Golf Club Brands For Beginners — This Year's Best

As a golf instructor, I’ve helped our team of experts at Tell Me More Golf take a look at some of the best brands to stick with as a beginner building their first set.

We also put together a list of our 10 most trusted golf club brands.

Best Golf Club Brands For Beginners

• Callaway
• Cleveland
• Wilson
• Cobra
• Odyssey Putters
• Ping Putters

Callaway

Since the introduction of the Big Bertha driver in 1991, Callaway Golf has had a reputation for producing long, powerful drivers with large sweet spots.

They also always have a model available for beginning golfers, with technology geared towards forgiveness and feel. An adjustable hosel is also standard on all woods, allowing golfers to change their lofts based on course conditions.

Forgiveness is important because it’s hard to learn the game if you’re stuck in the trees. Callaway Golf also always offers a draw-biased club head in both drivers and fairway woods, which address the casual golfer’s most common miss – the slice.

Fairway woods from Callaway are also known for producing the same feel and performance as their drivers counterparts.

Newer golfers on a budget would benefit from picking up one of Callaway’s models from the previous two seasons – The Maverik or the Epic Flash. Both of these models offer similar top tier results, while costing significantly less than the newest line.

Along with powerful, forgiving woods, Callaway also produces some of the most popular irons on the market. The latest model, the Rogue ST is the latest in a long line of sleek, forgiving irons with legendary feel and towering trajectories even on longer shots.

Better golfers benefit from their great feel and workability, both areas that cavity back irons usually lack in. High handicappers enjoy a boost in ball speed and height, even with moderate swing speeds.

Callaway golf also offers a box set option called the Edge, which is a great option for budget conscious beginners looking to fill their bag quickly – without breaking the bank.

Additionally, Two woods and a hybrid are included – all with large sweet spots that are geared toward the forgiveness that will keep beginners in the fairway. An odyssey putter is also included in the set – giving the beginner golfer everything they need to hit the golf course and start falling in love with the game from day one.

Cleveland

In recent years, Cleveland has seemed to embrace the high handicapper more and more, releasing multiple models with beginners in mind. While these big, chunky clubs will not be winning a style contest any time soon, they are extreme solutions for the golfer who really struggles to get around the golf course.

It feels like a stretch to even categorize them as irons, as the clubhead is essentially the size of a hybrid or even a small fairway wood, but with lofts going all the way down to short irons.

These are some of the least workable clubs on the market, which is fine for the golfer who wouldn’t dream of shaping a shot around a tree, and would just like to hit their irons straighter. Showing up to the course with a set of Launcher XLs is a bit like using the kiddie bumpers at the bowling alley – it shows that you’re not taking the game too seriously, and you’re just here to have a good time!

The Smart Sole 4 Wedge has an extra wide, three tiered sole that provides maximum forgiveness in the short game, even when you don’t quite catch the ball cleanly. These are by far the thickest wedges available on the market, and are available in “chipper,” gap wedge, and sand wedge configurations.

For players looking for some added wedge forgiveness in their short game with a more traditional head style, Cleveland released the CBX Zipcore. It is specifically advertised to help golfers chunk less, and boasts a forgiving cavity back in a sleek, players style head. There is also an added “gelback” TPU insert that helps mishits feel much smoother than ever before.

The irons contained in Cleveland’s complete box set will be closer in style to a traditional cavity back design compared to the oversize profiles of the Launcher XL Halos. A complete set from Cleveland will also come equipped with a putter, and a forgiving set of woods. Players with higher swing speeds should not purchase box sets because as there is no way to customize the shaft stiffness in these complete sets. For the average beginner with an average swing speed, a Cleveland set is a great way to get a full set of clubs for a below average price.

Wilson

Beginner golfers who are interested in a complete box set of clubs would be wise to check out Wilson. A long time producer of sports equipment, Wilson has a larger selection of box sets available than any other club manufacturer in the market. In fact, there are currently 12 different options available for purchase on their company website.

While not top tour level equipment, these box sets are a great way for newer players to get familiar with all kinds of different clubs at once, before breaking the bank on more expensive gear.

Cobra

Cobra is another large club manufacturer that has a great history of keeping higher handicappers in mind when releasing clubs. They have an option for even the most helpless golf swings – an ultra forgiving monstrosity of a hybrid iron they call the T-Rail. The T-Rail clubs are similar to Cleveland’s Launcher XL Halos, but include a two rail design on the bottom of the clubs designed for better turf interaction on mishit shots.

Instead, Cobra purposely weakened the lofts on this set, a modification specifically aimed at helping golfers get the ball higher into the air. If you are a beginner who struggles with a low ball flight – these are the clubs for you.

The LTDx irons are Cobra’s answer to the Callaway Rouge line – a versatile and forgiving club that is full of the latest cavity back technology, in a more traditional sleek clubhead design. These irons are suited to the large majority of golfers, as they are versatile enough to help a beginner, while being workable enough to grow with any golfer’s game as they improve.

Odyssey Putters

This legendary design allows for easier alignment, and most beginners find it to be the most comfortable and beneficial putter head design for them to sink more putts.

The two ball is a very helpful visual aid, as the golfer lines up the 2 flat, golf ball diameter circles behind the golf ball. This gives the illusion of three golf balls sitting on the green in a straight line, pointed directly towards the hole. This is helpful with both alignment and understanding of the club path through impact.

Odyssey also has a large variety of other mallet head options, ensuring that every golfer of every skill level can find something that fits their eye. 

Ping Putters

Ping offers high-quality putters with adjustable length options. A key is inserted into the top of the grip, the grip “unlocks,” and can be slid to adjust to different heights. Since there is no agreed upon proper putting stance, and everyone putts a little differently, golfers are always adjusting their setups. This is especially true for the newer golfer, as it takes hours of tinkering and evolution to find a comfortable, unique, repeatable putting stroke.

Most Trusted Golf Club Brands List

• Callaway
• Titleist
• Taylormade
• Ping
• Odyssey
• Mizuno
• Srixon
• Cleveland
• Vokey
• Cobra

Our Team of Experts at Tell Me More Golf has put together a list of the top 10 most trusted, respected, and established club brands in the golf industry. If you are in the market for a set of clubs, and don’t know where to start – we recommend sticking to one of these large brands.

To make the list, each company has to have proven themselves with a track record of high product quality, and must stand by their products with a history of repairing or replacing damaged equipment.

Beginners Shouldn’t Use These Golf Club Brands!

Nike

Many beginner golfers may not know this, but Nike no longer produces golf equipment. This is a giant red flag, and causes a few issues.

Any technology found in a Nike golf club would be considered obsolete by today’s standards. Even in their heyday, Nikes weren’t known to be very forgiving clubs, and mostly sold due to the “cool factor” brought on by Tiger Woods. If you were to buy an old set of Nike clubs, and you needed a club repair or replacement part- there would be nobody to call.

Muira

Muira is a Japanese brand that prides itself on making some of the best golf clubs in production today. The only issue is that their clubs are designed for better players, and should not be anyone’s first set of clubs.

They aren’t cheap either, as the only two cavity back iron sets they produce cost between $2400 and $2900. That is higher than the cost of a complete golf set made up of other highly trustworthy brands. They also offer only forged wedges, with no cavity back option. These are for players more concerned with spin control off the clubface rather than ball speed.

While Muira has a reputation of producing high quality, top tier golf clubs – there are two main reasons that they are not suitable for the beginner golfer. First, they are very expensive.

Price is the most important factor for many golfers who are just picking up the game, as they’ll need to purchase all kinds of other gear on top of clubs. Additionally, Muira does not have a history of designing clubs for high handicappers. Conversely, their irons are designed for better players looking to invest in high quality clubs, and not made with the budget conscious beginner in mind.

Most Trusted Golf Club Brands List

• Callaway
• Titleist
• Taylormade
• Ping
• Odyssey
• Mizuno
• Srixon
• Cleveland
• Vokey
• Cobra

Our Team of Experts at Tell Me More Golf has put together a list of the top 10 most trusted, respected, and established club brands in the golf industry. If you are in the market for a set of clubs, and don’t know where to start – we recommend sticking to one of these large brands.

To make the list, each company has to have proven themselves with a track record of high product quality, and must stand by their products with a history of repairing or replacing damaged equipment.

Frequently Asked Questions:

What golf clubs should a beginner choose?

Our team of experts at Tell Me More Golf recommend starting out with a set of super game improvement irons for the complete beginner, who only plays occasionally. For someone who is looking to take lessons and improve their game – a set of regular game improvement irons are more appropriate. Wedges with a cavity back design, and a mallet putter (preferably 2 ball) will also benefit any golf novice, and are a great place to start.

How do I choose a golf club brand?

The big brands are big for a reason, they have a proven track record of producing quality clubs, and making good on issues that do arise. A set of golf clubs is a very personal choice, and you should always go with the club that feels the best to you as an individual. With that being said – we highly recommend choosing clubs from an established, trusted brand. There are plenty of big brands to choose from, just be sure to stick with game improvement style clubs as a beginner!

Conclusion: Research by Tellmemoregolf.com

There are many different companies producing golf club equipment these days, and the beginner golfer has a different set of needs than other golfers. 

Here at Tell Me More Golf, we recommend looking at a trusted brand like Callaway, Cleveland, or Odyssey when putting together a full set of clubs. There are other brands, like Nike and Muira that should be left alone as a starter set.

Patrick Corley

From a golf scholarship to a Southern California University, to a private golf coaching career and an instructor position at a nonprofit organization, I’m here to help you get better at golf! With my 50+ years of golf experience; I bring you Tell Me More Golf. A golf coaching website that helps your game with instructional golfing content that’s ultimately geared toward making you a better golfer and having more fun!

Our golf instructor team brings it all to you, so enjoy!

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