Beginner's Clubs, Balls, and Stuff
Men's, Women's, Senior's
Men's
Women's
Senior's
Why are clubs numbered?
Three types of golf clubs are numbered. For all three types the higher the number the more the club hits the ball higher and shorter.
Type 1 The wood/metal clubs:
#1 the driver, only for hitting off the tee and generally assigned the number 1. Drivers may have angles (the slant of the face compared to the shaft) from 10° to 12°. The shaft is longer than all the other clubs.
#2 wood is generally not used very much anymore
#3 wood has a smaller head and a slightly shorter staff than #1 driver and is used both off of the tee and on the fairway.
#5 wood is more angled with a shorter shaft than the #3 and also can be used on the tee and on the fairway.
#4 , #7 and #9 woods exist but are not used much anymore.
Type 2 The irons
Irons are numbered from 1 to 9 plus all the wedges.
Wedges start with the Pitching wedge, followed by more angle in the Sand wedge, then the Lob wedge then and the really high angle wedges the pros use.
Modern beginner sets may only have #6 through Lob wedge.
Type 3 the Hybrid clubs
The hybrids are rapidly taking the place of take the place of the #2 through #5 irons.
The Hybrid clubs, which look like small woods, come in #3, #4, and #5 really are easier for a beginner to hit.
Again as with all clubs, the lower the number the further you are supposed to hit the ball.
The idea is you hit every club equally as hard and let the angle of the club determine the distance.
If you are an average size, you can use average clubs
Average Size
Average size people use average size golf clubs. Probably 90% of clubs are standard off-the-shelf clubs with only 10% having clubs made for them.
Since you have such a wide choice of standard clubs, choose one that feels good. Nothing else matters.
While woman's clubs ussually have a soft nad flexible shaft to match the slow speed of the swing - it's fine for you, the beginner - while men have 3 levels of flex: Senior, Regular, and Stiff for the pro golfer. Most men's will be the regular flex. If you are over 60 you should be using Senior flex. Stiff is for guys who can hit the ball stiff 300 yards. Not sure that is you.
The length of the shaft can vary depending how tall you are. People have such odd ways of holding clubs, it maybe a year or so until your swing is grooved enough to worry about shaft length. Ok, if you are 6'4" tall you may want to have long shafts. The rest of us are fine with standard lengths.
Buying your first set of clubs
Buy beginners clubs
The differences in head design.
Click here
for a video by Matt Fryer explaing why clubs for amateurs, pretty good golfers, and pros are actually very different.
What clubs do I need?
You will need these clubs for a full set:
- A putter with a big grip, which help things in many ways
- A driver
- Possibly a 3 Wood - something a used set would include
- I like a 5 wood, but you can leave that for the next set
- 3, 4, 5 hybrids taking the place of 3, 4, and 5 irons - I like hybrids and I suggest having them
- 6-9 irons
- A pitching wedge, a sand sedge, and possibly a Lob wedge
That what you want for a full set, but if you first set only has odd numbered clubs and a driver and putter, that will work.
New or used?
You are better off with used clubs from a quality manufacture than buying new ones at Walmart or Dick's.
If a friend has old clubs that fit see if you can use or buy them. If you are a woman please only use women's clubs.
I've had great success on eBay once I learned the bidding tricks. Make sure the grips are good as having the golf shop put on new grips can be $20+ each. I regrip my own clubs and just the grip can be $15.
One thing about used clubs is they show you what you might really want. And, as there is no lack of golf clubs on the market, you can always buy new ones at any time. And you probably don't play well enough to notice the difference in clubs.
Again, if you are a woman use women's clubs. If you are a 30 year old regular guy, buy clubs with regular shafts. If you are older it's senior flex.
Buying on the internet or Store
Patience is a virtue as good deals come to those that wait.
Internet has shipping costs and stores have to make a profit.
If you are desparate to find clubs, many of the stores have a web presence to check inventory.
Sometimes someone has full garage full of clubs for sale. Good luck to find them. Mostly they are gone.
Again, be careful about good grips.
For your interest golf balls are officially regulated as below, yet many additional differences exist between them. Here are the regulations:
- → Golf balls must not be asymmetrical.
- → Golf balls are forbidden to have a weight that exceeds 1.620 ounces, or 45.93 gm (there is no minimum weight).
- → Golf balls must have a diameter that surpasses 1.680 inches, or 42.67 mm. Interestingly, golf balls do not have a maximum required size.
- → Golf balls must adhere to specific measurements of distance and velocity capabilities throughout vigorous trials.
Things not included: color, number of dimples, the physical ingredients, and anything printed.
All this means nothing when choosing what ball to use.
- ♦ You will lose many balls so buying used golf balls is not a bad idea. You can find buying on line is convenient, or big box stores such as Walmart, sporting good stores such as Dick's, or from the friendly people who collect the lost balls and sell them at some hole in the golf course fence. Ussually you can buy used balls for about 50 cents, much better than $1-4.
- ♦ You do not need fancy balls. In fact the expensive balls are the type the really good golfers use as they can hit 300 yards on a drive. You are going to hit 100-150 yards and need the softer balls.
- ♦ Really good golfers hit the ball hard enough to compress the ball which helps it speed off the club face. You need balls that match a slow swing.
- ♦ Look for something named something like (Inside the golf ball) "Noodle" or specifically for women or seniors.
For you soft, easily compressed balls will fly further than using the expensive one. - ♦ You will probably need 10-12 dozen during the season. Buy a couple of bags of used balls is the best suggestion.
- ♦ Golf balls can get very scruffy. I've used one ball for an entire round but that is the end of the life of the ball.
- Golf balls come in many colors. The most visible are white, orange/red. Do not get green, blue, or any dark color.
Golf bags and Carts
Bags and Carts
Assuming most of you will not be carrying your golf bags around the course, it's the number and placement of pockets that make the difference.
Here are photos of what is good.
Pull (push) golf carts are good while you are still young enough to walk the course. Some have electric motors to make life better. Some fold up better but most fold up well enough to minimize the space taken up in your car's trunk. Every store has different styles and brands. Start looking for pull carts before you buy your clubs.
Club cleaning stuff
Cleaning tools
Two items are really necessary:
1. a brass brush for cleaning the face of your clubs. These are available at any golf store. For some reason I rarely see them for sale at golf course pro shops.
2. a golf towel to finish the cleaning and cleaning golf balls.
Buying golf tees is much less expensive at golf stores than pro shops. So go to a store and buy a brush - I like the ones with a retractible wire - a towel and tees.
If you like looking good, look at golf shoe cleaners to keep that sparkling look.
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