Where/when to invest money

[Diobacco]

I am a beginner. (let's say I will soon break 100).

I feel like clubs (I bought a Wilson full set I guess for beginners) and balls (I am treating myself with V1s) are irrelevant at my level.

I was wondering if you can reccomend when I should start looking for better equipment and what are the priorities at each level.

Thanks

DB

[jcard71]

I am a beginner. (let's say I will soon break 100).

I would invest in lessons first by doing a google search for the best reviewed teaching pros in your area. I would also NOT play pro v's unless you don't mind throwing money away. Like you mentioned, when you begin you can not tell the diffeence between a PROV & Pinnacle. As for clubs, I would invest in hybrids. You shouldn't be hitting anything higher than a 6 iron right now. Good luck!

[eyevan]

The best advise that I could give you as a beginner is to buy USED. Buy last season's latest and greatest, and save yourself some big bucks. One thing that you'll learn real quick is that it sucks to spend your hard earned cash on the latest stuff, and then 2 months later something newer comes out.

As for breaking 100, the sooner you are able to consistently hit 200 + would help your cause greatly (i.e. hybrid / 3 wood / 460cc Driver).

Nothing is worse than duffing it off the tee 40 yards multiple times a round.

I'd try getting a used cleveland hybrid for like 30-40 bucks (23 degree).

Also the great thing about buying used is that if you don't like it you can always resell it. (for no or little loss)


Good luck

[Zakko]

IRA's & Mutual Funds



Honestly, the first thing you should invest in is a good set of used irons, 3-PW. I definatly reccomend used because 1) their cheaper, 2) in the winter, their dead cheap, 3) 90% of the time, the resale is equilivant.

Start with a nice cavity back set. They're much more forgiving and you'll see drastic improvements with your shots. I reccomend the Taylormade RAC OS2s. They can be easily found for under $275 used. I'd shy away from anything overly expensive because honestly, at this point, you definately won't be able to tell the difference.

Secondly, a great quality putter. You take the most strokes with it and should reign confidence the minute you pull it out of the bag.

Third, get yourself a nice wedge. Used cleveland wedges fetch a very fair price (~$25) and will get your short game going.

Lastly, a nice driver can be found around $100. Doesn't need to be overly fancy, just enough to get it 'out there.' This is frankly where I'd spend the least amount of dough.

Oh, and ProV1's are a waste of money for high handicapped players.

[Flopshot]

I agree Spend your money on lessons first..
Though to say dont hit anything higher than a 6 iron well thats personal. you might be ok with 3 to 5 irons. I personally dont like hybrids im more confident with an iron any day(you may differ). Im on my 2nd set of clubs my first ever set was a set of mizuno think there mx 20's or something like that. after i had a consistent swing i got custom fitted for ping g2's now im gonna get some titleist 735s.

Best advice is get a few good lessons under your belt £500/$1000 of lessons will help you a lot more than that amount on clubs(not that you need to spend that much). once your chosen pro has got you settled with a consistent swing your both happy with , that will be the time to look at new clubs(custom fitting essential) the most important bit of equipment in the bag is your PUTTER dont skimp on a putter!!!! I got a scotty cameron Newport its mustard.(NO OFFENCE to these brands) but dont pay £15/$30 for a hippo or petron something cheap spend more money on putter and wedges and less on your irons( If you can afford too) also get custom fitted for this too. find somewhere with a SAM Puttlab which will show you all you need.

At the end of the day its up to you but i know for a fact my game is improving better because of

LESSONS--->PRACTISE--->CUSTOM FIT EQUIPMENT ... in that order

Listen to your pro he will obviously help you with this .make sure you find a pro that likes to teach golf not one that just wants to make money.

I used to get an hour lesson and it would end in 59 minutes. My new pro is more relaxed and really enjoys teaching he often spends an extra 20 minutes for free just to help your game etc ok

Good Luck Hope this info helps

[La Costa Golfer]

I would suggest not even buying a full set of clubs. Buy a short (9) -mid (6) -long (4) iron, putter, 5 wood , driver. Skip a hybrid for now as it may mask some of inherent swing flaws...get it latter on. Learn...don't worry about your score or bad shots.

Reason is that all the other specialized clubs are to hit targeted distances once you have developed a swing (in fact..I bet a bunch of high handicappers could benefit from this same advice as they can't hit their clubs consistently).

[Flopshot]

ok LEts look at it thisa way WHats your total budget ?

How much do you wanna spend and when do you want lessons(paramount) and clubs

[Diobacco]

Thanks for suggestions. I was keeping lessons and practice out of the picture as they are obviously nr 1 requirement.

I bought a full Wilson Prostaff set. My question is: when will be wise for me to think about upgrading my equipment? Custom fittings, better irons, new putter, top class driver, etc. At what handicap level clubs' difference start being noticeable?

[rrassoc]

The best advise that I could give you as a beginner is to buy USED. Buy last season's latest and greatest, and save yourself some big bucks. One thing that you'll learn real quick is that it sucks to spend your hard earned cash on the latest stuff, and then 2 months later something newer comes out.

I agree completely! Get yourself a good USED 460cc driver. They are very forgiving these days compared to just a few years ago. My driver / driving is the main reason that I'm shooting around 90 rather than 100+. When I got my driver re-shafted earlier this year at Golf Galaxy, I saw they had lots of used and demo clubs. Try those with the launch monitor. When I got my first good driver R7 Quad, I actually hadn't known any local places with launch monitors. I bought a few clubs through an on-line auction site, hit them, picked the one I liked the best. I sold the others on auction. I pretty much broke even on my sales, making some profits and some losses. That's certainly not an efficient way to buy, but I was happy with what I ended up with, and it cost me less than a new club. Again, my recommendation is to find some place where you can test & buy used. I also recommend getting a good putter that you're comfortable with. My third recommendation would be to have a full set of wedges. Do you know what loft your PW is? You really don't want too big a gap between wedges. Good luck!

[Beach Golfer]

I think that it would be best for you to buy hybrids to replace your 3, 4 and 5 irons and to buy a forgiving driver. You don't need clubs that are going to produce amazing shots, just clubs that are forgiving and will get rid of a lot of your really bad shots.

[keiyoz]

sorry for the long-winded post :

i played around with my friends' clubs and took lessons first . after 2-3 months, becoming somewhat comfortable with swinging irons, i bought an iron set first which had stiff shafts (currently still in use). then i proceeded to purchase a Cobra driver and 2 Nike hybrids which had regular shafts.

from my signature, you can see that only 1 nike hybrid remains in my bag, which i hardly ever touch at all. fortunately for me, most of the clubs i bought were used.

this is where my advice comes in: from personal experience, i would ask you to guess the type of golf swing that you desire to have and the swing speed that you will generate. although body types of individuals may vary, one can still make broad generalizations, especially given your current level.

for example, you may observe how other golfers of your age/build swing their golf clubs. if you like their swing speed and style, ask them about their club specs. it would be best if you have a group of friends that you can observe, then you will have a better idea of their athletic abilities and personalities ect.

i have been involved from many sports from soccer, tennis, volleyball, table-tennis and football. a skillful soccer playmaker like ronaldinho does not normally become an andy roddick of tennis, nor a cabrera of golf.

in the end, nothing beats a full-scale custom fitting, provided you have already possessed a consistent golf swing. but for now, your best bet would be to guess your "desired" swing style and swing speed, and then demo as many clubs as possible that might match your swing. so if you envision yourself as an aggressive player, you might want to ignore flexible/graphite shafts.

good luck!

[Flopshot]

Ok set a target for yourself.,, Say when i break 90 im gonna buy a new set of clubs then buy yourself something like ping g5's or big berthas or mizuno mx 15's then keep these till your single digits
buy a scotty Cameron putter
By some decent wedges like clevelands,Callaway tour, Titleist vokeys

Remeber to get Custom fitted DOnt pay 300- 400 for a new driver get a last season one trust me there better value for money

Get yourself a lob wedge while you still got your wilsons a 60 degree bad boy
learn how to hit flopshots and sand shots i expect at the mo your hitting it thin a lot. i was when i was beggining

[Diobacco]

I think that it would be best for you to buy hybrids to replace your 3, 4 and 5 irons and to buy a forgiving driver. You don't need clubs that are going to produce amazing shots, just clubs that are forgiving and will get rid of a lot of your really bad shots.

Having irons 5-sw in my set, I am now confortable with 5I... I use hybrids to replace 3 and 4. Should I look into Hyvrid to replace 5I or if I can hit with good consistency an iron it is always better than an Hybrid?

[Diobacco]

Get yourself a lob wedge while you still got your wilsons a 60 degree bad boy

No surprise I get this advice from you

I like pitching with sw so I was definitely evaluating adding a more lofted wedge. I think I will follow this asap...

[Jack_2251]

Well I would say, buy a really nice putter and driver, as you will use these most. Maybe a hybrid as well? Don't waste your money on pro-vs, you won't notice much difference anyway (no offence)

[Diobacco]

Well I would say, buy a really nice putter and driver, as you will use these most. Maybe a hybrid as well? Don't waste your money on pro-vs, you won't notice much difference anyway (no offence)

I had a 21* hybrid with my set and bought a nice 24*. The putter with my set seems fine but hard to judge for me... I think is worth 70$ or so, maybe you can tell from the price if it can be any good.

Driver; the one with the set is 450cc but I guess on the low end price range. Replacing it should give me more distance or reduce slices etc.? I can wait for distance... cant for slices. Totally agree about balls... problem is that when I get into Golf shops I cant resist buyng nice balls I guess it is part of the game...

[jcard71]

Why are so many people suggesting a driver?!??!?!

You should not be hitting DRIVER at ALL!

If you just started, you should not be playing courses that have 440 yd par 4's...ETC. You should be playing executive courses or even par 3 courses.

I'm 36 years old and a 7.8, and started playing when I was 23, and if I had to do it all over again, I would have started from the GREEN back.

[ks8829]

How much money do you want to spend on clubs?
How much money is allocated for golf lessons?
How much time do you spend on golfing?

How long have you been playing?

I just saw a great set of KZG forged progressive cavity irons that sold on ebay for about $135.
I would play costco Titleist balls 2 pack for $29.95
I would practice putting, my wedge play around the green and my Driver or 3 wood off the tee.