When you're just getting started, one of the best tips I can give you is to proactively not develop bad habits. They are much harded to break and correct the longer you swing incorrectly.

There's been lot's of advice thrown your way in this thread. This is mine:

1) Make sure your initial lessons get you positioned with the proper grip and stance (weight balance, alignment, weight transfer, swing path, tempo, etc.)

2) Buy one of these.... Medicus Reviews And use it! Personally I like to warm up with the 5-iron model because of the weight and compact length. Some prefer the driver. I don't use it for actually hitting balls. You can probably save some coin an look for one on ebay. People with horrible swings will buy them, never be able to make it work, and quickly give up and sell. New or used, doesn't really matter (just make sure it is a dual-hinge model...the older single-hinge ones are not nearly as effective). Used, you might have to put a new grip on.

When you can reliably swing a Medicus club your long game will be well on the way to breaking 100. Just remember, your short game and putting skills become must more important once you can consistently advance the ball AND keep it in play.

I neither own Medicus stock nor sell the club, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn recently....SmileWavy

Oh...and HAVE FUN! Welcome to the game.....

I think the biggest thing to avoid is the "advanced player" clubs. They are significantly harder for a beginner to hit straight and high. And avoid any clubs that are older than you are.

The thing, IMO, is to stick with are the game improvement/super game improvement clubs from any of the major manufacturers. You can't go too far wrong with those. The good thing, if you are going used, is these are the "Camry/Accord" of golf clubs. Thousands and thousands of sets sold every year. And if you buy new, you can get last year's model very inexpensively.

Not to brag (well, ok, maybe a little as a proud dad), my 13 year old son is a scratch golfer (4 under, even and 1 under in his last few tournaments), He's played in hundreds of tournaments from California to North Carolina, he's won countless tournaments, national level events, etc. over the last 5 years. I'm his full time equipment manager (lol). I've bought, shortened, lengthened, regripped, custom bent more clubs than I can remember over the last few years. So I have a pretty good idea of what it takes to go from an absolute beginner to a scratch golfer.

There is lots of good advice here but fore me the following works.....kind of! I started off with 2nd hand clubs and bag ... a half set used from a golf club for $50 25 years ago. Have had a couple of pros but I like Harvey Penick's set of lessons and teachings eg Harvey Penick's Little Red Book, plus he has a blue book, a green book etc. I replaced the old clubs with new clubs slowly. T-tom has a point. If u like the game, then u might want new clubs.

If you truly want to become a decent/good golfer (say, able to someday break 80, which would put you in the top 5% of golfers), I will say this:

You have almost no chance of getting even decent without taking lessons. It's almost impossible (and by almost impossible, I mean 99.999% impossible). You can't see your swing, so you don't know what is going on with it. You can go to the range for 3 hours, but like 99% of the people there, you'll just be repeating a really crappy swing over and over again, which doesn't go any good and in fact does harm.

For lessons, if you want to get good, you need private lessons. A coach really can't focus on your swing when you are one of 5 people he is simultaneously looking at.

That being said, the cost of lessons (and the costs of range balls, practice rounds, etc.) will quickly make the cost of your clubs fairly insignificant.

So if you are committed, you have to be ready to not worry too much about saving a few hundred on your clubs. The costs of your clubs will be the least of your expenses.

what he said. My dad was a scratch golfer back in the day, and while he was the first one to put a club in my hands, once I showed interest he immediately got me to a pro for individual lessons. I spent a lot of time working with him and getting it right in the beginning. The last time I swung a club (a few years back), I still had the same basic swing mechanics and could hit the ball - because I didn't ingrain a lot of bad things. I see people on the range and wonder htf they got their swing. The reason a lot of people can't break 100 is:

a) they didn't take lessons
b) they don't do a lot of deliberate practice

Interestingly enough, I'm finding the same story with bass guitar, and now at age 50 I'm having to unlearn a ton of bad habits - which is way more frustrating than if I'd done it right in the beginning.

nah, rubies are still in

http://www.gppgolf.com/media/catalog.../e/newport.jpg

My oldest brother can shoot in the low 70s right handed, and then play another 18 holes left handed and shoot in the high 70s, using crap rental clubs.
I've never beat him right or left handed.

Until you are better than your clubs you do not need better clubs.

But here's what I suggest: ask for advice and ignore all of it you don't like, instead patiently wait for someone to give you some advice you do like and go with that ;)

I'm not sure how that applies to the OP, who is at the exact opposite end of the spectrum from your brother.

It's not "better" clubs a beginner needs (as in, more expensive). It's "easier to hit" clubs that help, and help a lot for a beginner.

There's just no question that the modern game improvement and super game improvement clubs are a lot easier to hit straight than older clubs, or clubs designed for advanced players. They get the ball up in the air better, they have larger sweet spots, and they go straighter.

Could someone become a good golfer with a 15 year old, $50 set of club? Of course that's possible. But there's no doubt it will make an already challenging task much more challenging.

Does it make sense to spend $90-$100/hour for lessons, $50/week for range balls, and $100 week for practice rounds, and countless hours of your time, then try to save $200 by buying older, harder to hit clubs? Doesn't seem like it.

But that's why I asked in my first post what his level of commitment is. If it's to not take lessons, just go out and try to have some casual fun, etc., I think the clubs probably don't matter much. But if he is committed to lessons, regular practice at the range, regular practice rounds, and putting a significant amt of time in, I think it's worth paying a little more for a decent set of modern game improvement clubs.

The clubs from Paul arrived today. You won't see me on the PGA tour any time soon, but I can certainly play for a while with them. Paul is such a great guy he even threw in a few empty budlight cans and some spider webs at no extra charge... ;)

Seriously though, thanks Paul, let me know if you make it down south.


I'll hit the driving range sometime this weekend most likely, and then grab another lesson when I know I'll have some time.

I did play a week ago today, and my team placed 3rd, so I won a $60 gift card.... That will be put towards upgrading my golf set at some point....

+1
I would never have broken 80 without lessons.
Get a good swing coach and stick with him, if you want to play well. :)

They were my NEPHEWS clubs, I swear!

Clean them up and they'll be fine...the driver and putter are worth the price:cool:

The Furman carry bag is great as well.

Lessons are essential, as we all know. So is patience. Don't worry too much about score... I only play three or four times a year and am delighted to shoot in the low 90's. I used to break 80 without issue. It is all about perspective.

I was planning on going to the driving range this evening, but some storms came through, and even when it wasn't raining the lightning scared me off...

I did go in academy, and they have a couple of nice hybrids on clearance, so I may be picking one of those up as clearance price gets better....

There is a place near here that I have already been to a few times for lessons, and you can get on the driving range, all you can hit for 20, and they have a nice short course. I think you can pay 100/month for all you can hit, but I'm not in town enough to take advantage of that...

I'll be going for another lesson soon, or one of their day schools, not sure which yet...

Swanson Golf Center - Houston - Driving Range - Golf School - Grill