Golf club question

[Shibby]

My wife and I were thinking about trying out golf. Next year she will be done with basketball and we would like to have something active to do together. Anyways, before we spend a bunch of money (in case we don't care for it that much) I was going to buy some clubs at goodwill. They have irons and putters for like 2 bucks a piece. I have played golf a few times and some what enjoyed it, my wife has never even swung a club. A buddy told me one time that when he first started to learn to play golf, who ever was teaching him only game him like 3 or 4 clubs to work with. This included a putter and I don't think there was a wood. Something about needing to learn a few clubs before trying to constantly change clubs. I can't remember what clubs he said he got though, so I was needing some advice.

[Bouncer]

you can rent them from the gold club also cant you? i would rent her the clubs a few times before buying anything.

[The_Grinder]

The three most important clubs in golf are the driver, wedge, and putter. I can't imagine only using 4 clubs and not one of them be a wood. If you were going to use this principle I'd use a driver, wedge, putter, and probably a 7 or 6 iron...

[coffee-guy]

Driver or 2i, 7i, PW, putter...

[Shibby]

Thanks. Maybe it was a wood, but I couldn't really remember.

[Shibby]

you can rent them from the gold club also cant you? i would rent her the clubs a few times before buying anything.

Renting them will probably be more expensive than buying a few $2 clubs. We are just going to go to the driving range first, I'm not sure you can rent anything there. But I really don't have any experience.

[grnmchn]

I would not suggest picking up a 2 iron or driver/wood to learn to play golf. Those are the hardest clubs to hit consistantly and will only lead to frustration. In my opinion, the clubs you should focus on are the short irons. Learn to hit a pitching wedge and gradually work your way up. Most golf pros won't let you hit a driver for 6 months if you take lessons. They want to develop a swing first. A putter is also a great club to buy.

[babyblues]

I would agree that your driver is the hardest to learn to control, but if you want to play a round of golf, you kind of need to use it anyway. Golf lessons are a different story.

Yeah, I would go with a driver, 5,6 or 7 iron, pitching/sand wedge and a putter. I broke my driver and for the longest time, I just used my 3 wood. I could control that better anyway. Stay away from graphite shafts if they have any. They're too whippy. If you have a strong swing than you're going to overpower it. Your wife might benefit from a graphite shafted driver though.

[grnmchn]

With the driver being the most expensive club to buy and them not knowing if they will even like it once they start, why would you pick that club to purchase?

It really has nothing to do with lessons or not, you can play a round of golf without a driver, most people don't but would probably play better if they didn't. For the average golfer on a 400 yd par 4 you may hit a 250 yd driver and be left with 150 yds to the green. People just learning to play golf will spend more time in the trees than hitting a 250 yd drive. A 7 iron on the other hand goes about 150 yds. That means it would take two shots with a 7 iron (much easier to hit) to go 300 yds and a 100 pitching wedge to be on the green in 3 shots. Not only is that smart golf, but a lot more fun for someone not very good. Like I said previously, hitting a driver for a beginner will only lead to frustration. If most average golfers played "smart golf" as I described above, instead of trying to hit what pros do, they'd be alot better off.

[coffee-guy]

With the driver being the most expensive club to buy and them not knowing if they will even like it once they start, why would you pick that club to purchase?

It really has nothing to do with lessons or not, you can play a round of golf without a driver, most people don't but would probably play better if they didn't. For the average golfer on a 400 yd par 4 you may hit a 250 yd driver and be left with 150 yds to the green. People just learning to play golf will spend more time in the trees than hitting a 250 yd drive. A 7 iron on the other hand goes about 150 yds. That means it would take two shots with a 7 iron (much easier to hit) to go 300 yds and a 100 pitching wedge to be on the green in 3 shots. Not only is that smart golf, but a lot more fun for someone not very good. Like I said previously, hitting a driver for a beginner will only lead to frustration. If most average golfers played "smart golf" as I described above, instead of trying to hit what pros do, they'd be alot better off.

Great point...

[The_Grinder]

Well the question I think was geared more towards learning to swing and actually hit a golf ball as opposed to golf course strategy. Opinions on the driver can differ significantly depending on which discussion you are having. As a college golfer with a scratch handicap, I would have to disagree with the statement that the driver is one of the harder clubs for a beginner to hit. Drivers nowadays have big clubheads, not to mention that you get to put it on a tee every time. With an iron you have to strike down on the ball and pinch it against the ground to make proper contact. This isn't the case with the driver. It has been a long time since I was a beginner golfer, so I don't remember my personal experience with learning clubs, but I am teaching my girlfriend to play golf now and she has learned to hit the ball solidly with a driver much much faster than any other club. When you are first learning to play golf, you are looking to make solid contact, get the ball up into the air, and at least not miss the ball. Believe it or not, this is actually done easiest with a driver.

(Now if you were discussing course strategy, I would 100% agree that 95% od amateur golfers would be better off leaving the driver in the bag on most holes.)

[Shibby]

Thanks for all the info. To clarify my question, I would be looking to learn how to hit the ball first before playing a round.

[bonebreaker]

Buy a driver just to practice with on the range. Buy a 3I, a 5I, a 7I, 9I, a Sand Wedge and a putter. Try each club on the range until you get an approximate idea of how far you each hit each club. Then play your first couple of rounds having your wife tee off from the 150 yard marker...and have her use a tee on every shot until she gets on the green. You do the same from about 200 yards. The shorter the iron you're using as you get closer to the green keep teeing the ball up, only closer and closer to the ground. BB

[Shibby]

Buy a driver just to practice with on the range. Buy a 3I, a 5I, a 7I, 9I, a Sand Wedge and a putter. Try each club on the range until you get an approximate idea of how far you each hit each club. Then play your first couple of rounds having your wife tee off from the 150 yard marker...and have her use a tee on every shot until she gets on the green. You do the same from about 200 yards. The shorter the iron you're using as you get closer to the green keep teeing the ball up, only closer and closer to the ground. BB

I thought most courses would get mad at you if you tee up every shot...? Also, my wife won't start at the women's tee, she will just battle to do the harder part from the beginning.

[babyblues]

With the driver being the most expensive club to buy and them not knowing if they will even like it once they start, why would you pick that club to purchase?

It really has nothing to do with lessons or not, you can play a round of golf without a driver, most people don't but would probably play better if they didn't. For the average golfer on a 400 yd par 4 you may hit a 250 yd driver and be left with 150 yds to the green. People just learning to play golf will spend more time in the trees than hitting a 250 yd drive. A 7 iron on the other hand goes about 150 yds. That means it would take two shots with a 7 iron (much easier to hit) to go 300 yds and a 100 pitching wedge to be on the green in 3 shots. Not only is that smart golf, but a lot more fun for someone not very good. Like I said previously, hitting a driver for a beginner will only lead to frustration. If most average golfers played "smart golf" as I described above, instead of trying to hit what pros do, they'd be alot better off.

I disagree. You live and die by your short game. Your putter, by far, is the hardest club to master. Every put is different. That's the biggest challenge in golf. Learning to hit the right shot with the right club. That's also the fun of it. Why not get a driver? It's still part of the golfer's repertoire, so why not try to learn to use it effectively? The only way you're going to learn how to use it is to actually use it. You can hit perfect drives all day at the driving range and still suck on the course. Beginners tend to try to hit the cover off the ball with their driver every time and that's guaranteed to land you in the woods. Consistent drives are the result of good technique. I'd rather hit a 200yd drive on the fairway consistently than hit a perfect 300yd drive once every 18 holes, playing the rest out of the woods. "Smart golf" is learning how to use all the weapons at your disposal to play a complete game. I actually think that hitting an iron off the ground is harder than hitting a driver off a tee. If I don't try to over-hit it, I can hit a fairly consistent drive every time. Missing the green entirely from 50 yrds away or 4 putting a hole is what makes my blood pressure go up.

In bodybuilding you work to improve your weak points. Same thing in golf. If driving off the tee is your weak point, than work to improve it. Don't avoid it because it's too hard. It's about conquering something difficult. And since the driver is the most difficult club to hit well with consistency, people still choose to use it even though they would shoot lower scores without one. Besides, everyone's got their own reasons for playing. I play because it's fun. I don't even keep score most of the time.