A beginner's golf set needs forgiving heads, a shaft flex that suits a newer swing and the clubs you'll actually use. These 9 starter, package and iron sets are the ones that suit a new golfer, picked on forgiveness, flex, what each set includes and price. They're listed from the lowest price to the highest, with grades and what to check before you buy.

Quick summary

• The cheapest way to start is a used 4-club Starter Set at £75, with a hybrid or wood, an iron, a gap wedge and a putter, which is enough to find out whether golf is for you.
• A brand-new package set with a driver, woods, irons, putter and bag costs £279.99 (MacGregor CG4000, Ladies flex) or £399.99 (Wilson Profile, Regular flex).
• The 5 used iron sets under £330 on this list cost £212.99 to £324.99, from the Callaway Apex DCB and Cobra T-Rail to the PING G25 and TaylorMade Burner 2.0.
• An iron set is only part of a golf set, and adding a used driver, 5 wood, hybrid, sand wedge and putter to the Cobra T-Rail irons makes a 10-club bag for £519.94.
• Left-handed and Ladies flex sets are rarer than right-handed Regular flex ones, so the Cleveland Launcher XL Halo irons at £265.99 and the MacGregor CG4000 package set at £279.99 are worth buying when they suit you.

The 9 best second-hand golf sets for beginners at a glance

Grades are listed head, shaft and grip.

How we chose these sets

We judged every set on 4 things: how forgiving the heads are on off-centre strikes, whether the shafts suit a beginner's swing speed, how many of the clubs a beginner needs the set includes, and whether the price makes sense for what you get. Every set here is one we sell and grade.

That rules out plenty of good sets. Blades and compact players' irons such as the Cobra King MB and Titleist T150 are built for golfers who find the middle of the face almost every time, and Stiff and extra-stiff flex suit faster swings than a beginner has. Most of the 9 picks are used; 2 are brand-new package sets.

1. Next2New Starter Set: best for trying golf on a budget

The Next2New Starter Set is a used 4-club half set for £75, and it's the cheapest way for a beginner to find out whether golf is for them before buying a full set. Each one has a club for longer shots, an iron, a gap wedge and a putter, put together from trade-ins.

That's enough for the driving range, a pitch and putt or a gentle 9 holes. With 4 clubs you learn to hit a few shots well instead of carrying 10 you can't tell apart, and £75 is a small loss if golf doesn't stick.

2 line-ups show the mix. One has a 23° Ben Sayers M8 hybrid, a Mizuno JPX 850 6 iron, a Masters gap wedge and a Wilson blade putter. Another swaps the hybrid for a John Letters T9+ 3 wood at 15° and has a Wilson Deep Red 7 iron, a Ben Hogan gap wedge and a Wilson blade putter. Both are right-handed, Regular flex, standard length, at £75 and graded Good overall rather than part by part.

Of those 2, take the one with the hybrid. A 23° hybrid gets the ball airborne far more easily than a 15° 3 wood, which needs more swing speed than most beginners have yet. Because starter sets are made up from trade-ins, the clubs in the next one to join our second-hand full sets will be different.

The clubs come from different brands, so the shafts don't match in weight or feel. At this stage that matters far less than having something to swing. Look closely at the grips in the photos: on a £75 set, new grips are an easy fix but still an extra cost.

Good fit:

• Complete beginners who aren't sure golf will stick.
• Range and pitch-and-putt golfers who need a few clubs rather than a full bag.
• Anyone after a spare set to keep in the car or take on holiday.

Skip it if:

• You want to play 18 holes on a full-length course: 4 clubs leave big gaps in distance, and a set with a driver or 5 wood copes far better.

2. Callaway Apex DCB irons: best half set of irons

The Callaway Apex DCB is a 2021 deep cavity back iron, and this 4-club set from 7 iron to pitching wedge suits beginners who want good short irons and plan to use hybrids for the longer shots. DCB stands for deep cavity back: the weight sits around the edge of the head and low behind the face, and the sole is wider than on the other Apex models.

Callaway's Apex range is better known for irons aimed at good players, and the DCB was its forgiving member when it launched. That gives a beginner a head that helps on thin and off-centre strikes, with the feel of a premium iron.

The 7 iron, 8 iron, 9 iron and pitching wedge are the clubs beginners hit most from the fairway, and the longer clubs are where hybrids do a better job than irons. A 5 hybrid and a 6 hybrid added to this set cover the gap above the 7 iron, and they're easier to launch than the 5 and 6 irons they replace.

This set has UST Mamiya Recoil F3 graphite shafts at 65g, lighter than most steel iron shafts, which suits a slower swing. It costs £212.99, graded Good on head, shaft and grip. Our used Callaway Apex range covers several Apex models, so read the model name on each listing before you buy.

On any used set of irons, check that the shafts match from club to club. A different shaft label on one iron usually means it was replaced at some point, which is fine if the flex and weight match and worth asking about if they don't.

Good fit:

• Beginners building a bag around hybrids rather than long irons.
• Golfers with slower swings, because the graphite shafts are light.
• Anyone who wants a premium iron at a used price.

Skip it if:

• You want a set that covers everything: with 4 clubs you'll still need hybrids, a sand wedge and a putter.

3. Cobra T-Rail hybrid irons: best if irons feel hard to hit

Cobra's T-Rail is a set of hollow, hybrid-shaped irons, first launched in 2019, and this 6 iron to pitching wedge set is the one for beginners who top, thin or dig their irons into the ground. Every club, down to the pitching wedge, has a wide sole with rails underneath and a hollow head with the weight set low.

A traditional iron has a narrow sole and a thin top edge, so it asks for clean contact. The T-Rail's sole glides over the turf instead of digging, and the low weight lifts the ball even when the strike is a little thin. A hybrid's wide, hollow head is the most forgiving shape in golf, and T-Rail irons put that shape through the set.

Ours is a 6-PW set of 5 clubs in Regular flex with Lamkin grips, graded Good on head, shaft and grip, at £264.99. It is the third generation, which Cobra released in November 2022, and other T-Rail sets come up among our used Cobra iron sets. A matching T-Rail 5 hybrid at 23° in Regular flex costs £104.99.

When a hollow iron arrives, give the head a gentle shake. A rattle means something inside has come loose, and that's a reason to send it back within the returns window. Scuffs along the rails are normal on a club built to slide across the ground.

Good fit:

• Beginners who struggle to get irons airborne or hit them thin.
• Golfers who already like their hybrids more than their irons.
• Slower swings, which get the most help from a low, hollow head.

Skip it if:

• You like the look of a classic iron: at address the T-Rail looks like a hybrid, and some golfers never get used to it.

4. Cleveland Launcher XL Halo irons: best for left-handed beginners

The Cleveland Launcher XL Halo is a 2022 hybrid-style iron, and this 5 iron to pitching wedge set comes from our left-handed iron sets. It suits a left-handed beginner who wants irons that are easy to launch.

Cleveland built the Halo between an iron and a hybrid: the head is longer from front to back than a normal iron, the sole is wide, and the weight sits low and deep, which sends the ball higher and keeps mishits closer to the target line. It's one of the most forgiving iron designs a beginner can buy.

The set has 6 clubs on Project X Cypher 5.5 graphite shafts, a light 60g shaft in Regular flex, with Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips. It costs £265.99, graded Fair on the head and Good on the shaft and grip. Fair means heavier wear from repeated use, so expect marks on the soles and faces; the photos show where.

Left-handed sets are scarcer than right-handed ones, so a set that suits you is worth buying when you see it, and the used left-handed clubs we'd pick cover the rest of the bag.

The 5 iron is the club most beginners struggle with in any set, and on a Halo it's far easier than a traditional 5 iron. If it still feels hard to hit, leave it at home and add a left-handed hybrid instead.

Good fit:

• Left-handed beginners who want a forgiving iron set now rather than waiting for the right one.
• Slower swings, which suit the light graphite shafts.
• Golfers who like hybrids and want irons that behave like them.

Skip it if:

• You want a set graded Good or better on the head: this one is Fair, so it shows its use.

5. MacGregor CG4000 package set: best set for women starting out

The MacGregor CG4000 is a brand-new 9-club package set in Ladies flex, and at £279.99 it's a simple way for a woman to start with a driver, woods, irons, putter and bag in one buy. It's the only package set on this list built for women.

The set has a 13° driver, an 18° 5 wood, a 24° 4 hybrid, irons from 7 iron to sand wedge and a putter, with graphite shafts, soft grips, headcovers for the woods and hybrid, and a cart bag. A 13° driver launches the ball higher than a standard men's driver and takes some of the curve out of a slice, which helps a slower swing more than any other spec in the set.

There's no 5 or 6 iron: the 24° hybrid does that job and is far easier to hit. Against a beginner's 10-club bag, only the 6 iron is missing.

Being new, there's no wear to check, but the length is worth thinking about. Ladies clubs are usually about 1 inch shorter than men's standard, so taller women can find them short and may get on better with men's clubs in Senior flex. Like the other brand-new clubs we sell, it carries the Brand New grade: never used, with its original headcovers.

Good fit:

• Women buying their first full set who want everything matched.
• Slower swings of any age that suit Ladies flex graphite.
• Beginners who want a cart bag for a trolley rather than a stand bag to carry.

Skip it if:

• You're tall for Ladies length: try a club for length first, or look at Senior flex sets.

6. PING G25 irons: best value full iron set

PING's G25, released in 2013, is a forgiving game-improvement iron, and this 8-club set from 4 iron to gap wedge suits beginners who want an iron set they can keep for years. The G series is PING's game-improvement line, with weight spread around a deep cavity, a wide sole and enough offset to help square the face.

A beginner rarely needs the newest irons, and the G25 shows why. The shape that made it easy to hit in 2013 still does, and the set costs far less than a current model. With 8 clubs, it also includes a gap wedge between the pitching wedge and sand wedge, which many sets leave out.

The yellow dot on each hosel is PING's colour code for the lie angle, set a little more upright than standard for the first owner's height and posture. If you're of average height and the club sits flat on the ground at address, it's close enough for a beginner; if the toe or heel sits well up, a lie adjustment fixes it.

This set is on PING CFS steel shafts in Regular flex, with Lamkin Crossline grips and PING grips on the wedges, graded Good on head, shaft and grip. It costs £323.99, and the G730 at pick 9 comes from the same range of used PING iron sets.

The 4 and 5 irons are the hardest clubs in the set for a beginner. Carry them later, once the 6 iron to gap wedge feel solid, or swap them for hybrids.

Good fit:

• Beginners who want a full iron set in the same model.
• Average swing speeds that suit Regular flex steel.
• Golfers who'll keep improving and want irons that won't need replacing at the first sign of progress.

Skip it if:

• Your swing is slow: steel shafts are heavier than graphite, and a lighter set will be easier to swing.

7. TaylorMade Burner 2.0 irons: best for taller beginners

TaylorMade's Burner 2.0, released in 2010, is a forgiving game-improvement iron, and this 4 iron to sand wedge set is built half an inch longer than standard, which suits beginners over about 6ft. Standard-length irons make tall golfers stoop at address, and a stooped set-up is one of the most common causes of thin and heavy strikes.

The Burner 2.0 was built for distance and forgiveness: a thin face, a wide sole and a low centre of gravity, with plenty of offset. The set has 8 clubs, including a sand wedge, so with a driver or 5 wood, a hybrid and a putter it makes a full beginner's bag.

The shafts are TaylorMade's own 85g steel in Regular flex, lighter than most standard steel shafts, with TaylorMade grips. It costs £324.99, graded Good on head, shaft and grip, and it's one of our used TaylorMade iron sets.

A 2010 iron set is old by golf standards, but older irons still play well when the grips are fresh and the grooves aren't worn smooth. Check the grooves on the 9 iron, pitching wedge and sand wedge, which do the most work, and remember that longer clubs often need a slightly more upright lie to sit flat.

Good fit:

• Taller beginners, over about 6ft, who stoop with standard clubs.
• Average swing speeds that suit a light steel shaft.
• Anyone who wants a sand wedge included in the iron set.

Skip it if:

• You're of average height or shorter: an extra half inch makes clean contact harder.

8. Wilson Profile package set: best complete set with a bag

The Wilson Profile is a brand-new 10-club package set in Regular flex, and at £399.99 it's the set for a beginner who wants every club and a stand bag in one buy. It matches the 10-club bag a beginner needs exactly.

The set has a 10.5° driver, an 18° 5 wood, a 23° 5 hybrid, irons from 6 iron to sand wedge and a putter, with Wilson grips and a stand bag. There's no 3 wood and no 4 or 5 iron, the clubs a beginner struggles with most, and the lofts leave sensible gaps from driver to sand wedge.

The right-handed set comes in standard and long versions, listed with our other Wilson clubs. The long version suits taller golfers in the same way as the Burner 2.0 irons at pick 7.

A package set's heads are built to a price, so a confident improver tends to replace the irons and driver sooner than they would a used set of PING or TaylorMade irons. For a beginner, that's a fair trade for having every club matched on day one, and it costs less than a used bag built club by club.

Good fit:

• Beginners who want everything at once, bag included.
• Taller right-handers, who can choose the long version.
• Anyone buying for a new golfer whose swing they don't know yet.

Skip it if:

• You're left-handed: this version is right-handed, and the Cleveland Launcher XL Halo at pick 4 is the left-handed pick on this list.

9. PING G730 irons: best nearly new iron set

PING launched the G730 in March 2024 as the longest and most forgiving iron in its range at the time (PING), and this barely used 6 iron to sand wedge set suits beginners who want the easiest irons to hit and can afford to pay for them. It's the most expensive set on this list by some distance.

PING says making the G730 easy to hit was a primary aim, with typical distance gains of about 5 yards from a flexing face (PING). The lofts are strong, with a 28° 7 iron and a 40° pitching wedge, so the set adds a 45° U wedge to fill the gap between the pitching wedge and the sand wedge.

This set has 7 clubs on True Temper Dynamic Gold R300 steel shafts with Lamkin Crossline grips, graded Excellent on head, shaft and grip. It costs £799.99, and our used Regular flex iron sets include forgiving options for far less, such as the PING G25 at pick 6.

PING now lists the G730 for fill-in or replacement only, which means a lost or broken club can still be ordered through a PING retailer with the set's serial number. Dynamic Gold is a heavy steel shaft, so this set suits an average or faster swing better than a slow one. The blue dot is PING's lie colour code, so check it against your height as with any PING set.

Good fit:

• Beginners sure they'll keep playing who want irons to grow with.
• Golfers who want maximum forgiveness in an iron.
• Anyone who wants a set that looks almost new, graded Excellent throughout.

Skip it if:

• Your swing is slow or your budget is tight: the shafts are heavy, and the PING G25 does much of the same job for well under half the price.

What should a beginner golf set include?

A beginner's golf set should include about 10 clubs: a driver, a 5 wood, a hybrid, irons from 6 iron to pitching wedge, a sand wedge and a putter. The rules allow up to 14 clubs (R&A, Rule 4.1b), but a beginner is better off with 10 they can hit than 14 that include a 3 wood and long irons.

The chart shows what each set gives you and what's left to buy. The 2 package sets cover nearly every club a beginner needs. The iron sets cover the middle of the bag and leave you to add a driver or 5 wood, a hybrid, a sand wedge if the set stops at the pitching wedge or gap wedge, and a putter.

Some sets include clubs a beginner can leave at home. The PING G25 and TaylorMade Burner 2.0 both start at the 4 iron, and most beginners hit a 4 or 5 hybrid more easily than either long iron. A used hybrid for beginners can take the place of both.

The clubs worth adding first, in order:

1. A putter. You'll use it on every hole, and used putters under £100 are plenty for a beginner.
2. A sand wedge of 54° to 58°, if the set doesn't have one.
3. A hybrid of 21° to 24° to replace the 4 and 5 irons.
4. A 5 wood of about 18°, which is easier to hit from the fairway than a 3 wood and safer off the tee than a driver.
5. A driver of 10.5° or more, once the 5 wood feels solid.

Package set, used iron set or Build a Bag?

A package set is the cheapest way to get every club at once, a used iron set plus separate clubs gets better-quality clubs for a little more, and Build a Bag has us choose a matched used set for you. Each suits a different beginner:

Buying clubs one at a time lets you choose each one for how you play, and the used clubs we'd put in a beginner's bag include a 5 wood, 2 hybrids and a sand wedge that sit well alongside any of the iron sets above.

Build a Bag starts with a short questionnaire: your hand, age, height, handicap, how far you hit a 7 iron, favourite brands, budget and which items you want included. We then send a video of the clubs we'd pick over WhatsApp, with no pressure to buy. It's the closest thing to a fitting for a first set, without paying for one.

A package set's main limit is that every club is made to a price. A used iron set from PING, TaylorMade or Cobra cost more new than either package set on this list, and you can keep it for longer as your game improves.

How much should a beginner spend on a golf set?

A beginner should expect to spend £75 for a used 4-club starter set, £280 to £400 for a brand-new package set, or about £520 for a full 10-club bag of used clubs built around an iron set.

Here's how a full used bag adds up around the Cobra T-Rail irons:

That's £119.95 more than the Wilson Profile package set. Leave out the driver for your first few months and tee off with the 5 wood, and the same bag costs £429.95.

Spend the most on the irons, because you'll hit them more than any other club except the putter. The same forgiving used irons suit high handicappers long after the beginner stage, so a good iron set is the part of a first bag you're least likely to replace.

What should you check before buying a used golf set?

Check the grades, which clubs the set includes, that the shafts match, the lie and length, and the grips before you buy a used golf set. We grade every iron set on its head, shaft and grip separately, and our condition rating guide uses the same 4 grades for iron sets as for single clubs:

Beyond the grades, work through these:

1. Set make-up. A 4-PW set has 7 clubs and a 7-PW set has 4, so check the range in the title against the photos and count the heads.
2. Matching shafts. Every iron should carry the same shaft model and flex. Between graphite and steel iron shafts, graphite is lighter and suits slower swings; steel suits most average swings.
3. Length and lie. Our listings say "Measures: Standard" unless a set has been lengthened or shortened, like the Burner 2.0 at +0.5 inch. On PING sets, the colour dot records the lie angle.
4. Grips. Hard, shiny or cracked grips slip, and regripping 8 irons costs more than regripping 1 club, so price worn grips into the set.
5. Faces and grooves. Wear in the middle of the face is normal. Grooves worn smooth on the short irons and wedges cost spin on approach shots and chips.
6. Hand and flex. Left-handed and Ladies flex sets are rarer, so confirm both before you fall for a set.

If a photo doesn't show something you need, message us on WhatsApp for more photos or a video. Every UK order has a 60-day return window.

Golf sets for women and left-handed beginners

Women starting out should look for Ladies flex sets, and left-handers have fewer sets to choose from, so both do best to buy when the right set appears.

For women, the MacGregor CG4000 at pick 5 is the complete option. For a used iron set, a PING Serene half set from our Ladies flex iron sets covers 7 iron to pitching wedge for £100.99, in Ladies flex on PING ULT 210 graphite shafts with undersize grips, graded Good on head, shaft and grip. Women's clubs are usually lighter and about 1 inch shorter than men's, and the used clubs we'd pick for women fill the gaps around a set like this.

For left-handers, the Cleveland Launcher XL Halo at pick 4 is the left-handed iron set on this list. Left-handed drivers, woods, hybrids and putters are easier to find than sets, so many left-handers build a bag club by club from our used left-handed clubs.

Trading up when your game improves

A used set you outgrow still has a trade-in value, and you can put it towards the next one. We take trade-ins and part exchange on all the top brands, with an instant online quote valid for 24 hours, payment by bank transfer or as store credit worth an extra 10%, and free tracked delivery to send the clubs in.

That makes a used iron set a lower-risk first buy. A beginner who starts with the Cobra T-Rail or PING G25 and improves quickly can part-exchange them for a newer game-improvement set rather than starting again from nothing.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best set of golf clubs for beginners?

The best set for a beginner is a forgiving one with about 10 clubs, a driver, 5 wood, hybrid, irons from 6 iron to pitching wedge, sand wedge and putter, in a flex that suits the swing. The Wilson Profile package set covers all 10 brand new for £399.99, and a used iron set such as the Cobra T-Rail plus 5 separate clubs does the same for about £520.

What is a good full golf set for a beginner?

A good full set for a beginner has a high-lofted driver of 10.5° or more, a 5 wood instead of a 3 wood, at least 1 hybrid instead of long irons, game-improvement irons and a sand wedge. Both package sets on this list are built that way, and so is a used bag built around any of the iron sets.

What golf clubs do you need in a set as a beginner?

You need a putter, a sand wedge, a few irons, a hybrid and a 5 wood or driver to play a full course. A starter set of 4 clubs is enough for the range and short courses, and a 10-club set covers every shot on a full-length course.

What are the 7 essential golf clubs for a beginner?

The 7 clubs that cover most of a beginner's shots are a driver, a 5 wood, a hybrid, a 7 iron, a 9 iron, a sand wedge and a putter. Add the 6 iron, 8 iron and pitching wedge, which most iron sets include, and you have a full 10-club beginner's bag.

Is a half set of golf clubs enough for a beginner?

A half set of 4 to 7 clubs is enough to learn on and to play short courses, and it's a cheap way to find out if golf is for you. On a full-length course the gaps between clubs start to cost shots, so most beginners move to a full set within their first season.

Is it worth buying a second-hand golf set as a beginner?

Yes, for most beginners. A graded used iron set from a major brand plays much as it did new, costs a fraction of its original price and can be traded in when you upgrade. Check the grips and grooves, and budget for new grips if they're worn.

What flex should a beginner's golf set be?

Regular flex suits most adult men starting out, Senior flex suits slower swings at any age, and Ladies flex suits most women. If you're unsure, go slightly softer rather than stiffer, because a shaft that's too stiff sends the ball low and to the right for a right-hander, and lighter clubs for seniors often suit slower-swinging beginners of any age.