How to Read a Used Golf Club Listing

Used golf club titles are compressed. A seller has a few dozen characters to describe a club that has a head, a shaft, a grip, a length, a lie angle and sometimes a hosel setting, so the important details end up as abbreviations or get left out entirely. This guide translates the shorthand you will see and tells you what to ask when the item specifics are blank. GOLF.com's advice for anyone buying used is to confirm three specs before anything else: shaft flex, length and lie angle. One of its own writers admits to buying a set an inch too short because he got excited about the price before checking.

RH and LH: which hand the club is for

RH means right-handed and LH means left-handed, and the label describes the golfer's stance, not which hand is stronger. A right-handed club is for a golfer who stands with the left side of the body toward the target. Listings occasionally get this wrong, so check the photos rather than trusting the title.

The quickest photo check: look at a shot of the face with the shaft pointing straight up. On a right-handed club the hosel (where the shaft enters the head) sits on the right side of the frame and the toe points left. A left-handed club is the mirror image. If the only photos are from above at address, a right-handed club has its face pointing to the left of the frame with the shaft coming back toward the camera.

Left-handed options are narrower in some lines. When Titleist launched its TSR fairway woods, some left-handed lofts were listed as custom order only, while Ping lists its G430 drivers in both left- and right-handed models. If you play left-handed, widen your search to adjacent model years rather than paying up for the one listing that matches.

Men's, women's and senior builds

The same head can be built very differently. Women's and senior builds usually mean a lighter, more flexible shaft and often a shorter length and thinner grip. Ping's own spec sheets show the gap: its G430 Max driver is listed at 45 3/4 inches with a D3 swingweight, while its G Le3 women's driver is listed at 44 3/4 inches with a C2 swingweight and shaft flexes called Ultra Lite and Lite.

• L or W: ladies' or women's flex, the most flexible common letter.
• A: often called senior, intermediate or soft regular. Ping uses the name Soft Regular on its ALTA CB shafts.
• R: regular. S: stiff. X: extra stiff.
• Grip size: Golf Monthly notes that standard adult shafts share the same butt diameter of about 0.580 inches, and women's clubs typically get thinner grips rather than thinner shafts. A women's set may feel small in a larger hand even if the length suits you.

Flex letters and shaft codes

Regular, Stiff and the single letters R, S and X are the common flex labels, but shaft makers also use their own codes. Ping lists True Temper Dynamic Gold flexes as S300 and X100, and its lightweight ALTA Quick shaft in flexes named 35 and 45. If you see a code you do not recognize, look up the shaft maker's own chart rather than guessing.

Flex is not standardized between brands. A Golf Monthly writer noted during a fitting that not all stiff or regular shafts are the same flex, with some variation from brand to brand. The shaft model matters as much as the letter. GOLF.com also points out that stock shafts in off-the-rack clubs are often made-for versions of aftermarket shafts with the same name, so a listing that says only the shaft name does not tell you which one you are getting. Ask for a clear photo of the shaft label, including any small print near the grip or hosel.

Length notation

"Std" means the maker's standard length for that model, and standard is not a single number. Ping's G430 Max driver is 45 3/4 inches with its ALTA CB shaft but 45 1/4 inches with several other shaft options. "+1/2" means half an inch over that model's standard and "-1" means an inch under. A plain number such as 45.75 in is only useful if you know how it was measured.

Measurement methods differ. Callaway says it switched to a ground-plane method starting with the MAVRIK line, which lists drivers and fairway woods roughly 1/8 to 1/4 inch longer than its earlier method. Ask the seller how they measured, or ask for a photo with the club resting against a yardstick in the address position.

Lie notation and Ping color dots

"2 up" means two degrees more upright than standard and "1 flat" means one degree flatter. Golf Monthly notes there is no universal standard lie angle, so a degree upright on one brand is not the same absolute number as on another. Its rule of thumb is that each extra half inch of length makes a club play about one degree more upright, which is why length and lie are fitted together.

Ping irons, including the G425 and G430, carry a colored dot that encodes lie. Ping says there are 10 color codes ranging from 5 degrees upright to 4 degrees flat, and its spec sheets state that standard lie is the Black color code at standard length. If a Ping listing does not mention the color, ask for a close photo of the dot on the hosel or back of the head. Keep in mind that irons can be bent after they leave the factory, so the dot tells you how the club was built, not necessarily how it sits today.

Set makeup

• "4-PW": 4-iron through pitching wedge, seven clubs (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, PW).
• "5-PW, AW": 5-iron through pitching wedge plus a matching approach or gap wedge, also seven clubs.
• "7 pc" or "7-piece": seven clubs, but the count alone does not tell you which seven. Ask.
• Wedges labeled by loft: Ping lists the matching wedges in its G430 iron set as 45, 50, 54 and 58 after the PW, so a number on a set wedge may be its loft rather than a letter.
• Mixed sets: GOLF.com advises checking that every shaft in an iron set matches for brand and flex. A mismatched club usually means a replacement or a repair.

Head only, headcover and wrench notes

• "Head only": no shaft and no grip. On an adjustable wood, ask whether the adapter sleeve and screw are included. Cobra, for example, sells replacement hosel adapters with the screws and washers not included.
• "w/ HC" or "w/ cover": the headcover is included. On a driver or fairway wood that matters; see our guide to headcovers, adjustable hosels and wrenches.
• "No wrench": an adjustable club sold without its torque wrench. You can still adjust it with the right tool, but you need to know which one.

Demo and tour issue claims

"Demo" generally means the club was used for testing by a shop or fitter rather than played by an owner. Ask how it was used and photograph-check the face and sole the same way you would for any used club.

"Tour issue" is a stronger claim. Golf Monthly explains that manufacturers do keep tour-only clubs and variations for staff players and that these can carry a premium on the secondhand market, which is exactly why the label gets misused. True Temper notes that some of its tour issue shafts use heat-transfer labels and says buyers unsure about a shaft's authenticity can email photos to the company for verification. Treat "tour issue" as a seller claim until you can verify it, and do not pay extra for it without documentation.

GOLF.com's counterfeit checklist is worth keeping in mind for any premium listing: be wary of items shipping directly from China, where it says many counterfeit operations are based, of prices that look too good to be true, and of construction that looks wrong, such as extra glue, discoloration or engravings that differ from the real thing.

Condition words versus photos

Words like "excellent" or "good" are the seller's opinion. The photos are the evidence. For every club, you want a straight-on shot of the face, the sole, the top line or crown, the grip, the ferrule and the shaft label. If a listing has only a stock photo, ask for real ones.

What to ask when item specifics are missing

• Right- or left-handed, and is that from the stance or a guess?
• Shaft maker, model and flex, with a photo of the label.
• Length, and how it was measured.
• Lie angle or Ping color code, and whether the clubs have been bent.
• Exact clubs in the set, by number or loft.
• For adjustable woods: current hosel setting, whether the wrench and headcover are included, and whether the adapter is original.
• Grip model and size, and roughly how old the grips are.
• Any repairs, reshafting or regripping, and whether any ferrule differs from the rest.