I’m a beginning golfer and I found this set to be everything that I’ve needed. It comes with:
The clubs feel great; the bag is thin but looks well-constructed. Overall a great value, and would recommend it to others looking for a solid set that could get the job done well and at a great price.
Ok. Here are the basics. A golf club has three parts - the head, the shaft and the grip. A standard set of golf clubs consists of three woods (the Driver, #3, and #5 fairway woods), eight irons (#3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, and PW), and a putter - that's twelve clubs in all. According to the rules of golf, and we should all play by the rules, you can carry fourteen clubs in your bag, so many golfers add a specialty wood or another iron.
Now, let's have a look at the different types of clubs.
Drivers & Fairway woods
These clubs are used to hit longer shots. That's a basic yet apt way to look at it. If a golf hole is a par four or five from tee to green, most golfers would choose to use a wood.
The driver, or the 1 Wood, has the lowest loft of any golf club. Loft is the angle of the club face that controls trajectory and affects distance. A driver has a loft between 7 and 12 degrees. Better golfers have traditionally favored drivers with less than 10 degrees of loft, which require a lot more skill to hit.
Most golfers also carry a #3 and #5 fairway wood as part of their golf clubs arsenal. A #3 wood has a loft of 15 degrees, and a #5 wood has a loft of 18 degrees. The higher the golf club number, the higher the loft. The #3 and #5 wood are commonly referred to as fairway woods, because they are most often used during the second shot of play, when you are supposed to be on the fairway.
Hybrids
Hybrids are a recent innovation to golf. A hybrid is a combination of an iron and a wood and is an easier to hit alternative to a long iron. Hybrids are versatile enough to be used in any situation. Hybrids come in a range of four lofts - 16 (#2), 19 (#3), 22 (#4) and 25 (#5) Degrees. Hybrids replace their equivalent number long iron, e.g. a #3 hybrid will replace a #3 iron and a #2 hybrid can be used to replace a #5 fairway wood.
Irons
Irons are generally used for shorter distances and more control than drivers and fairway woods. The closer you are to the green, the higher the iron you will use. A standard set of irons consists of #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8 and #9 and the PITCHING WEDGE (PW). A sandwedge is generally a good option to purchase for shots out of sand traps. The #3 and #4 irons are harder to hit than the higher numbered irons. Many golfers choose to replace the #3 and #4 iron with higher lofted woods or hybrids which are easier to hit than traditional long irons, resulting in comparable distances.
Wedges
Wedges are really just specialty irons. The first wedge is the Pitching Wedge (PW), which is usually between 52 and 56 degrees in loft. The PW is the highest lofted iron in a standard set and lowest loft of the wedges. Lob wedges range from 58 to 64 degrees and are used for close range short and high shots to overcome obstacles close to the green. Wedges are extremely useful for your short game and it is beneficial to keep a selection of them in your bag.
Sand Wedges are another type of wedge and are designed to get you out of the dreaded sand traps. They have a shorter shaft and a more angled face to get under the ball in order to exit a bunker.
Putters
As the adage goes "Drive for show, Putt for dough". The putter usually gets you in the hole, so it can be assumed, that choosing the right putter is critical to your game. Putters come in various styles and types.: short, belly, long, bent, center-hosel, heel-toe, mallet, and so on. When choosing a putter the main things to consider are the: weighting, balance and feel. Better putters provide alignment aids to help you visualize the line from your ball to the target.
A sand wedge golf club is specifically designed to get a lot of loft on your golf shot so that it is able to lift the ball out of a sand trap and ...
This set is truly awesome. Just got them yesterday took them to the range and all the clubs feel and hit amazing. The price makes them even more attractive for anyone else just starting out golfing.
excellent product for golf beginners; have been able to hit straight on course with the driver. The putter needs getting used to (maybe its just my skills and not the club). This set doesn’t have a 5 Iron but a hybrid and that works out even better on 150+ yards play. Sand Wedge is a must have for shorter yard play and better to buy XL5000 vs other set from Top Flite that doesn’t include SW & PW. Good investment for $300 and you add add individual clubs from brand names like Ping, Nike, Callaway as you go along and improve your game.
I bought these clubs after doing lots of research on full sets. I’ve been playing with an old set of blades and woods that I’ve had forever. I narrowed it down to this set and the Wilson power set. I decided on this set because it came with a 5w, Sw, and I like the bag design better. Also every club has a draw bias weight screw unlike the Wilson set. Also you get two hybrids and no 5I instead of the one hybrid and a 5I (that the Wilson set comes with.) Personally, I would rather have two hybrids and no 5I. And finally, the fairway woods have steel shafts which works better with my swing which is fairly fast. If you have a slower swing you may do better with graphite shafts on the 3w and 5w.
The clubs showed up very quickly and in perfect condition. The bag has lots of pockets of all different sizes and a cooler pocket for drinks. If you can fill up this bag with stuff I would be impressed. The bag seems to be very well built, the stand works well, and again I think the design is pleasing to the eye. My only con is that I don’t like the backpack style strap. The quality of the strap is fine, I just personally prefer a regular strap so I took the strap off my old bag and put it on the new bag.
The clubs came in perfect condition. Paint, grips, club faces all perfect. I was impressed with the feel of the face on the irons…like a fine sandpapery feel. Can’t wait to see the kind of backspin they will produce.
I personally don’t have a problem with the size of the 3w or 5w…perfect for my liking. The driver is huge…very different from what I’m used to. It’s much longer than my old driver and the 460cc head is just ridiculous if you’re used to a smaller driver.
Been to the range once so far…it is winter you know….and was very impressed with the performance of these clubs. I play or go to the range once a week at a minimum and have a 20 handicap. I was very impressed with the feel of these clubs. The grips felt nice in my hands and the clubs are very light and easy to swing. My old blades are much heavier so that may be why they feel so light to me. I hit the 6I-Sw with no trouble. Literally the best bucket I’ve ever hit as far as consistent crisp contact, distance and accuracy goes. The hybrids take a little more concentration to hit crisp. I just pretend they are an iron and that works for me. Even with less than perfect contact, the design of the hybrids seem to minimize pushes or pulls, and when you get all of it the ball really goes. The 3w and 5w felt great off the tee…long and straight with consistent solid strikes. I’ve never been comfortable with the 3w or 5w off the fairway but gave it a shot and had similar results to the hybrids…with a little more distance. I also really liked the sound when hitting the woods…a sharp ping similar to a metal baseball bat.
The only club that gave me trouble was the 460cc driver. Every hit was a slice or push to the right. I adjusted stance, grip, ext with not much improvement. My first thought was that the graphite shaft may be too flexible for the speed of my swing causing the face to open on the down swing causing a ball flight to the right, but when I got home I searched on the internet for advice using a large driver and got some answers. Going back to the range soon to try again.
I hit about 120 balls or so and had no problems with denting any of the woods. I even sculled a couple of balls in trying to improve my drives and again..no dents. I didn’t have any problems with the clubs at all and would recommend this set to anyone from a beginner to a regular player. This set is perfect for the golfer who wants a new set and is on a budget. The best deal I could find was about $250 and for that price I was expecting really poor quality. So far, I’m very pleased and feel like I made a great purchase. Only thing…beware that the driver is very different if you are not used to one that big and may take a while and some research to hit well.
Hope this review helps with your decision.
I have just taken backup the game of golf after 25 years. To say the least I and my old set of clubs didn’t make any heads turn on the golf course. I reviewed a number of different sets, and was please with what I read about this set. I have now used the set twice, and am more then pleased with how they fell, construction, and playability. The first time I used the set I dropped 18 strokes from my 18 hole score, the next time 13 strokes. The driver still takes some getting use too, but really puts more distance on the drive. The irons feel well balanced and hit true. The putter with its larger playing surface has helped reduce my number of putts. In a nutshell this is a great set, and plan on using it for years to come.
I was in the market for a reasonably-priced complete set because I was tired of paying for rental clubs. After a lot of research, I narrowed it down to the Top Flite brand and went with the Top Flite XL 5000 Box Full Set (instead of the Top Flite XL Box Full Set) because of a few reasons mentioned below. As you’ll hopefully see by this review, the XL 5000 is definitely worth the extra $50-$100 (the price differential between the two sets depends on if you buy it on Amazon or on eBay). The XL 5000 set is better than the XL set because it has…
1. 2 More Clubs: The XL 5000 set has all of the same clubs as the XL set (6-9 Irons, PW, 3-Wood, 4 & 5 Hybrids, Driver, Putter) except the XL 5000 *also* has a 5-wood (with cover) and a Sand Wedge. These two additions alone are more than worth the price increase.
2. Better Technology: The drivers for both are nearly identical except for purely aesthetic reasons like color designs (which I think the XL 5000 looks nicer). Both have a 460cc forged driver with graphite Synchro-flex shaft and draw-biased weighting screw. So it’s a push with the Driver. However, the Fairway Woods differ between the two sets. The XL 5000 set, which includes a 3-wood AND a 5-wood, has a draw-bias weight screw (like the Driver) which is supposed to help power and consistency. The XL set (which ONLY has the 3-wood) does NOT have a draw-bias weight screw. The Hybrids (4H & 5H) AND the Irons (6-SW) in the XL 5000 set also have this design with the draw-bias screws, and the XL does not. All of the Irons in the XL 5000 actually have dual (two) balance weight screws for “enhanced forgiveness and control in each club” (according to their website). As for the XL set, they do not have this feature. I can’t say with certainty this makes a huge difference (because I am a beginner), but I assume it works similar to the physics of “corking” your baseball bat in that it makes the club a little lighter. This means more club speed and thus more power/distance. It also brings me to my next point…
3. Nicer Design: While both sets have a nice silver-black-red color design, the XL 5000 set has mini-diamond plate designs on the backside cavity of the Irons which gives it a fancier/sleeker look than a flat-black background paint job on the XL iron set (Google the pictures to see what I’m talking about). Like I mentioned above in point #2, the draw-bias screws on all of the XL 5000 clubs give it a cooler design that make your clubs look like they do some “serious damage” on the golf course (in a good way). The XL 5000 bag also looks professional and a lot more appropriate for adult males because the design is mostly all black with hints of red and silver as opposed to a half-red and half-black color design of the XL bag that makes it look like it was more appropriate for young kids. Even the head covers also look a little better in my opinion. To sum it up, the XL 5000 set looks like it would cost much more than $250-$300. The XL sadly looks like it would indeed cost only a couple hundred bucks.
4. Nicer Putter: As you know, putting is where the superstar golfers separate themselves from the rookies (like myself). So why not get a nicer putter? I already mentioned you get two extra clubs in the XL 5000 set and get better technology, but the putter is also better than the putter that comes with the XL set. Both are mallet-design putters, but the XL 5000 putter has a “CNC Milled soft face”, which gives you a better touch on the greens.
Both sets have a “dual-carry strap” (like a book bag) which is a nice feature that makes it really easy to carry your bag. Both sets also have a rain hood to protect your clubs. There is a ton of storage space and a lot of zippered pockets on the bag. It even has one cooler-lined zippered pocket that allows you fit a couple bottles of beer–ehh, I mean water and soda.
I also had never really used Hybrids before, but the ones in this set are really awesome. In case you don’t know what a Hybrid is, it’s a mix between an Iron and a Wood. They are similar in size/design to a fairway wood, but with a steeper-angled club face like an Iron. I use them pretty much every hole and usually at every Par-3 hole with deadly accuracy (which is impressive given that I slice with my driver and shank my 3 & 5 Wood pretty often).
My one complaint is that a little bit of the paint on the underside of the driver and hybrids (the part that sweeps the ground when you swing) rubbed off after a few trips to the driving range. I’ve never had a golf set before so I can’t say with certainty that any club would experience this same kind of wear-and-tear, but I guess it’s reasonable to expect that swinging a few hundred times on Astroturf would rub off a tiny bit of the paint. Despite this minor complaint, the clubs still look nice after using them about 10 times already at the range and in regular course play. Top-Flite is the “discount brand” of Callaway Golf, so I seriously doubt the clubs will ever have any significant durability issues given that a very reputable company built them.
The XL 5000 set is, without a doubt, worth the extra $50-$100 because you feel like you don’t need anything else to complete your golf set and it overall has a more professional look and design. Is this the nicest golf set out there? Absolutely not. But for the price and value of what you get, I have no regrets and highly recommend this set. From what I’ve read and heard from experienced golfers–unless you are a PGA pro or a competitive college athlete, you really don’t need to spend a ton of money getting the “best” golf gear. It’s mostly superstition, which I guess when it comes to such a mentally frustrating activity as golfing, it could be really important to some people to spend their retirement money on Callaway, Nike, and TaylorMade. I’ll just stick with these Top Flites. The XL-5000 set is the perfect beginner/starter golf set for teens, young adults, and old timers alike.
Purchased for my wife, who’s a beginner golfer, and they definitely serve their purpose. Constructed nice/good craftsmanship. Only 2 drawbacks….bag could use a stand, and manufacturer should consider including a hybrid in the actual set.(Minor, because I still purchased)
Otherwise, for the price, it’s a good buy!
My second time at the driving range, the head flew off the 3 iron and went sailing! Now I’ll have to figure out how to get it replaced.
The goods are as described and great. Shipment is very fast, beyond my expectation. Thank you very much.
I thought this set was perfect for me. I am a petite beginning golfer and I am actually hitting very well. Would recommend.
I bought this set for my wife about 1 1/2 year ago. She was a beginner then and has greatly improved since. I was hoping she would enjoy golf as much as i do and accompany me more often. I was right and having her own set of petite lady clubs is a big help. The clubs were delivered without a hitch and in pristine shape. The weight and feel are far superior to many off the rack clubs. The bag alone is worth $100 with it’s many pockets, head covers and rain cover and very comfortable shoulder strap. (i know because i carry them. Only drawback is that the bag does not come with a built in stand, and we like walking. perfect height for my wife, who is under 5′3″ and had a hard time with other ladies clubs. She also likes the look and grip. The club heads do not mar or scratch very easily either and have retained thier finish quite nicely after 2 seasons.
I must admit I was somewhat leary of buying such an inexpensive driver but so far it has worked quite well. I am still waiting for it to break or something but so far so good. A couple of my golf buddies have actually commented on how my drives are just as good as theirs with their more expensive clubs. Let’s hope the club holds up.
Driver is really great. Had just bought one from another store the same day I ordereds this one and my husband likes this one better.