Dunlop RedNeck 540cc Forged Driver

[golf_newbie]

Alright, thanks a lot.

[lamebums]

or even start with a 3 wood which is shorter so that he'll have more control

I disagree on this, sorry mate. If your swing isn't consistent and you don't have good tempo, you're going to make contact all over the club face. Better to miss the sweet spot and still hit the face of a larger driver than miss entirely with a much smaller 3 wood, leaving an ugly scuff mark on top of the club.

(When drivers were smaller, I can understand teeing up with a 3 wood...but not anymore.)

[gompers]

I think it's just fine to learn on. You just have to understand that at some point in the future if you ever get serious about golfing (i.e. you golf competitively or keep a real handicap) you'll have to get conforming clubs. The biggest conforming club you can have is 460cc. There are some other specs that the club has to meet that are a bit more technical, but that's the one that makes yours non-conforming. It might make it a bit more difficult down the road when you go to conforming clubs, but if worse comes to worse, just don't hit driver for a while when you do. Think of it like playing baseball with a bat that is too big.

The 10 degree thing is basically the angle that the face (the part that hits the ball) makes with the ground. This is known as "loft". The higher that number, the higher the ball will fly in the air (and usually the shorter it will go). Drivers usually are between 8 and 12 degrees, while the most lofted clubs in a typical golfer's bag will be around 60 degrees. The loft gets progressively higher as you go from your driver down through the "fairway woods" (typically 3 and 5 woods in a "standard" set), and into the irons (generally a 3 or 4 iron down to a pitching wedge (which is basically a 10 iron)). The higher the number, the higher the loft, and the shorter you will be able to hit the club, and generally speaking, the more accurate you should be able to be.

If you're playing just for the heck of it, enjoy your new toy. Learn the etiquette of golf first (i.e. don't play slow if there are people behind you, don't hit into people etc). If you aren't pissing other people on the course off, nobody will care what kind of clubs you're hitting or how many of them you have in your bag. I've yet to go to a course to play a casual round and have anyone in the clubhouse check my clubs before I'm allowed to play. You might get some funny looks if you get paired up with someone, but my experience is that most people couldn't tell you what the rules are anyway, and those that do tend to break a few rules of their own (fluffing their ball up in the rough, taking mulligans etc).

Golf is an awesome (and addictive) pastime. Enjoy it.

And always remember, as bad as you are, there's more than likely someone who is worse.