How to maximize your golf budget?

Golf can be an expensive sport, both the equipment and the rounds/practice can cost quite a bit of money. Most of us are on a budget, so what do you do to maximize your budget? Pre-owned balls/clubs, Golf Now or similar, limit rounds practice, coupons, trade, older models?

What's your best to tip to for maximizing your $$$?

Golfnow, used clubs, build my own from golf works, live in Ohio.

pre-owned clubs or models that are a few years older. Technology moves quickly, but if you are on a budget and buy a Cobra Fly Z driver from a few releases ago, you'll be just fine. Also know which brands sell high, even years later. Cobra, Wilson, Srixon, all can be found for relatively budget friendly prices at times.

Buying preowoned, or previous model new, will definitely save a good bit of money.

Pre owned clubs for the most part. Watch for deals on green fees and walk I invested in a push cart to save myself 18 bucks a round by not taking a cart from the course.

How to maximize your golf budget?

I don't buy clubs much and if I do they tend to be pre-owned. I buy a season pass at my local course which covers a lot of the rounds I play, including my league. We'll also use Group Golfer coupons and sites like Golf Now and Teeup. For balls I go with deals that I find and stock up when I find something good. I have purchased pre-owned balls before as well. I'm not good enough to tell the difference.


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Preowned clubs like CallawayPreowned
Golf Discount Tee Times like GolfNow etc
Golf ball bulk discounts like Lostgolfballs.com
Range cards - Save money overall by buying ahead of time
Twilight rounds
Walking instead of riding
Putting and chipping on practice greens is usually free

Take advantage of hot deals and specials, look used more than new, and take advantage of trade in specials if you’re looking to upgrade.

Walk instead of ride.


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All my clubs are pre-owned expect driver which I traded in clubs to purchase. I join my members club ($200/year) which keeps rates lower, $38-$56 to ride depending on time/day about 1/2 the rack rate. And I try not to lose golf balls If I'm not golfing at my home course always book using an online deal.

I tend to buy previous model year for clubs. You can save hundreds on a driver or iron set depending on brand. I stick to pre-owned putters as you can find excetional deals and the wear on them can be unnoticeable. Ebay is your friend when it comes to equipment purchases.

Golf now for hot deals, especially for last minute rounds.

Read THP thoroughly as the internet golfers here will always find the best deals and share them!

I did buy new irons and a new putter this year (last year 2017) but I normally buy used (these were the first new irons for me since 2001!)

I also buy mint or near mint recycled balls (not refinished).

I started carrying a bag of baseball rosin instead of wearing a glove.

The last couple of years i had a membership at an inexpensive local club that lets members walk for free. But this year i think I’ll just go back to using golfnow and supremegolf for discount rounds. I’m tired of playing the same course over and over again.

I do regripping myself.


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I don't spend a lot of money on balls. I lose entirely too many to spend $40/dozen. I get 4 dozen X-outs for that.

My friends will rarely book a tee time that isn't some manner of a deal, usually through GolfNow.

Things I've either done in the past or do now:

-Used or CPO clubs
-Used balls
-Flip unwanted items quickly to minimize loss
-If desiring a specific shaft, search lefty clubs rather than separate shafts (mostly pre adapter as some are affected for RH use)
-Buy used wedge sets for one particular wedge, sell others individually

When there was Yahoo Auctions along with ebay, I made decent money buying off Yahoo and selling on ebay. Profit went toward buying the stuff I wanted.

I also purposely searched misspelled auctions to land good deals. Tended to instead offer a fair price when it was a steal, surprised that most would decline and sell for auction result, then I'd flip.

ddec said:

pre-owned clubs or models that are a few years older. Technology moves quickly, but if you are on a budget and buy a Cobra Fly Z driver from a few releases ago, you'll be just fine. Also know which brands sell high, even years later. Cobra, Wilson, Srixon, all can be found for relatively budget friendly prices at times.

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I got my Srixon 745 driver for 100 Canadian. Unreal deal.

a number are mentioning clubs and while clubs are certainly a lot of money they are a one time purchase and for the truly budgeted golfer are something most likely kept for years even many years. There are tons of 20 year old sets of clubs still going strong out there in people bags. Certainly 10 years I bet make up a good percentage of setups on the average public course. So imo I don't think resale value is something that needs consideration. That imo may be more a concern (if they want it to be one) for one who changes club sets every couple or few (2-4) years.

I think clone club sites like "pinemeadow", diamond tour etc are great places with quality stuff. I havnt visited the sites in some years but I did buy an entire set of custom length and lie clubs years ago and before my current set of cobras. I cant recall which supplier I used but I (at the time) bought clone Nike slingshot irons set and honestly were great and through the years had a ton of golfers occasionally try hitting one here and there and never had a single compliant yet in fact were complimented. I can still use them today some 15 or more years later and they work wonderfully still. I know this cause when I recently broke my 5iron shaft I had to play my old clone 5iron temporarily for about a month and I didn't lose a beat at all. So that stuff (unless things changed in past few years) is a great option for "new" clubs at a fraction of the price.

But honestly imo enough about cubs and back to my initial though that clubs(regardless how you obtain them) is a one time investment. Imo budgeting golf is really more about sustaining the playing of the game itself. Used balls is of course a huge savings or using cheap balls to begin with if they fit your game. I use to always buy used balls religiously but Ive become too stubborn nowadays about the perfect condition ball to a fault..lol

Taking care of your cleats via cleaning them and keeping them n good condition so they last longer. Bring your own snacks and drink. Walk of curse (if you can) and dump the cart expense. I became almost exclusively a walker for that very reason years ago. Imo the biggest waste of green fees money there is to spend for one on a budget.

since one is on a budget its probably safe to assume they cant just golf whenever the deals to play cheap exist but are probably stuck with whatever times to play match their available free time. What can you do? It is what it is.

But the truth is its like anything else. Look for the sales on attire and budget other things in your life to make a little financial room for golf if possible. In the end golf is not important and is (for most) just a recreation. You do the best you can within your means with what you have. There isn't any huge secret imo except to use common sense and be as financial as careful as you can in order to sustain your golf as budget friendly to you as possible among and within the other things in your life. Not saying this to preach any life lessons at all but it just is what it is. Its like anything else we may do for fun that has an expense and finances are of great concern. We simply use common sense to avoid unnecessary costs and do the best we can.

Unfortunately golf is an addiction and so we never seem to get enough of it no matter what we do.....lol

Lots of great advice in here already. Used or previous gen clubs, inexpensive balls (love the Softfli on 3 for $30 sales at DSG), and booking rounds in slower times are the way to go.

I play munis and smaller 9 hole courses that are easy to walk and don't cost a lot. For instance, there's an OK 9 hole course on my drive home from work that's $15 after 5pm walking. Can't beat that to unwind after a day at the office.

WMac19 said:

Things I've either done in the past or do now:

-Used or CPO clubs
-Used balls
-Flip unwanted items quickly to minimize loss
-If desiring a specific shaft, search lefty clubs rather than separate shafts (mostly pre adapter as some are affected for RH use)
-Buy used wedge sets for one particular wedge, sell others individually

When there was Yahoo Auctions along with ebay, I made decent money buying off Yahoo and selling on ebay. Profit went toward buying the stuff I wanted.

I also purposely searched misspelled auctions to land good deals. Tended to instead offer a fair price when it was a steal, surprised that most would decline and sell for auction result, then I'd flip.

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Are counterfeit clubs ever a concern for you? Have you ever bought one unknowingly?

Preowned clubs, online golf product deals, groupons, regripping my clubs, recycled balls/sale deal balls.

rozo22 said:

Are counterfeit clubs ever a concern for you? Have you ever bought one unknowingly?

Click to expand...

I haven't been active in some time. When I was flipping clubs, counterfeit clubs really weren't a thing.

I mean, they always were but not to the degree they are today. Some are now undetectable to the eye from genuine, scary stuff. Then, it was fairly obvious.

Admittedly, very early on for me, I'm talking 1999-2000 or so, I had no idea that counterfeits were a thing. I knew about knockoffs, of course, but copies weren't anything mentioned or feared in the various forums that I'd visit.

Then, I'd buy from nearly anyone with just a modicum of feedback. Reckless through today's lens, then there wasn't any fear.

Now I'll only buy from reputable sources. Doesn't eliminate risk but it mitigates it some.

To my knowledge, I haven't been so unfortunate as to get hit with a fake through hundreds (don't tell the wife) of purchases.

Clubs bought on ebay presently in my bag: Epic driver, TE Exotics EX9 3H and 4H, Cally PM LW and Directed Force putter.

Sure hope they're real.

Even aside from counterfeit, the market as it speaks to screaming deals are harder to find now.

Not all that many years ago on ebay, Wilson, Bridgstone, Srixon, Cleveland and Mizuno drivers and woods, didn't sell for all that much relative to the major OEMs.

Used to be able to land some fantastic clubs for a great deal because everyone was chasing the Callaway, TM, Ping, Mizuno (irons), and Titleists of the world.

Now, the other brands have leapt into the collective consciousness of shoppers to where prices are somewhat more in line and more costly across the board.

So it sure is harder today to find great deals compared to yesteryear but it's sure possible yet to score great value relative to the current market.

To that, great idea for a thread to help expand one's options.

Buy used and trade with friends.

rozo22 said:

Golf can be an expensive sport, both the equipment and the rounds/practice can cost quite a bit of money. Most of us are on a budget, so what do you do to maximize your budget? Pre-owned balls/clubs, Golf Now or similar, limit rounds practice, coupons, trade, older models?

What's your best to tip to for maximizing your $$$?

Click to expand...

Equipment wise look for used/past model gear from quality makes that aren’t as popular: Cobra, Wilson/Staff, Tour Edge come to mind. A set of W/S FG Tour V4 can be had NIB for $260 from Budgetgolf right now with THP Discount. If a players forged cavity back is what one is after, that is a ridiculous deal for a high quality set. More examples abound.

GolfNow can get you playing cheap if you’re willing to play some less than ideal times. I can play some tracks near my house for $12-15, if I’m willing to play in the middle of the day on a weekday. Other systems like TeeOff.com can get you discounted rounds as well. If you get to playing a course often enough to get to know the guys in the pro shop, they might let you out cheap if the course is dead or if you just want to play a few holes.

For practice try to find a range/course that has a decent short game area you can use free/cheaply. Also look for range deals buying packages rather than paying as you go, you can cut costs of a typical bucket 10-20% in this way, IME.

Lots of great ideas here!


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Food is a big expense if your eating out. Cook healthy at home and make lunch. For me...I lost a few pounds and relaxed my knees. Open the fridge ask yourself...do I really need to shop?