Callaway Strata Review: The Best Golf Club Set in 2023?

Your golf experts: Jordan Fuller & John Marshall.
Updated November 18, 2021. This article was thoroughly audited by multiple golf experts and coaches for its accuracy. You can read more about our rigorous testing protocol here.

The Callaway Strata Set is a 12-piece collection of golf clubs that are meant to get the beginning golfer ready for the course right after they open the box.

Some of you may be asking if the Callaway Strata Club Set is the best set available for the beginner and if you are looking for an affordable starter club set, the answer is potentially yes. This is a nice collection to kick-start your golfing journey.

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Callaway Strata Review

Great Golf Set for the Beginning Golfer

Callaway Golf Men's Strata Complete 12 Piece Package Set (Right Hand, Steel), Blue
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Overall grade93%
Quality of Set93%
Woods95%
Irons92%
Wedges & Putter92%
Accessories95%

KEY FEATURES

  • Large 460cc driver with titanium clubhead and wide sweet spot for plenty of forgiveness
  • Low profile hybrid is a nice companion for the golfer looking to grow into their game off the tee box
  • Large cavity backed irons have large sweet spot and the perimeter weighting helps with keeping your shot on target

Technical Specifications

12 Piece Set

The Callaway Strata Golf Clubs Set comes with three woods, four irons, one wedge, one putter and a stand bag. This 12-piece set also has two head covers to keep the dings out of your driver and 3-wood. A very nice start for the beginning golfer in your family, the Callaway Strata covers a lot of bases with the collection of golf clubs chosen for this set.

460cc Driver

The large headed 460cc driver is simple as there are no adjustable features on the club, but even with a fixed hosel, this #1 wood has a wide sweet spot that offers forgiveness on off-center strikes.

Stand Bag

The multi-pocketed stand bag is a wonderful utility that protects all 12 golf clubs in this set. With two legs and an oversized shoulder strap, the Callaway Strata emblazoned bag is great for golfers who want to walk the course, while keeping their golf clubs free from touching the ground.


Features & Benefits

460cc Titanium Driver

While it is certainly important to have a driver in a complete set, for beginning golfers, it comes with a slight warning. Most novices are not going to be able to hit their driver with any consistency and the thought of immediately opening the Callaway Strata Club Set and heading to the range with the intent of using the driver is slightly mad.

That said, knowing what to look for in a driver and understanding how important it is to the future of your game makes the driver an essential club for any collection of golf clubs that come straight from the box.

The Callaway Strata Golf Club Set offers a 10.5-degree driver made from titanium that measures 460cc in volume. It has a large club head and, as a result, a sizable sweet spot with nice forgiveness off the tee box. Although it may take a few months before you use the driver, the one in the Callaway Strata Set will perform admirably over time.

Low profile 3-wood

The 3-wood in the Callaway Strata Set is lofted at 15.5 degrees, making it a dependable club for high handicappers to use off the tee box until their game gets the consistency and distance to allow the golfer to take the next step in their skill level.

With a low profile that keeps the center of gravity toward the rear of the club, the Callaway Strata 3-wood helps beginning golfers get the ball into the air for maximum distance and carry on their drives. With a shaft that measures at roughly 42 inches, high handicappers will notice an improvement in swing speed and control with this club over the longer driver in the set.

Great for feeling comfortable on the tee box, this 3-wood will certainly provide useful service from the fairway as your game grows.

Wide Soled 5-hybrid

The 5-hybrid takes the place of a 5-iron that is definitely tougher to hit for beginning golfers. In exchange, the 5-hybrid helps provide solid contact at impact and the structure of the club allows the wide sole of the club head to slide underneath the golf ball for a better launch angle and more ball height.

As you continue to gain more experience in your game, the 5-hybrid becomes incredibly essential to your game, allowing you a dependable club to use on the tee box and from the fairway on longer par-4s and par-5s.

Lofted at 26 degrees, there’s not much difference here between the hybrid and the set’s 6-iron but the style of the club head certainly provides an advantage for the inexperienced golfer that an iron cannot duplicate.

Cavity-Backed Irons

There are four irons in the Callaway Strata 12-piece set, beginning with the 6-iron and ending with the 9-iron. All four irons are cavity-backed, pushing extra steel to the outer rim of the clubhead for better balance and maximum forgiveness.

These irons would be classified as game-improvement irons, meaning they are built to help the high handicapper get the ball into the air easily and help keep it straight with a destination that goes where you are aimed.

While the irons in the Callaway Strata set might not be sophisticated, for the beginner, they provide a durable and solid option for your first set of irons. Even though they are a tad heavier than we’d prefer from our starter set irons, the extra heft does keep the club low to the ground for improved contact.

Perimeter-Weighted Pitching Wedge

Although we’d like to see an additional sand and/or lob wedge included in this set, the pitching wedge is a nice addition that will certainly help the average beginning golfer from anywhere under a 100 yards to the green.

The loft on the Callaway Strata Set’s pitching wedge is 44 degrees and although that is a little higher than we’d like, the wedge is a performer from anywhere on the course, whether it be the fairway or the light rough.

The heaviest iron in the bag, the pitching wedge in this collection is made to help the beginner find some accuracy while adding a little distance to your short game.

Blade-Style Putter

The putter is a blade-style putter that has some extension steel behind the face that helps balance and level the flat stick on the green. While most putters you’ll find in a complete set struggle to provide quality work around the green, the Callaway Strata Set’s putter does a nice job of promoting forward roll and getting the ball to the cup.

The shaft of the putter measures 35 inches, which is standard for an off-the-shelf putter. A small tip for beginning golfers looking to purchase the Callaway Strata Set: You may want to add a larger putting grip that will help stabilize your strokes and keep the putter square throughout the impact zone.

Lightweight Multi-Pocketed Stand Bag

The lightweight bag comes equipped with several pockets of varying length that can handle all your extra necessities including rain gear, your valuables, and extra towels, balls and tees. The bag has five pockets, a cooler pocket to keep your drinks cold, a rain hood and a comfortable backpack strap system.

With two sturdy legs, the stand bag is great for golfers who want to mix in a little exercise with their round by walking the course. The bag will keep your golf clubs dry and off the ground, great for golfers who like to play in the morning dew but don’t want that standing moisture to reach the grips of the clubs, where water can do some serious damage.

Two Head Covers

Provided in the set is two head covers that protect and cushion the top two woods included in the set. One of the biggest reasons why head covers are important to use is that woods are the largest golf clubs in your bag and through the rigors of traveling and while riding on the course, these specific golf clubs have a tendency to collect unsightly scratches and cosmetic dings that can affect the drag on the club, causing inconsistencies in your shots.

By using the head covers throughout your time on the course and while you travel to and from the course, you can significantly lower your chances of damage to the wood’s club heads and elongate the life of the golf clubs by keeping them pristine.

Complete Starter Set for Beginner and High Handicapper

For the beginning golfer and high handicapper, a complete golf set that comes ready to go, straight from the box is advantageous because you don’t spend any time tracking down individual golf clubs and the sets typically cover everything you need to immediately start your golfing journey.

The Callaway Strata Complete Golf Set provides the golfer with three woods, four irons, one wedge and a putter. This ensemble assures that the golfer has everything they need to complete a round. Yes, the set may not be as extensive as more experienced golfers will use on the course, but for a starter set, you can do much worse than this particular model and brand.

Great for the inexperienced weekend warrior in your family who wants to save his money for the green fees, the Callaway Strata 12-piece Set is comprehensive and offers beginning golfers plenty of options on the course.

Additional Options for Sets

There are two other options for golfers who like the 12-piece Callaway Strata set, the first is a Strata Tour 16-piece Set and the other is a regular Strata 16-piece Set.

The Callaway Strata Tour edition is the most extensive version of the Callaway set. Not only are there four more pieces to the set, but it fills some of the gaps that the 12-piece leaves behind. The additions start with a 60-degree sand wedge, that has slightly more loft than your typical sand wedge and will help beginners in when their ball is in the heavy rough and, of course, the sand.

Other inclusions for the Callaway Strata Tour Set include a 4-hybrid and two extra head covers to round out the collection at 16 pieces.

If you are looking for the difference between the Callaway Tour and standard Callaway Strata 16-piece Set, there is negligible difference as it appears that the sand wedge is slightly lower in loft at 56 degrees in the standard set and the putter is a blade-style rather than the mallet in the Tour collection.


Alternatives

Wilson SGI Golf Set

Great Complete Set for the Walking Golfer

WILSON Golf Profile SGI Men's Complete Golf Set — Teen, Right Hand
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Overall grade94%
Quality of Set94%
Woods93%
Irons92%
Wedges & Putter95%
Accessories96%

PROS

  • Excellent accessories highlighted by durable stand bag and protective head covers
  • Three woods that provide exceptional feel at impact and vary greatly for help on the tee box, and fairway
  • Includes six irons including two wedges, a pitching and sand, making this set more complete than your typical starter collection

CONS

  • Driver is set a 10.5-degrees, not ideal for beginning golfer who needs help with launch angle and ball height on their drives
  • Blade-style putter might not be enjoyed by the golfer who likes a heavy, wide faced putter

The Wilson SGI Golf Set is one of the more professional and sleek looking sets on the market geared toward the beginning golfer. The 13-piece collection has three woods, four irons, two wedges, a blade-style putter, carry bag and two head covers.

The woods in the Wilson set cover the driver, 3-wood, and 5-hybrid and offer the beginning golfer a solid group to start their game. The driver’s loft is 10.5 degrees and while we’d like to see a higher loft in a starter set, the large club head helps keep the ball in the fairway.

The four game improvement irons in the set begin at the 6-iron and run through the 9-iron. All irons have a wide sole that assist in providing solid contact, while reducing fat shots where the golfer hits behind the golf ball.

Finally, the set rounds out with two wedges, a pitching and sand wedge, a blade-style putter that performs nicely on the green and a durable carry bag with two head covers for protecting the top two woods. All in all, the Wilson SGI Golf Set is a wonderful choice for the high handicapper who can afford a pricier starter set.

ProSimmon X9 Complete Set

Best Value Option for Beginning Golfers

Prosimmon Golf X9 V2 Mens Graphite/Steel Hybrid Club Set & Bag
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Overall grade89%
Quality of Set88%
Woods90%
Irons90%
Wedges & Putter85%
Accessories90%

PROS

  • Cavity-backed irons produce tall shot arc with moderate spin
  • Oversized 460cc driver offers distance and forgiveness
  • Well-balanced mallet putter delivers smooth roll without skipping

CONS

  • The irons are hybrid lofts and numbers, meaning they are in-between two common irons, such as a 6/7 or 8/9
  • The mallet putter in this set is strange in style and construction and doesn’t offer great feel at impact

Featuring a full set of high-performing clubs plus several worthwhile accessories, the ProSimmon X9 Complete Set delivers results for beginning golfers. 

The set features four woods, including a driver, 3-wood, and two large head hybrids. Six oversized, cavity-backed irons are also included in the ProSimmon set running from a 5-iron through a pitching wedge.

A mallet putter and a sturdy stand bag with a seven-way top rounds out the complete set.

When testing the woods of the ProSimmon set, we were very impressed with the sturdiness of each club. The feel and response of the woods certainly sets the tone for the rest of the set as they deliver distance with high forgiveness when the impact point strays from center.

The oversized, perimeter-weighted irons may lean a bit on the heavy side, but for beginners, they produce that consistent ball flight their game has been missing.

And yes, while we would love to see a sand wedge here with this set, the pitching wedge provides a nice weapon to attack the greens from inside 80 yards.

When comparing the ProSimmon collection against the Callaway Strata set, the first thing you’ll notice is that the Strata set delivers a better appearance at first glance. Behind the power of Callaway, the Strata set also produces better results from green to tee.

That said, for golfers looking to save some money, the ProSimmon X9 set offers an engaging collection with a first-rate stand bag that will keep your clubs protected for many, many years.


Questions & Answers

What level of golfer is ideal for the Callaway Strata Club Set?

Ideally, the golfer that would best benefit from the Callaway Strata Set is the beginner or high handicapper. Since starter sets are meant to be a one-stop shop to begin a golfing career, this collection does admirably at building a group of golf clubs that can get the golfer from the tee box to the green without any issues.

Just because a beginning golfer buys this set does not mean they will use each club right away. For first timers, finding golf clubs with a high loft that provide comfort and ease of use is a smart way to get started. And this is why starter sets are an intelligent place to start for novice golfers because the group offers them plenty of golf clubs in this mold to choose from when beginning.

Starter sets are not the best place for mid handicappers or experienced golfers because they lack the nuance and selection that choosing individual golf clubs can bring this level of player.


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Conclusion

For high handicappers and beginning golfers, finding a complete set of golf clubs that does not break the bank but offers plenty of options is very important for getting their golfing journey off on the right foot.

Straight from the box, the Callaway Strata Golf Clubs Set doesn’t disappoint, offering 12 clubs that certainly puts the beginning golfer in the position of starting the game off the right way and with the right clubs. And with a sleek multi-pocketed stand bag that is versatile, the Callaway Strata bag makes it easy for the golfer to walk or ride the course and not have to worry if their clubs are protected.

If you are looking for a complete set that checks a lot of boxes for the beginning golfer, then you will certainly be happy with where the Callaway Strata Golf Clubs Set puts you at the moment you first hit the course. Click here to check out this comprehensive and exciting golf set.

Hopefully, this Callaway Strata review has helped you decide on whether or not the Strata golf clubs are for you.