The Thrifty Golfer

[georgep]

Do you have any tips or tricks for saving money on golf and golf equipment? You can find some of my ideas in a Trap Five article (once it's published).

Join the conversation by posting your ideas here or following the article.

[upstate-sc-hacker]

I have saved a ton of money this year by buying rounds online. Most of the local courses in my area sell discounted rounds online. For instance 4 can play at one of the nicer local clubs in my area for 80$ on tues and thurs. Has been nice to find.

[Kailam19]

For equipment, try ebay/craiglist/ and used at golf galaxy or anyother retailer

[glebert]

The 9 hole course down the street from me sells 10 round cards, and last winter they discounted them to $100, with no expiration. I'm still playing off those cards, much better than paying $17 for 9 holes.

[Soup Fan]

Garage sales.

I happened upon one with a Callaway (X20, I think?) 6 iron like brand new marked at $10...they said everything was half of marked price, too.

Trouble was: I had no cash and it was a LH club.

[upstate-sc-hacker]

I forgot, i have also been scouring the clearance section on the online golf stores. I have always wanted a 2 iron, as i hit my 3 iron very well pretty consistently and really suck it up with my fairway woods. I found a Nike CCI on golfsmith.com for $9.99. A steal compared to 60-70 on ebay.

[LooseLefty]

Walk.

My buddy got me into walking. You can save $10-20 a round depending on the course. Plus it's good for you.

[packerfan1]

Most of my clubs are bought off EBay.

I also picked up a gently used set of irons deep discount at my locally-owned golf store. Bought them mid-January, whne the store is very slow...they were willing to move them much cheaper than marked.

Try your local pro shop around now (Sept. - Nov.) in the northern climates, they often try to move their equipment by deeply discounting it before they close for the season.

[davechen]

  LooseLefty said:

Walk.

Agreed.

And I learned to play without a glove. I was a starving grad student when I took up golf, and I was going through gloves pretty quickly. So I figured if I didn't use them, that'd be 15-20 bucks I could put towards green fees.

[TexasHoofer]

  LooseLefty said:

Walk.

Agreed 100%!

[golf_junkie27]

I've saved quite a bit of money by:

1) Buying used, high grade balls from reputable dealers. I've saved quite a bit, on average, two dollars per ball.

2) Playing either during the week or late afternoon on weekends. Both times, I'm getting the twilight rate. That's roughly $10, per round.

3) As others have stated, purchasing clubs, used. Even if the shaft is not what I need, it's cheaper for me to re-shaft them.

4) Sending used wedges to get re-grooved, re-chromed, polished and cleaned. This process is about $40 and the club comes back, practically brand new.