Every day golfers are inundated with marketing from the big golf brands. Sometimes you’d think that there were only half a dozen manufacturers in the marketplace.
Well there aren’t!
There Are Some Great Cheap Golf Clubs Available From Some Lesser Known Manufacturers
I wanted to briefly give mention to some of the smaller golf equipment manufacturers who make some very good quality equipment of their own. These guys don’t have the budget of the big boys, so they don’t spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year on advertising and sponsorship.
They also tend to pass on a cheaper price to golfers as a result.
Many people are a little hesitant about buying from some of these smaller brands…after all if they were as good wouldn’t everyone be using them?
Well yes and no. People are a little like bit sheep (not you of course…you’re obviously different if you’re here reading this). They see what the pro’s are using and decide if it’s good enough for the pro, it’s good enough for them. And the quality across the entire range of golf equipment is probably a little more consistent with the big brands – after all they have much bigger R&D budgets so this is only natural.
But for my mind this just means there are hidden gems out there waiting to be discovered. A certain driver from a manufacturer that is brilliant. An unknown putter that puts all the others to shame.
So how do you go about finding these smaller these little known gems?
Well it’s not easy, but I do have a simple strategy that you can use which will put you on the right path. It does require that you spend a little time on research, but at the end of it, you can be rewarded with a great deal on a set of clubs that you may never have considered before.
It basically involves using the many golf forums out there as your research tool. These are without a doubt the greatest source of unbiased golf info you will come across and they should always be used as part of your search for cheap golf equipment.
We are going to try and use these forums to find some golf equipment from one of the smaller brands that is generating some buzz. I have included a list of lesser known golf manufacturers at the bottom of this post – these are going to form the basis of your research. You will do searches for equipment made by these manufacturers, looking for any that are generating more interest than normal.
Here’s The Plan.
- Visit some of the manufacturer websites listed below and make a note of any of the golf clubs you see that sound interesting, or that you would consider trying out.
- Take your list of these clubs and do a search for that model at the golf forums.
- Scan through some of the threads and try and look for positive and/or negative reviews from people about those particular clubs.
You’re looking for threads where there are a number of people who are talking enthusiastically about that product. If there are any that seem to be receiving an unusually high amount of praise, it is very possible that you have found a piece of golf equipment from one of these smaller manufacturers that is worth further exploration.
What you then need to do is try and get this piece of equipment into your hands and take it for a test drive. You’ll never know if the equipment is any good for you until you hit some balls.
Here’s another great tip
Due to the lower recognition of these second tier brands, their resale value drops more than big brand name stuff. So there is every chance that you will find an even cheaper deal for these brands at eBay.
If All This Sounds Like Too Much Work…
That’s ok…as long as you take away one thing from this article I’ll consider my job done for the day. Use golf forums as part of your research strategy.
Even if you’re not the sort of guy who loves to post messages and get involved, you can still use them as a great library full of useful golfing info. I’m not big into forum involvement myself (I’m going to try and get more involved), but I’ve spent plenty of time scanning threads when I needed information. Pretty much any question you have will be answered somewhere in a forum.
And if it’s not…ask.
Members of active golf forums are great at helping people out. It’s almost surprising sometimes how much effort people will go to in answering a questions from another member.
At some stage in the future I’ll do a good post on forums, which are the best etc, but for now just go and join one or two and take a look around, get the feel of the place. You’ll learn plenty no matter what your level of experience.
In the next article I’m going to move on to component golf equipment and start off by looking at how you would go about buying some cheap component golf clubs.
Websites Of Some Of The Lesser Known Golf Club Manufacturers
Craig