Equipment

The best golf clubs for the money

Published

6 years ago

Jul 2, 2020

What are the best golf clubs for the money?

It’s a common question golfers ask, and depending on your skill level and budget, the answer can vary greatly. So, to help you figure out what the best clubs for you are, we’ve broken it down into a few categories to help you in the decision making process.

Best golf clubs for the money

Beginner Golfer – Entry-level budget

Getting your first set of clubs is all about maximizing value to get enjoyment out of going to the course or the range and most often involves buying a complete package set. Could you go directly to a high-end fitter to have them set you up with thousands of dollars would of gear? Of course, but it would be like getting handed the keys to a supercar without ever having a driver’s license—drive over a few curbs with a starter car before taking those skills to a four-lane highway.

Now just because you’re looking at a box set doesn’t mean you don’t have options. Wilson, for example, offers various sized sets for golfers based on static height measurements—which is a perfect starting point. It’s important for you to start off on the right foot, and even if they aren’t a perfect fit, the closer you are to the ideal set will make getting started a lot easier and a lot more fun.

The other option is to buy used, and with so many resources available online including used specialty sites like GolfAvenue.ca, you can find clubs in the 5-plus-year-old category that are going to offer tremendous value if you know where to look. This way of shopping for clubs often requires a bit more research to make sure you are buying the best clubs suited for your game, but depending on what you buy, you could get many years out of clubs purchased this way.

Check out the podcast link below for the GolfWRX, On Spec Episode- Building a $500 golf bag:

Play a lot of golf, and looking for value

This is where I believe most golfers tend to fit in, and it is also where you have the greatest number of options when looking for equipment. The idea of value will mean different things to different people, but when looking to get the most out of your equipment, getting fit is going to offer the best long term value for your game.

Depending on where you are buying your equipment, you can still buy “new” but purchase a previous generation model to save sometimes up to 30 percent, and if you are one of the lucky ones that happen to fit into “off the rack” irons and wedges, minus a grip or lie adjustment, then you can once again shop for previous-generation gear and see huge savings while still getting the best equipment for you.

The other option of getting great value and great quality equipment is shopping DTC—direct to consumer. There are a number of brands that have forgone the traditional selling channels and allow you to purchase custom-fit clubs direct for up to half the cost of traditional manufacturers including Ben Hogan, New Level, and Sub 70. These brands offer top-of-the-line gear, but thanks to their marketing approach and streamlined operations you can get fantastic value and high-quality gear built just for you.

Play a lot of golf – spare no expense

If you fit into this category, you are going to have the greatest number of options when it comes to finding equipment. Just like with any consumer product/experience, this approach is the most expensive, but it also puts the highest value on maximizing performance over anything else.

The most common scenario is working with a brand agnostic club fitter and if you are looking for one near you, check out our GolfWRX best drivers of 2020 article for our list of some of the best club fitters and facilities in North America. Brand-agnostic fitters won’t limit your set by brand and will instead go through every option within your fitting parameters to make sure you are getting the most out of your clubs.

The best golf clubs for the money but will ultimately be based on your budget but the price doesn’t have to be a reflection of the amount of fun you can have playing golf.

Equipment

Then and now: Comparing Rory McIlroy’s current setup to his record-breaking 2019 Canadian Open victory

Published

3 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Alistair Cameron

In Rory McIlroy’s first appearance at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, he crushed the record books to earn his 16th PGA Tour title in dominating fashion, winning by seven shots over Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson.

McIlroy’s score of 22-under-par 258 is the lowest 72-hole score to date at the Canadian Open, and his closing 61 is also the best final-round score in the history of one of golf’s oldest tournaments. Finally, with his win in 2019, McIlroy became only the sixth player to win the career Triple Crown, adding to his victories at the U.S. Open in 2011 and The Open Championship in 2014, joining Tommy Armour, Walter Hagen, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Tiger Woods in a coveted list.

So, with that, why not compare his current setup to the clubs he used to break all the records?

Driver

2019: TaylorMade M5 (9 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees @8), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7X (45 5/8 inches)

McIroy led the Tour in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in 2019; he’s doing the same in 2026. Between now and then, McIlroy has switched from the Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX (a shaft with slightly more feeling in the tip) to the original Fujikura Ventus Black 7X, having just made the change to the heavier version from playing the 60X.

What’s interesting about McIlroy’s 2019 setup is that the weighting on his driver is actually set in the high-draw setting, using the T-Track weighting system, whereas in the Qi4D, he’s currently using a heavily rear-weighted setup. (Two 13-gram weights in the rear and only two 4-gram front weights.)

The TaylorMade M5 driver he played in during his Canadian Open win was the company’s first head that they claimed to design to initially exceed the USGA’s COR limit, and then injected with tuning resin to bring it back in bounds.

Fairway woods

2019: TaylorMade M6 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX; TaylorMade M5 5-wood (19 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 90 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8X; TaylorMade Qi4D 5-wood (18 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9X

The TaylorMade M6 fairway wood that McIlroy was using during the 2019 season is still in the bag of some of the best golfers on Tour in 2026. Just check out Justin Rose’s winning setup from the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year. This year, though, McIlroy has still been searching for his top-end-of-the-bag setup, having played both the new Qi4D and the Qi10, which he won the Masters with.

The same shaft swap can be seen in the fairway woods as the driver, along with slightly less loft on the 5-wood.

Irons

2019: TaylorMade P750 (4) Buy here, TaylorMade P730 (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0
2026: TaylorMade P760 (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0

The biggest difference between McIlroy’s custom set and the stock P730s is the groove design. While the P730s were constructed with 14 MX-9 grooves on their milled faces, McIlroy’s proto heads instead use the higher-spinning, 16-groove layout of the TW2 grooves. Other big differences between the sets are that McIlroy’s 7- and 8-irons have thinner toplines, are 1 degree stronger in loft, and are 1/4 inch longer than the original P730 builds.

With McIlroy’s 4-iron, the switch from P750 to P760 sees a transition to a two-piece construction with Speed Foam in it, which allows McIlroy to launch the ball slightly higher, with more workability.

Wedges

2019: TaylorMade Milled Grind (48-09SB), TaylorMade MG Hi-Toe (52-09SB, 56-09SB, 60-LB09), Shafts: Project X Rifle 6.5
2026: TaylorMade MG5 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB, 60-08LB @61), Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)

Between 2019 and 2026, McIlroy’s focus on his short game has been much more apparent. It was the reason why he switched back to the TP5 golf ball, to help with launch, spin and control with his wedges leading up to his career Grand Slam victory in 2025. The most apparent changes to McIlroy’s wedge setup are his lofts and bounce. He’s slowly delofted his pitching to a sand wedge, but has increased the loft on the lob wedge, bending his current 60-degree to 61. With that, adding more loft to his lob wedge also slightly increases the bounce and leading-edge sit point, so, as a result, he plays a lower-bounce lob wedge compared to 2019. The MG5 wedges are also softer than the first Milled Grind option from 2019. McIlroy also no longer plays the full-face grooves found on the Hi-Toe.

Putter

2019: TaylorMade Spider X
2026: TaylorMade Spider Tour X

Notice anything similar. Yes, the copper finish on Rory McIlroy’s Spider X putter in 2019 is a slightly more reflective finish than the recently released torched PVD finish. McIlroy was using the True Path alignment system, but now uses only a single white sightline.

Ball

2019: 2019 TaylorMade TP5 (#22)
2026: 2025 TaylorMade TP5 (RORS)

As mentioned above, McIlroy had transitioned from the TP5 to TP5x golf ball since his victory in Canada in 2019, but now is black with the same style of golf ball as his victory at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.

Grips

2019: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
2026: Golf Pride MCC

Interesting, McIlroy actually used Golf Pride’s Tour Velvet Cord grips during his victory in 2019 (it was during a 2+ year switch to the corded TV) as opposed to his usual MCC grips, which he has played for most of his career.

Equipment

From the GolfWRX Classifieds: Titleist Vokey Proto Wedges 54M, 60T

Published

5 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Will Schube

At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @Putt4Dough is selling some prototype wedges from Vokey Wedgeworks. These include a 54 degree wedge with the M grind and a 60 degree wedge with a T grind.

From the listing:

(1) Titleist Vokey Proto Wedge 54M with a Tour Issue DGS400 shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet (logo down). Standard length, lie, and loft. BB&F ferrule. Raw wedge in good condition. No initials. Price is $200 shipped. Buy both wedges for $380 shipped.

(2) Titleist Vokey Proto Wedge 60T with a KBS Tour 130X shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet. Standard length, lie, and loft. Raw wedge in good condition. No initials. Price is $200 shipped. Buy both wedges for $380 shipped.

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules.