Hi all. After years of avoiding the sport, I'm finally taking up golf at the age of 45. I've spent the past couple of weeks doing a lot of on-line research into different clubs. I'm looking for a set under $400 to start out with and figure I'll get better clubs as I progress in the sport. One thing I've found that pretty much everyone seems to agree on is that cheaper clubs will hinder your game and make you more frustrated, and therefore less likely to continue playing. I don't want cheap, but I don't want to spend an arm and a leg either. Hence the intensive research. I don't plan to buy anything until after Christmas so I have plenty of time to find the right clubs at the right price.
Before this past weekend I had pretty much settled on a set of Walter Hagen XLRs from Dick's Sporting Goods. I even went so far as to go talk to the "professional" at the store and get his advice as to what a novice golfer should try. He practically sneered at the Hagen clubs and told me I needed to get a set of Adams Tight Lies. Throughout the whole conversation he was very condescending and didn't offer to help me find what clubs would be best suited for me. I thanked him and left feeling more confused than ever.
One of the things I've read about new golfers is that they (we) tend to have a slower swing than more experienced golfers and therefore a graphite shaft is recommended to help with distance. The guy at Dick's snorted and told me this was wrong. So now I've moved from looking at graphite shafts (with the exception of the driver and the woods) and focused on steel shafts. But my question is, which clubs would be good? Most reviews I've read about the different clubs I've researched are running about 50/50, which is not very helpful. And then there are clubs I can't find any reviews about whatsoever. So I thought I would try here and see if anyone knew anything about any of these clubs or had any better suggestions.
The ones I've been looking at are:
Adams Tight Lies
Forgan F 150
Forgan IWD2
Lynx Predator
Orlimar VT Sport
Orlimar Black Ti
Orlimar HE2
Strata
Top Flite XL
Top Flite XL 7000
Walter Hagen XLR
Wilson Ultra
Wilson Pro Staff
Wilson Profile
Prices on these sets range anywhere from $180 for the Orlimar VT Sports to $500 for the Adams Tight Lies. I know I could find used sets, but even a decent used set is probably going to be over my starting budget.
I've also thought about getting individual clubs and building a set. Golf Digest's website has a beginner's guide that lists which clubs a novice golfer must have and could be built upon. When I mentioned this to the guy and Dick's, he just shook his head and said I needed to stick with a full set.
Any advice?