Starters
Choosing the right golf set and golf equipment is an important consideration for golf beginners who have just started playing the great game of golf. Due to the varieties of shots required in the golf game, a professional golfer may use up to fourteen different clubs to maximize his performance. Apart from the putter, the clubs are divided into two groups, the woods and the irons. The better and more experienced golfer would prefer the set with more iron whereas the average golfer would find a fairway wood simpler to use and would preferred the set with more woods than iron. For the beginners, the minimum number of clubs is five. Other equipment includes the golf bag, golf trolley, golf shoes, gloves and golf balls.
For the proper golf swing where the objective is to hit the ball furthest towards the greens, the club known as the driver is used. Also known as the no. 1 wood, it is the club with the longest shaft and the fewest degree of loft angle. This enables the driver to create a full arc when the club is swung and due to the low loft angle, the trajectory of the ball will be low so that the ball will fly further. At the other end of the scale for the golf chipping and pitching strokes, are the two iron clubs commonly known as the pitching wedge and the sand iron. These clubs have much shorter shafts and a greater angle of loft on their clubfaces. This enables the golfer to minimize the arc and to spin the ball upwards rather than forward.
Between the driver and the pitching wedge and sand iron, the clubs with different shaft length and loft angles are graduated for the professional golfers to choose for the various shots required. The putter is the individual item in the golf set used solely for the putting stroke. The three popular putters used are the blade putters, centre shafted putters and the mallet headed putter. There should be at least five different clubs in the beginners' golf set. The golf set should consist of the following:-
1. A wooden club - to be used at the tee-off or at the fairway when there is a long distance to be covered.
2. The long iron - to be used when the distance to the green can be covered without using the wooden club, staying short of the bunker.
3. The middle iron - to be used when the distance to the green can be covered without using the wooden club or long iron, staying short of the bunker. It can also be used to chip from the approaches to the green.
4. The short iron - to be used for the approaches to the green and also for the pitch shots, recovery shots and the bunker shots.
5. The putter - to be used on the putter green or at the fringes of the green.
The other essential golf equipment would include the following:-
1. A small golf bag is ideal for the beginner's golf club set. However, as he gradually increases the number of clubs, a larger bag with a hood to protect the clubs is a sensible accessory to accommodate the fourteen clubs.
2. A good golf trolley is a necessary investment to move your heavy golf set around the golf course.
3. To ensure a sound footing and stable base when executing a golf swing, it is essential to invest in a pair of good spiked shoes.
4. Likewise, to ensure firmness of your grip when executing a stroke, it is recommended to have a glove to provide the added support.
5. The other piece of equipment is of course the golf ball. For novice golfer, it is recommended to use the lower compression ball.