Written ByJamieFourteen clubs is the limit, and a beginner needs fewer.
The answer to what golf clubs do I need, in Golfer Geeks’ starter bag, is about nine clubs: a driver, a 3-wood, irons from a 6-iron down to a pitching wedge, a sand wedge, and a putter. The gap wedge is a later decision.
Rule 4 of the Rules of Golf says a player must not start a round with more than 14 clubs or have more than 14 during the round, and carrying fewer is fine. Below is the bag, why it’s small, what to leave out, and the order to add clubs later.
What golf clubs do I need to start?
The core bag is a driver, a 3-wood, a 6-iron, a 7-iron, an 8-iron, a 9-iron, a pitching wedge, a sand wedge, and a putter. That is the starter set from my beginner irons guide, and it is nine clubs. If you want a plain-language refresher on what each club type is, the guide to the types of golf clubs covers that.
- Driver: for tee shots on longer holes.
- 3-wood: for long shots from the fairway, and often from the tee too.
- 6-iron through 9-iron: for approach shots, with the 6-iron also covering the longest iron shot you’ll need for a while. A hybrid can stand in for the 6-iron.
- Pitching wedge and sand wedge: for shots around the green and out of bunkers.
- Putter: for the work on and near the green, and the most important club in the bag.
My beginner irons guide says your 3-wood will probably be your go-to club off the tee for a while, because it’s shorter, more lofted, and most beginners hit it more consistently than a driver for the first several months. My best beginner golf clubs guide describes a starting bag as a driver for the tee, irons for the fairway, a wedge or two around the green, and a putter. Both clubs are in the nine. A 5-wood can even replace the 3-wood. If you’re weighing the 3-wood against a hybrid, the fairway wood vs hybrid comparison covers that choice.
I played my first many rounds of golf with borrowed clubs, and for years after that I played used irons I picked up for next to nothing.
Why fewer than 14 clubs works
The 14-club limit comes from Rule 4, and if you start a round with fewer, the rules let you add clubs during the round, up to the limit. The penalty side of the rule is covered in the guide to how many clubs you can carry in a golf bag.
Sources that name a starting bag land in the same neighborhood. The Northern California Golf Association’s new-golfer gear guide says a new golfer can enjoy the game with only 5 to 7 clubs to start, and that a half set is often enough.
The starter set above is nine clubs, or ten with a 5-wood. Brittany Olizarowicz, a teaching pro who wrote the club-count guide on this site, puts a starting bag at around 10 clubs. Stix, a maker of complete sets, sells a packaged 12-club set.
Taken together, these sources put a sensible starting bag between about 5 and 12 clubs. None of them says a beginner needs 14, and a couple land near 9 to 10.
What to leave out for now
Three things belong out of a first bag: long irons, the lob wedge, and any second club that duplicates one you already carry.
Long irons come first. I don’t believe a beginner needs any club longer than a 6-iron to start. You can always add a 4-iron or 5-iron, or hybrids, later, once you’re making consistent contact with your 6-iron or hybrid.
The lob wedge is next. A 60-degree lob wedge is a specialty club. In my one round with the Stix set, I used the gap wedge, sand wedge, and pitching wedge on full shots and around the green, and the 60-degree lob was the only wedge I didn’t use. My guidance is to add it when you’re scoring in the high 80s or better.
The third thing to leave out is overlap. In the 14-club Stix ladder I reviewed, the 4-hybrid is 21 degrees and the 5-iron is 22 degrees, one degree apart. Carrying both is redundant for a beginner.
Those lofts come from one maker’s ladder, so treat the numbers as an example. In that ladder the steps from the 3-wood through the 7-iron are 1 to 3 degrees, while the widest step is from the pitching wedge to the gap wedge (7 degrees).
The order to add clubs
Add clubs when a trigger fires. This order is built from my beginner irons guide.
- Hybrids. Add them when you’re ready to stop fighting the long irons, or build the bag with a hybrid in place of the 6-iron from the start. My rule of thumb is to pick the longest iron you are comfortable hitting and exchange any iron longer than that one for a hybrid.
- A gap wedge. This is a decision point. In the Stix ladder, the pitching wedge is 45 degrees and the sand wedge is 56, an 11-degree jump, and the gap wedge at 52 splits it into steps of 7 and 4 degrees. For wedge lofts in detail, see the wedge lofts guide, and for what to buy, my beginner wedges picks.
- A lob wedge. Add a 60-degree lob wedge when you’re scoring in the high 80s or better.
- A 4- or 5-iron. Add one only if you decide you prefer irons over hybrids for the long shots.
None of these are urgent. The order tells you what the next purchase is and what has to happen in your game first.
Two ways to trim a 14-club set
There is more than one way to shrink a 14-club set, and the Stix set I reviewed shows it.
I wrote that you could easily drop the gap and lob wedges to take it down to 12 clubs and be good to go, which keeps the 5-wood and 5-iron for the long game. Stix’s own packaged 12-club set takes the other route: it drops the 5-wood and 5-iron and keeps all four wedges.
Both routes land on 12, and they favor different jobs, one keeping long-game options and the other keeping short-game options. The full story of the 14-club set is in my Stix golf clubs review, and when you’re ready to pick actual clubs after counting them, my best beginner golf clubs guide has the recommendations.
Questions beginners ask
Can I start with fewer than 14 clubs?
A golfer can start a round with fewer than 14 clubs, because 14 is the maximum under Rule 4. A round started under the limit allows adding clubs during the round, up to 14.
What clubs does a beginner golfer need?
Golfer Geeks’ starter bag for a beginner golfer is about nine clubs: driver, 3-wood, 6-iron through pitching wedge, sand wedge, putter. The sources named above range from 5 to 12 clubs, a couple land near 9 to 10, and none says a beginner needs 14.
Do I need a lob wedge?
A beginner does not need a lob wedge yet. In the Golfer Geeks round with the Stix set, the lob wedge was the one wedge not used, and the guidance is to add one when scoring in the high 80s or better.
Should I get fitted before buying my first clubs?
A true beginner should not get fitted before buying a first set, per Golfer Geeks’ published stance. A static fitting may be worth it for a golfer who is very short or very tall, and the guide to getting fitted for golf clubs walks through how it works when the time is right.
Start with nine clubs
Nine clubs covers a round and leaves five more to earn as your game grows. Write the list down, buy those, and let the triggers above tell you when to add more. Those nine are the answer to what golf clubs do I need.