Best Hybrid Clubs for Beginners

If you’ve come here looking for a comparison of the best hybrid golf clubs for beginners to buy, I won’t delay.

Here is THE LIST:

If you’re interested in what makes a hybrid club worthy of being called the BEST, please continue reading below…

Best Hybrid Clubs for Beginners and High Handicappers – Comparison Chart

Hybrid Club Description	Hybrid Club Details	BGST Rating
	Callaway Men’s XR Hybrid Super Low CG for Extra Forgiveness Internal Wave Design Hyper Speed Face Cup 3H (19 degrees) – SHOWN HERE 4H (22 degrees) – also available Shaft Material: Graphite Shaft Flexes: Regular/Senior	4.9/5.0
	TaylorMade M4 Hybrid Two Internal Mass Pads Improved Speed Pocket 3H (19 degrees) – SHOWN HERE 4H (22 degrees) – also available 5H (25 degrees) – also available 6H (28 degrees) – also available Shaft Material: Graphite Shaft Flexes: Regular/Ladies/Senior	4.8/5.0
	Callaway Rogue Hybrid Patented Jailbreak Technology Hyper-Speed face Cup 3H (19 degrees) – SHOWN HERE 2H (17 degrees) – also available 4H (22 degrees) – also available 5H (25 degrees) – also available 6H (28 degrees) – also available Shaft Material: Graphite Shaft Flexes: Regular/Senior/Stiff	4.7/5.0
	Cleveland Launcher HB 3-Hybrid Hi-Bore Crown Flex-Fin Technology 3H (19 degrees) – SHOWN HERE 4H (22 degrees) – also available 5H (25 degrees) – also available Shaft Material: Graphite Shaft Flexes: Regular/Senior/Stiff Low Center of Gravity (CG)	4.6/5.0
	Srixon ZH85 3-Hybrid 3H (19 degrees) – SHOWN HERE 4H (22 degrees) – also available 5H (25 degrees) – also available Shaft Material: Graphite Shaft Flexes: Regular/Senior/Stiff Shaft Flexes: Lite/Regular/Stiff Low Center of Gravity (CG)	4.5/5.0

 

Callaway XR Hybrid – BGST’s Top Pick Best Hybrid for Beginners

This excellent hybrid club from Callaway is a favorite among beginner to intermediate golfers. It has a multitude of features that make a golf club forgiving. The XR Hybrid’s got the next generation version of Callaway’s Forged Hyper Speed Face Cup that helps to increase ball speed no matter where on the face you impact the golf ball.

Additionally, the higher Moment-of-Inertia (MOI) and very, very low Center-of-Gravity (CG) provides beginners with the confidence to know that this  club will provide distance and forgiveness at every impact location on the club face – even when making off-center contact.

Callaway has completely redesigned the head shape of the XR hybrid in order to reposition weigh towards the sole of the club in order to create even more forgiveness in a club with a Center-of-Gravity (CG) that’s 46% lower than previous versions of hybrid clubs from Callaway.

• PROS: Lower Center-of-Gravity (CG) than it’s predecessors. Extremely forgiving. Radical design.
  
• CONS: Fewer loft options than other similar hybrid clubs. On the more expensive side
  

With it’s new Internal Standing Wave technology that enhances the MOI and still gives the face cup the freedom to flex for more ball speed, Callaway has designed a hybrid club that beginners will absolutely love. Read more about the Callaway XR Hybrid on Amazon.

RUNNER-UP: TaylorMade M4 Rescue Hybrid – Best Face Design

The TaylorMade M4 rescue hybrid has an intense look for a club that is so easy to play. The M4 cuts through the rough using a compact, extremely-low CG weighted head in a golf club that beginners and even more experienced golfers will love.

The shape of the club head and crown design serve to help more inexperienced golfers with proper alignment at address. The M4 hybrid has been designed with two internally weighted pads that are split between the heel and toe of the club head. This improves the Moment-of-Inertia (MOI) and increases ball speed off the face.

The M4 rescue hybrid is a great club for all golfers – not just beginners. It’s an extremely forgiving club that has advanced design features that are also appreciated by advanced golfers.

The M4 helps golfers with slower swing speeds get the ball in the air quickly and with added distance. A new, longer speed pocket increases face flexibility at impact and adds distance by preserving ball speed on shots hit low on the face.

• PROS: Advanced design features, including new face design and longer speed pocket. Several lofts available.
  
• CONS: Very expensive
  

The M4 hybrid club was a serious contender for the #1 spot in this review of the best hybrids for beginners. The only thing that kept it out of the first position was the price.

The M4 is a great club for the beginning, as well as more advanced, golfer and it’s unique and innovative design features let us know why TaylorMade is favored by some many of today’s PGA Tour Pros. Read more about the TaylorMade M4 Hybrid.

THIRD PLACE: Callaway Rogue Hybrid – Technological Marvel

Another golf club from Callaway makes its appearance on the list of best hybrid clubs for beginners – a testament to the renewed focus to hybrid golf technology from Callaway.

The Rogue is the first hybrid club to incorporate Callaway’s Jailbreak Technology. In this club – more so than in previous models – the two internal bars join the crown to the sole directly behind the club face. This is said to make the steel structure inside the club head more rigid in order to infuse more energy to the ball upon contact.

The face upon which this Jailbreak technology is built is lighter and thinner than their previous versions. This new, thinner, face allows it to flex a little more at impact in order to help increase ball speed off the face.

The Rogue hybrid utilizes another design innovation from Callaway known as their Internal Standing Wave. This design feature helps position the center of gravity (CG) in a way that will help beginning to intermediate golfers launch the ball quickly – even from tough lies.

• PROS: Jailbreak Technology for increased face flex and ball speed. Internal Standing Wave. Very Forgiving
  
• CONS: Non-adjustable. A bit pricey
  

Beginners will love the new Rogue hybrids from Callaway. With a lower and more forward center of gravity, this club helps beginners and golfers with slower swing speeds achieve higher launch conditions. See more close-ups of the Callaway Rogue Hybrids on Amazon.

FOURTH: Cleveland Golf Men’s HB Launcher Hybrid Golf Club – Best Budget-Friendly Hybrid

Although a few years have passed since Cleveland released new woods and irons, it doesn’t mean that this company doesn’t know what it’s doing.

Cleveland Golf has a long history of creating popular clubs in both of these categories and their new Launcher HB line of golf clubs is no exception. With the new Launcher HB line of hybrids, Cleveland is hoping to bring the novice golfer an easy-to-hit club that is affordable yet elegant in its simplicity.

Similar to the Launcher HB Driver that was rated by BeginnerGolfSwingTips.com as one of the Top 5 Slice Correcting Drivers of 2018, the new line of Launcher HB hybrids puts the focus on higher launches, straighter shots, and more forgiveness.

These new HB hybrids feature a bonded (non-adjustable) hosel design, which engineers elected to utilize in order to make the club head lighter. The weight saved by using a non-adjustable hosel –  as opposed to using an adjustable one allows significant weight to now be re-positioned low and deep in the clubhead to increase launch conditions and enhance stability at impact, which can be attributed to the lower center-of-gravity (CG).

• PROS: Price. Price. Price. Forgiving. Stable. Easy-to-play club. Great for golfers with slower swing speeds.
  
• CONS: Non-adjustable hosel
  

Cleveland Golf’s HiBore crown – built into their new line of hybrid clubs – compresses and decompresses during impact to help improve ball speed off the face.

In addition, Cleveland Golf has implemented Flex-Fin technology on the sole of the club, which provides ball speed ‘protection’ so that there is not a huge penalty when it comes to ball speed for off-center shots hit from the heel or toe of this club. See all of the features of the Cleveland HB Launcher Hybrids on Amazon.

 

FIFTH PLACE: Srixon Z H85 3-Hybrid – New Club on the Block

The all new Srixon Z H85 hybrid may be the most advanced hybrid club yet to come from a true innovator. The Z H85 hybrid features a larger, more forgiving profile that will give beginners more confidence whether hitting their next tee shot or playing from the fairway.

Srixon’s new Crown Step alters the geometry of the club head, which increases forgiveness and lowers the center of gravity of this advanced golf club. The company describes the Z H85 as a “…score-lowering machine...”.

The head of the Z H85 was designed with a larger profile to give any beginner more confidence to hit accurate shots from the fairway and longer shots off the tee.

This hybrid club is great for beginning and intermediate golfers because it is extremely forgiving no matter where on the club face you contact the ball.

• PROS: Crown Step. Larger head profile. Several lofts and shaft flexes available.
  
• CONS: Somewhat expensive.
  

This is the first club from Srixon to make one of my ‘Best’ lists, but after trying out this club I ‘t think it will be the last! The Z H85 comes with the X HZRDU stock graphite shaft and  Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grip. Srixon’s new CROWN STEP club head geometry increases forgiveness and lowers center of gravity to give beginning golfers consistent distance on every shot. Read more about the Z H85 Hybrid from Srixon on Amazon.

What makes one hybrid or rescue club better than another?

Hybrid clubs – also referred to as rescue clubs by some golfers – were designed to have a compact head with extra weighting to slice through the thick rough from which a golf ball would need to be ‘rescued’. In the past, these clubs were mainly used only for these type of deep-rough lies, but that is no longer the case.

Today’s newer hybrid golf clubs can be used from the tee, into the green and anywhere in-between. The best hybrid clubs reviewed here are all multi-purpose clubs that have one thing in common: forgiveness.

Forgiveness in a golf club means that not every shot has to be hit perfectly and the result will still be a shot that goes relatively straight and has acceptable distance.

Now back to the original question: What makes one hybrid better than another?

I think this really comes down to personal preference. The best hybrid clubs do, however, meet the following criteria:

1. The club can be used from the tee, the fairway, or the rough (as these so-called rescue clubs were originally designed)
2. The club is forgiving enough so that mis-hits are not penalized too much.
3. The club helps beginners get the ball in the air quickly and with sufficient ball speed

Let’s look at each of these qualities one at a time in order to understand what design features help the golf club achieve each of them.

Item 1: Hybrid clubs are no longer the one-application clubs they used to be. Any of the clubs reviewed here can be used from the rough, the tee, or the fairway. They are all designed with the compact, very-low center-of-gravity weighting common in the rescue clubs of old, but with today’s advanced golf technology that makes them useful for different applications.

Item 2: As a beginner, I do not always hit the ball perfectly in the center of the face. However, I don’t want a minor off-center hit to cause a lot of trouble.  The list of new hybrid clubs above are all designed so that small mis-hits do not penalize the golfer too much. Each of these clubs utilizes different design features and innovative technology that helps beginners hit straighter shots and that also help with increased ball speed.

Item 3: Amateur golfers typically have slower swing speeds than professionals. Sometimes this can hamper the launch angle. The hybrid clubs listed here all have extremely low-weighted centers-of-gravity along with compact club heads and highly advanced face design. All of these things help beginning golfers get the ball in the air quickly. I I tried to recommend hybrid’s that any golfer – regardless of experience – can get the ball in the air quickly and from deep rough or from the fairway.

Please understand that the reason I go into such detail above is so that you don’t have to just rely on what hybrid clubs this website or any other golf website tells you to buy, but so that you understand how to evaluate these golf clubs for yourself in order to make the most informed buying decision you can.

So there you have it: The Best Hybrid Clubs for Beginners. I realize that the club selections above are just my opinions and that other golfers may agree to disagree (Do you have a suggestion for a hybrid club that you would recommend for beginners? Please add a comment below whether you agree or disagree with my list just to let me know what you think.

Happy Golfing!