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Best tips for shopping for used golf clubs

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We’re in the middle of the golf season, and there is still lots of time left to lower your handicap, post a personal best score, and have some more fun along the way—but it might require some news clubs to get there. The best part is today, new doesn’t have to mean brand new—it can just be “new” to you.

Before spending any money shopping for used golf clubs, it’s important to pay close attention to a number of small details to save you time—and prevent you from having to spend more money down the road to correct for purchasing mistakes.

Here is our how-to guide to shop for used clubs

Shop the big sellers: Unless you are buying locally and have the opportunity to inspect clubs and know their source, the safest and easiest way to shop is from the big online sellers that inspect and verify the clubs they sell are legit.

Although thanks to a very concerted effort by OEMs to mostly eliminate counterfeit gear, it can still find its way into the marketplace and big sellers help stop the spread and prevent you from wasting your money. Also, most of the big sellers use photos of the actual clubs you are buying – not representative photos so you know exactly what you are getting.
**(We also have a great Buy/Sell/Trade board here on GolfWRX too)**

The telltale signs of counterfeit clubs are

  • Badge and brand colors slightly off
  • Poorly installed shaft bands (the stickers on steel shafts)
  • Awful smelling grips – they can feel thin and smell like very cheap rubber or solvents
  • Club weight seems very off – for irons and wedges they might feel extremely light and for drivers and woods they can feel a lot heavier because of the extremely poor quality graphite shafts being used.

Confirm specs: You don’t need to have a shop worth of tools to quickly and easily take some simple measurements to make sure you and getting clubs that match the right spec you are looking for, although a very specific tool is needed to check lies and lofts.

Specs you can check without tools – irons and wedges

  • Lengths: If lengths arent stated and you are buying in person, just simply bring a few of your own clubs to compare.
  • Grips: A quick check that all of the grips match for size and style can save you money, and make sure they feel good when you go to use them. Don’t forget though, grips are an easy and affordable way to make used clubs feel new again.
  • Matching shafts: A quick visual inspection to make sure the shafts match up will make sure you are getting what you pay for. Along that same line, checking to also make sure the ferrules match will show whether any club in the set was potentially repaired at some point.

Shopping for used clubs can feel like a treasure hunt and is a lot of fun—it’s also a great way to save money on equipment. Just be sure to not get caught up in what might seem like a deal too good to be true and take your time when evaluating what you are buying.

Happy (used golf club) shopping!

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Ryan Barath is a club-fitter & master club builder with more than 17 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. He is the former Build Shop Manager & Social Media Coordinator for Modern Golf. He now works independently from his home shop and is a member of advisory panels to a select number of golf equipment manufacturers. You can find Ryan on Twitter and Instagram where he's always willing to chat golf, and share his passion for club building, course architecture and wedge grinding.

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Bob Pegram

    Aug 17, 2020 at 3:41 pm

    For those looking for used Callaway clubs, the Callaway Pre-owned site has has clubs ranked by condition so you can get very good condition clubs if you play only a little extra. That is what I did and I am very satisfied with the clubs I got from them. They have improved my game. You will also know they are not counterfeits.

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Whats in the Bag

Jimmy Walker WITB 2024 (March)

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Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (9 degrees @8)
Shaft: AutoFlex SF505 XX

3-wood: Callaway Paradym (15 degrees @14)
Shaft: AutoFlex SF505 XX

5-wood: Callaway Paradym (18 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X

Irons: Titleist T200 (3, 4), Titleist 620 MB (5-9)
Shafts: True Temper AMT Tour White X100

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F, 54-08M), WedgeWorks (60-L)
Shafts: True Temper AMT Tour White X100, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Putter: Scotty Cameron GSS prototype

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Check out more in-hand photos of Jimmy Walker’s clubs in the forums.

 

 

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Whats in the Bag

Thorbjørn Olesen WITB 2024 (March)

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Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 LS (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw White 65 TX

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 High Launch (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX

5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw White 85 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P790 (3), TaylorMade P7MC (4-6), TaylorMade P7MB (7-9)
Shafts: Project X 125 6.5

Wedges: TaylorMade Hi-Toe (56-10, 60-10)
Shafts: Project X 125 6.5

Putter: TaylorMade TP Reserve B11

Grips: Lamkin

Check out more in-hand photos of Olesen’s clubs in the forums.

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Equipment

From the Forums: How are you liking TaylorMade’s Qi10 fairway woods?

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In our forums, our members have been discussing TaylorMade’s new Qi10 fairway woods. WRXer ‘ace036’ plans on testing them in the next few weeks, saying: “from how they look from address and frame the ball is much more appealing to my eye versus my current Paradym fairway woods.” And our members have been sharing their positive feedback in our forum.

Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

  • Edwardsr: “I got fit into the Qi10 core model with Ventus TR Black 8X and it’s absolutely amazing for me.During the fitting with my 12-15 swings with it, it was the most efficient combo I’ve ever tested, tons of 1.48 smash and 3 or 4 1.49 smash (which I don’t think I’ve ever gotten on 3 wood on a launch monitor).”
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  • courcy75: “The Qi10 Tour 3 wood I just put in play has been outstanding for me. Finally found something I like as much as the 07 burner tp.”

Entire Thread: “From the Forums: How are you liking TaylorMade’s Qi10 fairway woods?”

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