The Rundown:
Best Overall: Callaway Strata Ultimate Golf Set
“If you’re just starting out or getting back into the game, you can’t go wrong with the Callaway Strata. It is an excellent set, with 12 clubs, including 2 hybrids and a wedge, and a bag – all at an amazing price. We recommend it.”
If You’re On A Tight Budget: Wilson Ultra Complete Golf Set
“This is the set you want if you are short on money. With 9 clubs, you get all the essentials, fairly good clubs and a bag too so you can focus on what matters: practicing & learning the game.”
If You Want A Single Driver: Callaway Rogue Driver
“If you’re looking to start out with a single club to practice on the driving range, then the Rogue is the best driver for the money on the market today. The aerodynamic clubhead aided by Jailbreak technology keeps the club light, perfect for new golfers who want distance on their swing.”
Getting into golf can be intimidating. If you weren’t introduced to the game as a child, you might look at all the clubs, the golf course and wonder how exactly it all fits together.
While I always suggest you take a few lessons at a driving range before you hit the course, even that can be tough: what clubs do you need at the driving range? Do you need a full set of the latest and greatest?
In this article, we’ll look at the best golf clubs you can get for little money.
Featured Recommendations: Best Golf Sets For The Money
Last updated on 2021-01-20. The links are affiliate links. Product images are served from Amazon Product Advertising API.
Featured Recommendations: Best Individual Golf Clubs For The Money
Last updated on 2021-01-20. The links are affiliate links. Product images are served from Amazon Product Advertising API.
With all the different types of clubs, not to mention the hundreds of different manufacturers and price ranges you’ll find, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. And you don’t want to pull the trigger and spend the money only to find that you paid too much for clubs that aren’t right for you.
This article will help you figure out the best deals on the best clubs for each facet of the game of golf. We’ll cover drivers, fairway woods, wedges and putters, as well as a few complete sets in case you want to make one single purchase and be done with it.




Table of Contents
- The Rundown:
- Featured Recommendations: Best Golf Sets For The Money
- Featured Recommendations: Best Individual Golf Clubs For The Money
- Best Golf Clubs For The Money (2021 Buyer’s Guide)
- Cleveland CBXCallaway Strata Complete Golf Set
- Wilson Golf Ultra Complete Set
- Callaway Golf Men’s Rogue Driver
- TaylorMade Men’s RBZ Black Driver
- TaylorMade AeroBurner
- Tour Edge Golf Hot Launch 2
- Wilson Harmonized Golf Wedge
- Texan Classics Gun Metal (Set of 3)
- CAG Golf Putter
- Ray Cook Golf Silver Ray SR500
- Cleveland CBXCallaway Strata Complete Golf Set
- Testing Protocol & Criteria Used For Evaluation
- Questions & Answers
Best Golf Clubs For The Money
(2021 Buyer’s Guide)
Complete Sets
Cleveland CBXCallaway Strata Complete Golf Set
Our Top Complete Set For The Money: All you need to get started in a simple package
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PROS
- Includes two hybrids to replace hard-to-hit long irons
- Comes with a sand wedge
- Affordable complete set from reputable manufacturer
CONS
- Bag is cheaply made
If you’re just starting out, or just getting back into the game and don’t know where to begin, the Callaway Strata Complete Set is an excellent jumping-off point. Complete sets like this Callaway Strata are here to take the burden off and get you onto the course faster.
With 12 clubs, including two hybrids and a sand wedge, and a bag, this is an excellent starter kit for those golfers on a budget.
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Wilson Golf Ultra Complete Set
Best-priced Entry Level Set: Pared-down set with just 9 clubs, still enough to get you started
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PROS
- Excellent price point to get started and fall in love with the game
- Irons are quite forgiving
- Includes a hybrid
CONS
- No sand wedge
- Only 9 clubs included
While the Callaway Strata Complete set is quite a bargain for 12 clubs, that might still be too steep a price for someone just starting out.
The Wilson Ultra Complete Set comes with 9 clubs and at attractive price point to even the tightest budget.
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Drivers
Callaway Golf Men’s Rogue Driver
Our Top Driver: Elite features, incredible distance
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PROS
- The adjustable features on the Rogue are highly usable and create a great flight path for golf ball every time
- Jailbreak Technology gives the Rogue one of the most forgiving sweet spots we’ve ever tested
- Multiple options available on shaft as well as loft specifications
CONS
- Expensive, but worth the trouble if you are serious about improving your game.
One of the most customizable drivers on the market is the stunning Callaway Rogue driver.
The Callaway Rogue driver is the model that the entire golfing world has been raving about since its release.
This driver is a marvel of technology with an aerodynamic clubhead aided by Jailbreak technology that keeps the club light throughout the swing. The Rogue delivered eye-popping drives throughout our testing time making it one of the best overall drivers we’ve ever seen you can get for your buck.
TaylorMade Men’s RBZ Black Driver
If You Want The Best: Simple, effective design, TaylorMade quality and a great price
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PROS
- Classic, proven design with a few modern tweaks
- Excellent stock shaft
- Long and forgiving, a great combination!
CONS
- Lacks the numerous adjustability options found on most modern drivers
The TaylorMade RBZ Black driver is a great way to start off your round.
At less than half the price of most other TaylorMade drivers, the RBZ doesn’t feature all the bells and whistles of the M5 and M6 but it absolutely holds its own performance-wise.
I’m a big fan of the simplicity of the design. It’s a 460cc driver with a titanium head and a classic shape. The lines are clean, and the understated alignment aid on the crown is plaintive but effective.
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Fairway Woods
TaylorMade AeroBurner
Our Top Fairway Wood For The Money: Aerodynamic design and great alignment for long, straight shots
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PROS
- Excellent alignment aid
- Sits well behind the ball
- Aerodynamic design can help increase clubhead speed
CONS
- White shaft and head isn’t for everyone
- Shots sometimes balloon into the wind
With a thin but strong clubface and a “speed pocket” in the sole helping to increase ball speed, the Aeroburner is as long as any fairway wood I’ve hit and offers decent forgiveness as well.
Because of this high-level performance and extremely reasonable price tag, it’s our top pick for the best fairway wood for the money.
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Tour Edge Golf Hot Launch 2
Best Fairway Wood If You’re Fighting A Slice: Good distance and slice-correction
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PROS
- Slight offset helps correct slice
- Good distance
CONS
- Clunky looks
- Not as much resale value
Tour Edge is a relatively small golf club manufacturer but they have a great reputation, built largely on top-quality fairway woods.
The Hot Launch series is aimed at beginners and high handicappers who need a little help getting the ball into the air off the ground.
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Wedges
Wilson Harmonized Golf Wedge
Our Top Wedge For The Money: Solid performance from a reliable brand
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PROS
- Heavy club head works well out of the sand
- Classic, tried-and-true design
CONS
- Cheap-feeling grip
- Chrome finish wears off quickly
The grooves are nice and tight and put more than enough backspin on the ball to keep it on the green. I was even able to “pull the string” and spin some full shots back.
Either way, you’re going to need a wedge you can trust. The Wilson Harmonized wedge is a classic, tried-and-true design that comes at a very attractive price.
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Texan Classics Gun Metal (Set of 3)
Best Wedge Bargain For Short Term Use: Gap, sand and lob wedge for beginners
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PROS
- Set of 3 wedges for less than most single wedges
- Great way to see if you like lob/gap wedges before investing
CONS
- Not very durable
- Gun metal finish wears off easily
- Grips wear out quickly
Texan Classics isn’t a brand most golfers are familiar with, and these are the first clubs of theirs that I’ve tried. I’ll be frank with you: these wedges aren’t going to bring the quality or performance of name-brand wedges.
However, for beginners who are starting out with a sparse set and may only have a pitching wedge, this is a great way to see if you’re ready to hit the more lofted wedges.
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Putters
CAG Golf Putter
Best Putter For The Money: Terrific value and first-rate design
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PROS
- Patented sightline offers incredible accuracy
- Face balanced creates wide, forgiving sweet spot
- CNC Milled hitting area promotes smooth forward roll
CONS
- Smaller face makes precise putting a must for the golfer
The CAG Golf Putter is one of golf’s best kept secrets as the terrific value and first-rate design provide amateurs with a flatstick that delivers smooth forward roll with an advanced CNC milled sweet spot.
The CAG’s features begin with the patented sightline alignment tool along the back of the club. This blade putter does not have a large back end behind the face, but what it does have is utilized by the company’s SVA Sightline Technology.
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Ray Cook Golf Silver Ray SR500
Alternative Option: Budget-friendly alternative to the Huntington Beach #1
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PROS
- Tour-proven “Spider” design
- Visually appealing alignment aid
CONS
- Slightly clunky feel
- Grip wasn’t installed properly
- Paint comes off easily
I’m a big fan of TaylorMade’s Spider putters that pros like Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia and Dustin Johnson have used to great success on tour.
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Testing Protocol & Criteria Used For Evaluation
Criteria 1: Craftsmanship – Will this club last through the season?
When you’re buying a golf club, you need to know that it’s a reliable performer. It needs to be well-designed and put together solidly, with expert craftsmanship.
The grip should be aligned properly on the shaft, the clubhead should feel solidly attached to the shaft, and the paint should be properly applied and durable.
This list isn’t just the lowest-priced options out there. Sure, you want to save some money, but if the club breaks and you have to buy a new one, did you really save any money at all?
Criteria 2: Performance – Does the club work?
I’ve been to a thousand different golf stores and pro shops and tried out clubs in every price range imaginable.
I’ve putted with $10 putters that performed brilliantly, and rolled putts with $500 putters that felt like bricks.
I’ve hit drivers with $1,000 shafts that felt like concrete, and drivers with cheap stock shafts that felt incredible. These are the exceptions, but they prove that price doesn’t automatically equal performance.
The bottom line is: does the club work? Obviously, spending more will usually mean you’re getting a club built with better materials, but that’s not always the case.
Finding comparable performance for less money leaves you with more to spend on lessons and greens fees!
Criteria 3: Feel – The most elusive and toughest to define
OK, I’ll admit it: feel ultimately comes down to personal preference. Look at putters: some people swear by soft, rubbery inserts, while others can’t imagine anything but a solid block of steel. The debate about forged irons vs cast irons is decades old.
I love the buttery smooth feel of a purely-struck shot with a forged iron, but others like to really feel the ball hit the clubface and prefer a cast golf club. A shaft might be perfect for me but too whippy for you, while what feels like an overly stiff telephone pole to me might be ideal for a faster swinger.
For this criteria, I’m going to give you my personal rating but also try to give you an overall idea of how the club responds to a good swing or putting stroke. While it’s hard to define “great feel”, we all know what bad feel is. I’ll help you avoid those clubs.
Criteria 4: Desirability – Is this an in-demand club?
The desirability of a club doesn’t affect the performance of it at all, but it still matters. Why? First off, there’s an active resale market out there for golf clubs. What works for you this week might feel all wrong in a month.
Some golfers will fight through this and try to rekindle confidence with an ill-performing club, but others will look to sell the club and replace it. This is obviously much easier to do with a well-known, desirable brand.
And, let’s face it: we don’t usually play golf alone. While there’s something to be said for playing great with a set of ratty, no-name clubs, it can actually help your confidence to sport a bag full of clubs that you know are in demand.
It’s a good feeling when a golf buddy looks at your driver and says, “hey, let me try that thing out!”
Criteria 5: Bang for the Buck – How good a value is this club?
If money was no object, you’d probably just go to a nearby golf professional, spend all day getting fitted for clubs and walk away with a bag full of clubs that cost as much as a midsize car. But for most of us, that’s not an option.
Each year, we have limited funds to put towards new golf equipment. It’s great if we have a driver that works and is still in good shape, but the grooves might be wearing down on your irons and wedges – and that can cause a seriously negative impact on your game.
Or you might have improved over the past year and feel like it’s time to upgrade your whole bag.
But when a driver alone can run over $500 before you even think about aftermarket shafts, you might find yourself with limited funds left over for a new putter, and wedges, and irons, and fairway woods, and balls, and shoes….and so on. So here we’re looking for bang for the buck: the best clubs at the best prices.
Questions & Answers

What clubs do I need to get started?
If you’re just starting out, it can be hard to figure out what exactly you need. You know there are golf clubs and putters and you’ve heard of a driver, but are wedges and irons the same thing? They look pretty similar! Here’s the basic rundown of an average golf bag with 14 clubs, which is the maximum amount allowed by the rules.
Driver – use this off the tee to hit the ball as far as you can. The largest clubhead, usually made of titanium and/or carbon fiber composite. They all come with graphite shafts nowadays.
Fairway wood – these can be used off the tee for more control, or on longer holes to hit your second shot or your approach to the green. Usually steel or composite, and graphite shafts are the norm.
Irons – these comprise the majority of the clubs in your bag. They come in a range of 1-iron to 9-iron, but for most players, you’ll only want 4 through 9 iron or 5 through 9 iron. The 1-, 2-, and 3-irons are just too hard to hit for all but the most experienced players. You use irons to hit the ball to the green.
Wedges – these look just like irons but have more loft for hitting higher shots, for chipping around the green, and for hitting shots out of sand traps. I recommend that players carry four wedges: pitching wedge, gap wedge, sand wedge, and lob wedge.
Most iron sets come with a pitching wedge, but you’ll generally buy gap through lob wedges separately. The lofts of these are typically: gap wedge – 52°, sand wedge – 56°, lob wedge – 60°.
Putter – the putter is used on the green to roll the ball into the hole. Putters have the widest variance in design of any club, and are the most likely golf club to be found at the bottom of a lake.

Do I need to get fitted for my clubs?
Getting custom-fitted for clubs is all the rage nowadays. However, many golfers don’t know where to begin, or if they need to improve first before custom-fitted clubs can really help them.
While it’s true that custom fitted clubs can improve your scores, it’s not always the best way to spend your money. A full-bag custom fitting can cost over $500, and that’s before you factor in the cost of the clubs!
Custom-made clubs are rarely available at a discount, so after a full fitting and the cost of the new clubs, you could be looking at several thousand dollars.
Beginners and golfers looking to just put a few dollars towards improving their game can still benefit from new technology without getting custom fitted.
Getting a few lessons from a local pro will go a long way, and the pro will be able to assess your equipment and tell you if the expense of clubfitting is necessary.
Until then, articles like this are here to help make sure you’re getting the right equipment for your game.

Do I really need all those clubs?
For a true beginner, having 14 clubs in your bag can be too many. It gets overwhelming, and you won’t always have someone with you telling you what club to hit.
When I was starting out as a child, I had a 3-wood, 5-iron, 7-iron, 9-iron, sand wedge and putter. I actually recommend that setup to juniors and beginners today! Until you start hitting decent shots with those clubs regularly, having more clubs will just confuse you.
Once you can consistently hit a 3-wood into the fairway off the tee, then it’s time to invest in a driver.
Then, when you figure out that you hit a 5-iron 170 yards and a 7-iron 150 yards, you’ll realize you need a 6-iron for 160 yard shots. So it’s time for a full set of irons.
Around the green, once you start chipping well with your sand wedge, you’ll realize you want to hit chips that fly higher or lower. And that’s when you’ll want to invest in a gap wedge and a lob wedge.
But at the beginning, focus on making good contact and keeping the ball in play. If you’re hitting it out of bounds or into water hazards, having more clubs won’t help! Just work on your swing and the rest will fall into place.