Driver for Beginners: 3 Picks Compared by Loft and Budget

Which driver for beginners suits you? Three drivers side by side

The right driver for beginners depends on your budget, your usual miss and your swing speed. We compared three drivers on maker specs: the Ben Sayers M8, the Inesis 100 and the Callaway Quantum Max D. For a pick matched to your own game, answer a few short questions in Build your bag.

Driver	Loft	Forgiveness	Draw bias	Clubs	Bag included	Left-handed	Listed for	RRP
Ben Sayers M8 Driver	10.5 degrees, high launch, R flex	Not stated by the maker	Not stated by the maker	1	Not stated by the maker	No, not listed by the maker	Men	£59.99, checked on 14 Nov 2026
Inesis 100 Driver	14 degrees, high launch, L, A or R flex	Large 460cc head, which the maker describes as forgiving	Not stated by the maker	1	Not stated by the maker	Yes	Unisex, in two sizes	£84.99, checked on 14 Nov 2026
Callaway Quantum Max D Driver	9, 10.5 or 12 degrees, adjustable	Designed for easy launch and forgiveness, per the maker	Yes	1	Not stated by the maker	Yes, in 9 and 10.5 degrees	Men’s and women’s versions	£599, checked on 14 Nov 2026

Specs come from each maker’s page, read on 14 Nov 2026. We compared stated specs; we did not hit these clubs.

RRP means the maker’s recommended retail price, not a shop price. Shop prices move, so check the live price on the day you buy.

How do these drivers compare by budget?

Under £150, the M8 and the Inesis 100 give you a beginner loft for the least money. Over £300, the Quantum Max D adds loft choice, an adjustable head and draw bias for a slice. RRPs are in the table above.

Under £150: Ben Sayers M8 and Inesis 100

Ben Sayers M8. It sits right on our loft floor. It suits a golfer on a tight budget who already gets a 7 iron airborne. The trade-off is choice: one loft, one flex and a men’s listing, with no left-handed version listed.

Inesis 100. At 14 degrees it carries well above our 10.5 degree floor. It suits a slower swing whose drives fly low. The L, A and R flex options cover a wider range of swing speeds than a single R flex. The trade-off: a quicker swing may launch it too high with too much spin, costing distance.

£150 to £300

None of the three drivers on this page sits in this band. A used driver can put a more forgiving head within a smaller budget. Check the face and crown for dents or cracks, the shaft for damage and the grip for wear. Then apply the same rules: 10.5 degrees or more, and draw bias if you slice.

Over £300: Callaway Quantum Max D

It suits a golfer who slices and wants to adjust loft as the swing changes. Choose the 10.5 or 12 degree head, as 9 degrees sits under our loft floor. The trade-off: draw bias can make a hook worse. Its RRP alone is also above about £500, where we recommend an in-person fitting.

Which drivers suit women and left-handed golfers?

One in three adult golfers in Great Britain and Ireland is a woman, according to The R&A (4 June 2026). The same report says 6.1 million people played golf in Great Britain and Ireland, up 5%.

Decathlon lists the Inesis 100 as unisex. The M8 is listed as men’s. For left-handers, the Inesis 100 and the Quantum Max D come left-handed, and the M8 does not.

What do you give up with a low-priced driver?

You get fewer choices. On maker specs, the M8 comes in one loft and one flex, and the Inesis 100 in one loft. Neither maker lists an adjustable hosel. The Quantum Max D offers three lofts and an adjustable head.

For a beginner, a fixed head at the right loft does the job. Before buying any low-priced driver, read the maker’s page for the warranty and the head and shaft materials. That way you know what the price covers.

A worked example on a £200 budget

Our budget bands describe the whole bag, not the driver alone. £200 minus the M8’s RRP of £59.99 leaves £140.01 for the rest of the bag. This is a calculated example from the maker’s RRP checked on 14 Nov 2026, not a shop price.

For what the rest of that money needs to cover, see what golf clubs cost and our guide to golf club sets.

What makes a driver easy to hit: loft, head size and draw bias?

A driver is easier to hit when it has enough loft and a head that resists twisting on off-centre hits. If you slice, weighting that helps the face close also helps. Our rules for beginners and high handicappers are a driver of 10.5 degrees or more, the most forgiving head and draw bias if you slice.

The full rules are on our how we choose page. Here is what each part means on the tee.

Loft

Loft is the angle of the clubface, measured in degrees. More loft launches the ball higher with more backspin. That helps a slower swing keep the ball in the air long enough to carry.

Too little loft for your swing speed tends to give low drives that fall out of the air early. That is why beginners start at 10.5 degrees and go up from there.

Head size and forgiveness

Forgiveness is how much ball speed and direction a club keeps when you miss the centre of the face. Makers often describe it with MOI (moment of inertia), a measure of how much a head resists twisting.

A higher MOI means the face turns less on a toe or heel strike, so a mishit stays closer to the target line. Large heads with weight set low and back are designed for this.

Draw bias

A slice is a shot that curves away from you: left to right for a right-handed golfer. It comes from sidespin when the face is open at impact.

Draw bias means weight set towards the heel, and sometimes a slightly closed face or offset (the face set a little behind the shaft). Both help the face square up. Callaway describes the Quantum Max D as having “a slight draw bias” on its maker page.

Draw bias only helps if a slice is your usual miss. If you hook the ball, it can make that miss worse.

Adjustable drivers

An adjustable hosel lets you change the loft, and on some heads the face angle, with a small wrench. Some drivers also have movable weights that shift weight towards the heel for a draw setting.

These features let a club follow a swing that changes as you improve. A fixed head at the right loft does the same job for a beginner, so adjustability is useful rather than essential.

Quick checklist

• Loft of 10.5 degrees or more, to help the ball launch higher.
• A forgiving head: a higher MOI resists twisting on mishits.
• Draw bias if you slice; leave it out if you hook.
• A flex that suits your swing speed (more in the loft and flex section below).
• A price inside your budget, leaving room for irons and a putter.
• Hit one before you buy if you can, at a shop demo or with a friend’s club.
• An in-person fitting if you are spending more than about £500, as our flex and length suggestions are a starting guide.

What loft and flex should a beginner use?

Start with a driver loft of 10.5 degrees or more, and choose a shaft flex that matches your swing speed. If your drives fly low and drop quickly, more loft helps.

Driver loft

Treat 10.5 degrees as the floor, not the target. A slower swing often gets more carry from extra loft, which is where a 14 degree head such as the Inesis 100 comes in.

An adjustable driver lets you change loft later as your swing changes. A fixed-loft driver at 10.5 degrees or above suits a beginner just as well.

Shaft flex

Shaft flex is how much the shaft bends during the swing. Common letters run from L (ladies) through A (often called senior) and R (regular) to S (stiff). X (extra stiff) suits very fast swings and is rarely a beginner’s.

A slower swing suits a softer flex, and a faster swing suits a firmer one. The M8 is listed in R flex only, while the Inesis 100 is listed in L, A or R.

How to tell which flex you need

A launch monitor at a golf shop or range measures your swing speed in a few swings. Shaft makers publish charts that match speed to flex. Many shops will let you hit a demo club this way before you buy.

Without a measurement, how far you hit a 7 iron is a rough clue. Build your bag asks for it, alongside your height and most common miss, before suggesting a flex.

Club length

Length affects how easily you can make centred contact, and your height is one guide to it.

Should a beginner use a driver at all?

A beginner can use a driver, but you do not need one to start. Our rules name a 5 wood off the tee as a sound alternative.

England Golf’s Get into Golf beginners guide says you do not need a full set to start, and that four key clubs get you round. The guide aims to “make things simple, friendly and pressure-free”.

A 5 wood has a shorter shaft and more loft. You give up some distance for a club that is easier to control. You can also hit it from the fairway and add a driver later.

Start with a 5 wood if your tee shots often go low or far offline, or if your budget is tight.

If you are still deciding which clubs to buy first, read what clubs you need, half set or full set and our guide to golf clubs for beginners. For the irons that sit alongside your driver, see irons for high handicappers.

How does Build your bag pick a driver for you?

Build your bag is free and needs no sign-up. You answer a few short questions, and it applies the same rules as this page: loft, forgiveness, your miss and your budget split.

Adults first get a choice: a complete package set, a half set or a bag built club by club, with the reason. Then you see a top pick for each club. Since 14 Nov 2026, every pick comes with a plain reason, with prices shown as the maker’s RRP.

Juniors get one junior set sized by the maker’s height range; see our junior golf clubs guide. Used options are not listed yet.

Flex and length suggestions are a starting guide. Above about £500, book an in-person fitting.

Picks come from rules and maker specs, not from who pays us. The rules are published in full on our how we choose page.

If you buy through a link, the retailer pays us a commission at no extra cost to you. Start Build your bag to see a driver chosen for your game and budget.