Golf Scores and Correct Clubs
Are you new to the game of golf? Excellent! Golf is a great game. It can be rewarding and it can be frustrating. But one thing is for sure it is highly addictive! So as a newbie to the game I welcome you.

Questions that you may be looking to have answered may be:

What beginner equipment do I need?

Do I need the most expensive golf clubs?

Do I need to have the newest products on the market?

To answer those questions you first of all need to recognize, and maybe you know this already, that as a golfing beginner you probably have a hard time making consistent contact with the ball. You probably top the ball, skull the ball, slice it, thin it, etc. I know I did when I first started out, and at times I still do some of those things. It's normal; you’re just starting out.

However, the biggest mistake by individuals who are just starting out golfing is they rush out and buy a brand new set of shiny and expensive golf clubs. While they are nice to look at, they can't help you hit the ball better until you learn to hit the ball better. Please consider taking golf lessons. If you have already done that, wonderful! But it will still take some time to get used to playing the game of golf.

Some of the most expensive brands out there are Callaway, Nike, Taylormade, Cleveland, and Titleist. For a beginner I would recommend going to any store that sells golf club sets. Stores like Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, Dunhams, Dicks Sporting Goods, etc. They all carry lower priced sets that you can buy to start out with. Price ranges from $150 to $300. Even some pro shops carry inexpensive sets. But you will no doubt run into a salesman that will try to steer you away from the lower priced sets. That's why I suggest the other stores. If you still are into golf in a few years then you can consider getting a nicer set of golf clubs.

What is really cool is you can find golf sets that have everything you need to play the game (minus tees, balls, and shoes). My wife, just as an example, picked up a set that has a high lofted driver with a large cc head (430cc). It has a 3 wood, a 5 wood, and a 7 wood. The iron set is a mixture of hybrids and oversized irons. It includes a pitching wedge (PW), a sand wedge (SW), and a putter. Plus, it came with a nice golf bag. She paid $300. She only plays about once or twice a month, and she loves them. To be quite honest, she is getting good at playing them as well. The set she has is also available for men.

So, when it comes to irons look for an oversized iron, which has a larger hitting area, this will help with mishits. You driver should have a larger head to increase the size of the hitting area. Additional loft (12-15 degrees) will get the ball in the air. Added loft will increase backspin and make those left to right curves (slices) less of a headache, because it can reduce sidespin. Plus, the added loft, coupled with a slower swing speed, will increase distance off the tee for you. I say this because most beginners swing slower, so take advantage of more loft!

Now my recommendations in this post are purely my opinion. There is nothing wrong with buying top quality, name brand clubs. If you have the money and you know you are going to play the game of golf for a long time, then go for it. Just make sure that if you decide to fork out the dough to buy these clubs, go to a good clubfitter and get the proper fit. And, take lessons!

But the majority of golfing beginners, an inexpensive set of golf clubs is all you need to get started.

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Update:
I recently re-analyzed and updated my golf club distances and I also created a new average golf club distance chart. Please check out this newer post for more up to date information.

Know Your Average Golf Club Distances
Many golfers, including beginners, want to know how far the average golfer hits their golf clubs. Well, I'm an average golfer so I decided to provide a chart based on the distances that I play my woods, irons, and wedges. PGA Professionals obviously hit their clubs a lot farther, but I am not a professional by any means. In fact, compared to my playing partners, I'm the shortest hitter of the bunch.

My average score falls between the mid-80's to the mid-90's. A little over a year ago I was shooting between 90 and 100, but I have been practicing a lot with my short game and I am starting to bring my score down slightly. I have not added a hybrid to my bag yet, but I own 2 now and I may replace my 4 and 5-irons with those soon. Now that I have a better idea of how to hit a hybrid club, it won't be too long before they are in my bag permanently. I'm sure the distances will be pretty close to my 4 and 5-irons, but the trajectories will be higher and I will be more accurate.

Here is a chart outlining my distances. Obviously I don't hit my clubs exactly these distances because these yardages I've rounded off. But the yardages are fairly accurate for me and these are the numbers that I use when I decide to pull clubs from my bag.

For example, if I have a shot that is 146 yards to the center of the green, I will pull both my 7-iron and my 6-iron out. If I have a little bit of wind behind me and the distance between me and the green is fairly flat or slightly downhill, I'll play my 7-iron. But if I'm hitting into the wind, or I'm playing slightly uphill, I'll play my 6. Sometimes, I'll opt for the longer club but I'll choke down a quarter of an inch on my grip.

Men's Clubs	Approximate Distance
#1 wood (driver)	230 yards
#3 wood	210 yards
#5 wood	190 yards
#7 wood	180 yards
#4 iron	170 yards
#5 iron	160 yards
#6 iron	150 yards
#7 iron	140 yards
#8 iron	130 yards
#9 iron	120 yards
Pitching Wedge	110 yards (full swing)
Sand Wedge	85 yards (full swing)
Lob Wedge	60 yards (full swing)

I hope this chart will be of use to some. If you want to learn to play better golf, then you need to learn your yardage distances. What are your distances? Please feel free to comment.

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May I Suggest Clone Clubs!
TourGolfClubs is a company that is devoted to having the game of golf low-priced for everybody. With prices of name brand golf clubs in the 1000s of dollars, the majority of golfers from novice to the more advanced players are discovering that it's difficult to keep up with the newest technologies.

TourGolfClubs has exhausted a good amount of time looking for and testing high quality golf clubs, for a fraction of the cost. They offer you a line of discount golf clubs that equals the top name brands in features and performance at an affordable price. Name brands that they are similiar to are Callaway, Nike, Ping and Taylormade. For example they offer hybrid clone golf clubs (see link above), but for the fraction of the price.

TourGolfClubs is a company that's dedicated to offering golfers the highest quality clone golf clubs. Yes, I said CLONES! They supply excellent performance at a cost that won't bankrupt you. A few people feel better about forking out 4 times more for their clubs simply because Tiger or Phil plays the same ones. But you will feel better knowing you're acquiring similar quality and performance for a fourth of the price.

TourGolfClub gear is constructed with similar materials and technology as its comparable name brand golf clubs. Clone golf clubs are not to be confused with the branded products they may try to flatter, but they're fabricated from basically the same materials and design rules. They employ a lot of the same shaft and grip suppliers, and execute similarly to the name brands. The significant point is they buy their heads, shafts, and grips from the same small community of golf manufacturing suppliers. They offer the same performance but they give you a better deal. Some of the name brands that they have corresponding clones for include; the Callaway X-10, The Callaway Big Bertha, Callaway FT-i driver, the Ping G5 series, the Nike Sasquatch and Sumo, and the Cobra Speed series woods.

Nitrogen Driver-More Distance
You heard me right, Powerbilt's Air Force One is coming out with a line of clubs that are pumped-up with nitrogen gas, which developers have said permits any player, no matter their ability, to get the clubface to flex upon impact the way the pros do. An average player can compress the face, but the nitrogen supports it therefore it remains inside the USGA governing rules.

"Basically we take the head and we put a polyurethane coating in it so that seals the head we can then put a valve and pressurize the head up to 150 pounds," said Ross Kvinge, a Powerbilt representative. "By adding that pressure we can thin the walls and thin the face and that enables us to get a great trampoline effect and distance and it doesn't matter your swing speed the product is tested at 110 miles per hour per USGA protocol and at any swing speed now with the thinner faces we can maximize the trampoline effect and get more distance."

The creators of the club say that it can add at the least an additional 10 to 15 yards per drive. And, since the clubhead is supported evenly from end to end with equal pressure from the gas, they assert that whenever your shots hit off center, they'll still fly straight and far.

Nitrogen gas is totally safe so you won't have to worry about trivial things like, possibly the club blowing up on you while hitting with it on the tee.

"Oxygen holds moisture, it fluctuates, the nitrogen is a larger molecule and that enables us to have a more stable environment. It doesn't change pressure due to heat or altitude or anything so it's a very safe gas."

So far, those that have had the opportunity to test this new device have been very impressed. I'm excited to demo one myself!

As of January 1, 2009, the Air Force One drivers will retail for $500, fairway woods for $350 and hybrids for $250.

60-degree Wedge
When I first started playing golf I didn't have a 60-degree wedge. I only had a pitching wedge and a sand wedge. One of my playing partners had bought a new lob wedge and asked me if I wanted his old one. It was a Cleveland 588 RTG, and I fell in love with the club, but not at first.

In the beginning, I had a problem hitting it correctly. I would try and use it around the green and I would attempt to hit a high, soft shot, like Phil Michelson. But I would end up blading the ball, sending it 15 yards off the other side of the green. So needless to say, at first, I didn't like the wedge, and I would leave it in my bag. I fell in love with my lob wedge when a friend of mine gave me some great advice. Here was his advice:

1. Calm down. To be able to hit a lob wedge you need to be very relaxed. If you are tense and you rush the shot, it will turn out disastrous.

2. Do not try to help the club. He told me to let the wedge do the work. Considering the huge loft, the club does not require your assistance in launching the ball into the air. A lot of golfers lean back and try to lift, or scoop, the ball up with their swing. The secret to a quick, high launch is in how you pre-set your weight, coupled with a balanced swing.

And so, here's what he told me to do: Lean your weight forward so the club comes down with a descending blow on the ball. This will get the ball spinning up the clubface. Swing down and through, not under and up. Avoid trying to lift the ball at all costs. And finish with a half-swing.

Here is a good practice drill he had me do. I would put a ball close to a short fence or a low-lying object, and I would practice hitting over it. I started out about 10 feet away from the fence and I as I improved I would move closer.

I had to learn not to overpower the shot. With putting my weight on my forward foot, I soon found that the clubhead energy would roll the ball up the clubface and into the air, stopping it quickly on the green. I was stoked.

Keep this golf tip in mind to improve your golf score: Do not scoop or lift the ball, stay calm, and finish with a half swing. If you do, you will allow your 60-degree lob wedge to do the job it was designed to do.

Beginners and Golf in Arizona
Did you know that there are literally hundreds of golf courses in Arizona? If you are looking for all inclusive golf packages in Arizona, you don't have to worry, because you won't be disappointed. There is one golf course in particular that I just recently read great reviews about and it is in Arizona. It is the Saguaro Course at We-Ko-Pa Golf Club in Scottsdale.

The reviews about this golf course have been incredible! It opened about 12 years ago in 1996 so it's a fairly new course, but it has caught the attention of a lot of serious golfers.

The condition and the setting of this course was described as 'spectacular' by one person, and another who played the course made this comment "you'll swear the striking blue sky over the desert looks like it came from a special effects studio." I have only been to Arizona once and I must admit there is something about the sky that makes it amazing to see. So I can imagine when you couple the beauty of the sky with an immaculate golf course you would end up with some breathtaking views.

Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw designed this course and they designed it to be a walking course. You don't find a lot of these today and sad to say, a lot of golfers prefer to ride the course instead which sort of detracts from the design, I believe. However, for those who like to ride that is OK. I live in Florida and that's all we do is ride. But walking has its benefits and this course sounds like one that I would want to walk, that's for sure.

Another aspect about this course that impressed me is the appearance from the tee boxes. Some say the fairways are wide and some say that the fairways just appear to be wide but in reality they are not. I'm not sure who is right but both parties did agree on one thing: you must be accurate with your tee shots or else your ball can go rolling off into the desert. That's a great golf tip if you plan on going to play there.

I noticed that there is a lot of diversity as well when it comes to the length of the holes. There are par 4's from 310 to 490 yards, and par 3's from 120 to 240 yards. It sounds like you would probably end up using almost every golf club in your bag. And that's the way it should be. Sometimes a few golf courses can be a bit boring because all the holes are fairly even in length. But the Saguaro Course doesn't have that problem.

I've been impressed by the reviews and it certainly sounds like a fun course, both for the beginners in the game of golf, as well as those who are more skilled at the game. Now this beauty doesn't come cheap, though. You can expect to pay over $200 for 18 holes of golf. I don't know about you but right now I am on a tight budget so a course like this one would be out of the question. But when I decide to take a trip to Arizona, I will make sure to set aside some funds to play this spectacular gem!

If you are a beginner in the game of golf you will encounter a lot of golf tips when it comes to playing the game. Like, take for example, iron play. We are all looking for the proper way to hit the golf ball with our irons, so that we can make a nice, crisp shot. Our goal, of course, is to hit the golf ball first and then make contact with the ground by taking a divot. But do you have a problem with this? I sometimes do. And there are many 'how to' tips available to help accomplish this. In fact, it is amazing how many 'how to' tips there are on almost every subject. I came across a site the other day that was about 'how to comb synthetic wigs.' OK, never mind, I'll get back to the subject at hand.

How to hit irons for beginners

One thing that I've discovered to be somewhat helpful in consistently hitting the ball first with my irons, is I have learned not to mess with ball position too much. What I do is I adjust my stance rather than moving my ball position around.

For my longer irons I have a wider stance, my mid irons I have normal stance and for my short irons I have a narrow, slightly open stance. I find that this helps me to be more consistent and to make better contact with the golf ball. Jack Nicholas did something very similar with his irons especially with his short irons. He would narrow and open his stance slightly. When I hit the ball, I know if I have hit it well if there's a one dollar bill sized divot towards my target area, directly after where my ball was laying.

But some people like to keep their stance pretty much the same and adjust their ball position forward or backward for each iron. This is another way to try and hit the ball crisply. Some like to move their golf ball from the front of their stance to the back of their stance as they move up from a 3-iron to a PW. To get a crisp, ball first hit with a mid iron, for example, you would need to make sure that the ball is towards the middle of your stance.

Of course, the best way to learn how to hit your irons if you're a beginner is to take a few lessons. They are not too expensive and it will help you to get the proper fundamentals down so that you will be able to improve and to enjoy the game of golf. I am thankful that I did and I think you will be as well.

Don't miss out on my post entitled Golfing Sets For Beginners, where I offer advice about what to buy if you're a golfing beginner which can help you improve your golf score.

Could you be losing distance by playing blade irons? Maybe, but the first thing you want to remember is that irons are designed for accuracy not distance. If you hit your irons consistently the same distances each and every time, then why worry about distance. But if you are not hitting your golf irons accurately and you are losing distance, then you may need to take a closer look at your irons to see why.

Age

Take for example age. No not your age, but the age of your irons. If your blade irons are old it's a good possiblity that the loft of those irons are probably very weak. They can range from 4 to 8 degrees weaker than a current set of blades! Now consider this rule of thumb: for every degree of loft added or removed, this can equal up to 2 yards of gain or loss. So if your irons are 5 degrees weaker, for example, than a modern set, you could be losing nearly 90 yards throughout your entire set, just due to loft (3-SW).

Another thing to analyze is the length of your shafts. Older irons were built using shorter shafts. Sometimes up to an inch shorter! Here is another rule of thumb: for every half inch added or subtracted, this can result in 2 yards gained or lost. So let's say for example your older blades are 1 inch shorter than modern blades, you could be losing 4 yards per club. That can result in losing up to 36 yards throughout your iron set (3-SW).

As you can see, you could be losing a total of 126 yards with your current set of irons. Ouch! So maybe it's time to upgrade to a modern set of irons.

Here is something else to consider. I had an older set of blades that I started learning the game of golf with years ago. For some reason I could not hit my 6 iron far. I could only hit it about 90 yards. Can you guess why? I couldn't figure it out, until one day on a par-3 the head flew off the shaft! The reason I was losing distance with that iron was because the epoxy used to hold the head onto the golf shaft had broken loose. Thank goodness I didn't kill anyone. But this made me check the heads on all my other irons and I found 3 more that were somewhat loose. So, it's a good possibility that many may be losing distance with older irons because the glue is weakening.

Harder to Hit

Now, blades are harder to hit in the sweet spot so contact is very critical. It's not because the design and the material used to make the irons is inferior, but it's just that blades demand dead center impact. Especially with the really older blade designs, you can easily lose 5 yards just by missing the sweet spot by 1/4 of an inch. Modern blade designs don't lose as much as older blades, because of expanded sweet spots, but they are still harder to hit than a cavity backed iron.

To test if you are hitting the sweet spot, use impact tape. This will tell the true story.

Just remember that if you are hitting your irons well, don't worry about more distance. Concentrate on accuracy and feel and your game will continue to improve. But if you lack distance due to the above reasons, I highly recommend that you go to your local golf shop and demo some newer irons. You might be glad you did.

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