What golf clubs should you buy? If you’re a beginner, and just want to get out in play, then you’ve come to the right place. In this article we cover what clubs you should buy, what brands of golf clubs you should consider, and what type of clubs are best for a beginner.
What Clubs Should I Put In My Bag?
Before you go out buying random sets of golf clubs, you need to know what clubs need to be in your bag. The legal amount of clubs to have in your bag is 14. If you are not looking into buying that many clubs, that is OK. We will suggest which clubs should definitely be your bag. Let’s get to it!
Driver (The BIG One)!
The driver is the BIG club. It has the largest head, and the longest shaft of all the clubs. It is your farthest hitting club and is used most often off the tee for the longer holes (par 4s and par 5s). The driver generally should go about 220-280 yards. There are different types of shafts (flex and weight). For beginners we would typically suggest going with a Regular (R) shaft.
Fairway Woods
Fairway woods look similar to the driver, but have a thinner profile. These are also often used off the tee, but are great for using on, you guessed it, the fairway (short grass). Typical golf bags have a 3 and a 5 wood. If you only buy one, we would probably suggest the 3 wood. It’s a great alternative for distance when your driver is giving you fits. Again, for the shaft, we would recommend Regular flex.
Irons (The Metal Blades)
Irons are the thinner bladed clubs (some can be thicker–cavity backs), but they definitely have a thinner profile than your driver and woods, with a shorter shaft. The typical golf bag will include irons 4-PW (PW being Pitching Wedge). If you can’t find or afford a set with 4-PW, you can often go without the 4 iron (you might have troubles hitting that anyway). The PW doesn’t have to come with the set either (explanation in “Wedge” section below)
When buying irons, if you are beginning, you are generally better off with a set of cavity back clubs (pictured below). Cavity backs are much more forgiving than blades (thinner profile irons). You will most likely enjoy learning golf with a more forgiving set of clubs.
Wedges (Chipping and Sweet Flops)
Wedges are great clubs for attacking the pin on the greens. They are also the clubs you will most likely swing most, between approach shots, pitch shots, chips, and escapes from the sand. The typical bag might include a Pitching Wedge (PW), Gap/Approach Wedge (GW or AW), Sand Wedge (S or SW), and a Lob Wedge.
Wedges often come in an iron set (generally up to a gap or sand wedge), but many golfers tend to buy them separately, matching the exact loft they need to gap out their bag. Again, if you do not have the funds to purchase this many clubs, we would suggest having at least a Pitching Wedge and a Sand Wedge (gotta escape that beach)!
One more note on wedges: it is often that the degree of loft of the wedge will be shown only. Typical lofts for these clubs are like so:
- PW – 48*
- GW – 52*
- SW – 56*
- LW – 60*
Putter (The “Flatstick”)
The putter is THE most used club in the bag, and is absolutely ESSENTIAL. This is not a club you can skip. There are MANY different types of putters, with different shapes, weights, hosels, and more. If you have a chance to test different putter types before buying, you should. If not, it might be best to just go with the typical blade putter (as shown in the image below).
Golf Brands You Can Trust
We can’t tell you how many times we have seen beginners buy a crappy set of clubs just because they thought it was a “good deal,” or because they “looked cool.” There are a lot of brands out there, but when starting new (especially if you buy second hand), we think it’s best to keep to the most trusted brands.
The big brands that have been a staple on the PGA Tour for quite some time are Taylormade, Ping, Callaway, and Titleist. If you buy second hand, there should be no shortage of these brands of clubs on the market. Below is a list of other brands we would recommend and trust as well:
- Cobra (drivers, fairway woods, and irons)
- Mizuno (drivers, fairway woods, irons, and putters)
- Srixon (great irons)
- Cleveland (known for great wedges)
- Nike (no longer produce golf equipment, but have great clubs)
- Adams Golf (owned by Taylormade)
- Odyssey (putter company owned by Callaway)
- Scotty Cameron (putter company owned by Titleist)
- Bettinardi (putters)
Where To Buy Golf Clubs
If you are starting out new to golf, we typically wouldn’t suggest buying clubs brand new. After you hit them once, they are used. Also, new clubs are EXPENSIVE. If you are looking for secondhand clubs, we typically shop on eBay. Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist (or similar local classified listings) can be a great place to look as well. Try to avoid buying clubs that are older than 15 years. You can find good deals for pretty recent models.
One more piece of advice, if you can test out the clubs before buying them, you should. Go to a local golf shop, test them out on one of their simulators or putting greens. If they have a good deal at the store, get it, but you can also most likely find better deals on eBay.
Thanks for reading this post! We hope this was helpful for starting out your new journey in golf! If you haven’t yet, make sure to check out our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/GolfAscending
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