Have you purchased clubs yet? I personally don’t think you will need a full set of clubs to start out. You can buy individually to start out, like a wedge, iron, hybrid, wood and a putter. You don’t need full 14 clubs from the get go and can always add clubs along the way once you are good enough to have distance gaps that you need to close. Check out Callawaypreowned.com. Prices/conditions are great and you can swap used clubs easily.
And you likely don’t need a fitting from the get go as suggested, UNLESS your wrist to floor measurement is shorter/longer than normal, which you can measure on your own to get an idea of where you stand. When you adjust length, you have to adjust angle.
Golf is not like skiing. You don’t get fitted until you have a repeatable swing. It is a waste of time and money to get fitted when you don’t know how to swing consistently. Real professional fitting takes into consideration many factors of your swing to fit clubs to you. Without “a” swing, there is nothing to fit you with. Though plenty of people fall for it from the beginning thinking it makes sense - to some it does, but likely not to most. It is also not like skiing that you buy clubs to “grow into”. When it is time for an upgrade, it is usually because your swing speed has increased to a level that requires a change of shaft. There are a gazillion different shafts within each flex category that there is no way you can predict, as a newbie, which exact combo you will need once you get to that level. No “advanced” clubs out there are made to change shafts and it is not something you want to do anyway. Length can be changed easily, lie angle for most clubs have “some” room for tweaking but not shafts. There is no reason to buy more than you can handle and try to “grow” into the clubs. Your clubs should fit what your game is NOW, not you trying to grow to fit the clubs. You also do not need to upgrade even if you can. Golf is about precision more than distance. As long as you can make solid contact with the club face and hit the distance and direction you intend to hit, you are fine.
I started out with a set of Adams women’s clubs as a beginner. $400 from Costco and I only used 7 of the 14 clubs that year (and I played roughly 100 rounds with only those 7 clubs). At the end of my first year, I got a fitting and was fitted into Callaway Steelheads irons and XR woods/Driver, all 1”short 3*flat, mainly because my arms are long for my height. I was a mid 20 handicapper starting out with those game improvement clubs. I am currently a 5 handicap and am still using the same irons. I have recently upgraded my woods and driver to Taylormade SIMs, but it was because of the need to upgrade the shafts so I got fitted to a different brand at the same time. But I kept my game improvement irons because I have accuracy with those clubs. Sure, I can gain distance if I change my shafts and am good enough to game blades now instead of cavity backs, but there is no need to do so because I have precision with my old clubs. I also still only play with 12 clubs today instead of the full 14.
