the spring that I was done with my 5W and went looking for a hybrid.  Sinc I am frugal, I began looking used and a few years old.  Heard really good things about the Nickent 3dx and began shopping ebay.  Was about the buy one like new for $45 when I stopped by a Golf USA that had opened a couple of months earlier.  They had a barely used 3h for $15; hit it on the monitor and liked it enough to take a flyer.  Put a new grip on and $20 out the door.  First two rounds with it, I was able to reach greens that I could not make before.  Love this club.

Sandwedge:  Was not happy with the club in my set especially out of the sand so I started another search.  Read positive things about older Ping Eye 2's for sand use especially.  Back to ebay, but most were $40+ for the ones that looked the worse.  A couple of week later I am in another store, look in their used club bin and spy a eye 2+ sand wedge in good condition.  Hit it on the monitor a few times and it felt nice.  Looked at the sticker.......$2.99.  Add a grip and $8 later I am leaving the store.  This club gets out of the sand every time. It's also great for chipping and the grooves were sharp enough to gouge up a ball pretty good on a full swing.

3W:  I haven't carried one as I found my scores were better on par 5's if I layed up to some kind of wedge distance instead of a 40-50 yd. chip shot.  My swing has improved alot this year and some of the courses I play have par 5's that I feel I should go for in 2.  On these holes a good drive leaves me 230-250 out and my 3h is about 200-210.  Going the same route as earlier, I go into the Golf USA and see a Callaway Hawkeye vft 3W for $14.99.  Hit it on the monitor and had a hard time believing some of the distances, but for $15 I took the flyer.  First time out, on the last par 5 I am 238 yds from a back pin.  I put a good swing on it and it ended up about 25' left of the pin and two putt birdie.

The best part is not only inexpensive clubs that have worked great so far, but probably saved $50-75 that went to more rounds of golf. It seems like there is so much golf equiptment out that there are great prices to be found on excellent gear.

I find I waste a ton of money by looking for deals.  Spending 7-8 hours debating between various clubs and trolling forums reading reviews costs me 500+ bucks that I could have made by working. I should go to the store buy what I like and move on. Evening know that it is hard to do. Obviously you have to figure out if you have more time or money and base your choices on that.

I keep a constant eye on Craigslist, either for stuff I want or for stuff I can sell.  Some clubs I play for a while and end up selling, and some have proven to be keepers.  And once in a while I'll come across someone who is asking way too little for their item -- I'll buy it and make a profit on ebay.  Best one I've seen is a guy who had a TM Burner Superfast, the white one, right after they came out.  Said he won it in a poker game and had no clue what to charge for it, but thought $20 seemed good (!!!!)  Someone else beat me to that one, but what a steal!

I too have lucked into some really great deals on both new and slightly used clubs for cheap $$ in just the past 2 years, and here are just some of them.

Taylormade r7 TP's 5-pw w/Nippon Shafts > a special order set played by original owner 5x before he put up on Craigslist (5 iron was still in plastic) > $250

New Hippo 7 wood w/graphite stiff shaft & headcover for $15 at TJ Maxx (happened to spy it while shopping for clothes).... this is my go to trouble extraction club from 155 to 175 yards out!

Cleveland CG 10 wedge set 54 56 & 58 for $70 on Craigslist (rate 8.5 very good)... these have been so effective together, that the Vokey below hasn't made it into my bag yet!

Titleist Vokey Spin Milled 55 wedge in GG Used Club bin condition 9.0 for $40.

And just today, I picked up a very mint set of Srixon i-506 forged player cavity back irons 3-pw plus the matchng w-506 10.5 Driver for $150 for both, from another local Craigslister whose wife demanded he cull his stash of clubs.  He had only hit 2-3 of the clubs at the range, and the remainder are unhit.  I am hoping to give these clubs a try tomorrow at the range.

But the best deal I have had recently is inheriting a Dunlop Putter from my uncle this past month, who is retiring from golf due to his declining health.  This thing looks like an amped up Odyssey Rossi, but makes putts for me like there's no tomorrow!! I'm sure my uncle didn't pay more than like $15 for this thing at K-Mart, but geez, the ball comes off the face rolling perfectly more often than not!.

So yeah, I like a good deal, and I am learning that expensive is not necessarily better for me performance wise, 'cause I haven't swung a single new putter at GG that comes close to my newly inherited Dunlop.

I don't feel my time spent monitoring Craigslist, or lookin' on the bay for golf gear is wasted, as this is something I do evenings while watching TV (or the Golf Channel), and has allowed me to better afford both great gear and more golf.  Besides, the hunt is half the fun!