Budget Driver For A Beginner. Ram Golf Evolution, Fazer Firepower?

[PeteHoram]

I want something forgiving mostly. I have a taylormade rescue 3 I got for free and it is a nightmare - I can't not slice it, yet with iron's i'm mostly alright. Anyway I don't want to spend much more than £50 unless it really is necessary. I've seen this

Fazer Firepower £25? Can I go wrong?

http://www.americangolf.co.uk/golf-clubs/golf-drivers/fazer-firepower-geometrix-driver--graphite-/

Ram Evolution Driver £50 (I know the old fx9 got good reviews)

http://www.ramgolf.co.uk/products/evolution/driver

Any other suggestions or would you recommend either of these? What degree is best 12 or 10.5?

Cheers,
Pete

 

[daveyc2k2]

£50 isn't going to get you much. I'm sure most people will recommend the MD range as they are cheap and meant to be great kit for their price. Check them out and see if they are in your budget.

 

[PeteHoram]

The MD seem to be around £80-100.
Is this a taylormade burner driver for £100 killer deal and well worth it by the way?

 

[NWJocko]

Have a look at benross. Their drivers seem to be well thought of and you'd be able to get something around 50 notes i would have thought, maybe last year or two model wise but sound enough at that price.

If you can find a few extra quid the Cleveland launcher from a couple of years back is 70-80 quid which is very good value.

 

[NWJocko]

The MD seem to be around £80-100.
Is this a taylormade burner driver for £100 killer deal and well worth it by the way?

Must have posted at the same time! For a 7 hole old burner it is a good deal. Thnk someone was selling the previous tour burner for 60 quid in the for sale section aswell.

 

[GB72]

Try this

http://www.onlinegolf.co.uk/product/Benross-VX-Proto-Driver/p53025.aspx

In my opinion you will not find better for £40

 

[thecraw]

I would have to agree with the above in relation to that Benross driver.

 

[ScienceBoy]

I would suggest for an absolute beginner they start playing with a 3 wood first and move onto the drive once they get the hang of hitting the shorter club first.

Going out gung ho with a driver can bring in a few swing faults. I would simply avoid it and buy a 3 wood which would also be cheaper!

 

[PeteHoram]

Is a 3 wood the same as a taylormade rescue 3? I can hit a couple of hundred hards with it but it nearly always slices way right

Cool might check out Benross. No praise for ram?

These are some good sales on callaway bb diablo, taylormade burner and Nike SQ if I want to go up to £100 but maybe it's too much to spend at first is it?

 

[One Planer]

Nah they are completley different.

A 3 wood is the next club down from your driver. A 3 resucue/hybrid is an easier to hit version of a 3 iron.

 

[PeteHoram]

I actually wish I had a 3 iron instead of the rescue 3. Any idea why I find it so much more difficult compared to a 5 iron? What's wrong in my technique?

So I could do with recommendations for a 3, 5 wood and a driver? Do I need 2 woods and a driver or just one wood and driver?

With the benross driver should I get:

regular or stiff?
10 degrees or 12?

Or with benross fairway woods there's

3 wood 15 degrees, 3 wood max 18 degrees
5 wood 19 degrees, or max 21

What do I need?
Cheers

 

[ScienceBoy]

So I could do with recommendations for a 3, 5 wood and a driver? Do I need 2 woods and a driver or just one wood and driver?

A full set is overcomplicating things for a beginner.

If it is your first set I would go for just a half set. Get a putter, sand wedge, 9,7,5 irons, 3 hybrid and a 3 wood.

Then get some lessons to learn to hit those.

This simplifies club selection and you will not regret it as in the future as you will have learnt distance control a lot quicker than if you had 14 club in the bag and learnt how to control clubs in all sorts of conditions.

Too many start with 14 clubs, in my opinion its best to start with the set stated above for the first few years.

Of course it is your choice what you do but I would say don't give in to peer pressure and blast away with a driver, follow what you think is best for your situation.

 

[PeteHoram]

I've got a full set of Taylormade RAC OS IIs and the taylormade rescue 3 and a putter. I can take out half of them and just keep the ones you said for now.

I'm currently having lessons and they seem to be going well - I had lessons when I was younger. I can hit with 7 and 5 irons pretty consistently long and straight. I'm really struggling with my rescue 3 at the moment - I can occasionally hit a straight one 200 yards but mostly it's just a pure slice shot. It's not really made for off the tee either I suppose.

I guess I just want to a good club I can hit long for off the tee. Played a 9 hole the other day (my second round ever) and ended up 12 shot over which I thought was alright. I seemed to lose a lot of shots putting mostly.

What flex and loft would you recommend for the 3 wood then? Are the benross vx ones as good as the driver?

 

[ScienceBoy]

I still think introducing a driver will make you worse rather that better but its good to see a decent score isnt it, 12 over isnt bad at all!

One idea is to take out only the clubs you are confident in and play with those, try a bit of shotmaking.

I would not worry about shaft flex etc just yet, get something cheap with a stock shaft, learn to hit it well and when you are more consistent you will find a good shaft makes a difference.

For me a season with the stock shaft in my driver and wood was fine. By the end of the season I was shooting mid 80s and then getting custom fit for a driver shaft helped me start finding more fairways.

Golf improvements seem to come in big chunks, then you spend a few months making it consistent then it happens all over again!

 

[PeteHoram]

The thing is the benross which are only £40 give me all these options so I have to choose really.

Are more degree's loft better for beginners?
Is more flex better for beginners or does it offer less control?

 

[Region3]

The real answer is 'it depends' unfortunately.

Generally more loft would be better for a beginner, unless you already hit the ball very high? I'd say at least 10° but preferably 11-12.

Shaft flex is roughly based on swing speed although there are other factors that are involved as well.
Do you know either your swing speed with any particular clubs, or distances that you hit certain clubs (carry distance)?

 

[Smiffy]

Where are you based Peter?

 

[PeteHoram]

Hi, I'm based near Lancaster.

I'm not sure of my swing speed. I hit a 7 iron about 150 yards and my rescue 3 about 200 yards when I hit it well. I'd say the 5 iron is just short of 200 yards.

Cheers

 

[ScienceBoy]

Hi, I'm based near Lancaster.

I'm not sure of my swing speed. I hit a 7 iron about 150 yards and my rescue 3 about 200 yards when I hit it well. I'd say the 5 iron is just short of 200 yards.

Cheers

Thats not bad, at the moment in winter on the course I hit my 6 iron 150 and my 5 wood 220. You must be doing something right at least, defiantly not beginner distances those! I have been playing seriously for just under a year.

 

[Scouser]

Just bought last years MD superstrong TI 460 for £60.... I have an excellent slice and on the 9 hole course today when i used the MD for the first time hit 4 out of the 5 fairways ..... very very happy