Golf Club Rentals: Find One That Fits to a Tee

Test drives aren't only for automobiles.

Just ask Tony Jusick, 69, a retired university physics instructor who takes frequent spins with high-tech equipment without ever slipping behind the wheel.

At least twice a month, a FedEx truck pulls up to Jusick's doorstep in Deland, Fla., and unloads a package with the latest advance in the sport he loves. A square-backed driver. A mallet-headed putter. A rescue wood or a deep-grooved wedge.

Jusick makes the arrangements with a few clicks on his computer keyboard. Two to three days later, his golf clubs arrive, and Jusick lights out for the links.

"For a guy like me who's always toying around with new clubs, it's ideal," says Jusick, a 16-handicapper who plays and practices several times a week. "In a way, it's a very American thing. I want choice. And I want it now."

Testing golf equipment wasn't always so easy.

For years, Jusick traveled to golf club "demo days," often held in Orlando, a 45-minute car-ride from his home. A longtime staple of golf club marketing, demo days were dreamed up by manufacturers as a way to spread word about their newest lines. ...