Beginner looking for club advice

[horace]

Hi everyone,

Just made an account here. I'm in my late 20's and just started to have an interest in golf when I went to the driving range the other day. My previous experience with golf was just my dad dragging me along to the driving range to practice. I didn't like it then but for some reason I feel like I am gaining an interest in it now.

Anyways, I have decided to get at least 1 golf club. Now I usually see people buying a set, especially beginners. I would like to get some advice if that is the best route, since I know that if I get a set I can probably only use the 8 or 9 semi-effectively. So I am open to any suggestions you guys might have in getting some entry gear to get started. Perhaps one or two irons and a putter? I dunno.

I'm not sure if my interests right now is to actually play a game of golf, because even though I've been to the driving range countless number of times when I was a child, I never went to the course. I am not so sure if I would be very happy spending a whole day looking in the trees for my ball :) I do quite enjoy the driving range though, at least for now. So you can say I'm the kind of person who is quite happy hitting ball after ball, working the grind, to get to a level of straightness and good distance.

Horace

[Sante TwoGloves]

you could find a range that offer clubs to hit with until you get your own.

[Moppy]

Whenever you pass a yard sale, glance around.

[ghalfaire]

If it was me I would keep the initial investment small as you're not sure you like the game.  I'd purchase a 5,7,9 Iron and a putter  from the used club bins.  I would not worry too much about matching makes or models.  Spend a little time on the driving range and putting greens.  When you want to try the game start at an executive course (one with par in the low 60's or less  and slope less than 115 or so).  You'll get a lot of unsolicited advise when others find you're new to the game which you can take or not,  My advice is just try to have fun, don't keep score or worry about the rules.  When and if you decide you like the game, go see a pro for advice on clubs and technique.  Talk to  your golfing buddies and try to find a pro that teaches you how to play golf not only how to swing a club.  While swinging a club is important trying to be Ben Hogan or Tiger Woods isn't something most of us can do so find a pro that tries to bring out the most you can do with whatever natural talent you have.  Talk to the Pro before you sign up and make you're OK with what he teaches.  I like the 5 Keys that you can look up on this web site, but how you achieve them is an individual thing.   Lot of different but effective swings out there and like Bagger Vance said you have to find your authentic swing to play your best.  Good luck and I hope your like the game as much as folks on this forum.

[BubblesUSMC]

I'm with ghalfaire on this.

My golf school always has "rental" clubs which I dont charge for if you are buying a basket of balls.  Start there, just swing, have fun, ask if they have any group beginner clinics check out "get golf ready" its a PGA clinic design based on new people starting and it should be $99 / a series of 5 lessons.  Find a local get golf ready here.   http://www.pga.com/play-golf-america/get-golf-ready

After that, once you get into the sport.  A basic box set of any kind.  I like the Tour Edge box sets the best simply because its a superior product and they stand behind it.

[jcjim]

You need to get some game improvement clubs..You can get sets of irons on ebay for about $100/125...putters for $20 a 5 wood for $55 you won't need a driver for a while...

Callaway and Ping make some good sets...Pings, Eye2 is  a good set for about $100 ..Callaway Big Berthas are good for around the same....

You can go to garage sales but try to stay with name brand clubs they will last you much longer as you get better...

[Sante TwoGloves]

regular graphite in your woods and regular steel in your irons is probably your best place to start. ebay, play it again sports, yard sales. i like Goodwill. I found my whole set of irons there for $12 and a bag for $3.

[stealthhwk]

The above is great advice so i will just offer some tips on what to look for specifically. When looking at shaft flex on woods your looking for the letter R. Irons are often missing the shat flex so just make sure the shafts are rather flexible. The heads on the irons should have a cavity on the back side instead of solid metal. These are known as cavity backs and are usually more forgiving for beginners. Also try to find some with a fairly wide sole. if you decide to buy golf balls, buy the cheapest you can find because in the beginning your likely to lose a good portion of them. Welcome to the sand trap and golf. Youll be hooked in no time!

[davechen]

Make friends with a diehard golfer.  I'm sure he'd have a zillion old sets in his garage that you could borrow.

Barring that, you could pick up a used wedge, putter, mid iron and hybrid (or wood) and have a reasonable starter set.

[horace]

Just bought a 7 iron for $7 USD. It is a Ping G15 with a TFC 148 Soft-R shaft. The grip seems good enough. Hope I chose a decent beginner club. Thanks for the tips everyone.

[stealthhwk]

Thats an excellent club to start out with. If u can master the 7 iron you can play golf. Its the most versatile club in the bag.

[stealthhwk]

Just be cautious when buying ping clubs. Ping makes great clubs but 90% or so of pings are custom fit to the player buying them. Ping has a color coded fitting system that adjusts the loft and lie angles of the clubs. These adjustments if not fit to you could be very problematic. So if u buy pings in the future be sure to get fit for them or make sure u purchase black dot pings. Black dot is standard loft and lie off the rack. And while standard doesnt fit everyone, it will fit the largest majority at least well enough to use it. If your curious these color coded dots are normally located at the bottom of the hosel itself. Just some important info to remember in the future.

[Sante TwoGloves]

Just bought a 7 iron for $7 USD. It is a Ping G15 with a TFC 148 Soft-R shaft. The grip seems good enough. Hope I chose a decent beginner club. Thanks for the tips everyone.

Wouldn't cost too much to Regrip it if the grip is too small or too big for your hand. There are charts on the web to measure and see where you are. Do your finger tips just barely touch your thumb pad when you grip the top hand?

[horace]

Just be cautious when buying ping clubs. Ping makes great clubs but 90% or so of pings are custom fit to the player buying them. Ping has a color coded fitting system that adjusts the loft and lie angles of the clubs. These adjustments if not fit to you could be very problematic. So if u buy pings in the future be sure to get fit for them or make sure u purchase black dot pings. Black dot is standard loft and lie off the rack. And while standard doesnt fit everyone, it will fit the largest majority at least well enough to use it. If your curious these color coded dots are normally located at the bottom of the hosel itself. Just some important info to remember in the future.

Hi, thanks for the advice. There is a yellow dot on there next to the PING logo.

[horace]

Wouldn't cost too much to Regrip it if the grip is too small or too big for your hand. There are charts on the web to measure and see where you are. Do your finger tips just barely touch your thumb pad when you grip the top hand?

Hi,

What is the thumb pad?

Am I supposed to hold the club at a certain angle? I just hold it at where the grip is and let the club naturally find its angle.

[stealthhwk]

Hi, What is the thumb pad? Am I supposed to hold the club at a certain angle? I just hold it at where the grip is and let the club naturally find its angle.

I know the equipment pretty well but am nowhere near qualified to teach. If your not sure how dedicated u are and u just want some basics, id recommend downloading the golf channel academy app. Lots of great stuff there. Under the breaking 100 section is a video on the proper golf grip which in my opinion is the single most important fundamental. Check it out.

[stealthhwk]

Also, a yellow dot on a ping is a custom adjustment. We need a ping guy to chime in and tell us what that adjustment is so it does t get u fowled up from the beginning.

[zero]

craigslist.org. Research game improvement clubs, mine have been a life saver. Unfortunately, starting with garage sale 25 year olds was a bad idea for me.