In the great game of golf, skill will only get you so far. Yards are what matter, and making up the distance relies on far more than a good swinging stance. Finding oneself off the green in no man’s land becomes a battle of wills and a test of limits, with everything coming down to what choice of club a golfer turns to in order to get them out of a fix. Clubs are not there for show. Selecting one’s bag inventory before any game is the same ritual as medieval knights undertook, preparing for battle.
As is the way with many things, quality comes at a cost. The most expensive clubs in the world are not expensive simply because they are rare, but because, for major golf collectors and players, they are a necessity. They capture the spirit of the game itself as a physical manifestation of every golfer’s pursuit: to find the perfect strike of the ball from the tee to out of the bunker, out of bounds to the green. A club’s worth can be derived from both current performance and historical value, which is how some of the items on this list have found their way into the collections of serious golfers the world over.
Honma Beres 5-Star Driver
No discussion of premium golf clubs begins without Honma. The Beres 5-Star Driver is a true statement piece, produced in Japan. Each Beres is constructed under the supervision of a single Takumi, a master craftsman who oversees every stage of a club production, from shaft winding to gold inlaying. The process is driven by precision, with the level of meticulous care and attention to detail that the Japanese embody in all of their work, from katanas to drivers.
The 5-Star series offers shafts tipped with 24-carat gold and platinum detailing, and each club carries a flawless balance between weight and flex – no second-rate steel or alloys here, this is premium metal, and one can tell by the weight. Despite some claims that Honma clubs are old-fashioned and lacking in appeal, this is a feat of human engineering and craft that no machine could replicate, and the swing says it all.
Scotty Cameron Tiger Woods GSS Prototype Putter
Few clubs in history have achieved legendary status, but the Scotty Cameron GSS putter used by Tiger Woods is one of them. Made from stainless steel produced in Germany, this particular model was crafted specifically for Woods in the late 1990s and has since become the most famous putter in golf. Woods used it to win 14 of his 15 majors, an achievement which elevates it beyond mere sporting equipment and into golfing legend.
While Woods has never sold his gamer, identical prototypes from the same batch have appeared at auction, each commanding extraordinary sums. The most famous sale of a backup GSS putter fetched over £300,000 in 2021, and that wasn’t even the one used in competition. For collectors, the allure is clear in owning a club from the same mould that defined an era of dominance that may not be experienced again. But the chance to play with the GSS, with a buttery feel to it that makes even amateurs feel like they’re playing a championship-winning game – and about to putt their way into golf’s modern mythology – is the true timeless appeal.
Andrew Dickson Long-Nose Spoon (Circa 1700)
The oldest known golf club in existence, a Long-Nose Spoon made by Andrew Dickson of Leith around 1700, sits in a category of its own. Stamped with Dickson’s maker’s mark, it represents the earliest professional craftsmanship in golf’s recorded history. The clubhead, made from beech, and the shaft, carved from ash, show the game’s early artistry, with the original Scottish makers turning local timber into something more elevated long before the game embraced the cool steel which forms today’s clubs.
Although this is one piece of equipment that’s too fragile to ever risk using today, when one of Dickson’s clubs changed hands in a private sale, it reportedly fetched close to half a million pounds. Yet even that staggering figure barely does justice to the true worth of this relic of golf's formative days. It is a piece of golfing heritage that connects every player, from St Andrews to Augusta, to the raw origins of the game.
Long Nose Hickory Putter (Old Tom Morris Era)
Continuing with the theme of relics, before graphite shafts and titanium heads, the game was one of wood, patience, and craftsmanship. The Long Nose Hickory Putter, produced in the late 1800s by Scottish makers like Old Tom Morris, remains one of the most coveted relics in the sport. Its name refers to the gently tapering shape of its head, a design both elegant and deceptively practical, crafted to glide through uneven turf rather than skid and skip on the much less manicured lawns of the 19th century.
These putters are pieces of golfing history, and whenever an original example surfaces, collectors come out in force, and the price is high. A genuine Morris-era putter can exceed £100,000 at auction. Holding one is like bridging the gap between rough-hewn craftsmanship and working out the earliest beginnings of the game’s play and etiquette, perfectly juxtaposed against the modern game’s fixation with perfection and partisan crowds.
Scotty Cameron ‘Tiger Slam’ Newport 2 Backup
Another piece of golfing legend, this is the twin of Tiger Woods’s prized piece used during his “Tiger Slam” when he held all four majors simultaneously. In 2021, one of Woods’s backup putters from that historic run sold for just under £400,000. Unlike standard Newport 2 models, this version features hand-stamped lettering and the exact balance weights Woods requested, making it both mechanically unique and, to the true golfing fanatic, a priceless piece of history.
The club symbolises an era when one player redefined the mental and physical limits of the sport. To own it is to hold a relic of dominance that golfing fans everywhere had never even contemplated might have been possible at that time. More than a club, this is a tool that embodies the modern game’s greatest narrative arc from its most captivating and charismatic protagonist. It is worthy of housing in any museum, or taking out for a stretch one sunny afternoon and watching the faces of fellow golfers turn shocked at the unleashing of a symbol of golfing dominance upon them.
The Golden Putter by Barth & Sons
Whilst for some, such a thing as a golden putter might appear too garish to ever take out in public, the Golden Putter by Barth & Sons represents pure extravagance at its most unbridled, and fun. Made in Germany, the putter is built from 24-carat gold-plated shafting and hand-inlaid with diamonds on the head and grip. It comes housed in a custom cherrywood display case and can be customised with personalised detailing should one really like to make a statement on the course.
Despite coming with a fairly sizeable price tag in the six figures, as one might expect, the Golden Putter is less about competitive advantage and more about prestige. Yet, despite its opulence, it’s still perfectly functional. Offering a surprising smoothness of roll, it serves as a reminder that for some, golf is as much about personal expression and indulgence as it is about craft and performance.
