Golf club advice?

[TheNextStep]

Okay... so I'm a crappy golfer and I have no golf clubs... but I want to become a better golfer and I still have no golf clubs. So what do I do?

A few things:

1. As mentioned, I suck.
2. I'm getting some minimal instruction, as I had to take a PE credit and decided upon golf. He's by no means a golf pro, but I do know a hell of a lot more now than I did before.
3. I don't have a lot of money.
4. Friends have said, "You can sometimes find great deals on Ebay" but the fact is that I don't know if the set of irons going for $39.99 are going for that price because they're a steal or because they suck. Additionally, I've got to add on (generally) 25 bones for shipping anyway.... and again, what if the clubs suck?
5. I'm not worried that I'm going to quit the game. I like it... a lot.
6. I am worried that I'm going to get one of those beginner sets and outgrow it in a relatively short amount of time.
7. I don't have a lot of money.
8. I've looked for online reviews but I don't know what the heck they're talking about because they don't ever just come out and say, "these clubs are freakin' great" unless they cost eight hundred million dollars. They don't ever come out and say, "these clubs are a nice middle of the road set" unless it's an advertiser trying to sell you the clubs. They don't ever come out and say, "Look, these ****ing clubs suck moose balls."
9. What the hell does all the stuff about the driver mean? Do I want 10* loft? Do I want 380cc? More, less? Hell, I don't know.
10. At 6'1", what length of...... wait for it, you bastards.... club shaft am I looking for?
11. For that matter, what's the difference between graphite, steel, and more importantly, what does it mean to me, "Mr. Not a good golfer but wants to play?"
12. I don't have a lot of money.

Help? Anybody?

I'm not looking to buy today... or even next week... but that's more than a little in part to do with the fact that I've got no idea what I'm looking for or, for that matter, looking AT. I see a set of irons on Ebay and I go, "oooooh, they're pretty shiny!" but I don't know if it's just a polished turd, you know? Any help would be appreciated, but I'm particularly looking for very informal advice, preferrably in "layman's terms" so I know what to make of it.

[RhymesayersDU]

I started last summer, and my dad bought me these clubs from Costco.. they're made by Jack Nicklaus and are called "Golden Bear" ... They come with a bag, a putter, Irons 9-5, a 4 & 3 hybrid iron/wood, a P Wedge, and then 3 and 5 woods, and a driver.

I think the cost was about 200. I really like them, for a starter set.

[Raider Bill]

I'm 6'5" and have an additional 1" of length on my clubs. At 6'1" you should be ok with a standard set.

Look for irons with the cavity back and not the old fashoned "blades" as they are more forgiving.



cavity back



Blades

I'd also shell out the extra for graphite shafts as a duffer.

As far as the driver, the more loft the more forgiving. I don't even use one though. The 20 or so yards I sacrafice hitting a 3 wood off the tee is well worth it when the ball is still on the fairway.

[Rascal]

Originally Posted by njbil

I'm 6'5" and have an additional 1" of length on my clubs. At 6'1" you should be ok with a standard set.

Look for irons with the cavity back and not the old fashoned "blades" as they are more forgiving.



cavity back



Blades

I'd also shell out the extra for graphite shafts as a duffer.

As far as the driver, the more loft the more forgiving. I don't even use one though. The 20 or so yards I sacrafice hitting a 3 wood off the tee is well worth it when the ball is still on the fairway.

Hey I'm 6'5" and got 1" extra length.

I swing to hard so there is no reason why I will ever use a graphite shaft.

For your first set though I wouldn't get anything other then steel shafts. The main thing is having the correct shaft length and shaft flex. If you swing hard and have quick tempo to your swing (say you swing 85+ mph) then you definetly want a stiff shaft.

Personally I have a 1" extra shaft and swing about 92 mph but I'm trying to slow down my tempo a bit.

For a good read if you are really interested look into getting Hogan's Five Fundamentals of Golf. That might not be the exact title but it should be something similar. Shouldn't cost you more then 10 bucks. It will help with a lot of the basics that so many newbs, including myself, get completely wrong without dishing out the bucks for a professional lesson.

Oh...Practice, practice, practice.

[Rascal]

Costco are good cheap clubs. You could also look at some buyitagain sports stores or something equivalent in your area. What you could also do is browse your local newspaper and check out your local pro club...often when people get new sets they trade theirs in or sell the old ones.

Or get lucky like me...and have your uncle give you his old set.

I haven't bought any clubs off of ebay but I think Shack has.

You could also try a club discount store that sells knockoffs.

Try www.redrivergolf.com.

[atwater58]

Originally Posted by TheNextStep

Okay... so I'm a crappy golfer and I have no golf clubs... but I want to become a better golfer and I still have no golf clubs. So what do I do?

A few things:

1. As mentioned, I suck.
2. I'm getting some minimal instruction, as I had to take a PE credit and decided upon golf. He's by no means a golf pro, but I do know a hell of a lot more now than I did before.
3. I don't have a lot of money.
4. Friends have said, "You can sometimes find great deals on Ebay" but the fact is that I don't know if the set of irons going for $39.99 are going for that price because they're a steal or because they suck. Additionally, I've got to add on (generally) 25 bones for shipping anyway.... and again, what if the clubs suck?
5. I'm not worried that I'm going to quit the game. I like it... a lot.
6. I am worried that I'm going to get one of those beginner sets and outgrow it in a relatively short amount of time.
7. I don't have a lot of money.
8. I've looked for online reviews but I don't know what the heck they're talking about because they don't ever just come out and say, "these clubs are freakin' great" unless they cost eight hundred million dollars. They don't ever come out and say, "these clubs are a nice middle of the road set" unless it's an advertiser trying to sell you the clubs. They don't ever come out and say, "Look, these ****ing clubs suck moose balls."
9. What the hell does all the stuff about the driver mean? Do I want 10* loft? Do I want 380cc? More, less? Hell, I don't know.
10. At 6'1", what length of...... wait for it, you bastards.... club shaft am I looking for?
11. For that matter, what's the difference between graphite, steel, and more importantly, what does it mean to me, "Mr. Not a good golfer but wants to play?"
12. I don't have a lot of money.

Help? Anybody?

I'm not looking to buy today... or even next week... but that's more than a little in part to do with the fact that I've got no idea what I'm looking for or, for that matter, looking AT. I see a set of irons on Ebay and I go, "oooooh, they're pretty shiny!" but I don't know if it's just a polished turd, you know? Any help would be appreciated, but I'm particularly looking for very informal advice, preferrably in "layman's terms" so I know what to make of it.

Golfs a blast but it's expensive. Greensfees, Golfcart, Beer and Balls and your talking 50 bucks at an average course.

If you can find a nice place to play, cheap and have friends who play and like to gamble this game might be the one of the greatest luxiuries of life.

Clubs- just make sure you don't get blades- you want oversized preferably if your starting out- a lesson would help alot too

Graphite or Steel - are what the shafts are made of Grafite= more distance Steel= more control

I would reccomend Tommy Aarmorr's 845's irons for beginners- I say that because I just saw a deal where you could buy them for $200 -try Amazon

[Mr Chatterboodamn]

Originally Posted by atwater58

Golfs a blast but it's expensive. Greensfees, Golfcart, Beer and Balls and your talking 50 bucks at an average course.

If you can find a nice place to play, cheap and have friends who play and like to gamble this game might be the one of the greatest luxiuries of life.

Clubs- just make sure you don't get blades- you want oversized preferably if your starting out- a lesson would help alot too

Graphite or Steel - are what the shafts are made of Grafite= more distance Steel= more control

I would reccomend Tommy Aarmorr's 845's irons for beginners- I say that because I just saw a deal where you could buy them for $200 -try Amazon

wow, i was going to recommend the same thing. they are great clubs for the beginniner looking to get better. the play somewhere between blades and cavities in terms of feel so as you begin to own your swing and strike the ball better you can still appreciate some degree of feel. if you are 6'1 and relatively young and strong, i would recommend stiff steel shafts because you probably don't need help generating power. you just need to practice with good tempo and technique. 845s with stiff steel are good transition clubs that will help you to develop better habits than more forgiving clubs. a good way to approach a golf swing is to start really slow and find the point and tempo where you are able to consistently strike the ball cleanly. i own these clubs and personally think they are awesome and am glad i didnt shell out more money for bigger name clubs. i got an unmolested used set on ebay for around $220 3 years ago and i've been able to grow a lot.

[Ballhawk]

Buy the cheapest set you can find, wilson makes a good starter set. Once you can hit those then consider stepping up to a better set. Get a set with stiff shafts if you are younger or a flex shaft if you are older, graphite or steel makes no difference. Make sure the shaft is long enough so that your grip is in the upper middle part of the grips (handle area). Club heads are designed differently but all have about the same club face, so when you are looking down which one gives you the greatest confidence that you will hit the ball (perception is greater than reality in this case).

If you have a good swing you will hit anything well, the technology of clubs will make a small difference in the score.

[Raider Bill]

I use the Nickent knock offs of the Tight Lies.. My pop sold all his Taylor Made wood s except for the driver because he liked the Nickents so much

[Mr Chatterboodamn]

Originally Posted by njbil

I use the Nickent knock offs of the Tight Lies.. My pop sold all his Taylor Made wood s except for the driver because he liked the Nickents so much

Nickent is definitely underrated... i use one of their sand wedges that I found cheap and it's just a nice club. It just plays consistently and true.

[Liebs]

Depending on your budget, I would go with Clevelands. Used by the pros yet still pretty affordable

[mattleecrew]

Id reccomend looking at a used set of clubs than buying a cheaper beginner set. You look around and your bound to find a good deal. A good set of clubs last a long time and there are plenty of used sets out there with a ton of life left in them. I searched around and got a set of used Calloways( set of irons and 3 smallhead woods) for under $200 off my friends boss who had bought himself a brand new set. They have seen better days but still get the job done on the course. I did however search for steel shafts instead of graphite as a beginner. The steel shaft clubs with less flex will be much more forgiving and help you work on learning to hit the ball straight and true. In any case whatever kind of clubs you get a few lessons will help the best. Your, swing, foot alignment, balance and keeping your head down are the biggest keys to cutting down the strokes. Good Luck.

[orange 4 life]

Originally Posted by Liebs

Depending on your budget, I would go with Clevelands. Used by the pros yet still pretty affordable

i play cleveland irons (3-pw, 50* gap wedge), dunlop sand and lob wedge (56 and 60*), and adams woods (redline 10.5 and gt extreme 15*).

great stuff. not exactly cheap.

for a true beginner, there are a few good ways to go.
for one, do NOT get steel shafts. you want graphite, and you want graphite with a low kick point. yes, you MAY grow out of them in a couple or three years, but thats likely to happen REGARDLESS of what you get, unless you pay the dough now (which you shouldnt).
low kick point just means the shaft bends closer to the club head. why is this important? because for a beginner, your biggest problems will be releasing the club (in other words turning it over and following through), and getting the ball airborn. dont worry about the terminology right now, but think about. the club bends lower to the head, which means it does more work for you.
DO NOT swing hard. it should feel almost effortless. the club WILL do the work. trust me.

as for driver, you want a shaft length at 44", which fortunately for you is standard (irons youll want standard length too so dont worry about it) length. the longer the shaft, the less control.
as for loft, thats simply the degree that the club will help you get the ball airborn. that and the kickpoint. sometimes, too much is made of loft, and not enough on kickpoint.
this is why its VITAL that you get graphite shafts in your irons also, since steel isnt made with a good low kickpoint.
kickpoint is SO important, because the kickpoint largely (along with loft of course) determines the launch angle of the ball. as a beginner, your first swing problem likely will be "topping" the ball, which wont get the ball in the air. yes, OFTEN times steel shafts will be a LITTLE more accurate than graphite, but pinpoint accuracy is NOT your focus right now. put it this way. i play with graphite shaft irons still (6'2, 200 lbs.). i just now use a high kickpoint shaft to increase accuracy.

as for club heads, whoever posted the cavity back and blade photo's is correct. you want cavity back, or "game improvement" irons. as for growing out of those genre of club, probably never. alot of PGA professionals are using game improvement. why? because blades are simply too hard to hit consistently.
blades allow you to "work" the ball more, which means that you fade (play left to right) or draw (play right to left) the ball on purpose. blades make this much easier, but they are MUCH harder to get up in the air, and a mi**** can be SEVERE, where a mi**** on cavity backs will be less dramatic.
cavity back irons are MUCH more difficult to "work", but MUCH MUCH easier to get airborn. obviously, a beginner just wants to hit it straight, so get cavity backs. 8 of 10 sets in stores are cavity back anyway, so you wont much need to worry about that anyway.

as for WHAT you should get, theres MANY options that would work.
heres the pertinent question.
EXACTLY how much are you willing to spend?
tell me that, and ill give you a few choices, all of which would work well for you.
please let me know what i can do to help.
other than my family and the broncos, golf has become my life.

jake

[Raider Bill]

Originally Posted by orange 4 life

for a true beginner, there are a few good ways to go.
for one, do NOT get steel shafts. you want graphite, and you want graphite with a low kick point. yes, you MAY grow out of them in a couple or three years, but thats likely to happen REGARDLESS of what you get, unless you pay the dough now (which you shouldnt).
low kick point just means the shaft bends closer to the club head. why is this important? because for a beginner, your biggest problems will be releasing the club (in other words turning it over and following through), and getting the ball airborn. dont worry about the terminology right now, but think about. the club bends lower to the head, which means it does more work for you.
DO NOT swing hard. it should feel almost effortless. the club WILL do the work. trust me.


jake

Finally someone speaks some sense.... Like I said the "I only use extra stiff steels"crowd is giving the duffer bad advice IMO.

The second most important thing to squaring the club at impact, is having the club release through impact. This is much easier to feel with a graphite shaft. Most beginners have to overswing (with steels) just to get the same feeling and it kills the rest of their swing.

It's much easier to get a slower swing dialed in properly.

I only recently moved to steel shafts since my pop picked up a new set of Irons and my swing has been measured at Golfsmith at 101mph. And I still use graphite on my woods. I dont even use a driver and can outdrive most people I golf with. (Pops,even at 65 still can kick my ass however with his insane 110mph plus swing at 6'7" with this huge 48" driver. )

[TheNextStep]

So here's how I'm understanding it so far...

Irons - cavity backed, standard length shaft. There's a debate ongoing about graphite v steel for a beginner. I have no idea about "flex"

Drivers - 10* loft is about as low as I want to go. Again, standard length shaft. I've no idea about what "cc" I should aspire to.

Fairway Woods - I presume that I'm looking for something similar to the driver (probably in a set?) but don't know how incremental the loft ought to be.

Putter - I haven't a clue. I see them advertised as having such and such "face" but I don't know what difference it makes.

Wedges - what loft is good for what? I worry about this the least, honestly, because this is the one part of my game that I'm pretty happy with... although I've only used a 9 or a PW.

EDIT: Oh, and I hear you guys about the pro shop... but I want to walk in there with a basic understanding of what exactly I'm looking for.

As for a local club builder, what are they under in the Yellow Pages? How much do those sets typically run.

Originally Posted by orange 4 life

as for WHAT you should get, theres MANY options that would work.
heres the pertinent question.
EXACTLY how much are you willing to spend?
tell me that, and ill give you a few choices, all of which would work well for you.
please let me know what i can do to help.
other than my family and the broncos, golf has become my life.

jake

To be perfectly honest, jake, I'm looking to go as cheap as is humanely possible here. My wife is in the military and I'm in college, so price is among the (probably THE) most important factor. We aren't impoverished, of course, but we only have a limited amount of money that we set aside as "play money" (hence the reason I'm saying "I'm not buying this week). The way I'm looking at it is this: "What's the cheapest I could go without ending up with crap?" Whatever price that is and whichever brand/make/model clubs those are, they're the clubs I want. I know that Calloway, Titleist, et al, have great reputations and seasoned golfers swoon in their presence... but those aren't for me, either in skill level or price. Fortunately, I can play golf cheap on base... so I want to take advantage of it without my wife looking at me like I've lost my mind when I tell her how much I want to spend on clubs.

The plan is to get the set of irons first, the putter second, the driver third, the fairway woods (if they're not in a set with the driver), and then dabble around with the wedges (and what the heck are "G" and "U" wedges, by the way?).

[stoxman]

Zoro dude....my dad like Chi Chi Rodriguez (pronounced Chee Chee Rod-Re-Gez...not Les Nesmann's Chie Chie Rod-Ri-gweez) alot as well...he got a picture with him a few years back and a real nice guy.

I'm on the Phil bandwagon as well--got his autograph his rookie year on tour after a round at the PGA at Crooked Stick (the one that John Daly broke out to stardom in). Great guy...can't stand that I lost the damn thing! That day I also got Payne Stewarts' as well....ouch.

My pick is Ernie Els for the masters.

Stox

[orange 4 life]

okay tns.
the best way for you to go then would NOT be to buy clubs independant (irons, woods, wedges, putter)

the best plan factoring in the money would be to buy a complete set, and ill give you a few recommendations to try.

as for the terminology, "flex" is simply the amount of bend in the shaft of the club. the more bend, the more distance. the stiffer the flex, the straighter the shot.
as a beginner, you think "straight right?"
not right, because stiff shafts make it hard to get the ball airborn.
"kick point" refers to the part of the shaft that bends the most.
low kick point means closer to the head of the club, which makes it easier to get the ball up in the air.

"cc's" refer to the size of the clubhead.
460 cc is the max allowed by usga (though plenty of companys make "illegal" drivers), and because of the size and weighting of the club, it makes it more forgiving without sacrificing much if any distance, which is why even pro's like tiger and vijay have gone to the 460 cc drivers.

okay, i would recommend golden bear, wilson, or dunlop.

all three have very nice complete sets that include 450+ cc drivers, fairway woods, 3 and 4 "hybrid" irons, and 5-pw cavity back irons.
some of these sets are steel (the 5-pw anyway), but all
three do have graphite models, and all three use low kickpoints.
in addition, all three of these companies complete sets have "oversize heads" which means the club head is larger than standard, and thus easier to hit. anything that makes it easier (and thus more fun!) is good.

the best news is that most complete set models from these companies run from 150.00 to 250.00 for the whole set!!
you may need a sand wedge (56-14 would be my recommendation. just ask the guy at the store. he should know what that means) if the set doesnt have one, but thats it. as you improve youll want more wedges, but right now you DONT want higher lofted wedges. just use the pitching wedge from the set and a sand wedge.

fantastic price for a complete set thats well put together.
try them out and see what you think. you wont notice much difference, so just FEEL which one you like the best. theyll all play about the same, and you wont outgrow them anytime soon.

also, in case it hasnt come up yet, "hybrids" are basically a combination of an iron and a wood, and their only purpose is to be easier to hit. VERY good idea for the beginner, and even some experienced golfers and pro's are starting to use them. all these brands i mentioned have sets that come with hybrids in place of a 3 and 4 iron.

lastly, all three of these brands you should be able to find at a place like gart sports, ***** sporing goods, or other large chain.

let me know if you have any other questions, and keep me updated. im excited for you, and curious to see what you settle on.

jake

[Billy Clyde Puckett]

Buy the cheapest set you can find so it is not as big a financial hit when you wrap them around a tree or toss them in a lake.

[watermock]

Rule #1 Dont try to kill the ball. It's not your enemy. Be the ball. Nanananana.....Let the club do the work for you.

Rule #2 Keep your damn head down thru the swing. You have to hit the ball before you can track it into the rough.

Rule #3 The 4 BYOBs: This means beer, booze, broad(s), and lots of balls.

Rule #4 Insist on 1 Mulligan each 9 holes. Or 2. Why beat yourself up.

[ludo21]

Originally Posted by watermock

Rule #1 Dont try to kill the ball. It's not your enemy. Be the ball. Nanananana.....Let the club do the work for you.

Rule #2 Keep your damn head down thru the swing. You have to hit the ball before you can track it into the rough.

Rule #3 The 4 BYOBs: This means beer, booze, broad(s), and lots of balls.

Rule #4 Insist on 1 Mulligan each 9 holes. Or 2. Why beat yourself up.

lol at rule #4, i take a mulligan like every hole, lol

im a beginner as well, and just getting a cheap set from costco is a great way to go..... or buy clones.

clones are the same club as expensive ones, just cheaper and the name is off brand, they are anywhere from 100-300 dollars. but originally they go anywhere from 500 - 1000

[stoxman]

I'd agree with the other comments here...buy cavity backed and what you can afford. There are even some golf shops that will sell used clubs that were trade ins. I'm VERY partial to PING irons...just picked up the G2's and there is not a more forgiving club on the market (not just my opinion...I believe GolfWorld rated them #1 in latest survey). The best set I ever had were Ping Eye 2's...but were stolen out of my trunk. I've tried the Tommy Armours, the Cobras, the Titleist DCI's...nothing beats a ping iron in my opinion. I'd say go for the best club you can get...try the largest discounters you can find and ask for trade ins. I just traded in my DCI's for these and got all of $150...the salesperson said they'd probably just mark them up to $200-225. Great deal considering when they came out they were over $600.

Good luck--enjoy the game!

[Tom A Hawk]

Originally Posted by watermock

Rule #1 Dont try to kill the ball. It's not your enemy. Be the ball. Nanananana.....Let the club do the work for you.

Rule #2 Keep your damn head down thru the swing. You have to hit the ball before you can track it into the rough.

Rule #3 The 4 BYOBs: This means beer, booze, broad(s), and lots of balls.

Rule #4 Insist on 1 Mulligan each 9 holes. Or 2. Why beat yourself up.

i want to play golf with you !!!

[Meck77]

Originally Posted by TheNextStep

I have no golf clubs... but I want to become a better golfer and I still have no golf clubs. So what do I do?

.

Pick out the kind you want at your local sporting goods store, golf shop...then go to EBAY and I bet they will be there or you can find a dealer via ebay who will give you a great deal despite the shipping cost.

I need an I love Ebay sticker on my bus. If it was not for Ebay there is no way we could have even attempted to put that thing together in less than 60 days and that is what we did.

[Raider Bill]

Well giving golf advice over the internet is like trying to create art by comittee. Without ever seeing the guy swing, Graphite shaft regular flex metal woods and cavity back irons are a safe choice

There is no such thing as a textbook golf swing.. some guys swing inside out some guys swing outside in...hell I know a guy with a terrible slice that lines up 40 degrees to the left of the target line and shoots in the 80's

The 2 most important things are the club (and your hands/wrists) releasing through the ball and that the club is pretty much square to the target line through impact. Graphite shafts give you a better feel for the clubhead releasing IMO.

As far as swingspeed, my father (at 64 years old and 6'7")swings in excess of 114 MPH (measured at the Golfsmith store) and still uses Graphite shafts on his woods. A natural lefty, he learned the game right handed because that was the only clubs around the house growing up.. he played semi pro ball though so he had some athletic skills going in.

Anyhow the whole "I only swing steels in ultra stiff flex" crowd is giving bad advice to the beginner IMO.

If there is one of those 2nd hand sporting goods stores in your neck of the woods Step, that's as good of a place to begin as any.

If you have the cavity backs and some decent metal woods Wilson, or whatever, that should be good enough... better equipment can make a slight difference, but getting your swing dialed in will make more. Don't blame the tools IOW.

[Clockwork Orange]

Not much of a golfer myself, but I know that when you want your opponent to miss a shot you yell "Noonan!"