Off Topic; Golf for newbies

[tedebear]

I have to disagree with all the people recommending cheap clubs, its just not worth it. The thing you have to ask yourself is how serious you are going to take it up? I have 2 friends who both took up golf 2 1/2 years ago, they both were serious at taking it up as a full time pastime. The first spent £600 on a set of ping raptures, £100 on a bag, £100 on a putter, £200 on lessons and did everything the right way, read books, played every week at first,more later on and now is a 8 handicapper winning club tournaments. His ping raptures will still fetch £400 nearly 3 years on. The other paid £199 for a bundle of trolley,3 x woods,irons,putter,bag,umbrella etc etc and he went to the range where one of the heads flew off the iron and the whole set had to be replaced. he took no lessons, did his own thing and is still a 28 handicapper rarely playing as he cannot hit the clubs and has a golf set you could not give away. If you know that its a sport you are going to stick at, buy a good set of clubs and stay with them, a quality secondhand set of irons is only a little more than a crap new set of poor quality irons.

ps - some people can't afford that!

I started playing when I was thirteen, I was the dolly bird in the pro shop for years on a saturday morning, wearing the latest in ladies golfing fashion for the members. For my first year I wasn't allowed to get paid so the pro gave me lessons (oooh err missus)...And so now I have a delightful swing but rarely play...

A couple of hints from me...

See if you can buy your set one iron at a time, there are quite a few sets that you can do this, I have a set of cobra ladies which I purchased one at a time. You don't have to have the same woods then if you don't want - in fact most people I used to play with had a separate set of woods....I had a horrible cheap bag for a while, and then got my parents to fund my titleist bag I have now with shoulder staps and stand - its cool (and light!)

Lessons are really important as is driving range time. You don't realize when you take it up hw knackering walking 18 holes is if you aren't fit. So at the driving range you can practice what you've learnt in your lesson when you're not tired. Trying to practice what you've learnt in your lesson when you're knackered and in the bunker on the 17th isn't really going to happen is it...

 

[tedebear]

They are probably 10 years old at least, possibly older.

What they told me was that when you place the club down at the correct angle to the ball, with my clubs, I'd need to be 3 ft tall - suggesting that my old clubs have somehow bent out of shape.

More likely that they are too short for you? Did they belong to someone else?

 

[Last Summer]

I have to disagree with all the people recommending cheap clubs, its just not worth it. The thing you have to ask yourself is how serious you are going to take it up? I have 2 friends who both took up golf 2 1/2 years ago, they both were serious at taking it up as a full time pastime. The first spent £600 on a set of ping raptures, £100 on a bag, £100 on a putter, £200 on lessons and did everything the right way, read books, played every week at first,more later on and now is a 8 handicapper winning club tournaments. His ping raptures will still fetch £400 nearly 3 years on. The other paid £199 for a bundle of trolley,3 x woods,irons,putter,bag,umbrella etc etc and he went to the range where one of the heads flew off the iron and the whole set had to be replaced. he took no lessons, did his own thing and is still a 28 handicapper rarely playing as he cannot hit the clubs and has a golf set you could not give away. If you know that its a sport you are going to stick at, buy a good set of clubs and stay with them, a quality secondhand set of irons is only a little more than a crap new set of poor quality irons.

Can see where you're coming from there, and agree in a sense. But splashing out £1k on gear and lessons is a gamble. Golf is a funny game and some people will never be really low handicappers.
Your other mate could also have payed out £1k and still been a 28. It's all down to ability rather than equipment.

Get a set less than £200 and hit decent scores... then you know you're good at the game and it's worth upgrading.
Get a set over £500 and not post a score under 100... maybe a bad investment??

 

[8ace]

"The modern fundamentals of golf" by Ben Hogan is well worth reading.

 

[patchamalbion]

Sorry to hijack the thread with something else but thanks to all who commented on my golf course thread the other day.Just thought id let you know i played at Waterhall today,i found it pretty decent for a public course and scored a 98 which i was very happy with for my standard

 

[8ace]

I quite like it there as it's never that busy - went round there in under three hours on Saturday. I got 112 but I've only been playing about 18 months and I haven't had any lessons. Does anyone have an recommendations for lesson bareing in mind I don't drive?

 

[Billy the Fish]

Can see where you're coming from there, and agree in a sense. But splashing out £1k on gear and lessons is a gamble. Golf is a funny game and some people will never be really low handicappers.
Your other mate could also have payed out £1k and still been a 28. It's all down to ability rather than equipment.

Get a set less than £200 and hit decent scores... then you know you're good at the game and it's worth upgrading.
Get a set over £500 and not post a score under 100... maybe a bad investment??

I agree with what you're both saying, but there is middle ground.

I started about a year ago and played with hand me downs for 6 months which were ok but they were 15 years old. In that time I bought a £60 nike driver and a £50 taylor made 3 hybrid (because my 3 iron snapped ) both in sales and both I get on relly well with. I then tried a few cavity back clubs and settled on some mizunos for £300, so that's about £400 in all. I kept the old putter because I can use it just as well as any new one I've tried. I haven't shelled out all at once but everything in my bag is pretty decent.

Have they helped? A bit, they are definitely more forgiving, but you still have to hit it properly - It is definitely about ability. After a year I'm just about getting the 28 down, I have spells of good holes but am horribly inconsistant and tend to revert back to my bad habits on the course, but that is slowly being ironed out by hitting the range and getting proper lessons. I suppose the moral of the story is, I could've spent £600 on some Ping or Taylor made irons but I wouldn't have been any better at golf. I could've got a budget all in set for £150 but had I done that I know I would always be wondering if better clubs would make a difference and probably would've have upgraded sooner rather than later. I also knew I was always going to stick at it so I suppose that made it a bit easier to shell out as well.

 

[Scoffers]

More likely that they are too short for you? Did they belong to someone else?

yes, the are a hotch-potch of borrowed and given away!