7 Tips to Finding Cheap Golf Clubs

Old golf clubs are everywhere — in attics, in garages, on E-Bay and Craigslist.

So if you're looking for cheap golf clubs, they aren't hard to find. However, if you're looking for cheap, useful golf clubs, or decent clubs at a bargain price, you're going to have to search a little harder.

1. Garages and Attics

If anyone in your family ever played golf, there's a good chance that their old clubs are gathering dust. Your relatives likely will let you haul them away for nothing, and free is a very good price.

2. Yard Sales

Yard sales are prime territory for cheap items, including golf clubs. You're unlikely to find decent sticks, but you know the price will be right.

3. Craigslist

You can buy hordes of goods on Craigslist, including golf clubs. In addition to clubs offered from sellers, which are usually inexpensive, you can run a "Looking to Buy" ad on the site and name your price range.

4. Golf Courses

Many public golf courses sell used clubs and/or allow people with clubs for sale to post notices on bulletin boards. Prices usually are very reasonable and sometimes downright cheap.

5. E-Bay

You may buy almost anything on E-Bay, including cheap golf clubs.

However, caution is advised if you want to buy high-class clubs on E-Bay at a seemingly bargain price.

Counterfeit rings have been busted for selling phony clubs on E-Bay with name-brand designs and inferior materials. Most of the counterfeit clubs are made in China from designs stolen from Titleist or Callaway or other elite manufacturers with plants in the Far East.

6. Discontinued Models

While not necessarily cheap, legitimate bargains may be found by hunting for discontinued models from several seasons ago. As with many new cars, golf clubs depreciate substantially when the next year's models hit the market. You may pick up a relatively cheap set of clubs that are perfectly suitable for your game by doing a little research and haunting golf stores and pro shops that sell older models and used clubs. You may also find reliable deals online at the websites of major golf stores and manufacturers that offer discontinued models.

7. Cheap Antiques

If you are looking for cheap antique golf clubs, you can't beat thrift stores. You know most of the clubs that are donated to thrift stores are old: It's not unusual to see wooden shafts on clubs at a thrift store. However, if you're hoping to make a killing by finding a diamond in the rough, you're likely to be disappointed. Condition is critical in determining the value of old clubs and most clubs are battered and bruised by the time they arrive at a thrift store. Estate sales are a better bet for cheap old clubs that might prove to have some value.