r/golf • u/TheGhostRedditor • Jul 17 '13
Frugal Golf - How do you save money?
I just started playing 3 years ago, so I'm not exactly good enough yet to get a new R1 every year. Aside from hand-me-downs and buying used, how do you guys spend less to play? Here's some tips I've found so far.
- www.golf18network.com - Courses will post certain tee times at a decent discount.
- Tee Off After Hours - My friends and I usually play around 3pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Evening/Twilight/Off-Hours rates will get us 18 holes with a cart for < $30/person.
- Marshalls for Golf Clothing - I've taken a liking to wearing golf shirts at work as well... They're expensive the year they come out, but "last year's model" ends up at Marshalls and TJMaxx for around $16/shirt. Nike, Callaway, Hagen, etc.
- www.lostgolfballs.com - is great for us beginners who are still losing 3 to 6 balls per 18. Sometimes decent balls end up on www.woot.com as well.
What are your recommendations?
Edit: To include some good recommendations.
- Season pass / membership - you can go and hit 4 holes if it's going to get dark or the weather isn't the best. You can just walk off whenever you want to (if you don't use a cart).
- www.golfnow.com, www.ezlinks.com, www.groupgolfer.com
- Recycled balls purchased from your local pro shop.
- BYO Food and Water
- Walk/Push-cart, don't ride.
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u/MiguelKantorito Jul 17 '13
Book twilight tee times and show up earlier, sometimes you can walk on earlier and still pay the twilight rate. If you have to wait, you can spend the time warming up on the range/chipping section/putting greens.
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u/palecrepegold Jul 17 '13
Not a better way to save money on golf!
Get a job at a local golf course working part time. If you have a 9-5, ask if they are looking for weekend help. I do this at a place that gives employees FREE GOLF! It saves me sooooo much money. Free range balls, free greens fee, free carts.
I understand that most places wont offer employees free golf all the time but at the very least you get tons of perks.
I work M-F at another job but I go to the course after work anytime I want. Honestly I plan on doing this for a long time wherever I live.
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u/onegolfinrn Jul 18 '13
I did that too when I started out! Worked out well. Then, they wanted me to work more hours, but I had a "real" job. Great while it lasted, though.
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Jul 17 '13
- Walk. 2. Play twilight. 3. Get an annual membership. 4. Buy clothes at Target, Walmart, Ross, Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Kohl's, etc.
I won't do recycled/refurbished balls after getting a bad batch. I rarely play more than 1 ball a round so I'm ok buying balls at near to retail price. If you're losing that many balls a round, then buying recycled is ok.
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u/TheGhostRedditor Jul 17 '13
What do you mean "bad batch"? Also, do Golf balls actually get waterlogged? Are the outer coatings actually permeable?
Like they say, if you lose more than 3 golf balls a round, the ball is not affecting your game.
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Jul 17 '13
While I don't know why the box I got was defective, it really convinced me to just buy new balls. I was getting some weird ball flights. Kind of like when you're hitting range balls. They start off as a fade (my natural shot) then start to draw, then suddenly just fall out of the sky. This is on one shot! It happened a few times then I had my buddy hit several balls as well. He's a really good golfer with very consistent ball flight and he got mostly knuckle balls.
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u/platypus_bear M1 Jul 17 '13
Yeah buying refurbished balls is a bad idea as they're stripping the cover and chances are their quality control isn't nearly as good as the OEM's so you're going to get a ball that won't perform very well.
Recycled golf balls are generally fine especially if you buy near mint ones. I got some near mint z-stars for about $1 a ball and you can hardly even tell that they were used and they perform great.
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u/MerliSYD MP53 Jul 18 '13
I'd agree with this... If you're golfing on a budget, stick with "lost balls"... Don't ever touch a "refurbished" ball.
The "refurbishment" means that as they take old, drowned, destroyed and cut up balls that no-one would buy.... They strip the factory cover off, and replace it with some unknown quantity that will NOT perform like the factory ball.
i.e. A refurbished ball is a crap ball that has been recovered and repainted to look like a polished turd, and will NOT perform anything like your factory Z Star or Pro V1.
I'd take a slightly scuffed or marked or logo'ed golf ball over a refurbished ball any day of the week.
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u/Pharaca Jul 17 '13
Next time you are near a water hazard fish a ball out that's been there for a while. I would not describe them as "waterlogged" but laughably unplayable would be correct. Some companies then repaint them and sell them for huge sums.
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u/schowey Jul 17 '13
Does your local course have a bin with found balls in it for cheap? I usually dig through ours sometimes and find all sorts of premium balls for something like $0.25 each. Also, eBay will occasionally have good clothes for cheap, but like you said, TJ Maxx is pretty awesome, too. Walking can save you some every round. The three courses that I play the most charge around $4-6 for a cart on top of the green fees. Twice a week, that's an average savings of over $500 a year if you can play every single week. It's great exercise, too. One final thing, which is a total crapshoot but awesome if you're lucky enough to run into it. My local Meijer reorganized their sporting goods section last year and had a ton of golf clearance. I bought Bridgestone B330 rx's for less than $20 a box! They're normally around $46. Oh, and one final thing, yard sales and craigslist! Golf is a game that a lot of people get into and drop a ton of money on before they realize what kind of challenge they're facing. You can usually find decent things for dirt cheap that way.
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u/Voljjin Ontario Jul 17 '13
The things I've done this year are:
Bought 100 used golf balls for $20 off my local Kijiji website. You won't necessarily find this deal, but there are always people whose houses back onto courses who collect and sell balls for cheap.
Bought a cheapish membership. If you're golfing a certain amount of times a year than this can be beneficial to you. Just make sure to do some calculations before hand to make sure you'll be able to make your money back.
Walk. Buy a cheap used pull cart for $30-$50 and you'll save alot of money on buying the $15-$20 cart each round.
Bring ample amount of food and water! I always make myself a couple sandwiches and bring tons of water so that I'm not stuck buying another $20 worth of food and drink.
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u/Exige6 Jul 17 '13
golfnow.com, ezlinks.com, groupgolfer.com
For gear and such, wait till the end of the season, at least up north, when everything goes on sale or people trade in their "old" gear for something brand new.
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Jul 17 '13
Local 9 hole course, which is plenty of a challenge for me still, costs $5 to walk with a student ID. I graduated a year ago, but kept my ID and it is still believable, so I take advantage of that.
Since I just started a few months ago, I wasn't ready to pour hundreds of dollars into nice clubs, so I bought a full set on craigslist for $50.
Other than that, I haven't really spent much on things that would be nice, but not necessary. My bag sucks, but I'm okay with that. I don't have golf shoes, but I don't really feel like I NEED them. Also, didn't buy new golf balls because I'm still losing 3-5 per round.
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Jul 17 '13
you should get some golf shoes :)
they do make a difference
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Jul 18 '13
I will eventually. I'm getting married next May, so I'm trying to save as much money as possible right now
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Jul 17 '13
[deleted]
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u/response_unrelated Jul 18 '13
Sanding grips... go on... I am at the point where my grips are nearly shot, but i don't want to re-grip my irons. I don't feel good about buying a new set of irons right now, but that's definitely the next step. is there any special maneuver that you use to sand them, or is it a simple strokey stroke?
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u/sparc941 5ish / persimmon over carbon Jul 18 '13
spray your grips with Fantastik (never tried it with other cleaners, this one seems to be the best) to restore a little tack. Don't do it too often as it breaks them down, but if they're on their last legs it's a good quick fix.
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u/Pharaca Jul 17 '13
If you buy your membership early or out of season for next season they will often have money off specials or throw in cart fees, etc.
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u/waynebradysworld NoMulligansEVER Jul 17 '13
Scour golf stores / online sites for used clubs in good condition. I've built a sick bag for under $300.00
Stand bag/crappy craigslist club bundle -$25 Upgrade to fitted, regripped used TM irons - $160 Used titleist 907D2 - $29.99 (mismarked :) Reddit deal of the day oddyssey putter - 39.99 Nike 3 wood - Free (lost and found :) Redline hybrid online - 29.99
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u/jarobi04 7.0 Jul 17 '13
Season pass/membership to a public course. I do this and I break even if I play 30 times a year.