If you’re looking for the best golf club sets for intermediate players, congratulations. This means you’ve tried the game, liked the game, and saw some positive progress. Our top pick is the Wilson Profile Platinum package set. A representative of Wilson’s return to prominence, it exemplifies why complete sets are great options for newer golfers.
This could the first new set you’re buying, or you’re new to the game and don’t know what to look for. Either way, a complete set prevents decision fatigue. You know, that thing rich people use to validate wearing the same clothes every day. Instead of learning how each type of club works with your style of play (which will absolutely change over time), you make one decision.
In the last decade or so, the quality of complete golf club sets has improved. In a lot of other sports, this is not the case. If you’ve finally hung up the cleats from another sport and picked up the game you can play until you’re 100, listen up. Ditching misconceptions (and sometimes logic) is key to quick progress. After all, “Golf is 90 percent mental and the other 10 percent is mental too.
Bottom line, a complete set of golf clubs gives you everything you need without going through fittings or dropping a few thousand dollars. Really, it’s the perfect way to get every necessary tool to start fine-tuning your game.
Top Pick: Wilson Golf Profile SGI Men’s Complete Golf Set
The Wilson Golf Profile SGI set includes 10 clubs. They are a driver, 5-wood, 5-hybrid, 6-SW irons, and a putter. The rules of golf tell us that a player can carry no more than 14 clubs for a round—four less than what’s included with this set.
With a few less than the maximum clubs allowed, you can start adding in additional clubs. Whether you decide on more woods, hybrids or wedges, you don’t have to take anything you’re used to out of your bag. I find this especially important for intermediate golfers who get used to their woods and wedges. Rather than replacing them and learning a club from scratch, anything new is a supplement.
One area that helps distinguish this set as one of the best golf club sets for intermediate players is that the pitching wedge and sand wedge are actual wedges. In a lot of complete sets, you see these clubs with the same head shape and design of the other irons. With a different design, these clubs will give you the feel and performance of actual wedges—not just irons with more loft.
Wilson wants to make golf easy for everyone. The first way they do this is with affordable and easy to use clubs. The other, especially with this set is by offering various flex and length options, giving each set more of a custom feel.
What we liked
- Low center of gravity for irons helps the golfer to hit higher shots, making it easier to hit over hazards or brush
- Four length options will help shortest and tallest golfers find a proper fit. Additionally, these options can be used to the advantage of golfers looking for different natural ball shapes
What we didn’t like
- While fewer clubs gives you room to add on as you see fit, it may encourage an intermediate golfer to do so before they’re ready (need more of a measure twice, cut once mentality)
- Graphite shafts for woods and drivers could be too flexible for a hard-swinging golfer
Runner-Up: Precise M5 Men’s Complete Golf Clubs Package Set
The Precise M5 Complete set comes with a driver, 3-wood, 21-degree hybrid, irons 5-PW and a putter. The driver is 10 degrees, offering a good middle loft for intermediate golfers looking for a combination of high launch and yards gained. This is helpful enough without going too high in loft, where you might lose distance. A 15-degree 3-wood provides a secondary option for hitting from the tee but may prove difficult to use from the rough or even fairway.
When you’re looking for one of the best golf club sets for intermediate players, you should focus on one thing: forgiveness. Starting with the premium steel iron shafts and going down into perimeter weighting, you don’t have to be shooting even to hit the ball straight and far. With perimeter weighting, the sweet spot expands. This also reduces the negative effects of balls hit around the outside of the clubface.
With the makeup of clubs included, you will be set for a while with distance clubs. When the time comes to start adding to your set, it will likely be in the wedge category. Precise M5 sets come with a pitching wedge as the most lofted club. Experienced golfers will carry at least two, sometimes three or four clubs with more loft. For now, this is okay. As you get better, you’ll want a little bit more versatility with shorter shots.
What we liked
- Mallet style putter will help intermediate golfers with alignment
- Great set for distance with strong lofts, especially on driver, 5-wood and hybrid
What we didn’t like
- Comes without sand wedge making shots around the green or from bunkers more challenging
- Available only for right-handed golfers (though there are two length options)
Best for Short Hitters: Cobra Golf Men’s XL Speed Complete Golf Set
The Cobra XL Speed set comes with a driver, 3 and 5 woods, 4 and 5 hybrids, 6-SW irons and a putter. Graphite shafts offer a performance boost for slow-swingers or golfers who are not very long. With a bit of added flex, you can maintain your current swing speed and still add a few yards with every club.
Yet another feature that benefits short hitters is the 11.5 degrees of loft on the driver. While many might think they need to go lower with loft to gain distance, this result comes by getting the ball higher in the air and for longer periods of time—two things a higher-lofted driver helps accomplish.
From top to bottom, this is one of the best golf sets for intermediate players. We’ve talked a bit about the long clubs, but Cobra has paid attention to detail everywhere. The irons feature a deep cavity back and streamlined shape.
With the cavity back irons, the sweet spot is larger than muscle back or blade irons. This provides much needed forgiveness. Additionally, it will help golfers increase their launch angle in the process. A streamlined shape is also important as it helps add club speed. With a few more MPH, you’ll be adding a few critical yards onto the end of each shot.
What we liked
- The most complete set on our list, with this set you can easily play for a few years without adding any new clubs
- Heavy emphasis on distance with two woods and two hybrids— after all, it is the best set for short hitters
What we didn’t like
- Most expensive set on our list. If you buy these, you’re set for a while, but it is also a significant financial undertaking
- Bag included is not ideal for carrying; think of this as our pick for cart riders as well
Best for Accuracy: Callaway Strata Ultimate Packaged Set
Callaway Strata Ultimate sets come with a driver, 3-wood, 4 and 5-hybrid, 6-SW irons and a putter. The one constant with this set of clubs, forgiveness. For the best golf club sets for intermediate level players, control should reign supreme in your efforts to get better. These clubs deliver.
When you’re fine tuning your golf skills, looking down at similar clubs can play a huge role. The driver, wood and hybrids all feature a similar profile and coloring. If you’re always looking down at the same thing, it’s easier to get comfortable. This improves your ability with the clubs that can get you in the most trouble.
Each of the irons are cavity back, giving them perimeter weighting. Additionally, they have a low center of gravity. Put these two design features together and you have forgiving and high launching clubs. By hitting the ball farther and higher, you can use less club and attack from better angles into smaller landing areas.
What we liked
- Three different options in terms of clubs. 12, 14 and 16-piece sets make this ideal for players who have a club or two they want to keep, or those who need everything new
- Emphasis placed on control—just because you can hit it far doesn’t mean you should. These clubs help you reign it in
What we didn’t like
- The large gap in loft between pitching wedge (46 degrees) and sand wedge (56 degrees). The preferred 4-6-degree difference can be filled by the purchase of a gap wedge, but will not match the set
Budget Option: Aspire X1 Complete Set
The Aspire X1 golf set comes with a driver, 16-degree wood, 4/5 hybrid (one club), 6-PW irons and a putter. Designed with tall golfers in mind, this is a set where all shaft lengths are longer than standard.
With a 10.5-degree driver, intermediate players might struggle to produce a nice, high ball flight that maximizes distance. Luckily, the 16-degree wood that comes with this set can serve as the club you primarily use off the tee. Of course, that’s only until you improve with the actual driver. At 16 degrees, you will be able to hit the ball roughly 20 yards less than how far you hit your driver. If you ask me, that’s not a bad price to pay for accuracy.
When you think budget options, you might associate the product with lesser quality. With the Aspire X1 clubs, that is not the case. Even with a lower price point, these are still one of the best golf club sets for intermediate players. The cost is only an added bonus.
What we liked
- Price—you don’t get the title of budget option without being affordable
- Designed specifically for tall players, who otherwise might struggle finding clubs that fit them well
What we didn’t like
- Available in right-handed only
- Club with the highest loft is pitching wedge
What to take away from the Best Golf Club Sets for Intermediate Players
Brands want to invest in these sets as a way of developing relationships with golfers. In the past, companies made complete sets as cheap as possible, or as an obligatory affordable alternative. Today, there is hardly a golfer whose first and second sets of clubs were not complete box sets.
For this article, we catered towards the best golf club sets for intermediate level players. In reality, most of these could be used by beginners. However, we chose these sets since they can grow with the player.
If you were to buy a set for beginners only, you’d be shopping for another set almost immediately. With one of the best golf club sets for intermediate players, you can go a few years without needing a full new set.
At this stage of your golf career, you want to make one purchase. Rather than spending hours researching brands, product lines and everything else under the sun, make it easy (here’s some balls perfect for this level). Get one set from one brand and work on improving your skills. Once you start getting better and more serious, you can replace clubs one by one until you have a set with only premium models.
Now that you’ve got your eyes set on a new set of clubs, you might ask yourself what’s next? I say, let’s dance. (If you’re really new to golf, that’s Caddyshack—go watch it).