When it comes to the most sought after golf clubs, the first that come to mind are putters. Brands such as Scotty Cameron and Odyssey have a history of releasing limited runs of special models, and if you have one of these, there’s a chance the value may have soared since its release.
There are some fantastic stories about rare golf clubs selling for huge sums of money, especially putters. Someone out there - a very wealthy someone - owns the backup putter made personally by master craftsman Scotty Cameron for Tiger Woods in 2002.
This Newport 2 GSS putter, which features the famous “cherry bomb” red dots, red Titleist Script, and “Tiger Woods” stamped on the back bumpers, sold for $393,000, which is actually loose change compared to the $5.1 million that the great man’s “Tiger Slam” irons and wedges fetched at auction.
Whilst we’re talking about Woods, a set of TaylorMade P7TW irons are likely to be worth a pretty penny, too, although if you do own some of these clubs, we’re talking nearly four figures, not seven. According to golfclubs4cash, Europe’s largest retailer of second hand golf equipment, the rarest, and most valuable, golf clubs that the company comes across is tour issue equipment.
“It’s not something you would expect a second hand retailer to have,” says Jamie Stephen, store manager at the company’s flagship Edinburgh store.
“We’re lucky because of our connections. A lot of the staff get word that tour players are getting rid of old equipment, and you can do that here because we will give you a fair value for it.”
This is not to say that if you walk into the company’s Warrington or Edinburgh store that you will come across the putter Jack Nicklaus used for 37 years and during all of his 18 Major Championship victories. Nor are you likely to find an Andrew Dickson putter from the 1700s (rare antiques such as this have sold for six figures at Sotheby’s), or a personalised and super exclusive gold putter made by Barth & Sons (also six figures).
However, as Stephen explains, some of the rarest second hand clubs are those models that have been designed specifically for the world’s best players, such as Bubba Watson’s limited edition Pink G30 driver. Remember that one? You might find one of those on the racks if you're lucky.
“We get a lot of tour issue wedges and putters,” says Stephen. “The wedges might have different grinds and different shafts, and they’ll often come from a limited production run, which means the general public can’t normally get their hands on them.
“It’s nice for customers to buy these because they know at some point they’ve been issued to a tour professional. A lot of collectors will keep hold of them or get them framed and put the rare ones up on the wall.”
There are certain franchises or details to look out for when it comes to tour issue equipment that could enhance the value of the clubs in your possession. WedgeWorks is the platform Titleist builds tour-only wedges under, often as prototypes to test with the world's best players before deciding to bring them to retail or not.
Look out for larger serial numbers next to the model name of the club too as this differentiates itself as a tour-issue club versus the model that was released to the general public. Raw finishes on irons is another telltale sign of a set built for tour players. golfclubs4cash even have a Tour Truck section of the website to view some of the rarer tour issue clubs should you be looking to buy something a little bit special.
But as previously mentioned, one-of-a-kind putters are truly the rarest clubs around that sell for the highest prices. A few years ago, golfclubs4cash acquired a magnificent collection of nine Scotty Cameron putters, all hand-crafted models available to patrons of The Masters through the on-site merchandise store or through VIP hospitality.
The putters, which included the iconic Newport, were rare - seriously rare, with limited runs ranging from 150-500. Hence the price tag of a whopping £25,000. It’s these limited run clubs that are the rarest, which is something to bear in mind when you next have a clear out of all those golf clubs that you’ve acquired over the years.
