The Best Golf Club Stores

Wednesday, October 4th

2023 Golf Club Store Reviews

Rock Bottom Golf

• 650+ golf clubs for men, women, juniors
• Club and ball trade-in program
• Low price guarantee
• 30-day return policy, new and unused golf clubs only
• 90-day Performance Guarantee for store credit
• Free standard shipping on orders of $99+
• Free two-day shipping on orders of $300+

Rock Bottom Golf got its start in 2002, several years after its founder paid his way through college by diving for balls at his local golf courses. This store has lots of loyal customers, affectionately called "Rock Heads" , who swear by this retailer's low prices, fast shipping, and terrific selection of golf clubs and other equipment.

Easy-to-shop selection of 650+ clubs

The selection at Rock Bottom Golf offers over 650 clubs. On the Golf Clubs main page, you can easily click to the type you need - wedges, putters, hybrids, drivers - or see their inventory specific to lefties, ladies, or juniors. If you already have something in mind, you can use the filters to show results according to brand and desired price range too. RBG carries more than 30 brands of golf clubs, from Alien to XXIO.

Plenty of information

When you click on a particular club, you'll get plenty of details: Length and Lie, Dexterity, Shaft Name, a descriptive list of the club's features, and so forth. And, if you're buying a pre-owned club, it'll tell you its condition too, from Value to Like New. Bonus: if you're new to golf, there's a link to RBG's Golf Glossary on every product page that can help you understand the various terms you'll encounter while buying your golf clubs and other equipment.

They'll beat competitor prices

There are many ways to save money when buying your clubs from Rock Bottom Golf. First, they offer a low price guarantee: email them with the links to the competitor's product page and the RBG page showing the same club before placing your order with RBG. Not only will they match the price, but they'll also give you a store credit of $10-$40 based on the amount of the price difference (for example, $10 vs. $100).

Bargains abound

You can also save money by visiting the Clearance Cave, Promos, and Open Box Returns sections of the Rock Bottom Golf online store. In the Open Box inventory alone, we found several drivers and irons marked down by more than 50%, a 7-iron set of Srixon clubs for $1000, and a Tour X Golf Rezults complete set with a stand bag for just $230.

Phenomenal trade-in program

Finally, Rock Bottom Golf offers an impressive trade-in program on golf clubs and balls. Send in your old clubs and use that store credit to buy new ones - or anything else in their store. If your trade-in value is over $99, RBG even pays the shipping costs for sending in your items. And, if you get a trade-in offer from another golf store, they'll match it and beat it by 10%. What's not to love?

Free shipping on most orders

You'll get free standard shipping if your order is at least $99 (and, let's face it, that's not hard to do when buying golf clubs). You'll also see "Free Home in 2!" promoted all over the Rock Bottom Golf online store: when you spend $300+, you get complimentary two-day shipping. Either way, most orders placed here before 2PM Eastern will be shipped that same business day (with the exception of Saturday and Sunday).

90-day Performance Guarantee

RBG has a 30-day return policy on new and unused items. That doesn't sound all that great, but fortunately they also offer a 90-day Performance Guarantee on most of their golf clubs (just look for that icon on the clubs you're considering). If your clubs are still like-new or very gently used, you can send them back for store credit. Just read through the terms and conditions and make sure your return qualifies.

170,000+ five-star reviews

We were happy to find so many four- and five-star reviews from Rock Bottom Golf's customers. And when we say "so many" , we're talking about over 170 thousand five-star ratings. People took the time to leave praise for this store's excellent customer service, fantastic pricing (especially during promotions), and fast shipping.

#1 in online golf club stores

The name may say "rock bottom" but you can expect top-notch service and quality here. Rock Bottom Golf is our newest winner among golf club stores, and we're sure you'll love their selection, trade-in program, and generous Performance Guarantee. Look no further than RBG for the best place to buy golf clubs.

Callaway Golf

• Used by many pro golfers
• Free shipping
• Two-year warranty
• 30-day performance guarantee
• Trade In! Trade Up! Program

Callaway is indisputably one of the biggest names in golf. In business since 1982, this company's products stretch across several brands, such as Odyssey, OGIO, TravisMathew, Jack Wolfskin, and TopGolf. There's no better way to make sure your golf clubs are genuine than by buying them directly from the Callaway Golf online store.

Fantastic tools to help you get the right clubs

Not sure where to start? The Callaway Golf website has some excellent tools you can use. Go up to the top of the site where it says "Fitting" and you'll find selector quizzes for drivers, fairway woods, irons and wedges (and a ball selector too). Better yet, you can schedule a complimentary Distance Fitting phone call with a Certified Master Fitter. You probably won't find that anywhere else.

Inventory is limited to Callaway, of course

Naturally, with an inventory limited to the Callaway brands, it's going to be smaller than many of their competitors in our review. There were about 100 golf clubs to choose from here, fairly equally split between men's and women's equipment - but juniors clubs were included in the "Complete Sets" category and were only available as a set, not as individual golf clubs. Still, if Callaway makes it, you should find it here.

Don't forget the rewards

Once you click on a club you want, you'll see all of the options for hand, shaft, grip and head. There are lots of photos, and some golf clubs have a handful of shopper ratings and reviews. You'll also see how many rewards points you'll earn if you're signed up for Callaway's free program; there's a link right there if you want to take care of that before you forget.

Trade in your clubs - even from other brands

Callaway Golf offers a Trade In! Trade Up! Program, even with golf clubs from other brands. Just go to the trade-in page and click on "Start Trading" : once you put in the manufacturer (out of 17 offered), club type, model and specs, you'll see exactly how much credit you're being offered and you can add it to your cart where it will display as a trade credit. You may be able to get even more for your trade-in: when we were browsing the Callaway site most recently, there was a pop-up offering an extra 50% with the provided coupon code. And hooray for not having to sign up for an email list to access it.

Customer-friendly policies

When you buy your golf clubs directly from Callaway, you get a satisfaction guarantee that may be more advantageous than getting them through a third-party retailer. Callaway Golf offers a traditional 30-day refund policy on new and unused items. However, their performance guarantee says you can use your clubs for that 30-day period, and if you're not happy with them you can get a Callaway gift card for 100% of your purchase price and no expiration date. Rival stores may only give you a fraction of the purchase price as a store credit with a time limit. Also, Callaway Golf offers free shipping and returns on all orders, and every club comes with a two-year warranty.

Trustworthy golf store

We have no concerns about the reputation of Callaway Golf. The company has an "A+' rating from the Better Business Bureau, and the brand has been trusted by some of the most well-known golfers worldwide (think Annika Sorenstam, Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, and Arnold Palmer).

Buying Callaway? Buy direct

Should you buy your golf clubs here? It could be exactly what you need, whether you're a newer golfer needing the assistance of a driver selector or a live phone consultation with a fitting expert, or you're a seasoned player with a lot of love for Callaway equipment. The only downside is the obvious one: you won't be able to buy anything but Callaway clubs here. That aside, we recommend shopping at Callaway Golf's online store for all of your golfing needs.

Worldwide Golf Shops

• Authorized dealer of all major golf brands
• More than 900 golf clubs to choose from
• Free economy shipping on all orders over $99
• 90-day, 100% satisfaction guarantee
• Low price guarantee

Worldwide Golf Shops is the online storefront for many established brick-and-mortar brands, such as Roger Dunn, Glover's Warehouse, The Golf Mart, and Edwin Watts. The company promises a 90-day, 100% satisfaction guarantee as an authorized dealer of all major golf brands, from Titleist and TaylorMade to Cobra and Srixon.

Quickly find what you want out of 900+ clubs

You'll have no trouble finding the golf clubs you want in Worldwide Golf's online shop. You can either choose the image of the club type you need, see what's on sale, or "Shop All" and use the filters to narrow down the hundreds of golf clubs in their inventory. Another fun section to browse is just below the Brands scroll bar: Popular Club Launches. Want to see the newest releases from the top names in golf? You'll see those here.

Availability was more limited than expected

Availability with Worldwide Golf Shops isn't entirely what we anticipated when we saw an inventory of 900+ clubs. As we selected individual drivers, putters, and irons that we were interested in, many options weren't available. For example, in the PING G410 Hybrid - Arccos Grip, both right- and left-hand styles could be selected, but there were only two lofts and two flexes. Information isn't as abundant as we thought either: Worldwide gives shoppers the ability to leave reviews, but apparently few people bother to come back and do that, because the most we spotted on any individual golf club was six.

Check out the perks

Still, there are some very customer-friendly perks here that make Worldwide Golf Shops worth your time. The biggest one is their 90-day satisfaction guarantee. Where most rival retailers only give you 30 days, here you'll be able to try your clubs and get a replacement or full store credit after nearly three months. They'll even cover the return shipping on any clubs or sets valued at $299+. Speaking of shipping, you'll get that for free when your order is over $99. Also, if you find your golf clubs listed for less money on an authorized retailer, Worldwide will match the competitor's price.

Easy to trade in your used clubs

Another plus is being able to trade in your used golf clubs. Select the club type, brand (over two dozen available), and the model, then enter the condition (new, excellent, good or fair; click the link if you need guidance) and the dexterity. Add it to the cart and you'll see it appear as a gift card payment - until you add golf clubs for purchase and it can be deducted from your order total. Simple as that.

Slight reputation downturn

Worldwide Golf Shops used to be our #1 store for clubs, but we've had to drop them a bit in our rankings. Why? Mostly because the company went from an "A+" to an "F" at the Better Business Bureau. That's only because of their failure to respond to two complaints: not a huge number, but also not that hard to take care of either. Fortunately, customer feedback in other places is still positive overall, with more than 90% of shoppers giving Worldwide Golf Shops a 4- or 5-star rating. A few people have had issues with orders that got canceled later for being out of stock, but most customers get exactly what they expected and right on time.

Still a golf club store you can trust

Despite that little dip in reputation, Worldwide Golf Shops should still be on your list of places to consider the next time you're buying clubs. You can take advantage of their generous satisfaction guarantee or use their trade-in program to get your new gear for less cash. Don't hesitate to place your order with Worldwide if you find what you need.

Pinemeadow Golf

• About 50 golf clubs to choose from (all proprietary/clone, no name brands)
• Helpful Custom Fitting tool
• $7.95 flat-rate shipping in continental US
• 100% satisfaction guarantee includes 1-year warranty, 30-day return policy

Pinemeadow Golf takes a different approach to selling clubs than you'll find with most other retailers. Their inventory features a selection of golf clubs that are known as "clones" : using the same materials and technology as the big-name brands but at a fraction of the price (and all done legally, of course). Top performance for less money? Absolutely.

Smallish selection

As you might guess, that focus outside of name brands means that the selection of putters, woods, drivers and sets is smaller here than with many golf club stores. For example, in the Women category, there was a single wedge for $24.95. However, in browsing the available clubs, we discovered that many of them let you indicate Male/Female as you customize your purchase. The overall inventory at Pinemeadow Golf is about 50 clubs (and club sets) in total. It's helpful that every image shows you if it's available for lefties or just right-handed, instead of having to browse over to a specific page for that category.

Popular hybrid set

One of Pinemeadow Golf's best-selling items is the PGX TS Hybrid Set. Available in steel ($389.95) or graphite ($439.95), it comes with a hybrid 3 and 4, while the remaining irons are the usual kind. You'll be able to indicate whether you're buying for a male or female golfer, the desired flex (ladies, senior, regular, stiff, extra-stiff), length and grip.

Get your custom fit

Not sure what you need? Click on Custom Fitting to use Pinemeadow Golf's handy tool; you'll find that on product pages and through links around the site. It asks your height, gender, floor-to-wrist height, handicap, age range, swing speed, and the club you would use from 150 yards. Your results will give you a recommended flex and length, and then that info is used for all of your custom fit options as you browse the store.

Custom clubs = longer to deliver

Because your clubs are built to order, you should expect a longer delivery timeframe than with most retailers. At the time of this review, the estimated production time was 3-4 weeks. Shipping is always a flat fee of $7.95, no matter how big your order is (continental US only).

Return or exchange if needed

Pinemeadow Golf wants you to absolutely love your golf clubs, so they offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. That's broken down into two components: returns and warranty. All clubs have a one-year warranty against manufacturing defects or any other structural issues. You'll have 30 days to use the clubs as much as you want; if you're not happy, you can return or exchange them. Be aware that if you upgraded your clubs' shafts or lie-adjustment, store credit is the only option (no refunds).

Stellar reputation

You also don't have to worry about the reputation of this retailer or its golf clubs. The Better Business Bureau gives the company a perfect "A+" rating over its 35+ years in operation, with no complaints registered there. While Pinemeadow Golf doesn't have a lot of shopper feedback outside of its own testimonials, those are pretty compelling on their own (even if they are hand-selected by the company itself). We're encouraged to see lots of feedback from golfers who were very pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the clubs they bought. Some even said that their golf game has never been better, even compared with using high-end clubs from well-known brands.

Get more for your money

We continue to give Pinemeadow Golf one of our highest ratings. Their golf clubs are reliable, perform well, and are backed by a generous satisfaction guarantee. You'll need to shop elsewhere if you're determined to use the same clubs as your favorite pro golfer, but for the average player who wants a great game at an affordable price, Pinemeadow Golf is the real deal.

Budget Golf

• More than 800 golf clubs to choose from
• Thousands of five-star reviews from customers
• In business for 30 years
• 30-day returns on new/unused golf clubs
• 90-day "test drive" on certain items
• Free shipping on orders of $150+

Budget Golf is a smaller, family-owned shop located in the Chicago suburbs, in business for almost 30 years. You'll find more than two dozen brands of golf clubs here, plus thousands of options for accessories, shoes and apparel.

Selection of nearly 900 golf clubs

The selection at Budget Golf is surprisingly large, with over 870 options at the time of this review. We love how easy it is to shop here: our favorite way is to click on "All Golf Clubs" and then use the filters to narrow it down by category, brand, gender, hand, club number/loft, flex, colors, and/or arc type: no need to scroll through page after page of choices when you can quickly get to just the ones that match your needs. You've got most of the big-name brands like Callaway, Cobra, Ping, and TaylorMade, plus a good assortment of choices from lesser-known labels as well. Even younger golfers have plenty of clubs to choose from here: about 50 each for boys and girls.

Some options not available

Clicking on any individual golf club, you'll be taken to the detailed product page. There wasn't as much information here as we found in some stores, and we also noticed that inventory can be a challenge. For example, Budget Golf's Ping Glide 2.0 Stealth Wedge was one of their most popular clubs but it still only had a total of 20 customer reviews (many other clubs had far fewer or none at all), and most configurations for loft and grind were unavailable.

Save money with coupons and clearance

Want to save a little money? If you subscribe to the Budget Golf newsletter, you can get a coupon code for free shipping (a $9.99+ value). Just watch for the pop-up as you browse the site. Otherwise, you'll get no-cost delivery as long as your order is at least $150. For extra savings, be sure to check out the Deals of the Week and Clearance sections, linked at the top of the Budget Golf site.

90-day test drive on many golf clubs

Budget Golf has a just-average return policy - 30 days on new and unused items - but a fantastic "90 Day Test Drive" option on many golf clubs. Keep a watch out for the test drive icon indicating that a product qualifies: it lets you return your clubs for any reason and get full credit towards a replacement purchase.

Customers give this store five stars

At first, we were concerned about Budget Golf's reputation because of its "D-" rating from the Better Business Bureau. Fortunately, upon further investigation, we found that it was from a failure to respond to the two complaints they received over the last three years: hardly a pattern of bad practice. Looking in other places, Budget Golf has an incredible reputation, with over 3,500 shoppers giving them a perfect five-star rating. We're always glad to see comments from people who have patronized a business for many years and say that the service is always on point, the golf clubs deliver as promised, and that orders arrive on time (or even early) - and that seems to be the consensus on this store.

Great small business to support

We love buying from family-owned small businesses, and Budget Golf is absolutely worth a try - if they have the clubs you need in stock. You might need to use a different retailer for certain products, but overall you can trust this store to deliver a satisfying customer experience and competitively-priced golf clubs.

Fairway Golf

• Over 500 golf clubs
• Carries hard-to-find clubs and accessories
• 30-day refund policy on new and unused golf clubs
• 100% store credit on returns under 30-day "Playability Guarantee"

For more than 30 years, Fairway Golf has been a family-owned business with two retail locations in San Diego. You can find all of your favorite brands here, and if you're particularly interested in Japanese clubs from makers like Fujikura and Mizuno, Fairway Golf is the right store for you.

Solid inventory, not-great shopping experience

The shopping experience with Fairway Golf isn't the smoothest. Besides spotting a few typos (like "Mirua" instead of "Miura" ), we had to click around a lot more to get to the golf clubs we wanted to consider. You have to start by selecting a category or manufacturer, and even then there was no way to filter by hand, gender, loft, or other common features. Results could be sorted by manufacturer, price, or keyword - but that last one was in Japanese. Still, the inventory here is solid, with more than 500 golf clubs to choose from, so it might be worth it to deal with the less-than-perfect site navigation.

Good info

Once you click on a club you're interested in, you'll be able to specify the hand, loft, shaft and flex. Most products have plenty of photos to see the golf clubs from multiple angles, a detailed description of features, and some also have videos from the manufacturer. Fairway Golf gives customers the opportunity to leave product reviews, but we didn't spot any on the clubs we selected.

Shipping fees are spendy

Your shipping fees will be calculated based on your order and your delivery location. Don't expect any free delivery here; we were quoted shipping costs of $14.99 for UPS Ground, $54.62 for 3-Day Select, and $68.59 for 2nd-Day Air. You'll have to start the checkout process to find out exactly how much your delivery fees will be. We had a glitch the first time we entered our shipping address; it took a couple of tries before the Fairway Golf system accepted the information.

30-day "playability guarantee"

How about returns? You can get a full refund on new and unused clubs within 30 days of purchase. Otherwise, you're covered by Fairway Golf's "Playability Guarantee" : use your clubs for up to 30 days, and as long as it's in "normal use condition" and your clubs meet the minimum price threshold ($180+ for fairway woods, $140+ for hybrids), you'll get 100% of what you paid as a store credit towards your next purchase.

Strong reputation with long-term customers

Fairway Golf is "A+" rated by the Better Business Bureau, and there were no complaints filed there over the last three years. This smaller-than-most store doesn't have as much shopper feedback as some of its competitors, but what we've found is almost always positive. Several customers said that Fairway Golf is a good "secret weapon" if you're looking for hard-to-find items, frequently carrying clubs and covers that are out of stock at the big name stores. Many golfers started out as a brick-and-mortar customer of Fairway and then stayed loyal via online purchases even after moving across the country.

Good enough

Fairway Golf isn't a bad option for buying golf clubs, especially for popular or rare products that may not be in stock elsewhere. Their customer policies are just average, and we'd like to see some options for free shipping with a minimum purchase. Still, if you like the idea of shopping with a more mom-and-pop golf store, give Fairway Golf a look.

TGW

• Over 800 golf clubs in stock
• Free standard shipping on orders over $99
• 60-day return window on new, unused items
• 30-day Playability Guarantee on specified clubs (90 days on custom)
• Trade-in program

TGW (formerly known as The Golf Warehouse) got its start in 1998. Its Wichita, Kansas warehouse has more than 30,000 golf products, including a selection of more than 800 golf clubs.

Easy online shopping

Shopping for golf clubs is a breeze here. Browse the categories on the main page or click on View All and then filter by type, brand, gender, hand, and many other characteristics. We were pleased to see that TGW carries nearly 200 options for women and over 400 left-handed clubs: two types that are often poorly represented in the inventory of TGW's rivals.

Check out reviews from previous customers

Once you've got your matching results, it's easy to see the price, any available shipping promotions, and the average customer rating. At the time of this review, the most popular club was the PING Men's G410 Plus Golf Driver, with almost 650 ratings averaging 4.7 out of 5 stars. Reading through the customer reviews on any TGW club is a smart way to see what buyers thought about its distance, accuracy, forgiveness and workability. Looking through the specifications, there were plenty of ways to make it exactly the right club for you, like three options for loft, four shaft choices, six flex selections, and right- vs. left-hand.

Trade-ins are possible

Want to trade in a golf club? TGW has a service for that. Go to the Trade-In page, select the club type, brand, model, and its options (such as dexterity and flex). You'll see the trade-in value immediately. But, it's only when you click "Add Trade-In" that you'll see the $6.99 that's deducted from your credit for shipping the clubs to TGW. That's not so bad if your credit is $100 or more, but on a trade-in value of $40 or even less, $6.99 is a much bigger percentage taken out.

A couple ways to get free shipping

When we visited the TGW site for this evaluation, there was a pop-up offering us free 2nd-day air shipping on an order over $99 if we provided our email address. You get complimentary delivery if your order is over $99 anyway, so the only upgrade was the speed.

Watch the details on the "playability guarantee"

The return policy at TGW is more generous than some golf club retailers. You've got 60 days from your order's shipping date to send them back, as long as they are in new, unused condition. Some clubs are designated as having TGW's 30-Day Playability Guarantee: use it for a month and return it, but be aware that you'll only get "up to 90%" of what you paid as store credit (not a refund), and that your original price must meet a certain minimum amount (Wedges - $99, Drivers - $240). That's extended to 90 days on custom clubs, and you'll get full credit return value.

Customers have a love/hate relationship with this store

Customer feedback for TGW is about as mixed as it gets, running about 50/50 between people who give it a perfect five-star rating and those who would rate it with less than one star if possible. You're really gambling here, because your order could either come right on time with absolutely no issues, or it could be months late, canceled without notice, or even out of stock despite the fact that TGW accepted your order and payment. The only thing preventing this retailer from earning our lowest rating is the fact that they've managed to get an "A-" rating from the Better Business Bureau; despite having nearly 40 complaints filed there over the last three years, the BBB's grade indicates that they think TGW is doing an adequate job of responding to and resolving those issues.

Try another golf club store first

Given how easy it is to shop here, we're disappointed that TGW doesn't do a better job at customer satisfaction. Seeing an upward trend in shopper comments would be a surefire way for this golf club store to also move up in our rankings. But, until then, you'll probably be better off saving TGW as a last resort if you don't find the golf clubs you want somewhere else.

In The Hole Golf

• Free shipping on orders over $75
• 60-day money-back guarantee

In The Hole Golf has been serving the golf community for more than a decade and is an authorized retailer of every brand they carry, from A(ccu-Length) to Z(ero Restriction) and all of the big names like Nike and Mizuno.

Big brands, lackluster online shopping experience

When shopping for golf clubs, you'll find options from several big-name brands, such as TaylorMade, Callaway, Mizuno, Wilson, and Nike Golf. You can start your search either by brand or by club type (driver, hybrid, iron, women's, juniors). From there, you can refine your search with the filters on the left side, but that's limited to price, brand, and category. There's no easy way to further narrow it down by the actual features of the golf clubs, like hand or loft.

Not a huge selection and lots not in stock

Still, the selection at In The Hole is small enough that you can pretty quickly find what you need just by browsing. For example, there were only 28 drivers, 35 hybrids, and 30 wedges at the time of this review (with further inventory in other categories). There's a good amount of information on each club's product page, but we had almost zero luck finding anything that was in stock: when we went to try and change the grip, hand or other feature, or even when we left it as originally displayed, we were almost never able to "add to cart" .

Site isn't up to date with inventory

We reached out to the live chat at In The Hole, and the rep said that they were sold out (literally every single wedge we tried?) and that "they are supposed to come down once they sell" . He promised the web team would run an update. But in the meantime we're supposed to just click around in the hopes of finding one that is actually available? No thanks.

Reputation isn't good anymore

No surprise: we've had to drop this golf club store significantly since our last review. For starters, they've gone from first to worst in their Better Business Bureau rating; the BBB has flagged In The Hole for a pattern of complaints from customers regarding delivery, customer service and refunds starting in early 2021. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to have improved: while we found lots of five-star reviews from people who rated the retailer right after ordering - "easy to find what I wanted" , "no problem placing an order" , and so forth - there were many more unhappy customers reporting the same issues as before.

Valid customer complaints

What seems to happen frequently here is orders being accepted for products shown as available, only for the customer to later get a notice that they're out of stock, on backorder, or only in stock in a different color/size/configuration. Also, when shoppers receive incorrect items, many times In The Hole reps tell them that return shipping is the customer's responsibility. That's not cool.

Generous return policy, theoretically

That's all too bad, really, because In The Hole Golf has one of the best 100% guarantees we've seen (in theory, anyway). You've got 60 days to try your clubs and return them for a full refund, no exceptions other than custom clubs, preowned equipment, and golf clubs that have been abused, damaged, or significantly altered. We can't think of any other golf club store that even comes close to that.

Too risky to recommend

Unfortunately, this is not the place you want to shop if you're in a hurry to get the right golf clubs. On the off chance that the ones you want are truly available, you could take the risk and put your order through. A better idea would be to go with a more reputable online golf store, because there's just too much potential for frustration with In The Hole Golf.

Golf Outlets

• About 175 golf clubs to choose from
• 30-day returns on new, unused equipment only
• 12-month warranty on most products

Golf Outlets says that they offer "America Best Value Golf Gear" . It's not a retailer you'll be turning to for the most advanced drivers or wedges from your favorite big brands, but you might find something on the budget-friendly side that catches your eye.

Off-brand clubs for budget-conscious shoppers

Shopping on this online store is hit-or-miss. There are approximately 175 golf clubs in the inventory, and none of them are from the bigger brands in the sport (like Titleist or Callaway): Forgan, Lind Golf, Palm Springs, Rand, and Young Gun are the most common in Golf Outlets' collection. Filtering through the options is a little odd too, with one for "Driver Loft" and then three separate additional filters for "Loft" . Why not combine them into one? Most of the golf clubs here are for men, with a small handful of choices for women and juniors. The one plus is that you won't find anything here over $399, and that's the price you'll pay for a full set. A small number of golf clubs and sets were out of stock during this evaluation.

No reviews on individual golf clubs

When you've selected a golf club or set that interests you, your next step is to choose the flex, grip, and length adjustment you prefer. You'll see the details as you scroll down, but there aren't any customer reviews for you to consider as you decide which golf clubs are going to be the best match for your game.

No returns on golf clubs you've used

The return policy at Golf Outlets gives you 30 days on new and unused golf clubs only. There are no restocking fees, but you'll have to pay the shipping costs to send back your purchase. That's fairly common for golf clubs, though not competitive with some rival stores who allow you to try out the equipment and return it if it's in gently-used condition or better. Most items have a one-year warranty.

Customer satisfaction is very low

However, we don't think you can trust that returns (or anything else) will go in your favor here. The company has an "F" rating from the Better Business Bureau (under the name of its parent company, Shop247) for failure to respond to and resolve complaints. You can find some positive reviews when you look at the main company's customer feedback (which includes a strange array of products ranging from Christmas trees to gun safes?!), but the vast majority affirm that this isn't a reliable retailer.

24 hour support... Not

People say they had a hard time getting a response from the company when the wrong items were shipped. That's no surprise, considering that when we called the given toll-free number, we got a generic "no support agents are available" recording asking us to leave a message. So much for the "24 hour support available" they proudly proclaim on their About Us Page.

Worst of the online golf club stores

We don't recommend that you shop for your golf clubs at Golf Outlets. Not only will you not find any of today's most popular brands, you're unlikely to be happy with any part of the customer experience here. And forget about any kind of professional, prompt resolution if you have a problem. Choose a higher-ranked retailer when buying golf clubs.