Hello y'all

[coastrat]

Hello y'all, I'm coastrat.

I'm a weekend warrior golfer, and I've never been particularly good. My handicap is currently in excess of 30+, which is why I'm here. I'm a lefty, and I'm in the market for new clubs; I'd appreciate any and all suggestions for complete sets, or "piecemeal sets," in the $200.00 - $300.00 price range. Once I can secure new clubs, I'm going to visit the local PGA pro and go through a few lessons. The golf course up the road from my house is a nice course, and the PGA pro there offers three lessons for $180.00. In the meantime, I'm going to work on ball striking and limiting my horrendous slice.

Currently, I'm seeking direction on how to limit, tame, lessen, etc., my slice, as it is pretty darn strong and almost always causes me to go far left and in the rough or woods off of the tee. By the end of this year, I'd like to get to where I can hit the ball in the direction I seek to about 7/10 times. Furthermore, I'd like to become a more consistent ball striker. I hit about 100 balls at the range at least two times per week, but sometimes three. Some days are better than others. I'm learning that I'm rather comfortable with my 9 iron, and I'm attempting to get that familiar with my 6 iron. I hit my 3 wood pretty well, and my putter is sporadic. I generally refrain from using my driver and hybrid club (which takes the place of 2 - 5 irons for me), as I have little control over the ball with them. I don't get to play as many rounds as I'd like, but I know for a fact that I'm playing at least six rounds in November or December.

Long term goals are simple: become as good as I possibly can, given my specific time and financial constraints. Realistically, I'd like to become a bogey golfer by the end of 2017. Another long term goal of mine is to have great swing posture and smooth movement. I'm a lanky, long-armed guy, and I'd like to use that to my advantage, if possible. 

Personally, I'm a Southerner (and damn proud of it), and a huge SEC football fan. I'm also an attorney and my firm specializes in commercial litigation (which is a fancy phrase for businesses suing other businesses). I've always heard that deals are closed on the golf course, yet I've never experienced that phenomenon personally. 

I look forward to meeting y'all and becoming a better golfer. 

[CarlSpackler]

Welcome to TST! I'm not sure how many deals are still closed on the golf course any more, but there is no other game like it. 

[flattman]

Another semi-southern Lefty, here (Tex).  It can be a pain to track down sticks, particularly things you can actually give a test swing or two.  Stores don't keep much left-handed stock to begin with, then when you try to knock down the budget to something more reasonable you're lucky to find ANY used lefties.

I've had good luck finding solid used clubs on a couple sites (Not sure about naming specific ones, rules-wise -- Maybe PM me?).  Another option for the budget-minded is to look into component builder/maker sites.  I can think of two or three offhand, though again you can run into limited selection and the inability to try before you buy.  I've seen Hireko get some decent reviews, but I usually run into the problem where they'll have a line of irons ... and, say, left-handed 8 irons are out of stock.  

I'm in desperate need to refurbish the bag after a long hiatus for new job/new baby duties.  The grips on my CB2s have just about crumbled into grip dust.