Insights Requested -- Please Help Me Choose for My Beginner Golfer Daughter . . .

IndyBonzo · August 15, 2023

My 17 yo daughter is a beginning golfer. She is a very good athlete and trained dancer, with a strong swing. She makes good contact and can hit driver 200+ without any real instruction yet.

She has been playing with pretty bad clubs. It's time for an upgrade.

Her mishit is a dig/chunk or slice, so I planned to get her a hybrid/iron combo game improvement set to start with. I am looking at these options:

Cleveland Launcher HB3

Nike Slingshot OSS

Adams Idea (A12OS, A3, or Tech V3 or V4)

Any suggestions on whether one of these is superior to the other? They are all priced about the same on eBay, all in pretty good used condition with roughly similar shafts.

Thank you in advance for any recommendations!

RickyBobby_PR · August 15, 2023

Asking for advice on what to get is going to lead to a bunch of different clubs, shafts, etc and they would be no better than you guessing what to get her yourself.

Go get her a fitting with a good fitter. Let the fitter choose what’s best so that she doesn’t develop bad habits trying to make a club work.

GolfSpy_APH · August 15, 2023

2 hours ago, IndyBonzo said:

My 17 yo daughter is a beginning golfer. She is a very good athlete and trained dancer, with a strong swing. She makes good contact and can hit driver 200+ without any real instruction yet.

She has been playing with pretty bad clubs. It's time for an upgrade.

Her mishit is a dig/chunk or slice, so I planned to get her a hybrid/iron combo game improvement set to start with. I am looking at these options:

Cleveland Launcher HB3

Nike Slingshot OSS

Adams Idea (A12OS, A3, or Tech V3 or V4)

Any suggestions on whether one of these is superior to the other? They are all priced about the same on eBay, all in pretty good used condition with roughly similar shafts.

Thank you in advance for any recommendations!

I'm guessing your working within a certain budget?

I would rule out the Nike, but that's me.

Any consideration to going the DTC route? Have her go in for a fitting, get some specs and then order something that fits her within the budget you're looking at?

GolfSpy_KFT · August 15, 2023

3 hours ago, IndyBonzo said:

My 17 yo daughter is a beginning golfer. She is a very good athlete and trained dancer, with a strong swing. She makes good contact and can hit driver 200+ without any real instruction yet.

She has been playing with pretty bad clubs. It's time for an upgrade.

Her mishit is a dig/chunk or slice, so I planned to get her a hybrid/iron combo game improvement set to start with. I am looking at these options:

Cleveland Launcher HB3

Nike Slingshot OSS

Adams Idea (A12OS, A3, or Tech V3 or V4)

Any suggestions on whether one of these is superior to the other? They are all priced about the same on eBay, all in pretty good used condition with roughly similar shafts.

Thank you in advance for any recommendations!

I would tend to go with the above recommendations on getting a fitting done if she's serious about getting into the game. If it's kind of a testing the waters type thing, I don't blame you at all for looking at a lower priced set option through somewhere like eBay. There are so many good DTC brands with reasonable prices that if that is an option, it would certainly be worth looking into.

That said, the only, very limited insight I can provide is that I have a friend who has the Slingshot irons and really likes them. I have never hit them, never swung them, etc., so that's solely based on what he's told me and how he hits them. Could be a totally different experience for your daughter.

spe1901 · August 15, 2023

Yeah, I would also echo a proper fitting. We went to Club Champion, but you could go to anyone. They will get length, and weight set up properly for her swing. Also, get her good instruction - not what you have learned. Hell I'm a 9. HDCP, and she has a better swing than I do.

ML

DonnieGolfs · August 15, 2023

What I did to help a buddy get his first decent set was go on the reviews for clubs like 4 years old (best _____ for 2018 or something) on the main site, and pair that with sideline swap, eBay etc. Then go get a gapping/ loft and lie fitting. That way you can find clubs that have good reviews

IndyBonzo · August 15, 2023

I appreciate all the recommendations. Truly.

Of course a fitting and new/newer clubs would be ideal, and if she takes up the game, that is the route we will go. That said, to this point she has played only two to three times a year, and not because of a lack of opportunities. I would prefer to see if she takes up the game in earnest before springing for a fitting and new clubs. I play a Maltby set myself, and long-term DTC is an extremely viable option, but even that route is expensive by comparison to good condition, beginner-friendly, used game improvement clubs.

This dad will be first in line with the dollars to kit her out if she wants to learn, take lessons, etc. But we are not there quite yet. I am hopeful though!

There is certainly an argument to be made that fitted clubs will help her enjoy the game more. I may look into that to set a baseline for shopping used.

Thank you all.

sirchunksalot · August 15, 2023

I think you've got a pretty good set of options to choose from. I would also suggest looking into the Tommy Armour Atomics or the Atomics Max. I think you can pick up a set at a decent price and they're easy to hit.

Whatever you decide to go with, I think it's awesome she's getting into the game and I think the two of you will have fun playing golf together.

GaryF · August 16, 2023

13 hours ago, IndyBonzo said:

My 17 yo daughter is a beginning golfer. She is a very good athlete and trained dancer, with a strong swing. She makes good contact and can hit driver 200+ without any real instruction yet.

She has been playing with pretty bad clubs. It's time for an upgrade.

Her mishit is a dig/chunk or slice, so I planned to get her a hybrid/iron combo game improvement set to start with. I am looking at these options:

Cleveland Launcher HB3

Nike Slingshot OSS

Adams Idea (A12OS, A3, or Tech V3 or V4)

Any suggestions on whether one of these is superior to the other? They are all priced about the same on eBay, all in pretty good used condition with roughly similar shafts.

Thank you in advance for any recommendations!

A fitting would be ideal but understand why you want to postpone that. A couple thoughts - she is athletic with a strong swing resulting in 200+ drives, and she is trained dancer which to me translates to good flexibility and fluidity. A third thought is that her mishits are chunks - I would dismiss this because reading between the lines, she has a lot of potential. My un-expert opinion is to buy clubs that play to her strengths, not her weakness.

Here is what I’d do: take her to a pgatss and for $50 (i think) get her a lesson, maybe 2 or 3. Get her on a path to improve her swing and reduce the mishits.

For clubs, I’d look at some pre-owned with a lot of forgiveness. A year ago my petite 5-4 68 yo wife was fitted with new Callaway Rogue STMax OS clubs. She is a 22 hdcp and hits drives 180-190 and was fitted with men’s senior flex cypher shafts. I think those are 50 5.0 .

Maybe look for preowned Ping 425s or the Rogue STMax OS. Both spell forgiveness. She might not need a full set, but something like driver, 7w, 5h, 6 or 7-SW, putter. Have her hit some demo clubs at a pgatss or golf galaxy and try the sr shafts given her seemingly higher swing speed. If this gets her on the right track and she keeps her interest, then get the fitting in a couple years. If she doesn’t maintain interest, these would be good enough for occasional play or they can be sold.

Edited August 16, 2023 by GaryF