Want a new set of the clubs but don't want to fork out thousands of dollars for a custom fit set and bag? Well then a package set is a good place to start and in this video, Joel Tadman and Joe Ferguson run through some of the best options on the market in 2024 ideal for beginners and high handicappers looking for something cheap and cheerful. They also shine a spotlight on some of the best golf club sets for kids, so if you're a parent looking to get your child into golf be sure to watch to the end.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Now, package sets are becoming an increasingly popular option for people looking to get into
00:04golf and develop their skills. In this video, we're going to run through some of the best
00:08package sets on the market should you be looking to shop in this cost-effective area of the market.
00:14I'm alongside Joe Ferguson, PJ Pro, and Golf Monthly staff writer. Before we get into the
00:18specifics, Joe, of these sets, who are the type of people that should be looking to invest in
00:23a package set versus something that's more custom a bit? Well, I wasn't really across
00:27these package sets much before I joined the team at Golf Monthly. I've been fortunate enough to see
00:31more and more of them. I thought they were initially just for people starting out,
00:35but the more that I've tested, the more I've seen, it's just a really cost-effective way
00:40of accumulating a full set of golf clubs and everything you need to play the game, including
00:45bags. Yes, a broad spectrum of people can be using these. Absolutely. It's worth pointing
00:50out that we're going to be covering men's sets and junior sets, as you can see in this particular
00:54video, because we can really speak with authority. We've both got children, so we can speak with
00:59authority on both of those types of sets. If you are looking for information on the best women's
01:04package sets, make sure you check out the link in the description. We'll link out to our buying
01:07guides. If you do like the look of any of these package sets, I'll put some handy links in the
01:11description where you can buy these for the best price in your area. Without further ado, let's
01:16dive into the best package sets on the market in 2024. We've got our first two sets. I've got
01:23something from Wilson that I want to talk about, but I see you've got Cobra there, Joel. I do. This
01:27is the Cobra Fly XL. It comes in at £699, which I think is the same price as your one. I do think
01:33you get a lot for your money with this particular set. It's a 10-club set. I like how you've got a
01:3810.5-degree driver, and they've included a 5-wood versus a 3-wood. I think for some golfers,
01:43especially starting out the game, a 3-wood can be quite hard to launch. If you're looking for
01:47a driver alternative, you get a 5-wood rather than 3-wood and a hybrid. The standout part
01:53of this set in particular, along with the bag, is the irons. These irons are incredibly easy to
01:58launch, really inviting down behind the ball, relatively thick top line, decent amount of offset,
02:03but just really easy to launch. If you're looking for something super forgiving that's going to be
02:07really user-friendly and help you get the ball up in the air from the fairway into greens,
02:11these irons are fantastic. A really nice stealthy-like stand bag with five pockets,
02:16all the storage you'd never need. That is my first pick, I think a really good option.
02:20I'm going to throw it to you, Joe. As I said, this Wilson set, similar price,
02:23what do you get for your money here? Exactly the same price, I think. Yes,
02:26you've got the Wilson Player Fit Premium Package. I'm just looking a bit jealous at yours, actually.
02:30I like the stealthy. I like that black. It's really cool. Got a bit more color here with the
02:34blue accents. Overall, I found this to be probably my favorite of everything I've tested as an overall
02:40package, personally, the bits that I've tested. 10-club set as well. We've gone 3-wood instead
02:46of 5-wood. We've got the 5-hybrid in here. Particularly in the irons of this set, I found
02:51them really powerful. Great ball speeds, but still with some really high launch, which you want if
02:55you're just starting out in the game or for slower swing speed players. The bit that I really wanted
03:00to highlight is more down the bottom end of the bag. I've got two clubs. The sand wedge in
03:04particular, I'd game this now. It's just super clean, just a blade-style, specialist-feel sand
03:10wedge. No offense to yours, that's a little bit chunkier, a little bit thicker sole, so probably
03:14a bit less versatility than mine. I'm really happy with the sand wedge. I love how Wilson
03:18have set me up there. Also, in the putter, got a touch more forgiveness than yours.
03:24I would agree.
03:25I've got a bit more MOI. I've got the fang-style putter. I've also got the milled face, and I've
03:31got a really nice premium-feeling tacky grip. In terms of value for money, for 699, the bag,
03:38the head covers, the 10-clubs, and the specialist short game stuff, I was really pleased with this
03:42Wilson set.
03:43It's a competitive battle between the two. Maybe if you like a blade-style putter, potentially go
03:47down the Cobra route. You want more of a forgiving mallet putter, go down the Wilson. Two really
03:51good options in that mid-price area of the package set market. Joe, for our next choices in the
03:58package set market, we've gone both ends of the price spectrum. Kick us off with what you've got
04:03here and what you like about it.
04:05I've got this McGregor CG4000 set, and these are coming in at £329. I've got a lot of value for
04:12money here. I'll let you break the news on the price of yours in a moment, but they are very
04:17different. Again, you get a 10-club setup here. I've got a beautiful premium bag. This is one of
04:22the highlights for me. The stand feels really sturdy. Some of the package sets I've tried
04:27previously in the past, I worried about the longevity and the durability. This feels like
04:31it could go through any sort of abuse, which you might give it when you're learning how to play
04:36golf with some anger issues, I don't know. The bag was a real highlight for me.
04:41Another standout feature, the woods, of everything that I've tried, the ease of use,
04:45the playability, just phenomenal. They're so easy to get airborne. Obviously, for me as a higher
04:51speed player, probably a bit too airborne, but if I'm bringing that back down the scale for someone
04:57learning the game or someone with a slower swing speed, just the playability of those woods is
05:01exceptional. One more thing before I pass over to you, I really enjoyed, and this is stealing a bit
05:07from your company actually, a two-ball style putter. For someone who's just starting out and
05:11learning how to aim their putter and read green stuff, having this little two-ball alignment
05:17system here with a line going through it, I think is of real benefit and will really help put you in
05:22the right place on the green. What have you got? Very good choice there, Joe. I've gone for the
05:28Callaway XR package set. This comes in at £1,400. It's the most expensive package set we're going to
05:34feature in this video, but bear with me because you do get a lot for your money. You get 12 clubs.
05:39This is, obviously, the XR range is a franchise that I think a lot of golfers will be familiar
05:43with. It was played out on tour a few years ago. It was one of their premium custom fit options
05:4810, 12 years ago. I do think the quality and the performance really shines through on this
05:52particular set. I'll start with the driver. You can see here how this driver does have a much
05:57better look to it versus most package set drivers. You've got this lovely matte black finish on it,
06:03beautiful accents on the crown. It looks more premium than, I'd say, most package set drivers.
06:08Put it down at address, it does sit a little bit closed, but it does still look very inviting to
06:11hear. I think also with driver in package sets, they can sound quite loud and tinny,
06:16whereas this one has more of a muted thud sound to it. I think you get much better acoustics with
06:20this one, better feel, feels really hot off the face. As I said, 12 clubs, so you get your driver,
06:25your fairway, and your hybrid. It's a very authentically Callaway-looking irons. I think
06:29this is a silhouette that a lot of golfers will be familiar with when it comes to game-improving
06:34irons from Callaway. Super forgiving, really easy launching. I like the clubs at the bottom end of
06:39the bag. I picked your putter up a minute ago. I was very jealous. Before we get into the putter,
06:42Joe, I do like this specialty 55-degree wedge. It has a little bit of a muscle-back feel to it.
06:47May I? You may. That's a really nice wedge. I think if you're looking for something that's
06:51going to be forgiving and give you a little bit of versatility and feel, you might get it from that,
06:55but also like the putter that's included within this set, along with an excellent stand bag with
07:00nine pockets, I might add, is the Odyssey DFX. This is the number seven. This is an iconic shape.
07:06A lot of top players in the world have used this sort of shape putter. Strong grip as well.
07:10A really nice grip. There's a lot to like about this putter. Super forgiving, really easy to align
07:14with those three lines. I know your two-ball putter is also doing a similar job, but I think
07:18these three-line system, it's a really powerful way to see where the face is pointing. I think
07:24this is a really good entry point into the Callaway brand. It is a lot of money,
07:27but if you were to buy a full set of premium custom-fit Callaway clubs, you'd be spending a
07:33lot more than 1,400 pounds. If you're looking to get into the Callaway brand without spending an
07:37awful lot of money, I think this XR package set is a really good option. Now I want to talk about
07:44this Strata package set. The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice they're left-handed, so I'm not
07:49going to try and pretend that I tested this set. I'm relaying some information from one of our
07:53friends in the minority left-handed department, Dan Parker, one of the other gear writers,
07:58and he was very enamored with the irons in particular. The distance he was getting off
08:02the irons he felt was comparable to his actual gamer set. They are quite strong when I put them
08:07down, but from what he said, they were pretty hot off the face and giving some real strong
08:12distance output. What I also liked when I looked in here, and Dan mentioned it in his review,
08:17more options at the top end of the bag. We've got a couple of hybrids here. Again, for people
08:21starting out who might have a slower swing speed and looking to help get the ball airborne a little
08:25bit more, we've got that help from the hybrids. Dan Parker, he also tests soft goods for us,
08:31and he was very, very impressed with the bag, both the durability, how robust it felt, but also how
08:38spacious and lightweight it is. We've got loads of pockets here for everything you might need on
08:43the golf course, and he was really impressed with this package set as a whole. Joel, you've got
08:47nothing with you. Why is that? That's because I'm going to talk about a bag that we haven't actually
08:51got with us. It's the TaylorMade RBZ Speedlite. Now, my colleague, Neil Tappen, has tested this
08:56set, I think it was last year, and he really was enamored with everything it offered. It's similar
09:00to the Callaway XR. It's like an entry point into the TaylorMade brand, and it sort of follows the
09:05name of the RBZ Speedlite. Definitely, the feedback we got from Neil and other people that tested it
09:09is that it's easy to swing fast, very lightweight, easy launching. The driver in particular was very
09:15easy to get up in the air, and the irons as well, they really excelled in terms of giving a nice,
09:19strong, powerful ball flight, as well as some stopping power into greens. It's a 12-piece set,
09:24so you get a decent amount for your money. It's the same amount of clubs you got from the Callaway
09:28at £400 less. You get your 460cc driver, which is super forgiving. You get a fairway, a four hybrid,
09:34six to nine iron, and a couple of wedges, so everything you'd need to sort of hit those
09:38different distance gaps. And you get a really nice mallet putter with the Pure Roll technology,
09:43which from testing I've done, testing quite a lot of putters down my years, definitely helps get the
09:46ball rolling early, which for high handicappers and beginner golfers might just help them hole
09:51a few more putts. And that concludes our look at the men's package sets, the best ones you can buy
09:56in 2024. And as I said, if you like any of the look of these, do check out the links in
10:00the description. But now we're going to check out the best junior sets on the market.
10:06Right, so now we're going to talk about the best junior package sets. And I think junior golfers
10:10are probably even more likely than adults to start with a package set and then progress into
10:14something that's more suitable as their performance improves. And Joe and myself are both equally
10:21sort of qualified to talk about junior sets. As I mentioned earlier, we've both got young children
10:25who are sort of getting into the game and trying it for the first time. I mean, Joe, before we talk
10:29about some of the specific sets, what are the things that parents in particular need to consider
10:34when it comes to investing in clubs for their children who are playing golf for the first time?
10:39Yeah, I think size and weight are pretty crucial. I've seen, I've done some fittings in my time
10:44where kids have developed some pretty bad habits from using kind of old cut down men's clubs that
10:49aren't weighted properly. They might feel like you're getting to the right length, but they
10:52won't be balanced and weighted correctly. And you can, you can develop some really bad habits and
10:56even injuries if you're using stuff that's too heavy for you from an early age. So fortunately,
11:00nowadays, we've got these specific package sets for kids designed with their strength,
11:06their growth in mind. We've got all sorts of options here. So what do you want to talk about
11:10first? Yeah, the first one I want to talk about is this team tailor-made junior set here. I think
11:15you'll agree, the bag looks absolutely amazing. A really cool pattern. I'd like that in an adult
11:20bag. Absolutely. I mean, if you ask them, they might be able to sort one out. But yeah, so this
11:25comes in this three different age range options and the sort of the price goes up as the number
11:31of clubs increases and the size increases as well. So it's all developed around making sure you've
11:35got the right number of clubs and the right size of clubs as your child increases in age. But this
11:41is the youngest of the three options available. I think it's 300 pounds. You get four clubs,
11:45you get a high lofted fairywood, a seven iron, a wedge and a putter. The color scheme was suggested
11:50probably more aimed at the boy in the family rather than the girl, you could say. But other
11:55than that, loads to like about the set. The stand bag is really cool. You've got this double strap
11:59system, which just makes it really easy to carry. Again, that's something that could put kids off
12:04if you've got the luggy clubs around and it's uncomfortable to do that. There's no such problem
12:08here. Loads of pockets and just a really, really user friendly set that my children have really
12:12enjoyed using. So yeah, team tailor-made, really sort of decent value option in the bag. I've just
12:18knocked your shorty's bag there. I mean, I presume that's the one you're going to tell us
12:21about now. That's what I'm going to tell you about. Originally, when I knew we were learning
12:25about junior package sets, as my boss, you put your foot down and you pinched the tailor-made
12:30one. So I thought I was getting done, but I spoke to Shorty's Golf and I've absolutely loved this.
12:36We've got my two girls, the same set, they come in two color options. Sorry, that's a lie. They
12:40come in three color options, but obviously we had two for the two girls. We've got the red,
12:43the blue, and there's also a gray. And everything about these, they were just, I was so surprised
12:48with the quality, the build quality, the little touches, like the leather head covers. The bag
12:53is just outrageous. If you've seen it, it's so sturdy. We've got so many pockets. We've got
12:57little valuables pockets. What kids have valuables? I don't know, but my little girl has enjoyed
13:01putting shells in here from the beach. There's just so many little things to go through here.
13:06It's a really high quality set. Got a really nice driver. Again, like I said, under this sort of
13:10premium looking leather head cover, I've got hybrid seven iron pitching wedge and a little
13:14putter, and it's all on theme. In the blue bag, we've got blue shafts and blue grips.
13:18It's super cohesive. I know that's not a huge performance feature, but it matters to the kids,
13:23and they really do care about it. I was really chuffed with these. I know my little girls are
13:28chuffed with these, and it's got them the start they needed in golf. What have you got for me?
13:32This is a much more cost effective option. Just comes in at £100. You're going to get the same
13:37amount of clubs as the TaylorMade, much cheaper. Probably doesn't look as good as the TaylorMade
13:42stuff. It comes with a 14 degree driver. You've got a 7-iron 9-iron, and then you've got this
13:46beautiful putter. I was eyeing that. That's got a full old Ping B60 shape to it. That's a classic.
13:50Exactly. You'll see there's a little white and black contrasting bit at the back here,
13:54which just definitely helps with alignment. There's some grooves on the face, and I think
13:59a semi putter specific grip as well. Putters are definitely a standout club in this set.
14:04I do think the stand bag is a standout part of this set. It's feature packed. Five pockets,
14:10you've got a drinks holder there. You've got a little glove velcro tab. You can put your glove
14:14on. Double strap system. Really lightweight. Five-way top, which is interesting because
14:21obviously it only comes with four clubs, but the fact that it's a five-way top means you can add
14:24clubs to it. If you maybe get some clubs from someone else, or you want to add more clubs to
14:28the set, you've got room to do that in the bag. That helps with the longevity of this set.
14:33For £99, I do think you get a lot for your money with this Ram set.
14:37This is the Innisys Babies Golf. A little pun there, a little B on the bag there. It's really
14:42cool. It's just fun. This is obviously, when we're talking size comparison, this is obviously
14:46for the little tweenies amongst us. We've got two clubs in there. This is super entry level
14:51for the shorter, vertically challenged children in your family, or just younger before they've
14:56grown probably. We've got a 9-iron and a putter. It's just really fun. I'm not going to bore you
15:01with any technical specifications here because there isn't any really. It's pretty basic,
15:05but it's perfect for just trying to hook them really, really young. They're utilizing the
15:10little cartoony, a bit of fun element. We've got the B honeycomb on the bag. It's just really,
15:15really cool. It's all carried through into the shaft, the black and yellow, and the little
15:19putter. It's very light, but it's very cool, isn't it? I could see a little extended version
15:24of that. The grip's super thin as you'd imagine because you're going to have tiny little hands
15:28on this. For an introduction to someone for golf who's super young, imagine getting this on
15:33Christmas morning when you're tweening. I think this is great. I really, really like this.
15:38That concludes our look at the best package sets you can buy in 2024. Hopefully,
15:42you found it useful. If you did like the video, make sure you click the Like button
15:46and subscribe to our channel so you don't miss any of our other equipment or buying guide videos.
15:51If you are looking to get into golf for the first time, or you're a parent looking to get your kids
15:55into golf for the first time, hopefully, you've seen something you like. As I mentioned at the
15:58start of the video, there are some links in the description if you want to get your hands on any
16:02of these sets for the best price in your area. Hopefully, you can use those links to find the
16:06product that's right for you or your child. That's all from us here from the beautiful
16:09Stoke Park Golf Club. We'll see you next time.