Noob Golf 2

Today I'll discuss clubs and balls.
There's only one ball to use. Titleist (pronounced Title-ist, not Tit-leist) Pro V1, or Pro V1x if you are cashed up. They go long, feel great, and last forever. They are the best ball. Tiger uses Nike balls, but when I used one it looked dull after a couple of holes and scuffed up really easily. You can use a Titleist for two or three rounds and it will still clean up good. 90 percent of the pros use Titleists.
Woods
Drivers are in many minds the most important bag in the club. They are not (that would be the putter), but the driver is a close second for most club players. Hitting the fairways makes golf that much more enjoyable and stress-free. Over the last ten years, drivers have been getting larger and longer. Buy a high-quality driver that looks good and straight when you set up at the ball. Again, as usual, the well-known brands make the better drivers. Titleist, Calloway, Mizuno, Nike. For these companies, the driver is where the glamour is, and they spend a lot of money on design and promotion. Get one you like the look of, and treat it good. The benefit of spending a lot of money on a club is that you are going to treat it a little better than you would a cheap one.
Most sets come with two woods, a driver and a fairway wood. The fairway wood goes in and out of fashion. It's a little bit of an ego thing, because no-one wants to be seen hitting a wood off the fairway unless it's a par five. They are useful from lies in the rough, much easier to hit than a 2-iron, but from the fairway you should be able to hit a 2-iron just as far. Get one, but get a 3-wood, one with a bit of meat to it, not a little dinky 4- or 5- wood.
Irons
The best brands for irons are Titleist and Mizuno. There are a lot of different types of clubs, and if you buy a reasonably priced set from a big brand, chances are they will be pretty good. You want a set of irons 2 to 9, all the same kind. Most sets come as 3-9 with a pitching wedge and sand wedge, but order the 2 iron and dump the wedges. I prefer blades to cavity backs, but they aren't as forgiving. If you are just starting out, cavity backs are the way to go, but they can sound a bit clunky. I'll never forget, we had pennant match at Tullamarine, and there were people everywhere, and my mate hit a Ping 2-iron off the first tee. It made such a horrible sound that everybody stopped and looked up, and then started laughing. Just one of those moments. The blades have a smaller sweet spot, but you can feel exactly where the ball is going to go the moment you hit it. With cavities it's much harder to tell. Tiger uses Nike blades, but they have to pay him tens of millions of dollars to use them. This is why in 2003 Phil Mickelson said Tiger "has inferior equipment. Tiger is the only player who is good enough to overcome the equipment he's stuck with." Of course Nike threw a fit and Phil apologized, but he's right. Buy high quality clubs. Used clubs are fine, if they are high quality and "straight". Scratches and small dints are fine – bent shafts and hossels are not. Make sure the grips are in good condition. Unless you are unusually tall or short, off the rack clubs are fine. If you are average height and off the rack clubs don't suit you, you are the problem, and you need to get a lesson and work on your address and position at impact.
Wedges
There is an incredible variation of wedges around, but I prefer a fairway wedge with about 56-7 degrees loft and a sharp leading edge, and a 60 degree wedge with a flange that can be used around the green or in bunkers. Another, less lofted sand wedge might be useful if there are a lot of bunkers on your course, or a chipping iron (a wedge without much loft) if the greens on your course are large. It will only take a few rounds at the one course to realize what you need. Just be sure that the role of each wedge in your bag is clearly defined in your mind. There's nothing worse that having 60 meters to the pin and not being sure what the "A" or "U" or "P" or "L" on your wedges stand for, or which one you should use.
You need a putter. This amounts to 14 clubs, the limit you can carry in your bag. This is the club that will make or break you. Collect them. Have one in your bag, one in your car, and a couple at home. If the one you're using is not working for you, change it. You want a putter that is straight, square, and solid. Don't get a putter that is too reflective. The rays of the sun can be reflected in your eyes and be distracting. Make sure the putter shaft is the right height for you. The head can be heavy or light. The grip thick or thin. Whatever works. Best brands are Ping, who built their company around their putters, and the Scotty Cameron brand putters from Titleist, which are awesome. But basically, if it's putting the ball in the hole, who cares what it is?
A final word regarding equipment.
Clothing. You need a couple of pairs of slacks, a couple of shirts, a couple of jumpers. Some clubs let you play in jeans, and I do sometimes, but I recommend buying a real awesome plaid pair of slacks. This is golf, and your pants should reflect that. Keep a jumper in your bag for if it suddenly gets cold. Long-sleeve undershirts can be worn underneath shirts for a warm, baseball look. Buy a comfortable cap, and consider sunglasses if you squint a lot or play in sunny climates. Good sunglasses for golf can be hard to find. When you are addressing the golf ball, you are looking down at it, and in many cases, underneath the lenses of a lot of sunglasses. This can be distracting. Make sure your whole range of vision is covered by the lens by trying them in the shop.
Buy a towel that can be clipped onto your golf bag and wash it regularly. Before each round, dampen the end of it to make it easier to wipe you clubs and ball with. Clean your clubs after each shot, making sure that there is no dirt in the grooves. These grooves give you control over the ball when you hit it. Clean your ball every oppurtunity you get. Rememeber! Golfers like to play a round with clean balls!
That's it. You are ready to play. Golf is an expensive sport to play. You've already spent several hundred dollars, and that is if you've been conservative. But if you keep your equipment clean, and treat your clubs with respect, you will only need to buy balls, tees and gloves for the next few years.