Hi everyone,

As the title suggests, I'm purchasing a set of clubs. Right now I'm leaning towards a used set but could be persuaded that a new cheaper set is better value. I'm looking for suggestions based on my needs and talent level, and the best value for my money. Ideally I'm hoping to spend ~200-ish on a set of irons, ~60ish for a driver, ~30-40 apiece for woods, wedges, and a putter. I have no idea if those are realistic figures in today's market, but I'm not in a position to spend a ton of money on clubs at the moment and I'd like to be able to get out this spring/summer.

So a bit a background. I'm 27, have played golf with varying regularity since age 11 or so. I played a ton in high school, not so much in college and afterwards. Two years ago I had my clubs stolen, and haven't had the money/motivation to get a new set in the meantime so I haven't played since then.

I tended to shoot high 80's on average, with the occasional round in the low 80's, and the more occasional round in the low 90's. My best round on a legitimate course was probably a 78-79. I think that overall my swing is fine, no major flaws, but I never devoted the time to the short game and putting that I needed to start shooting lower. Obviously I could be wrong and have terrible swing flaws, who knows.

Anyway, I'm thinking of buying a set 5-10 year old blade irons and wedges, and a slightly more recent driver/woods. Anyone have suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

I'd stay away from blades and go with cavity at least to start back again.

You can outfit yourself in that price range if you check a pro shop or place like golfsmith for what's been traded in. Probably get newer stuff than 10 years old as well.

If you don't care about having name clubs clones can be a good option. I've had clubs built by diamond tour right to specs (shaft/grip/etc) for a fraction of the price. Quality of the assembly is good. Heads are clones of new technology. Might be a good entry point for you as you get back playing regularly again.

Check the classifieds at golfwrx.com for irons. Lot of good stuff there. Pick up any old driver at your local golf place. There's usually plenty of used ones for cheap and you can get a pretty new model for cheap. At my local place you can get used cleveland wedges that are in good shape for $30 a piece.

Hi. Im a golf instructor, where I live and work we have alot of equipment (3 years and older) for practice / classes / loan stored in the shop. They might have the same where you live and play.

It has happened that someone has asked about purchasing some of the clubs (there are seldomly full iron sets, but theres always drivers, woods, wedges, putters etc. we usually have plenty in categories that suit every level of player).

The price of these clubs is usually really flexible and cheap, because we seem to have too many of them. You might want to try it as a cheap alternative if you are not dependant on fitting and such.

Christian

OP, not sure where you live but on the west coast of USA roger dunn/golf mart (and it has other names too i think) has fantastic used bins. really cheap good older stuff and very nice deals on more recent stuff (sometimes as good as gently used or even shrink-wrapped demo which has never been hit).

irons are a bit of a hassle though. you can pick up everything else cheap but irons sets don't seem that cheap and/or readily available used

i'm sure other big retailers or even small shops will have alot of trade-ins.

i'd say for me all that really matters is getting the flex right on a reasonably good and recent driver.. everything else i think you can work around to a large degree. obviously you don't want some very flexy regulars and some quite stiff other clubs but generally you can work up a set fairly easily without unduly worrying.

it's funny.. i'm a tinkerer/collector like tons of people on here... but i end up with tons of all the clubs you buy individually i.e. everything but irons.

i think all the golf companies should be more aggressive about getting individual irons in golfers hands. once you buy titleist AP2 6-iron i don't think you'll be able to resist buying the whole set, likely new from a big retailer.

as per my first point, it's amazing how many individual clubs (woods, hybrids, wedges) you end up with paying $20 to $150 each for specials, but it's psychologically harder to drop $500 on a decent used set of irons (and the sets aren't that easy to find)

would i be right that fanatical golfers do the R7 -----> R15 upgrade cycle for driver far more frequently than upgrading irons? that's definitely my thought. all the more reasons for the golf manufacturers to get the individual demo irons in our hands. demos are almost always 6 irons from what i've seen.