As a beginner golfer (high handicapper) you’re probably having a hard time consistently hitting the ball, this could be because you haven’t been using the best clubs for a beginner. What you need to use are clubs that offer maximum forgiveness whilst also providing distance and consistency in order for you to improve your game. In this article I’ll go through each club in your bag and just what type you’ll need to get that consistency and power into your shot making.
Things You Need to Look for in the Best Beginner Golf Clubs
The best golf clubs for the beginner golfer are ones that will induce maximum forgiveness and improve your ball striking abilities.
To combat the problem of inconsistent hitting, an oversized club with a larger sweet spot is ideal. The larger the clubface is, the more it decreases the chance of a mishit shot. With irons, the perimeter weighting increases the sweet spot on the clubface, that in turn increases the forgiveness, allowing you to hit straighter more often.
Shots that are hit on the toe or the heel of the club can be hit a lot truer with the weighting in place, as the contact is made a lot more solid than without the perimeter weighting. A club with a wide sole will slice through the grass a lot easier and will result in much higher shot trajectory. Also, slightly shorter clubs will help with better club to ball contact.
The Best Type of Clubhead for the Beginner
A club with an offset club head will help, as the clubface arrives at impact slightly later. This results in the club head being closed rather than open at the moment of impact with the ball. The offset of the club head will also induce the hands into moving forward slightly in the grip, which will help you with the problem of hitting the ground before hitting the ball. A club head that has an adjustable weighting system can be adjusted to suit the golfers particular swing pattern.
The Best Beginner Fairway Wood
For shots from the fairways or rough, you should always use a hybrid or a wood as they tend to have more of a loft together with a low centre of gravity. A club with more loft and low centre of gravity will be easier to use to get the ball high in the air and to also get more distance from your shots. In addition to the loft aspect of shots, the more backspin you shall retain, which will then counteract with the side spin or top spin, and will keep the ball from curving as much, resulting in a much straighter shot.
The Best Beginner Driver
The driver of a beginner should be larger in terms of head size, so that the size of the club face and hitting area are increased. Also, additional loft of at least 12-15 degrees will help increase the height of your shots. The added loft as described will increase the backspin and reduce the risk of left or right curves as mentioned above. Read more about the best golf driver for beginners.
Best Beginner Putter
Putting will be very difficult for you at first, and three putts are very common place. With practice though, you will get better. You don’t have to be an athlete to putt well, but it can still be very hard for beginners to judge the distances of putts well. Keeping your head directly over the ball can help, but a good alignment system should be in place too.
Traditional Blades should be best left to the expert putters. They are designed to give the highest touch and feel of any putter and so it’s harder for recreational golfers like you to control. Beginners will have much more success on the greens if they opt for mallet putters with an offset (pictured to the right). You may have noticed mallet putters have lines on the putter head, these aid you in lining up your putts. The offset shaft is designed to get your eye over the ball, as it allows you to line up your shots easier than a straight shaft.
Best Beginner Irons
Some super game improvement irons for beginners are the choice for more consistent shots. SGI clubs offer perimeter weighting, cavity back, a wider sole, and a low centre of gravity too. The club choice range can be from either 6 through to pitching wedge or 6 through to sand wedge. The cavity back (pictured right) and wider sole make them much more forgiving.
The sand wedge will offer more loft and more bounce for shots around the rough or in the sand. The bounce is the feature on the sole of the club and it helps the club to glide easily through rough or sand. Read more on the best irons for beginners…
Best Golf Set for Beginners
When it comes to purchasing your first or even 2nd set of clubs it makes sense to buy wisely. You don’t want to go out and spend thousands on a new set of clubs, not just yet, there’s a few years of practice first 
To save money it’s important you look for complete sets as this is were bargains are to be had. A good set of clubs sold together as a package can be bought for as little as $200, even less if you go second hand. As a pointer, below I’ve listed what I think are the highest quality and most affordable golf clubs for beginners available.
Top Flite XL 13 Piece Golf Set (Recommended!)
This 13-piece set of men’s golf clubs from Top-Flite provides golfers with everything they need to hit the course, including a 460cc titanium composite forged driver, a fairway wood, two hybrids, five irons, and a mallet putter. The driver features a graphite shaft and a huge sweet spot for extreme distance. The perimeter-weighted stainless steel irons are designed to offer superior forgiveness, control, and feel. The putter is equipped with alignment stripes for enhanced accuracy. Included are a lightweight, durable stand bag with a padded dual-carry strap, along with a rain hood and two head covers.
Available at the following:
- Callaway Golf for $229.00
- Amazon.com for $197.54 (cheapest available)
- Golfsmith for $269.99
- Global Golf for $219.99
Are you from the UK? (Wilson Ultra Golf Set)
The Top Flite XL’s aren’t available in the UK but they can be delivered at an extra cost. However, if you don’t want to pay the astranomical shipping rates from the US then there’s a great alternative in the Prosimmon DRK’s from Amazon UK.
For tips on finding the best beginner golf clubs for women click here or if you’re advanced in years be sure to take a look at my article on the best golf clubs for seniors.
If you’re still having trouble finding the right clubs for you then I’m always here to help, just get in touch and I’ll help you best I can.
Good luck!
Rob
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