How to choose the best golf clubs for beginners: buy the right equipment, at the right price!

How to choose the best golf clubs for beginners

Taking up the game and looking for the best golf clubs for a beginner? Don’t spend any money until you’ve read our complete guide to the best beginner golf clubs.

Choosing your first ever golf clubs is a fun and exciting task, but with the dizzying amount of choice available – across hugely different price points – it can also be confusing, overwhelming, and intimidating. This guide to buying the best beginner golf clubs is here to make things easier and help you avoid any costly mistakes.

We’ve also put together our picks of the best golf clubs for beginners, the best drivers for beginners and high handicappers, the most forgiving golf irons, and the best golf balls for beginners and high handicappers.

We’ve also written a complete beginner’s guide to golf, which covers everything from the equipment you need, what to wear, the different types of golf shots, some basic rules, getting a handicap, to how to keep everyone happy when you go out on the golf course for the first time, plus much more.

What golf clubs do beginners need?

The rules of golf allow you to carry a maximum of 14 golf clubs, but there’s no need to get that many straight away as a beginner. If you’d like to get used to the game before committing too much money, you could easily make do with a half set while you test the waters and develop your skills. You’ll definitely need a putter, probably a driver or 3-wood, and at least a few irons, ideally including at least one wedge.   

Obviously, if you’re confident you’re going to stick with the game or you’re not worried about money, buying a full set means you’ll have everything you need for at least the early stages of your golf journey.

What makes a good beginner golf club?

Now we’ve established what type of golf clubs you might want, let’s look at what makes a good beginner golf club.

Golf isn’t easy as a beginner, so you want equipment that helps you out as much as possible. With golf clubs, that means forgiving and easy to hit.

Beginner irons & wedges – maximum forgiveness

When it comes to irons and wedges, that typically means bigger heads and wider soles, which help you get the ball in the air easier and are less punishing when you make contact on different parts of the clubface.

Many golfers, not just beginners, find hybrids easier to hit than long irons, so it’s worth testing a couple to see if they work for you. 

Beginner driver – enough loft and consider draw-bias

Many beginner golfers struggle with a slice, particularly with longer clubs. If you fall into that camp, a draw-biased driver can make a big difference. The majority of manufacturers have several models of driver, one of which will be draw-biased; they typically have ‘D’ (for draw), ‘HD’ (high draw), or, in Ping’s case, SFT (straight flight technology) in the name. Our breakdown of the best draw drivers will help.

Drivers come in different loft options, too. Beginners will generally want to avoid low-lofted drivers, which we’d term as 9° and below. 10.5° is pretty standard so that’s a good place to start. Most modern drivers feature adjustable lofts so you can always add or remove a little loft once you’ve worked out what suits you.

Beginner putter – it’s all about confidence

When it comes to putters, there aren’t specific models that are tailored towards beginners, so just try a few different styles and see what you like best. That said, more and more golfers of all abilities are moving towards mallet-style putters as they tend to be more stable and forgiving than blade putters, so a mallet might be your best bet if your putting needs some work.

Some putters work best for golfers who take the putter head straight back and through (these are called ‘face balanced’) while others suit a more arcing putter stroke (these have more ‘toe hang’, which refers to how much the toe points towards the ground when you balance the putter on your finger parallel to the ground). The best way to find out what sort of stroke you have is a putter fitting, which is something often overlooked by golfers of all levels, not just beginners.

How do I choose golf clubs for my height?

Taller golfers will generally benefit from clubs that are longer and have a more upright lie angle, with shorter golfers needing shorter clubs with flatter lie angles, but there are plenty of exceptions to that rule.

A good custom fitting is the best way to ensure you’re getting golf clubs that are the right length to suit your height. A custom fitter will measure things like your wrist-to-floor measurement and, perhaps more importantly, the strike location and ‘dynamic lie angle’ when you hit shots. That dynamic lie angle refers to whether the bottom of the club is flat at impact, or whether the heel or toe of the club are higher than the other. Strike location is whether you’re hitting shots high or low on the face, and towards the toe or heel.

Custom fitting

Though we’ve tried to offer some useful guidance on the type of clubs you should look for, there’s no substitute for a good custom fitting. A good fitter will be able to determine what length and flex shaft will work best for you, look at your impact to see what clubs will work best, and let you test different models head-to-head to see what works and feels best.

Some fittings can almost be part golf lesson, as the fitter can explain what’s causing certain shot patterns (a big slice or thinned irons, for example), enabling you to make positive changes to your swing as well as finding equipment to help.

Many beginner golfers say they’re not good or consistent enough to get custom fitted, and whilst it’s true that we wouldn’t recommend booking a custom fitting for your first time ever hitting a golf ball, if you’re about to spend a good chunk of money on clubs, a fitting is definitely worthwhile. Don’t feel embarrassed about hitting bad shots in front of a custom fitter; they’ve seen it all before, countless times, and are only there to help, not judge you.

A good fitting also shouldn’t feel like you’re being pushed into buying anything. Some fittings are free, including those at big-name retailers, while smaller, custom fitting specialists sometimes charge a small amount for the fitting. This fee is often taken off the purchase price if you do go on to order clubs, and in our experience it’s worth the money anyway for the level of knowledge and care you get, plus the added impartiality and chance to test multiple brands.

If you have a custom fitting and don’t order clubs on the day, make sure you’re given the details of what has been recommended to you. This enables you to order the right thing at a later date.

Price

Golf can be an expensive sport to get into, with equipment, clothing, green fees and/or membership, and more. If you’d like to keep the initial outlay under control, there’s absolutely no need to go and buy 14 clubs of the latest and greatest clubs, particularly if you’re not sure whether golf will be for you or you’re a total beginner and don’t yet know what clubs you’ll want in a few months’ time.

As mentioned before, a half set is a good way to get yourself playing golf without shelling out for a full set of clubs.

Buying used golf clubs is also a good option, as the prices will be much lower, and if you pay a fair price you will be able to resell them without losing much if you decide the clubs (or golf) aren’t right for you. You can get the best prices by buying direct from other people on things like Facebook marketplace or eBay, but as a beginner it can be hard to recognize what’s a good deal and what isn’t. If you have friends who are experienced golfers, get them to help you pick suitable used clubs at a good price.

Specialist second-hand retailers like Golfbidder may be slightly more expensive than buying direct from an individual but they offer a much better safety net. All of their clubs come with a 12-month warranty and a 7-day trial period which lets you test the clubs and return for a full refund if you’re not happy with them for any reason.

Brands

Most of the leading brands offer a wide variety of models, from clubs aimed at pros and elite players right through to those aimed at beginners and high handicappers. The biggest brands are Callaway, TaylorMade, Ping, and Titleist, but there are many more companies making fantastic equipment.

That’s why our club reviews feature a ‘forgiveness rating’ and or ‘handicap range’, to help you see whether the model in question is likely to be suitable for your level. As mentioned, more forgiveness is your friend as a beginner golfer. If you’re unsure, drop us a message via email or on social media, speak to the pro at your local club, ask in a store, or get a custom fitting.

Rob McGarr – Contributing Editor

Rob has been a writer and editor for more than 15 years, covering all manner of subjects for leading magazines and websites.

He has previously been Features Editor of Today’s Golfer magazine and Digital Editor of todays-golfer.com, and held roles at FHM, Men’s Running, Golf World, and MAN Magazine.

You can follow him on YouTube where – depending on what day of the week it is – he’ll either be trying his best to get his handicap down to scratch or shoving his clubs in a cupboard, never to be seen again.