Fifty pounds is the budget most golf presents are bought at. It is the birthday budget, the main-Christmas-present-for-a-brother budget, the "he's impossible to buy for but I want it to look like I tried" budget.
It is also the first budget where you have a real choice. Under £30 you are buying one consumable done properly. At £50 you can either buy one genuinely good thing or cover most of what a golfer gets through in a season. Here is how we would spend it.
Quick picks under £50
- The safe main present: Members Mystery Box — £28, with room left for an extra
- Choose every item yourself: Build Your Box — from £24
- One good thing: a FootJoy StaSof glove — £17.99, if you know their size
- Worth stretching £4 for: Captains Mystery Box — £54
The rule at £50: a box beats a single item
At this budget, one item tends to look thin when it is unwrapped. A £45 putting mat or a £50 gadget is a single thing, and if it is the wrong single thing it goes straight in the garage.
Several things a golfer actually uses land better. Opening six things is an event; opening one thing is a moment. And because balls, gloves and tees all run out, there is no risk of the present sitting unused as visible evidence of a miss.
The exception is when you know exactly what they want. If they have been complaining about one specific thing, buy that thing.
What works under £50
| Gift | Price | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Members Mystery Box | £28 | Six golf balls (including two premium tour balls), a tour-standard glove in their size, 50 bamboo tees and a ball marker, gift-boxed. Covers several categories at once and leaves you £20 for an extra. |
| Build Your Box | From £24 | You choose the balls, the glove, a cap, a headcover and personalised extras, and we hand-pack it. The honest answer to "I have exactly £45 and I want it all to count". |
| A glove and a cap | About £40 | A FootJoy StaSof glove (£17.99) and our Mystery Cap (£22). Two things they will wear every round. Needs a glove size and hand. |
| A box plus a personal touch | About £38 | The Members Box with a Tiger Ball Marker & Divot Tool (£9.99) on top. A main present with a small extra to open first. |
The one worth stretching £4 for
We would rather be straight about this: our most popular gift box is £54, which is not under £50.
The Captains Box is the one most people buy when they are getting a main present for someone else. It guarantees nine golf balls (six A-grade from top brands and at least three premium tour balls), a tour-standard glove in their size, a brand-name cap, two ball markers and 100 bamboo tees, packed in our gift box. Nine balls is most of a season's losses for a weekend golfer.
If your limit is a firm £50, buy the Members Box and an extra and you will not have short-changed anyone. If £50 was a rough number, the Captains is the box that carries a main present on its own. You can see exactly what changes between the three on our box comparison page.