Beginner Golf Clubs

[AugustaDawg17]

Hey everyone, just signed up for the site. Recently moved to Augusta and picked up golfing about 6 months ago (Not much else to do here) and became hooked. I am currently using a  set of clubs given to me by a friend and am interested in buying my own set now. My question was.... do I buy a cheap set now (saw good reviews on Callaway strata set) or just replace my current clubs individually and just work my way up over time . And if individually..... which club should take priority first? My set now are all pretty old and worn and I’m not sure which of them is in the worst shape

 

thanks for any advice!

[Vinsk]

Welcome to TST! Your question is really more of a preference than anything. I personally am never a fan of buying something 'cheap' but prefer to get a quality item used. There are so many good used sets out there (especially if you're right handed). I just think you get what you pay for. I'm sure there a re some lesser sets out there that will suffice for now, but I don't bother with that sort of stuff. Ping, Titleist, Callaway, TaylorMade, Mizuno, Srixon, so many. I would also recommend you consider having a good fitting done. Anyway, welcome again and look around. This is really an awesome site with tons of very intelligent people and solid players and instructors.

[Max Utrillo]

Hi AD17,

I am a little hesitant to respond because I too am a new golfer, but, being a new golfer, I hope that my experience will be helpful to you.

I started golfing earlier this summer and also fell in love with it. I was playing with a set of beginner clubs inherited from my dad, who received his set as a gift from my sister. He never took to the game and so they sat in the garage. It was a set of Maxfli clubs (driver, two hybrids, 5-PW irons, and a putter). I took those clubs out to the range for a few weeks and played with them them a few times. One day at the driving range the head of the 3 Wood flew off when I hit the ball. My dad had barely used the clubs so they were pretty much brand new. They obviously weren't top quality.

My brother who has golfed for years gave me some very sound advice. Being new (I was after all still just trying to figure out how to swing the club) he suggested I check out a used sporting goods store. He said maybe I'd get lucky and find a decent club for next to nothing. I followed his advice and found a used Titleist 3-Wood that was probably 15 years old but appeared to be in good shape for $28 at Play It Again Sports. Problem solved because I just wanted something to hit, I didn't (and probably still don't) know what I really need. And I'm not ready for a club fitting.

Even though it was an old club, you could feel the difference, and the rest of those Maxfli's started to seem pretty weak. I managed to find an almost brand new set of Titleist 716 AP1's (5-PW) for $350 at Golf Galaxy. From there I soon bought a used Titleist driver for about $50 (again probably around 15 years old but in very good shape - and I had it re-gripped for $13 at Golf Galaxy). I eventually got a couple new PING hybrid's at Dick's Sporting Goods. One was brand new ($180) and the other was a demo club. I lucked out because the demo club had never been hit, but being a demo they couldn't sell it as new so I got it for half price ($90). Then I found myself two used wedges (a Cleveland in good shape and an almost brand new Titleist Vokey SM5), and finally a brand new TaylorMade wedge that was on sale. After a few months, the shaft on that Titleist 3-Wood started to bend a little, so I had it re-shafted and re-gripped for around $30-40 and it's fine now. I rounded out the set with a new Ping putter for $180.

To some, this may seem like a circuitous, disorganized, and uninformed way to go about putting together my first set of clubs. I will agree that it is uninformed, but I managed to find some great deals on equipment that was in some cases almost completely brand new, and in the process I was doing this as my swing was starting to develop and I was finding a need for clubs that weren't included in the starter set (wedges!). I also looked at, handled, and swung a lot of different clubs (my Golf Galaxy has a swinging area for the used clubs which was really valuable). It was a very enjoyable summer spent learning something completely new. As time goes on I'm sure I'll go to fittings, buy new clubs, and become far more knowledgable about what I need for MY game, instead of just using what I found because it was in good shape for the right price. But this is how I got started and I hope that relating this experience helps you.

To answer your question, I started replacing the starter set with one club that was totally broken and proceeded opportunistically from there, buying "new" clubs when I found something in good shape for a price so far below what that club would have originally cost that I couldn't pass it up (and then getting a few actually new clubs along the way that just excited me). I will be interested to hear what the truly experienced among us recommend.

All the best,

Max

[dennyjones]

  On 12/29/2017 at 3:43 AM, AugustaDawg17 said:

Hey everyone, just signed up for the site. Recently moved to Augusta and picked up golfing about 6 months ago (Not much else to do here) and became hooked. I am currently using a  set of clubs given to me by a friend and am interested in buying my own set now. My question was.... do I buy a cheap set now (saw good reviews on Callaway strata set) or just replace my current clubs individually and just work my way up over time . And if individually..... which club should take priority first? My set now are all pretty old and worn and I’m not sure which of them is in the worst shape

 

thanks for any advice!

Expand  

Welcome to TST.

[The Hook Meister]

I think you should go to a golf store where they have a net that you can hit balls into. Then try a bunch of different clubs and brands and see what feels good to you. You don't want to buy some clubs because it's a good brand and get to the golf course and find out you don't really like them all that much. Trying out all those brands can be fun. and you get to try all those brands for free.

Edited December 29, 2017 by The Hook Meister
miss spelling

[NJpatbee]

I would check out brand name sets of used golf clubs, do not buy “cheap” golf clubs, there is no reason to.  You can get some great deals on the internet.  Have fun and enjoy the game!

[Rip62]

If you don’t feel ready to do a fitting then at least go to a golf and hit as many clubs as they let you. Find ones you feel you get good results with and then shop around on the internet to get the best deals. eBay, Rockbotton Golf, Second swing and Global Golf have worked well for me in the past. You can find some really good deals on 1 or 2 year old models and used clubs.

[AugustaDawg17]

Thanks for all of the responses! Went to a few places today, think I’ll be upgrading my putter first. Unfortunately I liked the Taylormade Spider Tour the most after putting around with a few, even used it’s a more than I want to spend ha