Golf clubs and fitting

dereko

Hey,

Age 32 and pretty new to golf, played about 5 rounds in the last 2 months and a bit of driving range and pitch and putt. (played some pitch and putt and a few very loose games of golf over the years).

I very keen to get into it properly. I've started playing with a friends old set of clubs and have been getting a little better although still very inconsistent. Hit 108 last time out. I've had one lesson and the main thing I got out of that was to hit the ball more central on the club instead of near the shaft .

I can hit a pretty decent drive over 250 yards naturally consistency could be improved. Unsurprisingly the worst part of my game is long irons from fairway or rough. I really struggle to hit these cleanly.

Its now time for me to consider buying some clubs. I've read up a bit and asked around and so far what I've heard good things about the Taylor Made R11 driver and the Callaway X Irons, althought i'm unsure which exact model I should be going for.

I feel like I've a pretty strong swing but I need a lot of practice to hit the ball cleanly and consistently as well as getting a feel for distance.

I'm 6 foot and I need to know now what kind of clubs I should get e.g. flex, length etc.

Ultimately I hope to buy as cheap as I can on adverts.ie/ebay or something once I know what make and model to go for. How then can I get a fitting to know what suits me best? where can you go and can your recommend somewhere? Or at this stage is there any point getting a fitting?

I'm based Rathfarnham, south dublin.

Dr_Colossus

Firstly as someone who's pretty new to golf well done on shooting 108, that's a good score provided you're talking about a full length golf course.

Secondly what type of clubs is the old set you've borrowed from your friend. How old are they and how come you're friend no longer uses them? Can you continue to use them indefinitely or did he/she loan them to you to see if you'd like the game and now wants them back?

Regarding club fittings and TaylorMade R11s etc my advise would be to forget about all that until you have a solid consistent swing that's fully engrained in your muscle memory and unlikely to change. Continue to get lessons and work on ball striking/consistency with the clubs you have borrowed. At 6 foot any regular clubs with a regular shaft will suit fine until you're at such a level where you're breaking 80 and a club fitting and new clubs will be of more benefit to you.

Keep up the good work and enjoy the game

dereko

Thanks

The clubs I recon could be nearly 7/8 year old. They are Penn but no idea what model. The instructor even said I probably could do with changing them.

They have been given to me permanently. Its only the irons and putter and bag. I need to buy a driver. To date I've been using my friends driver who i'm out with.

Derek

Omacron

As a beginner I'd stay away from the R11 its a club squarely aimed at the better player. If you want adjustability then maybe look at the Titleist 910 D2 its a great driver forgiving and can be set up to suit the user fairly easy. If your looking for pure forgiveness and willing to forgo the adjustability side then the Ping G20 is a great driver on that front its also cheaper then the R11 and the titlesit. If your hitting a driver 250 then you'll probably be looking at a stiff shaft in the woods area. Regular steel shafts in the irons will be fine all the big names make good quality irons so if you can get to a range with a demo section I'd advise doing that and hititng a few. If your stuggling with your long irons then I'd look at the Ping g15s (good deals on them now) or g20s the only issue is the looks might not appeal to you but they are some of the easiest to hit long irons around imho. You won't go wrong with the callaways x irons either they are fairly easy to hit and the ball flight will be a bit lower than the pings which may suit you more. Personally I feel the long irons on the Ping G20s will be better if you ball striking is still a little inconsitent but be warned these clubs do hit the ball high. Best of luck

dereko

@Omacron Cheers for that.

I have to say the one part of my game that is pretty decent is my driver. I can hit it fairly straight about 75% of the time and a bit more practice I'm sure i can improve on that. In saying that I am still a beginner but I do hope to buy a driver that will last me a while. I'll defo check out the Pings.

I'll also check out the irons. Just saw these irons form a link on similar post on here.
http://www.onlinegolf.co.uk/product/Mizuno-Golf-MX-100-Irons-4-SW-Steel/p12906.aspx

What do you think of those?

Omacron

I could never get mizunos working for me but nearly everyone else raves about them and you won't see many having a bad word to say about them. Considering the price also they are a great deal. I don't know about southside but McGuirks have a demo center in Kinsealy at the Grange Driving range with nearly every club you can buy available to hit. I would definitely recommend holding off on any purchase and try going out here to hit a few different clubs amd see which ones suit the best. You can also try the R11 that thing hits the ball a mile when you catch it but overall I don't think its the best driver out there right now.

mike12

Hi,
I think driver wise you could look for a Taylormade R7 superquad, ping g10, taylormade Burner which you will pick up on adverts for less than 100, if you are looking for second hand callaways then the x20 or x22 stay away from the tour version or any of the muzino MX series again stay away from the MP series or maybe a set of ping G10's.
I would always advise to buy second hand when u are starting out in case u decide its not for u, new clubs can turn into a very expensive mistake as the resale value is poor after a year where on secondhand clubs u will loose very little.
I would also keep your eye out for a couple of utilities to replace your 3 and 4 iron again anything from ping or taylormade you should get a stiff shaft in these and the driver but regular should be ok in the irons.
Mike

dereko

Thanks guys much appreciated.