A Low Cost Solution To Starting To Play Golf

As someone interested in starting to play golf, my advice to you is – don’t buy a set of golf clubs straight away. There is plenty of time to do that and apart from anything else, you may decide you don’t enjoy playing golf and you’ll be saddled with a set of clubs that you might not be able to get rid of.

As a junior golfer or an adult beginner, keep your costs down and buy just what you need.

So, what do you need?

My advice is buy 2 clubs – a putter and a sand or pitching wedge. A 9 iron would be OK as an alternative. The sand/pitching wedge and 9 iron have a high loft and should get the ball in the air if hit correctly.

I say buy, but you might be able to borrow these from a friend. That would be the best option whilst you look around for some inexpensive to buy later.

To be honest, it is nice to have your own clubs and you may want to buy them straight away.

I bought some cheap golf clubs from a low cost sports goods outlet for less than $15 each which were perfectly adequate for my needs at that time.

Do not be tempted to buy a full set of golf clubs. You don’t need them when you first start and I would strongly recommend that you don’t commit yourself to buying them until you have had some instruction and some advice on what to buy from a golf professional.

The professional will probably be able to hire you a set of clubs for a lesson. After a few lessons, when you feel you’re getting the hang of the game, ask the pro which clubs you should buy. Be sure to let him or her know that you have a budget, and you don’t have to buy an expensive brand name.

You will probably want to pay no more than $350 tops for your first set. Stick with these for a couple of years and when your game has developed, buy a more expensive set.

You will need some golf balls. I would ask some of your buddies if they can spare you a few balls. You can also buy second hand balls from a local golf club. These will be balls that have been lost by players on the course and in the lakes and ponds.

They will probably cost you about 75 cents each and you could do with 20-25. There are also some cheap ‘reconditioned’ balls on the market and these are relatively cheap too. You probably need to lay out between $12-$15 on balls.

Some lower grade new balls are also relatively cheap – probably not much more expensive than the reconditioned balls.

To be honest, at this early stage, the quality of the balls is not important. As long as they are not seriously damaged and they roll, they’ll be good enough for you to do some simple practice on the putting green.

So my crude calculation on your outlay for getting started playing golf is around $45 which is hardly going to break the bank. In fact I think you can get this equipment for less.

This should keep you going for a few weeks until you take the next step in the process which I think should be to have some lessons with a golf professional.