Wilson Hope™ - Women's Set

Know a teenager who wants to try the game of golf? Or maybe you've just retired and are considering taking up golf? Being sold exclusively at Target (suggested retail price: $169), the Hope™ Golf Club Set has everything the beginning female golfer needs except the sunscreen and the bottle of spring water. This is a great set of clubs and accessories for the beginning female golfer, and could probably get her all the way to breaking 100 before she needed to think about upgrading!

Here are the characteristics (at the time of writing) of the Wilson Hope™ Golf Club Set for Women:

• A portion of the profits from the product is donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
• All items in the set are color-coordinated and display the pink ribbon logo.
• The golf set includes a driver, 3 and 5 woods, irons 4-SW, and a putter.
• The Hope™ golf club set comes with a bag, in the matching gray/pink color scheme.
• The set also includes accessories: golf towel, golf glove, visor, and sleeve of balls.

(NOTE: Since this review was originally published, the set composition appears to have changed in sets being sold at Target, with fewer clubs and extras offered. Before purchasing, make sure to read the box tops and sides to be certain of which clubs and extras are included. We've also see this set offered at Wal-Mart.)

Let's talk about the clubs themselves. All the clubs have graphite shafts - definitely my preference. They have a very light feel, and are nicely weighted with over-sized heads. I was happy that the irons came with a sand wedge instead of a 3-iron like some sets do. Not only do I never use a 3-iron, I rarely use a 4-iron. The driver was very adequate, as were the fairway woods. I'm not a 3-wood person, and I know many ladies, myself included, who love a 7-wood. There isn't one with this set, but I've never seen a set that comes with one, so Wilson didn't do this any differently!

I'm not a new golfer, but I'm not a very good golfer either. The toughest thing about using new clubs is, well, the psychological aspect of using new clubs. When I was able to not think about these clubs being different than my own, then I really played with them the same as with my current clubs. They were really just fine. The driver is a bit lighter than mine, so I probably lost a little distance, but beginning golfers might like that lighter feel on the longer club.

The accessories that come with the set are not throw-aways. They are actually good quality. I like the softer-feel golf balls, as many women do. The visor was the adjustable velcro type, not the hard, headache-producing type. The glove (left regular) is leather with Lycra inserts. The towel matches the ensemble. All items, except the glove, have the pink ribbon logo reminding us about the fight against breast cancer. The logos are small and tasteful.

The golf bag is attractive, but not as functional as I would have liked. I'm a girl - I need pockets! This bag has large side pockets, and one rather small front pocket for balls. Where do I put my tees, markers, pencils, extra cash and change, and cell phone? One other strange thing about the bag - if you place the clubs in their appropriate sections, with the woods (longest clubs) in the back in the one large section where they are traditionally kept, then the bag is backwards if you put it on a golf cart. How can a bag be backwards? Well, that one front pocket, where I can access my extra balls and such, is not facing outward on the cart. Alternatively, I'd have to have my woods in the front of the bag, instead of my putter and short irons. Huh?

I would recommend the Hope™ Golf Club Set for Women as a good quality and attractive starter set. The fact that it calls attention to the fight against breast cancer is a positive, as long as the owner of the clubs doesn't mind the pink bows on everything. I tried to locate information about how much of the proceeds I might expect to go to the cause, but I was not successful. Ten bucks? A quarter? I'd like to know!