Budget Beater: Always Buy Used Or Last Year’s Models

Let’s be honest. Golf equipment prices are crazy. $1000 for a set of irons. $400 for a driver. $250 for a hybrid. $300 for a putter. If you are bag shopping right now, you’re well aware of the fact that purchasing your new setup will cost you thousands of dollars. In fact, $2000 is almost considered escaping  with a bargain when purchasing a new “pro line” set of clubs. While we can’t all get lucky finding an almost new set of Cleveland TA6 irons for $10 at a local garage sale, you can shave $100’s off that new set if you start looking at the used market first.

For example, the Titleist 716 AP1 irons run $899.99 new, but at 2ndSwing.com you can grab a set for $629.99. The great part about purchasing used clubs is that someone else has already taken the retail hit on them, so you don’t have to. Golf clubs are like cars, the second they leave the lot, they aren’t worth as much. You can also get a very good feel for the success or failure of a club by how many are available in the used market. You never want to see a current club be overly available in the used market. This usually means that they weren’t hitting them well and they have moved on to something new. There is one thing about buying a used set of irons though, make sure that the clubs you purchase have a very good return policy. If you have never hit them before, you’d hate to plop down $500 on something that you end up hating. At least you should be able to get your money back out of them if you get a good enough deal.

Another way to save is to purchase last year’s models new, like Taylor Made R15 460 driver. It can be found for $249.99, or $250 off the original $499 price tag in the Golfsmith Outlet section. While that’s not a used deal, per se, it’s a great price on a very relevant piece of hardware that will serve you very well for years to come. Buying new, generation old clubs is a great way to save quite a bit of money on new equipment. You’ll still find the used equipment to be a bit cheaper, but the fact that you can go to a store and still hit the 2015 clubs and buy them new at a discount is certainly appealing when making an investment this large.

The last piece of advice to buying used clubs is to be open to hitting everything. As someone who has spent 12 of his 15 years playing using forged blades, going to a cavity back iron doesn’t interest me one bit. That said, finding a quality set of irons for dirt cheap makes it easier to think about in the future. While the club styles may change, an almost new set from 2005 is going to be just as playable as a almost new set from 2012. In fact, except for a few dings and nicks, my set from 1988 clean enough to play with today. Just because I prefer the thin top line of the blade style head, doesn’t mean I won’t consider a bigger head. If I strike the ball well with a club, it starts looking good to me, regardless of the actual look of the club head.