What order to upgrade your clubs?

I bought a TopFlite box set when I started playing golf in September and am very eager to upgrade my clubs. That said, I'm not sure I can bring myself to replace everything all at once.

The question is in what order do you suggest upgrading the club types (driver, woods, irons/hybrids, wedges & putter)?


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Good question. My personal preference would be to upgrade driver first. The assumption is that you would see improvement off the tee, more FIR's, more distance and would be able to use the other clubs you're comfortable with closer to the hole. I'd then upgrade irons second.

Philly Golf Guy said:

Good question. My personal preference would be to upgrade driver first. The assumption is that you would see improvement off the tee, more FIR's, more distance and would be able to use the other clubs you're comfortable with closer to the hole. I'd then upgrade irons second.

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As good a way as any and better than most!

When I first upgraded my 'cheap' set, I got 3 clubs all at once. I did the driver, a putter and a sand wedge. The wedge was my favorite club when I was taking my lessons and it gave me confidence when learning. The other irons/clubs got replaced over that year.

tkpeterson12 said:

I bought a TopFlite box set when I started playing golf in September and am very eager to upgrade my clubs. That said, I'm not sure I can bring myself to replace everything all at once.

The question is in what order do you suggest upgrading the club types (driver, woods, irons/hybrids, wedges & putter)?


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It's fairly easy to find good deals on clubs that are just a year or two old at a big discount. A goof friend who is a bogey golfer was asking me what to buy to replace a cheap set of irons he was playing for 30 years. I steered him towards a set of Wislon Ci11's and he found a new set 5-PW on eBay for $150. He also upgraded to a Callaway driver and 3 wood from a couple years ago and got both for $130.

I think the best way to upgrade is based on need. Where are you struggling? Would a club change help you in a certain area?

I'm a firm believer in play what you have until you are comfortable with your scoring, work on your game not on buying new clubs to start. Money spent on lessons if you are struggling will do much more for your game than a set of shiny new clubs.

tkpeterson12 said:

I bought a TopFlite box set when I started playing golf in September and am very eager to upgrade my clubs. That said, I'm not sure I can bring myself to replace everything all at once.

The question is in what order do you suggest upgrading the club types (driver, woods, irons/hybrids, wedges & putter)?


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Upgrade whatever you hit worst, first.

War Eagle said:

I'm a firm believer in play what you have until you are comfortable with your scoring, work on your game not on buying new clubs to start. Money spent on lessons if you are struggling will do much more for your game than a set of shiny new clubs.

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But where's the fun in that?!?!? LOL!!!!



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tkpeterson12 said:

But where's the fun in that?!?!? LOL!!!!



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I know, I know.

When I first got serious about trying to improve my game, I got a bit of advice from JB and Tadashi70...quit changing gear every week and get to work on my game. I did that, didnt change a single club for almost 8 months, but worked my tail off on my swing and thinking my way through the course.

Well, that advice worked, game got better. Then the FUN of club hoarding began.

I would upgrade what ever you hit the worst and buy some forgiveness and take some lessons. Golf clubs will always be for sale take your time and work on your swing.

If you're on a budget, you need to know that Titleist and Ping are never discounted and never go on sale. I don't believe Mizuno does either.

This said you can get last year's Cobra model Fly-Z driver for $200, new. Since you're a beginner, I'd go for some SGI irons, next. The Cobra Fly-Z XL irons from 6 - GW can be had for $300.00. The Cobra web site says the set is from 7 - GW, but the 6 iron is only $50. You could play with them for a few years. I wouldn't worry about outgrowing them. I'd possibly think about upgrading when you start shooting in the upper 80s consistently. Basically you can do the whole thing for $500 with last year's Cobra stuff. Then later on you can add your hybrids, and lastly your metal wood. Being a beginner you probably won't feel confident hitting anything longer than a 6 iron off the grass anyway at least for a while.

There is nothing fancy about the irons. They're one of the better looking irons in this class. They're made to get the ball up in the air, down the course, and make the game as easy as possible. The workability on the clubs is not very good, but then you're not going to be worried about that until you're scoring in the low 80s or upper 70s. They're not miracle workers, but I owned their previous incarnation and they were very easy to hit.

War eagle is wise

I've purchased all my Titleist equipment at reasonable prices...


But i'd say Driver or 3 Wood...

Like some are saying here, the swing determines the fit of the club, so I'm assuming you're happy with the swing you have because once you change your swing you may have to change clubs too.

And like what some are saying here also, the first club to change is the one that isn't performing well, whether is is the driver, wedge, whatever. Good luck!

tkpeterson12 said:

I bought a TopFlite box set when I started playing golf in September and am very eager to upgrade my clubs. That said, I'm not sure I can bring myself to replace everything all at once.

The question is in what order do you suggest upgrading the club types (driver, woods, irons/hybrids, wedges & putter)?


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First of all, welcome to the game and to this site.

Unfortunately, the set you have is really going to hold you back. But as you said, you need to pick your spots, so where to begin? Here is the dilemma.
As a beginner, your swing is going to change.
You'll spend a lot of time hitting the driver, fairway metals and short irons/wedges until you learn how to consistently make solid contact.
You have no chance of hitting your irons consistently well if the lie angle isn't right.

Assuming you got the Top Flite XL boxed set, you have a driver, fairway metal, 2 hybrids, 6-W and a putter. (If you got a different Top Flite set you can easy adjust from what I'm going to suggest.)

The putter and hybrids are good enough for now. Eliminate them from contention.

If you are 5 foot 10 plus or minus 2 inches, you are probably okay with the irons. If you are much off of that, see if you can get an experienced low handicap golfer buddy to help you. Have him help you get into a good setup posture on a flat, level surface and check where the sole of the club contacts the ground. If it is roughly halfway between the toe and heel of the club, you are good. If it is out on the toe or back by the heel, you may have to change your irons sooner than later, because you can't hit good consistent iron shots if the lie angle isn't approximately right. Now if your lie angle is on the heel, you might be able to choke up an inch or so from the end to get the heel off the ground and get away with swinging your irons that way until you can get around to changing them out.

My guess is you find hitting the hybrids much easier and have more success with them than with the fairway metal. In a minority of cases it is the other way around. Whichever you hit better use that club and keep the others in the bag for now. Unless you are a freak of nature, most beginners have trouble hitting it solid, and solid contact gets you more distance (and in less trouble) than less solid contact with a longer club.

So if you've passed through all of this that leaves you with the sand wedge and driver.

I'd look for a 3-5 year old highly adjustable driver with a nominal 10.5 degree face angle that was among the top rated when they first came out. You should look in the game improvement or super game improvement category. Callaway, Cobra, Taylormade and Ping are brands to look for. They all had top rated models during this time period and some of them will fit the specs I've suggested. This is a relatively inexpensive way to get a good club in your hands that can be fit to your current swing and the one that evolves as you learn the game.

If your lie angle for your irons is way off that might make it your first replacement purchase, but if not it should be a close second. Again, a used set of quality irons is better than a new set of poor quality cheap irons. The good news is there are enough quality used clubs for sale that you can even find them with longer or shorter shafts and/or bent +/- a degree or two so that if you know your specs. you can get irons with a decent lie angle without having to change them after you buy them.

If your lie angles are fine on the Top Flite, I'd go for a good sand wedge next if the set I indicated above is what you have. (That set doesn't even come with a sand wedge.) Again, there are a lot of good quality top wedges like the Titleist Vokey that would be a great add. Something around 55 degrees of loft and with 10-14 degrees of bounce would be good.

What order to upgrade your clubs?

For me if go irons first, something in the game improvement category. Putter would be next, then wedges followed by fairway woods and driver. The driver is the hardest club to master so you'll need a swing first.

I'd go irons, than driver or putter and than so on

Tadashi70 said:

For me if go irons first, something in the game improvement category. Putter would've next, then wedges followed by fairway woods and driver. The driver is the hardest club to master so you'll need a swing first.

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Freddie is wise. I'd go something like that

lesson, irons, lesson, putter/wedges, lesson, woods

I would definitely say irons first (I believe it made the largest change in my own game). After that putter and wedges (in whatever order you can afford them). Buy the things you hit the least per round last (ie. woods/hybrids), that are potentially the hardest to hit.

InTheRough said:

This said you can get last year's Cobra model Fly-Z driver for $200, new. Since you're a beginner, I'd go for some SGI irons, next. The Cobra Fly-Z XL irons from 6 - GW can be had for $300.00. The Cobra web site says the set is from 7 - GW, but the 6 iron is only $50. You could play with them for a few years. I wouldn't worry about outgrowing them. I'd possibly think about upgrading when you start shooting in the upper 80s consistently. Basically you can do the whole thing for $500 with last year's Cobra stuff. Then later on you can add your hybrids, and lastly your metal wood. Being a beginner you probably won't feel confident hitting anything longer than a 6 iron off the grass anyway at least for a while.

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I've actually been really drawn to the Cobra irons based upon the reports of their forgiveness and the help they provide beginners. I started out looking at the Fly-Z XLs but am now thinking the Fly-Zs. I hit the 7i yesterday on my lunch at DSG and was pretty pleased with how that went.


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Tadashi70 said:

For me if go irons first, something in the game improvement category. Putter would've next, then wedges followed by fairway woods and driver. The driver is the hardest club to master so you'll need a swing first.

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Panda speaks the #Truth! Go with this.

leftshot said:

Assuming you got the Top Flite XL boxed set, you have a driver, fairway metal, 2 hybrids, 6-W and a putter. (If you got a different Top Flite set you can easy adjust from what I'm going to suggest.)

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Yep, that's the set. I did add a 56 deg Nike wedge to it though. I'll continue to play that for now.


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Tadashi70 said:

For me if go irons first, something in the game improvement category. Putter would be next, then wedges followed by fairway woods and driver. The driver is the hardest club to master so you'll need a swing first.

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This pretty close to what I was thinking initially but all the posts mentioning driver first had made me question it.

As I stated in another response, I've been looking at a set of the Cobra Fly-Z irons which Fit in the GI category. The set I've been looking at comes with at least 1 hybrid plus the set PW and GW.


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I'd be upgrading based on which you can find the best deal at the time. Wedges & putter can usually wait to the end but Driver, Woods/Hybrids, Irons are the key pieces I'd be shopping for a great deal on 1 so that extra funds could go into the others.

I would say there is a right or wrong way to go. It depends on your budget really. How much are you comfortable with spending at one time? Are you ok with spending maybe $200 at a time? Less? More? If you budget is like mine, less is more. So, if I'm you. I'm watching Callaway Pre-Owned. Every once in a while they have a Buy One Get One free on fairway woods and hybrids. So, I'd start with the club that's going to give me the most benefit to improve my game right away. I'd look for a Like New Driver in the $200 or less range. I'd start there. Then, if the BOGO comes around then I'd get a 3 wood and a 4 hybrid. Then, I'd look for some wedges, and last I'd save up for some irons.