Let me just rant for a minute. I always check the competition before I start writing an article… always! The articles that “golf experts” are writing about the best golf clubs for beginners are absolute GARBAGE! Yes, I mean it. No, I won’t take it back. I know affiliate marketing brings about a ton of fake golfers who act like they actually know what they are talking about. But those articles seem like they are written by someone that has literally never touched a golf club in their life.

With that being said, let me tell you just a bit about me. First off, I started playing golf around 7 years ago. I became 100% addicted, playing nearly every day for the first three years. Golf clubs have always intrigued me in every way, and I love learning and researching about them. I’m an avid GolfWRX’er, which basically just means that I can’t get enough of golf and golf equipment in my life. I started with a beginner set of clubs (one of the ones mentioned in this article actually!), and have since tried nearly all of the top models released in the past 5 or so years. I’m still addicted to golf and golf clubs to this day, and I love informing people about the best clubs for them personally.

I know for a FACT that I can help you find the best golf clubs for beginners, depending on their budget and what they want in a set of clubs. I’ve been in your shoes, I do my research, and I know what works. Those others guys that are copying and pasting from Amazon? Yeah, they have no clue what they are talking about.

Alright, rant over. Thanks for sticking it out with me. Let’s continue, shall we?

Picking the Best Golf Clubs for Beginners

Now, let’s start talking about the best golf clubs for beginners. From a high level standpoint, you can buy a complete set or you can buy individual clubs.

Complete set vs individually bought clubs:

• quality: individually bought clubs will be higher quality. Brands like TaylorMade, Callaway, Titleist, Cleveland, Cobra, etc make higher quality clubs than the complete sets that you see online. Complete set club might break within the year; a brand name individual club will last you way longer.
• convenience: complete sets are 100x more convenient. They have everything that you need to start playing the next day. They include the bag as well, which is nice. It can be very inconvenient to buy a separate driver, 3 wood, hybrid, irons, wedges, putter, and golf bag.
• price: buying a complete set is roughly 2-4 times cheaper than buying individual clubs. A complete set is roughly $200-300, while individual clubs could easily cost you over a $1,000
• performance: in general, individual clubs perform better than complete set clubs. They are made with higher quality materials and have much more technology/innovations in their designs. HOWEVER, as a beginner, it will make almost no difference at all.

So who should buy a complete set and who should buy an individually bought set of clubs?

• Buy a complete set if… you don’t know of anyone that has clubs that they can hand down to you; you want a convenient purchase; you don’t want to spend hours researching each club; you want to save money; you aren’t positive if you are going to stick with the game and become an above average player
• Buy individual clubs if… you think you will continue to play golf for many years to come, eventually becoming an above average golfer; you have the money to get higher quality equipment; you like researching the best or the best value golf clubs for each club category. If you think this describes you (not super likely), please visit this page to find the best value individual golf clubs!

What to consider before buying the first set of golf clubs for beginners:

• price: within complete sets, there is (non surprisingly) a variance in the price. There are some really, really cheap sets that are made with terrible quality materials. Many other websites recommend these, because they know that buyers want to spend the least amount of money. However, these clubs are so bad that they break within the first 10 rounds or so. Then you have good value complete sets. Lastly, you have the BEST complete sets. These last two categories are the BEST golf clubs for beginners. They keep their value longer, look great, perform great, and are the best investments you can make in your golf game.
• brand: stick with a top brand like Wilson (cheaper) or Callaway Strata (best value & best overall). The lesser known and smaller brands will not perform well or last a decent amount of time. Wilson and Strata have 10x better customer service, too!
• what you need/want: not every set will include a hybrid or a sand wedge. These are not 100% necessary to start playing golf, but you might prefer to have a set that includes one or both. Hybrids are an alternative to long irons (examples: 3 iron, 4 iron, 5 iron). They are easier to hit and easier to get in the air. And a sand wedge will allow you to properly hit bunker shots and lob shots. Otherwise, you’ll have to settle for the PW, which isn’t a HUGE deal.

The BEST Golf Clubs for Beginners

Alright, let’s start getting into the best golf clubs for beginners. These complete sets are forgiving. They include everything you will need to get started as soon as they are shipped to your house. Depending on your budget, I’m confident that we can find the absolute best set of golf clubs for you personally. The rest of this article is split up into 6 different sections. The first three are for men (best cheap set, best value set, and #1 overall set). The last three sections are focused on the best beginner sets specifically for seniors, women, and kids respectively.

Note: all of the following links and pictures will take to the eBay listings for the respective sets of clubs.

Decent Quality, “Cheap” Golf Clubs for New Golfers: Wilson Ultra Complete Set

If you are looking for golf clubs that will save you the money but still leave you with a solid set, the Wilson Ultra Complete set is 100% your best option. Wilson is the greatest brand for those that are on a very tight budget but don’t want to resort to completely crappy clubs.

The driver, fairway wood, and irons are super forgiving and long. They don’t feel the best, and their distance control isn’t great. As a beginner, though, these are great for you!

Considering that the entire set is roughly half the price of the higher end golf clubs that I talk about below, this is a great option for frugal (and borderline cheap) golfers!

This set does have a hybrid, which is a huge plus. But if you want a sand wedge too, then you need to spend a tad more to get it. Or you can buy it separately.

Here’s a quick review of this Wilson Profile set:

• forgiving clubs with perimeter weighting (better results on off center strikes)
• has everything you need for the lowest price without buying crappy clubs
• includes driver, three wood, hybrid, 4 irons, PW, putter (no sand wedge)
• appearance: decently professional set, not a huge fan of the yellow color though

The Best Value Golf Clubs for Beginner Golfers: Callaway Strata Set

Callaway Strata is the best value set of beginner golf clubs… no question about it! They have been the top sellers in complete sets for many years now. For the money spent, they provide the best value hands down. This is actually the set that I started out with, so it’s got a special place in my heart.

Similarly to the previous set, this Strata set has everything you truly need to start playing golf. It includes a hybrid which is nice, but it lacks a sand wedge. This would actually be a good opportunity to buy a wedge separately though, as it will last longer and perform better anyway. If you’d rather have the wedge come with the set, see the next section for a set that includes both a hybrid and a sand wedge.

I absolutely love the design of this set. The black/red/white color scheme is very professional, and the clubs look like they cost 2x what they truly do.

Performance wise, these will feel and perform better than the Wilson set listed above. There is no difference in performance compared to the next set (the Strata Plus, it’s just the fact that the Plus set includes a sand wedge and an extra hybrid!). So you’ll have to determine if the extra price is worth it for you or not. If you can afford it, I would go with the Strata Plus so that you can learn to hit bunker shots properly.

Overall, I was very pleased when I owned this set. Not club broke, I just decided to move on to a higher end set after I decided that I wanted to be the best player that I could.

Basic benefits:

• best bang for your buck
• professional design
• includes a driver, three wood, hybrid, 4 irons, PW, putter
• forgiving clubs with offset and perimeter weighting
• great set for beginners to start learning the game

The Overall #1 Golf Clubs for Beginners: Callaway Strata Plus

This set is absolutely top notch for beginners. There is a Strata set even more expensive than this (called the Strata Ultimate), but all it includes is an extra fairway wood, which you would hardly ever use anyway.

Therefore, the Callaway Strata Plus set will 100% have everything you could POSSIBLY need or want to play golf. It has 2 hybrids which are super helpful for beginners. And it has a sand wedge so that you can properly learn to his both bunker shots and lob shots by using the “bounce” of the wedge.

The Strata Complete set has a great design and will perform just as well as any beginner would hope for.

Quick run down:

• best overall set of beginner golf clubs without spending more money than you need to
• includes a driver, three wood, 2 hybrids, 4 irons, a PW, a SW, and a putter
• great appearance and color scheme (black/blue)
• super lightweight stand bag
• huge benefit of having 2 hybrids and a sand wedge

The Greatest Golf Clubs for Seniors: Wilson Profile XD

So far, we have talked about the best golf clubs for men. However, senior golfers are going to want golf clubs specifically made for them. Most seniors struggle with generating enough club head speed to get the ball to travel far and high enough in the air.

For that reason, senior golf clubs typically have lighter club heads and whippier shafts (shafts with more flex to them). That allows those with slower swing speeds to still hit the ball a decent distance. There will be a tad loss in accuracy due to shafts that “whip” more in the golf swing, but it will be hardly noticeable, especially for beginner senior golfers.

The best budget set of senior golf clubs is this Wilson Profile XD set. The hybrids and woods have graphite, senior flex shafts so that you can generate more club head speed. 

Overall, this is the best mix of distance, forgiveness, and appearance for a senior golf set!

Note: if you are a strong senior, don’t feel like you should get this set just because of your age. Check out the three sections before this one if you are strong enough to use a men’s set with stiffer shafts and heavier club heads. Overall, there is not a HUGE difference between men’s clubs and senior’s clubs, so use your best judgement for what is best for you. Typically, if you are a longer off the tee for a senior, you are fine to play with men’s clubs.

The Top Golf Clubs for Women: Wilson Ultra or Callaway Strata

Women’s golf clubs, similar to senior’s golf clubs, are lighter and have shafts that flex more than men’s clubs. Plus, these are designed in a way that would be attractive to females when it comes to color and appearance.

For women’s clubs, I’ll offer two recommendations. The first one will be the best women’s clubs on a budget, while the second section will be the overall greatest golf clubs for women.

The Best Value for Women: Wilson Ultra

If you are looking for the lowest prices golf clubs that you can buy, this Wilson Ultra set will be hard to beat. They will perform perfectly for any beginner women golfer. Plus, they have a great color and design. One downside is that the golf bag might get dirty easier, but that’s not a big concern. I’d recommend that you take the money you save with these clubs and get a lesson with a PGA pro.

The Greatest Golf Clubs for Women Beginners: Callaway Strata Women’s

If you want the greatest golf clubs for women, the Callaway Strata Plus complete set will be the one for you. This set is the highest quality clubs that women can buy. Super convenient. Everything you need. Great appearance and performance. Can’t ask for much more than that! The hybrid and sand wedge that are included in this set making it the best all around one!

The Best Golf Clubs for Kids: Callaway XJ Junior Sets

If you are buying golf clubs for a junior golfer, check out this article on the best clubs for kids! I’ve outlined the best golf clubs for both boys and girls depending on your budget and how much you are willing to spend.

In summary, the best golf clubs for kids (both boys and girls) are the Callaway XJ Junior sets. They are top of the line clubs. Other junior sets are cheap as possible and don’t come in multiple different sizes. These Callaway sets come in two different sizes though, to ensure that your junior is playing clubs that fit their height.