Taking up Golf

[y2blade]

I've not played in a long time (about 15 years I guess). but want to get back into it

what bats do you guys recommend? not too pricey, MAX of £500 for the set (I still have my bag and trolley though)

[hesnotthemessiah]

I would get a cheap set from Decathlon maybe before you spend lots of dosh. Then if you really get back into it, look at a more expensive set.

Sorry, I don't mean to play Mother but I did a similar thing with mountain biking, spent loads on a Specialised Stumpjumper Comp and used it twice (so far)..... that was two years ago.

[y2blade]

hesnotthemessiah said:

I would get a cheap set from Decathlon maybe before you spend lots of dosh. Then if you really get back into it, look at a more expensive set.

Sorry, I don't mean to play Mother but I did a similar thing with mountain biking, spent loads on a Specialised Stumpjumper Comp and used it twice (so far)..... that was two years ago.

I know EXACTLY what you mean. looking online I'll prob spend half the amount mentioned in my opening post (but this is PH, I didn't want to look tight/careful with my cash )

I already have shoes, glove, trolley and bag

cheers



FOOOOOORE !!!

[fatpasty]

Best place is prob Ebay. Get a decent mid range set for about 100 - 150... Nike slingshots - perfect starter club. Very forgiving.

[bigbubba]

I would not bother with cheap make sets.

Forget Decathlon.

Buy a used good set like Ping G5's or G10's off eBay.

Good clubs, particularly irons are worth many shots per round.

I have just gone from 20 year old Ping Eye 2's to Ping i15's and lost 5 shots from my handicap within four months. I had previously been a 15 handicap for five years and struggled to lower it.

[bigbubba]

Another great place for used clubs is golfbidder.

They give a 7 day refund on the clubs so if you don't get on with them you can just send them back.

[mcbook]

I agree with the idea of getting a second hand set of irons from one of the well-respected manufacturers like Callaway, Ping or Taylor Made. So much choice on Ebay for under 200 quid.

I'd recommend spending a decent chunk on a putter though - buy a nice second hand Scotty Cameron from Ebay. You won't lose money on it.

These irons are lovely but maybe not ideal for a beginner.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Callaway-X-Tour-Forged-3...

I used to have one of these putters - absolute classic.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Scotty-Cameron-Te-I3-Put...


Good luck.

[fatpasty]

I would recommend not to buy a cheap make. Best thing to do is get a decent second hand set.

My dad plays with Ping g10's and for a aveage golfer it's took shots of his game.

[chimster]

bigbubba said:

I would not bother with cheap make sets.

Forget Decathlon.

Buy a used good set like Ping G5's or G10's off eBay.

Good clubs, particularly irons are worth many shots per round.

I have just gone from 20 year old Ping Eye 2's to Ping i15's and lost 5 shots from my handicap within four months. I had previously been a 15 handicap for five years and struggled to lower it.

I have had a set of Ping Eye 2's for years, what in particular did you notice that was different with the i15's out of interest?

Definitely get a good second hand set, cheap new ones waste of time. Why buy a new Ford when you can buy a second hand bmw?

[bigbubba]

chimster said:

I have had a set of Ping Eye 2's for years, what in particular did you notice that was different with the i15's out of interest?

Definitely get a good second hand set, cheap new ones waste of time. Why buy a new Ford when you can buy a second hand bmw?

Chimster,

I found the sweetspot to be bigger, off centre hits go in the right direction with the i15's.

Also, as I had the BeCu Eye 2's, Ping would not re-groove them due to the health implications from the dust so the grooves were shot. I have found I get much more spin and stop on the greens from my new irons.

BB

[BRMMA]

I started again this summer after a 10 year break, decided I only wanted to spend about £500 on everything so read reviews on a bunch of clubs then bought it all through eBay. I got callaway x22 tour irons, Nike driver and the rest of re clubs are Taylor made, think I ended up spending £700 Inc the bag etc but to buy it all new would have been almost 2k. Was playing off 8 when I stopped playing now it's 15, I was using £150 set then so it shows practice is worth more than what any new clubs can do

[Fraser Z4]

I started playing earlier this year and I'm hooked! I didn't bother with a set of really cheap clubs and went straight for some MD Golf Superstrongs. The MD Golf clubs seem to get alot of good reviews with a great price to performance ratio. Might be worth looking on eBay for a set of last years models for a decent saving over new.

[bigbubba]

BRMMA said:

it shows practice is worth more than what any new clubs can do

Practice is very important but Golf IMO is one thing where a bad workman can blame his tools.

Cheap clubs will get you round 18 holes but you WILL notice the difference with decent clubs, in particular irons and maybe a putter.

[bigbubba]

Gaz,

I have used AG for some things. Their customer service in some branches is shocking but their prices can be very good.

[Aizle]

Another reccomendation for Golfbidder here.

Also with reference to American Golf, my local store is absolutely brilliant with service to compliment it.

[cheddar]

Forget secondhand.

Buy new, it's sexier, much more exciting and the whole 'shiny new clubs' thing is worth 5 shots a round straight off.

Check all the deals, shop around, take your time, bash the forums, enjoy it and don't get talked into stuff by golf shop monkeys.

Then set up a 'score my first round' poll.

[Fraser Z4]

Gaz. said:

I realise that buying new from American Golf is frowned upon here, but they've got Taylormade R9 drivers for a ton (they sell s/h for that on ebay) and currently doing a deal with a R9 Driver & 3 wood for £193 - they were £550 a couple of years ago!

http://www.americangolf.co.uk/product/Taylor-Made-...

Oh what have you done , I play left handed so I'm going to have to grab one of those at the weekend! Good spot though, thanks mate!

[chimster]

bigbubba said:

Chimster,

I found the sweetspot to be bigger, off centre hits go in the right direction with the i15's.

Also, as I had the BeCu Eye 2's, Ping would not re-groove them due to the health implications from the dust so the grooves were shot. I have found I get much more spin and stop on the greens from my new irons.

BB

BB,

Thanks for that, they are the reasons I got the Eye 2's in the first place, maybe I need to look around second hand again. Mine were exchanged when Ping had that legality problem with them years ago. Cheers

[dave_s13]

hesnotthemessiah said:

I would get a cheap set from Decathlon maybe before you spend lots of dosh. Then if you really get back into it, look at a more expensive set.

Sorry, I don't mean to play Mother but I did a similar thing with mountain biking, spent loads on a Specialised Stumpjumper Comp and used it twice (so far)..... that was two years ago.

What size frame is it.....you wanna sell it??

[Yoof Full Chav]

If you look on Directgolf.co.uk, they do a 15 piece Wilson set, all the clubs and a bag, for i think, £200