Golf Clubs Advice

CatdickBojanglesLooking for some advice on a full set of golf clubs. Not going to be playing competitively or anything. More or less going to go play a few rounds and have a few canned sandwiches. Looking for something that won't break the bank because I am a beginner but will also help me learn better.

I’d probably look for something 5 years old or so on Craigslist for a couple hundred bucks. Taylormade Titliest Calloway are all good. Probably avoid a forged club or a blade unless you are really trying to get serious.

I have Ping G6’s (I think) for irons. Call away X-hot for driver, thrift store 5 wood, and afterburner 3 wood. All gotten used and for a good price (I think $400 for everything). Amazon and eBay are your friends.

Like mentioned already, Craigslist, Facebook Market place. Golf shops usually will have deals on used sets too and will let you hit some balls with them before you buy. Good luck and eat them canned sandwiches!

here i'll help you just like you did for me. I highly reccomend Wilson profile full golf sets i got some so i could get into golf with my buds and have been a great full start for when i was a less advanced golfer, in fact i actually placed second in a junior tournie with them. You get all neccesary clubs and extra for $350 which is the equivelent price to some individual drivers so they are cheap yet high performing and very durable.

You can go two routes, try to piece something together on eBay/Facebook, etc....or you could buy a beginner complete. If you don't really know what you want out of your clubs or what you like you might get overwhelmed or pick some bad clubs for you.

I use the tour edge bazooka 470s and they are plenty fine for me. I shoot around 80 most times. I'm like you, I don't care all too much about scores or being competitive. Just playing some rounds with the homies. Substituted in a Cleveland RTX wedge for the flop shots.

I'd steer clear of beginner sets. They're the shitty rental skis of the golf world. Much like skis, there hasn't been any game-changing innovation in club design in many years. Most PGA tour pros keep older clubs in their bags. So you'll be much better off getting ~5-10-year-old used clubs.

There are lots of ways to build a club set, but this is what I'd recommend for a beginner. A bag consists of 14 clubs max, so you can fill in the gaps in the future as needed (such as a gap and/or lob wedge)
Driver
3 wood, 5 wood
P, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 Irons (or substitute 5, 4 Irons with Hybrids)
Sand Wedge (54-56 degrees),
Putter

Look for companies like TaylorMade, Callaway, and Cobra. They're great brands that can usually be found used for cheaper than Titleist and Ping. You want the grooves in the faces to be in decent shape, and you want the hozzle and ferrule (where the club head connects to the shaft) to not have cracks. It would be nice to have good grips too, but those are a fairly cheap replacement at any golf shop.

For all clubs other than your putter, you'll want to buy clubs with Regular Flex shafts. This is pretty important. Printed on the shaft, there will be an "R" or "Regular." You definitely don't want Senior or Ladies flexes and you probably don't want Stiff or X Stiff flexes at your current skill level. As you improve, you can step up to stiffer flexes. Shaft flex is the DINs of golf. If they're too little or too much, your performance can be seriously impacted.

For putters, make sure the face is flat with no deep scratches or gouges. Otherwise, pick your favorite shape. Putters are entirely subjective.

Finally, an insider tip from a guy who's grown up in the golf industry. Use https://valueguide.pga.com/trade-in/ to determine club value. Multiply the suggested trade-in value by 1.4 to determine the retail sale value of used clubs. Shops that accept trade-ins will flip their used inventory for a 40% markup. Pretty standard in the industry. That's a very fair price. Anything over 1.4 x trade-in value, and I'd try to negotiate down. Anything under that, and you're getting a deal. Be warned, golf has experienced the same growth as all other outdoor activities, so used values are higher than they should be.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. My family runs the largest on-course retail golf shop in the states, so I know a thing or two about the industry

BrandoComandoI'd steer clear of beginner sets. They're the shitty rental skis of the golf world. Much like skis, there hasn't been any game-changing innovation in club design in many years.

Meh....I would disagree with this but it also seems like you take golf a lot more seriously than me.

He's a beginner, he doesn't know what he wants. Like you said yourself, there hasn't been much change in the golf club world for a while. There are some pretty good beginner sets that will last years for you to learn, get your swing down, and figure out what you need in your clubs. Shit, my buddy almost won state with a beginners set. I've won a couple of tournaments with an old ass set of top flights too.

When you figure out what you want, sell your old set for a little bit of cash and go get fitted or buy what you know works for you online.

Nice clubs won't make a difference when you are still trying to work on your swing.....and they can make it worse if you're using the wrong stiffness, etc.

All of your advice was really killer though. I just disagree with that one sentiment. I think they have their place.

Profahoben_212Meh....I would disagree with this but it also seems like you take golf a lot more seriously than me.

He's a beginner, he doesn't know what he wants. Like you said yourself, there hasn't been much change in the golf club world for a while. There are some pretty good beginner sets that will last years for you to learn, get your swing down, and figure out what you need in your clubs. Shit, my buddy almost won state with a beginners set. I've won a couple of tournaments with an old ass set of top flights too.

When you figure out what you want, sell your old set for a little bit of cash and go get fitted or buy what you know works for you online.

Nice clubs won't make a difference when you are still trying to work on your swing.....and they can make it worse if you're using the wrong stiffness, etc.

All of your advice was really killer though. I just disagree with that one sentiment. I think they have their place.

Totally agree with you. My "shitty rental ski" analogy is too harsh. Beginner sets have their place in the game. But for the same amount of money, I could piece together a higher-end set. I like to think of it as a car analogy.

Say you have $15k to spend on a car. A beginner or someone who doesn't know what to look for will be serviced perfectly well spending that on a brand new Nissan Sentra. It gets from A to B as well as anything else on the market.

An enthusiast would take that $15k and spend it on a nice used car. It still goes from A to B, but it has a little more performance to unlock. Bigger sweet spots, more distance, more ball spin, etc.

For someone who doesn't know what to look for, a beginner set is perfect. And like you said, it's easy to add or replace clubs based on need once you have a starting point.

One more tip: when buying irons, there are two options: blade irons and cavity-backed irons. Blades are harder to hit, so stick with cavity-backs when you're starting out. They're much more forgiving.

The best thing to do is to get something cavity backed ^... This will allow more forgiveness aka the ball will go better more consistently but you will also lose a little bit of distance. This will help you to focus more on form and getting the ball where you want it to go. Another thing that sounds silly is make sure you like the look of your club. I currently hit some of the new Mizuno irons that are bladed (super hard to hit) and I received quite a bit of slack because they are hard to hit...but I love the looks of em and that triggers something in my brain and I play better with em. (same goes for putter btw)

Honestly if you are just beginning, I wouldnt go out and blow like 750$ on a nice set of clubs... swings change over time and different clubs serve a different purpose. I have always suggested some callaways to beginners due to the fact that you can find em fairly cheap and they are really effective clubs. Just practice a ton to the point where you can drop upwards of 1k on clubs, thats when the game really starts to get fun!

BrandoComandoTotally agree with you. My "shitty rental ski" analogy is too harsh. Beginner sets have their place in the game. But for the same amount of money, I could piece together a higher-end set. I like to think of it as a car analogy.

Say you have $15k to spend on a car. A beginner or someone who doesn't know what to look for will be serviced perfectly well spending that on a brand new Nissan Sentra. It gets from A to B as well as anything else on the market.

An enthusiast would take that $15k and spend it on a nice used car. It still goes from A to B, but it has a little more performance to unlock. Bigger sweet spots, more distance, more ball spin, etc.

For someone who doesn't know what to look for, a beginner set is perfect. And like you said, it's easy to add or replace clubs based on need once you have a starting point.

That’s a good point. I kind of did both- my first clubs were low end Spalding whatever clubs like a Costco set - I always said oh well I’ll buy better clubs when I get better. And I just never really got better. I picked up a set of X-forged off of marketplace for 100 bucks - not really a club you would choose for a guy that can barely break 100 but it caused me to Renew my focus and really spend some time to learn how to swing a golf club. I watched a shit ton of YouTube videos and practiced a fuck ton and it paid off, after years of dedication I am slightly less terrible at golf.