Old clubs - keep 'em or sell 'em

Equipment
#1

One of my goals this year is to learn to embrace and play with the game that I’ve got. Less tinkering with the swing, and more just playing the game - sending the ball towards my target. In that spirit, I decided to sell of most of the old clubs I have lying around. Seems like if I have a spare driver/putter/wedge/hybrid I’m always tempted to pull it out of hibernation and give it another chance whenever I have a bad round.

What do you think? Do you keep a backup driver “just in case”? I like the idea of having a backup, but then again, I feel like it holds me back from really just loving the set I have now. I want to become one of those guys that’s been playing the same putter for 20 years. But I’ve gotten too caught up in chasing shiny new objects in the past.

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#2

It’s totally up to the individual whether to keep the “old” golf equipment or out of sight out of mind.
I tend to keep most if not all of my past golf equipment. Some have not seen a golf course in years. Most of them are in decent used shape. Had given out sets of golf clubs to help young golfers. But less and less these days because they all want the latest and the newest in their bag. I’m not their daddy, so it’s fine to keep my old golf clubs.
Many of my friends would sell and buy, and buy and sell almost every season; which is fine since they could afford it and it’s their only healthy hobby.
I’m a little different. Didn’t like new clothing when I was a kid, in fact, I didn’t even like new pencils… what’s that ? Well, digital age did not happen until much later in my life so, we started schooling with lead pencil #2, graduated to ink pen, then later on the ball point pen. It was a big deal back then to have a ball point pen. They sell “refills” for the ball point pens ack then. So, coming from that period, we don’t throw away things.
As I learned, my father old Buick last more than 4 decades, can’t say that for any of the modern automobiles including the no longer a true Mercedes Benz. Remember my father also bought a resale Mercedes from a foreign embassy ( maybe a 240 SE) that last for a long time.
Same with the golf equipment these days, nothing used will last beyond the first decade of it’s introduction to the golf balls.
Old stuff has it’s value and charm. I still game my Apex from the early 80’s and the early 90’s. The Cleveland Classic persimmon will also see the golf course ( shorter than 6,500 yards ) in the Summer time. Not because I can’t play it in the seasons with moisture, but the cost of maintaining the persimmons is very expensive these days. Plus, getting difficult to replace the classics as they are getting sparse.
I don’t "get rid of " my older golf clubs, but that may not be the right choice for many of you.
Just remember this, unless you intend to keep the old clubs forever, it makes more sense to sell/trade while it still has the most of the resell value left.
However, I have also known golfers bought and sold and then bought back the same model of golf clubs over the years… it is true !

#3

I’m selling my TM SLDR 430. I have 5 drivers, I have 3 full sets of irons 3, 3 woods, 2 utility woods, 2 LW. 3 SW, 3 putters! All of my clubs were bought at very very rock bottom prices. But I know exactly what I wanted when I purchased them. Eventually I’ll sell them all. I like having at least 2 fulls sets, never know when I may or may not require a home and away set. That beats shipping them.

#4

I personally like keeping a backup of different stuff for when out of towners want to play.

Also, I keep a backup driver because there’s been 3-4 times where I’ve cracked the face on the driver the day or two before a round and the first couple of times I just had to play without a driver. Not the end of the world but it’s not a great feeling to be standing on a wide open hole and not have the driver to just send it.

#5

This is what I’m thinking now. If they sit in my closet for 5 years, they won’t be worth anything. Might as well unload them now while I could get a decent return on them.

The reason I wrote this post in the first place is because I was debating selling my old driver. I was fit for it a few years ago, did OK with it for a while, then fell out of love with it. Got a TM mini driver this past summer and have been doing great with it. But every so often, I bring the old one out for a side-by-side test, just to make sure. And the mini driver always won the comparison… until I did it again this weekend, and the old one performed better. So I was starting to doubt myself. But I tried it again today and the mini won out, so order has been restored. Now I need to get rid of the old one so I can quit having this debate with myself.

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#6

Yes, especially with how the modern drivers are put together in the last 10+ years, sitting in the closet will not prolong the process of the pieces coming loose.
Most of the golf clubs these days are “fitted” so the market will be even narrower. Could do better by selling the head/head cover and the shaft separately.
Just beware of not falling into the trap of "grass is always greener on the other side of the hill ". Human body will not stay in constant condition like machinery. I know people who will sell/trade their golf clubs and bought the same model back later.
If, you hit the Mini Driver better, by that, you mean better contact at impact ? If so, examine the length of the shaft with the flex. Something happened there with the delivering of the club head.

#7

That’s exactly what I’m thinking of doing – selling just the head and keeping the shaft just to have another option to play with. And it’s the same shaft I have in my fairway woods.
I’m way more consistent with the mini. Yes, partially because of the shorter shaft, but I’m am just way more comfortable looking down at the smaller head. I’ve never gotten used to the 460cc drivers. I have tried cutting down my shaft on a big-headed driver and adjusting the swing weight, but can’t match the consistency that I have with the mini. When I hit it good, it’s just as long, and my misses are way more playable.

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#8

One risk of keeping the old is jumping back to it the moment the new one goes awry. Sometimes persevering and working through problems is the best course of action to a better long term outcome (I had this going from an M4 to a fitted Sim Max). So it can depend on you mental fortitude.

Personally I sell my old clubs via Golf Bidder.

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#9

I’m shipping my old clubs to a charity in North Carolina… Monday Q posted a request for them.

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#10

I had kept a LOT of old stuff up until the last few years. I’ve been building golf clubs for abut 20 years so I would keep stuff to tinker with. A lot of it didn’t seem worth selling so I would donate stuff here and there to free up space. If I didn’t enjoy building clubs and tinkering I would have sold stuff off immediately. It gets too easy to accumulate/horde stuff.

Once Covid hit, golf clubs were harder to come by and I found I could actually get some money selling them; so I cleared them out. I will probably always have a backup set to tinker with or let a visiting friend use, but the basement now has more exercise equipment than old golf clubs.

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#11

I had done the “cleaning up the clutters” several times in the past. After each time, I’d regret for at least part of the lost.
If not for the whole set of irons or other single odd club, it’ll be for the parts which I could salvage for repurpose.
The TTDG steel shaft are difficult to come by with the long clubs. I believe it is no longer being produced.
Now I had to scavenge the Thrift Stores and the auction house if I need one. Especially many like to try the steel shaft in a fairway wood or a hybrid.
There are a few old Hogan staff bags which I’d like to part with, not going to donate them as even the old, imperfect original bags have some value. Issue is packaging and shipping.
I might send them to a luggage repair shop to restore them and put them up for display with the Hogan clubs I have.
I have no idea that the old crusty leather golf shoes will be worth anything. Threw away half a dozen pairs over the years, and all of them could bring additional funding for the next purchase.

#12

I tend to keep all the golf clubs purchased new. Some are close to 4 decades old. There was a good reason why I made the purchase at the time and the desire of owning it could be revived.
Only a few times I gave it away or sold some golf clubs, but, soon after, I was looking at the pre owned market for the same clubs which I parted with.
I take care of my equipment, none was abused.
The other reason why I keep most of my golf equipment is, by realizing that equipment is the minor roll in performance and the golfer leads the major roll in how the game turn out.

There won’t be any break through year over year in the equipment. A huge improvement if we compare decade to decade. Some like to have shinning golf clubs in their bag for each season, which is fine if they like it that way; just don’t expect miracle from the new golf equipment.
The beauty of the golf club is from how it performs in the hands of the golfer.

#13

Do what feels good. I like holding on to older clubs. I save them for my g’kids. And my wife has my old (barely) Scotty 5M Futura. But don’t overthink it. Go with your gut. 1st impulses are usually good ones when it comes to “either/or” decisions. Sleep on it, then act. ORRR, you could get rid of one club, see how you feel, then go from there. :slight_smile: