Golf Clubs Buying Guide

When shopping for golf clubs, it is necessary to know what to look for and what you need. You would need to know your ability level and handicap. Then you would need to know what comprises a complete set of golf clubs and accessories.

A baseline set of golf clubs comprises of the 1-driver, the 3-, and 5- fairway woods, at least 1 hybrid, seven irons (the 4-, 5-, 6-, 7-, 8-, 9-, and PW), and a putter. That's 12 clubs. Golf rules have a limit of 14 clubs in the golf bag. It is common for many golfers to add another wedge or a specialty hybrid. In spite of the clubs above being listed as a baseline set, there are many other possibilities for developing a set of clubs. It would depend on your ability level and handicap.

Long irons can be substituted with hybrids or woods, woods can be substituted with irons and you can choose to use any number of wedges. If you start with this basic set, you can, in time, determine what will work as the perfect set for you.

Woods
Woods are long distance golf clubs. The driver (1-wood) has the lowest loft of any club. Loft is the angle between the club head and the shaft of the golf club. Loft controls trajectory and affects distance. Driver lofts range from 7-12 degrees. Traditionally, the preference of experienced golfers has been for lower lofted drivers (but requires higher skill level on the part of the golfer). But the current trend of professional golfers is toward higher lofted (10-11 degree) drivers. They argue that the combination of a high launch angle and a lower spin results in the longest drives. Non-pro golfers are recommended to use drivers with lofts 10 degrees or higher.
The 3- and 5- woods (also known as Fairway Woods) have lofts of 15-18 degrees and 20-22 degrees. The 5- wood has a shorter shaft than the 3-wood.

Hybrids
Hybrids are a combination of a wood and an iron. They have a head design similar to a wood and a shaft similar to irons. The long irons are usually difficult to hit. The hybrids are more forgiving when compared to long irons. It is customary to replace 3- and 4- irons with the hybrid clubs.

Irons
The irons comprises a set of (3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, 7-, 8-, 9-) irons and the pitching wedge (PW). They are used when you are less than 200 yards away from the green (mostly short to mid-range). You use the higher iron the closer you are to the green.

Wedges
Wedges are very similar to iron clubs in their looks and builds but differ in their lofts. Wedges are more lofted and are designed for a higher degree of accuracy and more spin than usual iron clubs. The pitching wedge is around 46-48 degrees in loft. Other wedges are 48, 52, 56, 60 and 64 degree in lofts.

Putters
A putter is a golf club that is used to get the ball into the hole when on the green or just off of the side.