almost senior starter clubs

I am a 53 year old male, 5'11", 195-200 pounds in pretty good shape. I do have a lower back problem which will reduce my power on my swing. I am just staring golf classes with the objective of playing socially but not competitively. My main objective is to keep the ball on the fairway. As I peruse the wide range of golf equipment I am stumped. In general I would like to know what type of clubs (not brand, but construction) you would recommend. What woods, irons, other clubs should I carry ? What is the easiest (?) style of putter for a newbie ? For example, I have heard that fairway woods are better than irons for less skilled golfers ...any help would be appreciated.

Appologies for the late reply, this post was lost in the masses. Let me address your concerns anyway.

For someone who is looking purely for distance I would recommend graphite shafted irons, woods and light weight heads (preferrably titanium), but distance is not everything, so you must compromise and find the correct balance between finding the distance and the accuracy.

As far as putters go. there are so many different makes and models of putters, and putting is such an individual aspect of the game it would be silly for me to name one putter over all the rest. My advice to you, is to try out as many differnet types as you can, your local pro will generally allow you to do this. One tip when finding a putter - I find it usefull when a putter has some kind of alignment aid (a white line or something of the like on the back of the putteroften helps).

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Thanks

Greg Hutton
Head P.G.A. Professional
golftuitiononline.com