What clubs do I need

[usedcarguy]

One word - cavity backs. Ok, that was two words. Cavity backs are the most forgiving if you mis-hit, which all beginners (and many who aren't) do.

I set of Northwesterns will be more than fine for a beginner. You can buy them at most box stores, they're cheap, and more than adequate until you figure out what the heck you are doing. I think you can still buy starter sets which only have the odd numbered irons. As a beginner, you won't be able to judge the difference between a 5 iron and a 6 iron anyway. Plus, they're lighter to carry and will also allow you to pack more beer/booze in your bag.

The only thing you need to know about buying used clubs is to make sure the grips are good and tacky.

As jumbo said, like most hobbies, an investment in lessons will yield far better results than an investment in equipment. Plus with cheap equipment, you'll always have an excuse - a necessity in the game of golf.

 

[jumbopackage]

If you were to use eBay, have somebody who knows what they are looking at and reading about take a look at the clubs you are possibly going to bid on. Both of the sets I have bought off of eBay were not knock-offs and I got them at about 1/2 of the actual cost b/c I took my time and only paid what I was willing to pay on them.

If you're getting any name brand clubs, aside from maybe Taylormade (they lose their value incredibly fast thanks to them pumping out a new line every 3 days), on E-bay for less than about 3/4 or so of what the retail is, I can almost assure you they are stolen or forgeries. Titleist, Ping etc. put artificial constraints on the prices of golf clubs, so their legitimate retailers simply cannot sell them for less than a given price, even online. If they do, the company will get their dealership pulled.

The upside to that is that those clubs hold their value VERY well in the secondary market.

Since that is the case, you aren't often going to find people that are willing to take a bath on clubs they've only owned for a year or two max. Because the prices are set by the manufacturer, you know what they paid for them, and so you know that any excessive discount is fishy.

If they didn't pay retail, it's likely they bought them from e-bay or similar originally, and they might not even know they are knock-offs.

That leaves the very small number of people who get clubs for free as sources that would be willing to sell legitimate clubs at a price that low. It just doesn't happen very often.

The forgeries are REALLY good these days. REALLY, REALLY good. In some cases, the very same factories that stamp out legit clubs during the week, put out forgeries on the weekends. It might not bother you if you're getting what is essentially the same club. Just don't ever try to register them, or ship them to the factory to have work done. Otherwise you're going to lose your clubs.

I won't buy clubs online anymore, unless it's from someone like RockBottom Golf or a legitimate retailer, or the clubs are used and more than about 5 years old (so the market for them is considerably weaker, and the forgery market wasn't as good as it is now).

If you DO decide to buy online, from ebay in particular, get the serial numbers and verify that they are legitimate with the club manufacturer BEFORE you bid.

Some clubs, especially wedges and putters, don't have serial numbers. I wouldn't even bid on one of those, since I'd say the odds are that about 75% of them on e-bay are forgeries.