7 Clubs All Beginner Golfers Should Add To Their Golf Bag

Choosing clubs to start your golfing journey with can be a little bit of a minefield. Manufacturers are releasing new models every year, and there are plenty of second-hand retailers out there now offering thousands of clubs at the click of a button. But which ones are right for you if you're just starting out in the game?

WATCH: We run through the 7 clubs all beginner golfers should consider for their bag

The decision when building your bag can be a little overwhelming. Most beginners end up carrying a full set of clubs that more often than not actually make the game harder for them - long irons that never get airborne and low-lofted woods that slice into the trees.

The truth is, a lot of golfers make purchases based on aesthetics, and while looks do inspire confidence, you’re much better off with some sticks that are going to help your game initially, make the game more enjoyable, before becoming overly picky and choosing based on looks.

I’ve curated the ultimate beginner starter kit, highlighting seven specific types of clubs designed to fast-track your improvement and, more importantly, make the game fun. The final club on this list is even dominating the professional game at the moment, so stick around!

1. Max 10k Driver

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Photo of the Cobra Optm Max-K Driver

Let’s start with the ‘big stick’. For beginner golfers, the driver is usually the club that causes the most grief. High slices or low hooks are usually the two ball flights on offer, but this is largely because too many golfers chase distance when, in reality, forgiveness is your best friend.

Yes, hitting the ball a long way is a benefit, but if it means chipping out from the trees after, it’s of little significance. You’ll want to start by looking for a forgiving driver, where you'll be blessed with a minimum of 10k MOI. This MOI essentially is forgiveness, and so the higher the number, the more chance you have of getting away with a miss-hit and keeping your ball in play.

The Cobra Optm MAX-K is a superb option this year, featuring a record-breaking 13K MOI (Moment of Inertia) design. In layman's terms, it is incredibly stable. It uses a fixed 11g back weight to help produce effortless launch for a towering ball flight and FutureFit33 technology, allowing you to adjust loft and lie independently to help you promote or fight a certain ball flight, through loft, lie, and face angle.

2. A 7-Wood

This is my personal favorite recommendation, largely because I love how this club truly applies to all golfers. Even as a +4 handicapper, I have added a 7-wood to my bag at times this year (course and condition dependent), and world number one, Scottie Scheffler, has been using one to great effect. Traditionally, beginners are told to carry a 3-wood, but those are notoriously difficult to hit off the deck, due to the majority being around 15° of loft.

The Ping G440 Max 7-wood (21°) is a revelation thanks to its Carbonfly Wrap technology and a shorter shaft. This shorter shaft makes it far easier to control than, say, a 3-wood, and while you will sacrifice a little distance, due to the higher loft, a better strike, even with more loft, will see you gain more distance than a poor strike with less loft.

7-woods boast a wide sole that helps glide over the grass rather than digging into the turf, improving strike, and thanks to a lower CG, these high lofted woods launch the ball so easily, helping you carry hazards where necessary as well as landing the ball softly when playing into greens.

Whether you’re going for a green on a longer hole, such as a long par five, or want an alternative to driver off the tee to try and put the ball in play, a 7-wood is a club definitely worth considering.

3. A 5-Hybrid

If you’re a beginner golfer and have long irons, such as a 4 or 5-iron in your bag, take them out, throw them in the garage, and store them for when you’ve gained a little more consistency with your ball striking. There is a much easier way to hit that distance you’re looking for, and that’s through hybrids.

Hybrids are the Swiss Army knife of the golf world, offering complete versatility to help your game throughout the course. The Ping G440 hybrid offers what the brand calls ‘Spinsistency’ technology - a variable roll radius on the face that improves spin consistency and therefore ball flight on miss-hit shots. Because the center of gravity is low and far back, even poorly struck shots launch nicely and want to fly relatively straight.

Hybrids are arguably more versatile than high-lofted fairway woods as they’re easier to flight down in the wind, making them easy to use off the tee, pop out with height from the rough, or even to use for a bump-and-run from just off the green, instead of trying to hit a delicate chip shot.

4. High-Launching Irons

When it comes to irons, you’re going to want to pick up a set of forgiving (cavity back) irons. Cavity back irons are the key to confidence for the beginner golfer because they prioritize stability and consistency over the precision found on some of the best irons for lower handicappers.

As a beginner, your strike will inevitably be fairly varied across the face, some slightly off the toe, and some from the heel, but the clubhead is less likely to twist in your hands, helping the ball stay on its intended line and retain its distance with cavity back irons.

The Callaway Quantum Max irons are the latest forgiving irons launched by the brand, utilizing an Ai Smart Face developed from thousands of real data points collected, in order to design multiple sweet spots.

The key to these irons is perimeter weighting to increase MOI and stability. In a blade iron, the sweet spot is tiny and very much just the centre of the face - in these, it’s basically the entire face.

They feature a dynamic sole design with a pre-worn leading edge to cut through turf more efficiently, reducing digging - something a lot of amateurs suffer from. It’s all about making your bad shots less destructive, and irons like these for beginners will help you do that!

5. Cavity Back Wedges

Most beginners buy sleek, thin wedges because that’s what the pros use. While some of these wedges are beautifully crafted and honestly look like a work of art, as a beginner, please don’t be tempted. Some beginners may just be naturally gifted and have impressive hand-eye coordination, but the majority do not and could massively benefit from a cavity-back wedge like the Cleveland CBZ wedges.

These wedges feature ZipCore technology - the same as on the brand's premium RTZ wedges, helping increase MOI, and HydraZip face technology helps to maintain spin in wet conditions. The wide, tri-sole design on these CBZ wedges is essentially insurance against chunking your chips, helping the club enter and exit the ground quickly for improved strike and turf interaction.

With a traditional wedge, hitting a few millimeters behind the ball moves it two feet. With the CBZ, the bounce and sole design allows the club to slide through the grass, popping the ball up safely onto the green and giving you a much better chance to get up and down.

6. A Chipper

Some traditionalists say this isn't a ‘real’ club and that they don’t belong in the game - ignore them. I promise, if you start using a chipper and keep landing the ball around the hole, your playing partners will soon be asking where you got yours from. If you struggle with strike, even after trying larger cavity back wedges, or you suffer from the dreaded ‘yips’, the Odyssey Chipper is a game-changer.

It’s built like a putter but has the loft roughly of an 8-iron (37°) and a rounded grip that feels really nice in your hands. You use your putting stroke (no wrist action), rock the shoulders, and the ball simply hops over the fringe and rolls like a putt. It is almost impossible to mess up and can do a brilliant job of taking the stress out of your short game entirely.

7. A Mallet Putter

Finally, what I consider the most important club in the bag - the putter. Being solid on the greens takes the pressure off the rest of your game, as you can always save your score with good putting. For beginners, I always recommend a high-MOI mallet like the TaylorMade Spider Tour.

The wings on the back of the Spider push weight to the perimeter, meaning the face won't want to twist off-center hits, making it easier to hit your start line. It also features the incredible True Path Alignment system, which makes aiming much easier, which is literally half the battle when it comes to putting.

When you're starting, you’ll be much better off with a larger mallet compared to a blade putter and ideally something that is face-balanced or potentially zero-torque. This will eliminate as much torque and twisting on the putter as possible, removing the timing required on the opening and closing of the blade.