Best Cheap Golf Clubs in 2021

Let’s face it:

The Global Recession has had an impact on both golfers and the golf industry as a whole.
Although interest in the sport remains quite high, not all is well.

• Club sales are falling.
• Courses are steadily closing down all over the US.

But as they say, every cloud has its silver lining.

The “Game of Kings” has become somewhat more inclusive in recent years, thanks to a gradual decrease in course fees and club membership fees.

Don’t get me wrong, golf remains an expensive proposition compared to other sports. Brand new clubs from top manufacturers can set you back by thousands of dollars, especially if you buy into all the marketing hype and rush out to buy the latest and greatest clubs on the market.

But there’s no need to empty your wallet if you know where to look.

So rather than reviewing the latest technical wizardry conjured up by golf club manufacturers, let’s take a look at some of the “diamonds in the rough,” with our comparison of the best cheap golf clubs.

Our review includes:

The Best Cheap Golf Clubs are:

At a glance: Out top picks of best value golf clubs

• Our Top Pick: Callaway Strata Complete Set
• Cobra Men's Bio Cell Golf Driver
• Callaway XR Individual Irons
• Wilson Harmonized Golf Wedge
• TaylorMade RocketBallz Stage 2 Rescue

Cheap Golf Clubs Buying Guide

When To Buy Cheap Golf Clubs

Golf club purchases can be a serious investment. Before we get into any debates about the wisdom of buying cheap clubs vs. the folly of buying overpriced new clubs, let’s settle the issue of need vs. want. Of course, if you are a beginner, this question is quite redundant.

You do need a set of clubs to learn the game, and best cheap golf clubs for beginners (or even used clubs) are the way to go. But if you already have a full set of clubs in your locker, it is always a sound plan to think twice before making any costly purchase decisions.

In several situations, an upgrade can be essential and unavoidable. If you have a broken driver or bent irons or something like that, you can always find some good buys among the best budget golf clubs online.

Also, if you are a not-so-beginner golfer who has outgrown your starter set, an online search into the good golf clubs for average player segment could give you several leads on what you seek.

Age is also another important factor that can prompt the need for a change of clubs. When you enter the senior category, you might find that those trusty irons that served you well all these years simply don’t work as well.

A cheap set of easily workable hybrids might be the best golf clubs for the money when you reach the “golden years.”

But if you are a mid-handicapper experiencing a massive improvement in your game, even the best affordable golf clubs may not cut the mustard for you.

If you manage to get a great deal on the best golf clubs for intermediate player, that is fine.

But otherwise, it might be a better idea to just and save up some extra cash for a competitive priced newer set with all the latest bells and whistles.

Used Clubs And The Risk Of Counterfeits

If we were asked to name just one thing the recession has changed in the golf clubs market, we would have to mention the used clubs market.

The passionate golfers never stopped playing their game, but a lot of the casual and recreational players did, and a booming used clubs market has risen in recent years.

Buying a used golf club is not as risky as buying a used car for obvious reasons. But even if the risk of ending up with a lemon on your hands is considerably low, you still have to be cautious.

There are a lot of sites online dealing with used clubs. While many of them are legit, the same cannot be said about many of the clubs being advertised as “used clubs.” There is a lucrative counterfeit market these days and there is a real risk of ending up with fake clubs when you shop online for used clubs.

Manufacturer sites are the safest source of used clubs these days. Since the seconds market became big business, brands like Callaway have launched their dedicated portals for certified pre-owned clubs. Even the PGA has a dedicated service that deals in used clubs, aimed at promoting golf among the public by offering cheap clubs.

If you are set on buying some used golf clubs, check out this YouTube video for some helpful tips:

Closeout Sales: A Much Better Option

Manufacturers like TaylorMade were struggling to sell off old merchandise due to low demand and over-saturation of the golf club market.

This a phenomenon that works in favor of golfers seeking the best golf clubs for the money spent. As newer equipment arrives on the market, unsold stock of older clubs get moved to the closeout section.

And TaylorMade are not alone in having a lot of unsold inventory these past few years. Almost all major manufacturers have their older models doing the rounds on discount and closeout sales.

If you want to buy the best golf club sets for the money, or even the best cheap golf club sets, check out the discount/closeout market before looking at used clubs.

You might easily find great deals on clubs in mint condition that were released a few years ago. Unless you are a competitive golfer, you don’t really need the performance bump offered by the latest golf clubs.

Most new golf clubs offer small incremental increases in performance over older clubs, nothing more. Beginners and mid handicappers can realistically expect a similar level of performance from a brand new club and its predecessor released in 2013 or 2015!

Is There A Time Of The Year For Good Deals?

Yes, because like any other organized manufacturing industry, golf clubs also have a regular release calendar that all brands stick to.

For instance, the newest clubs hits the market around the fall, or immediately into the new years. For example, you can expect to see the earliest 2017 editions of major clubs arriving from October 2016 onwards.

This is not the best period to buy a brand new club, though you might find great deals on its predecessors. Prices of clubs tend to fall as the release date of newer clubs draw nearer, usually a year after their initial release.

So you can expect the price listings for best cheap golf club sets to start appearing in the second half of every year.

Best Types Of Clubs To Buy On A Budget

Individual clubs like drivers and hybrids come to mind when looking at the kind of clubs that you might want to buy on a budget. Drivers tend to be the most expensive single clubs on sale, and you can often find great deals on older models.

Hybrids work great as replacements to any long irons or woods you already own, and you should really get one if you find a good deal online.

By the same logic, wedges are also good choices, especially since most iron sets do not include the higher lofted wedges. Individual irons are also nice buys if you have gaps in your set, but we.

Get the Most Bang For Your Buck

Like anything that’s technologically driven, a term that absolutely fits modern golf clubs, the newest, fanciest models are usually marvels of design and function, but rarely budget friendly.

Whether it’s a laptop, smartphone or titanium driver, you will always pay for that new technology. However, by being smart, choosy, doing some research and being faithful to that tight budget, your golf game doesn’t have to suffer just because of your cash constraints.

Yesterday’s Model

Although every major club manufacturer is releasing new, cutting-edge sets each year, that doesn’t negate the function, efficiency and form of their previous models.

Once again using smartphones as an analogy, the release of this year’s newest iPhone doesn’t make last year’s a technological disaster.
It simply means Apple has released something just a bit faster with a few additional bells and whistles while still making their older models, just now at a significant discounts.

Using this same thought process for your golf game can save heartache in your bank statements while still providing the benefits of new club technology.

A driver from a couple season’s ago is still going to have incredible distance, a variety of flex shafts to fit your swing and a head size that provides confidence and reliability at the tee. Similarly, yesterday’s irons will feature excellent centers of gravity, perimeter weighting for control and a forgiving face to help you when your ball striking is just a bit off.

However, by choosing that driver or iron set from a few years ago rather than the newest, shiniest models, you could be saving yourself up to 50% without sacrificing much in performance.

This video does an excellent job summarizing the benefits of choosing clubs that are a few years older but still of extremely high quality. In other words, the buying choices discussed will fit within your budget while allowing your game to evolve and improve.

A Baby Benz is still a Mercedes

While golf certainly has a fair amount of brand snobbery among the different club manufacturers, at least from the consuming public’s perspective, what matters most is to find clubs that suit you, your game, your goals and your budget.

Even the biggest names in the sport offer different models for those that are looking for performance from a leading designer and manufacturer but not necessarily at the cutting-edge price points.

While not every company might make beginner sets that include everything from the driver to the carrying strap on the bag, most offer woods, irons, hybrids and specialty clubs for every budget, just holding back a bit on the thrills, frills and Ironman-like technologies included within.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to stick with a club manufacturer that you trust, have had success with in the past and feel confident in the clubs they make.

However, if you’re working within a tight budget, check out all of the models that company has to offer. There’s a pretty good chance they’re going to make a line of clubs that might lack variable head weighting and adjustable loft control but still be technologically advanced in design, manufactured with cutting-edge materials and extremely comfortable in your stance.

Not All Used Car Lots are Created Equally

This next budget friendly technique needs to be handled with a bit of caution. The market for used golf clubs is absolutely massive.

After all, for those that want to upgrade to the newest models every year or two, they usually have no need to keep those older clubs and choose to sell them through some secondary market channel. Thus, there will always be untold numbers of used sets, ranging from gently used to mercilessly punished, available at great prices.

However, as tempting as those prices might be, please remember there’s basically no way of finding how much life those clubs have left in them until you’ve played with them a few times. Much like cars, golf clubs don’t have an infinite life span.

Grooves get worn, making feel and control nearly impossible, and drivers lose their distance, the materials just wearing out from too many trips to the range.

A Few Final Words of Caution

Finally, when looking to upgrade your clubs, be sure to buy from reputable companies with good track records and customer satisfaction. Once again harkening back to the smartphone analogy, industries with a constant influx of new technologies are also prone to counterfeit products.

To use a well-worn but still pertinent cliche, if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. Just like buying a new iPhone from a small, unknown and foreign vendor is rife with potential fraud, so is purchasing your new set of “brand name” woods or irons.

Unfortunately, the market is filled with clubs that look nearly identical to their namesake but lack the design, materials and quality of the original.

Be cautious and use common sense when researching your new clubs. Both your money and your game are worth the extra bit of research.

Our Top Picks for Best Cheap Golf Clubs in 2021

5 Best Cheap Golf Clubs in 2021

Conclusion and Editors Choice

With the current state of the economy being what it is, we feel that current trend of budget golf clubs is set to continue in the near future.

Club manufacturers are still trying to shift to a longer release cycle, and until that is fully adopted, you will still find last year’s top clubs selling for bargain prices come fall/end of the year.

In our shortlist of some of the lowest priced and highest performing top brand clubs, we simply couldn’t look past the Cobra Bio Cell driver for the top spot.

For the extremely low asking price you get one of the best golf clubs for intermediate players or mid handicappers out there.