MacGregor CG3000 Package Set Review

MacGregor CG3000 Package Set Review

The MacGregor CG3000 package set comes with 10 clubs and a bag, allowing golfers to get straight out to the course. You'll get a driver, a fairway wood, a hybrid, six irons from 6-SW and a putter, comfortably making it one of the best golf club sets for beginners.

From the moment you unpack this set, it is clear that is not a premium set like the TaylorMade RBZ SpeedLite package set or PXG's 0211 Z golf club set, however the MacGregor offering is hundreds of dollars cheaper than the aforementioned products and we have to say we were surprised by just how good it was.

Starting with the driver, at 13 degrees it is the perfect loft for most high-handicap golfers and beginners. Initially I didn't love the looks but it has certainly grown on me and the simple alignment aid is actually very nice. The performance of the driver is, I have to say, fantastic. From the moment you strike it you'll be greeted with a very solid feel and a nice, high flight.

Surprisingly, the ball speed was keeping up with my current driver thanks to the lightweight, regular flex shaft. Whilst the ball speed was high, overall distance wasn't keeping up with my current gamer due to the excessive spin we were getting from it. It goes without saying that better players won't maximize their distance with the 13 degree MacGregor driver but beginners and improvers will be able to hit long and high drives. You won't be able to hit high, low-spin bombs with it but you will be able to get the ball in the air with relative ease.

The fairway wood and hybrid did not feel as great as the driver, however, with a much more 'dead' feel as opposed to the lovely feel you get from the big stick. I loved the flat-looking face of the fairway wood whilst the hybrid does take some getting used to as the offset on it does make it look a little ugly.

Offset is a higher handicapper's friend though so golfers will enjoy how user-friendly these clubs are. Despite the average feel, performance was fine with the fairway and hybrid and the lofts that MacGregor has chosen for this beginner golf club set are perfect.

The fairway wood comes in at 18 degrees of loft (so essentially a five wood), whilst the hybrid at 24 degrees converts to around a 4 iron. Couple this with a 6-SW iron set and I think the gaps are just about right for a 10-club set, with beginners and higher handicappers having plenty of clubs at their disposal to hit for a wide range of yardages. 

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The irons that come with the set are fantastic, with a fairly thick top line but nothing too intrusive. We found them to launch high and were impressed with the forgiveness on offer. They look absolutely fine too and the feel is not too bad considering we were testing them up against forged musclebacks. They go the distance you'd expect them to go and work well with MacGregor's lightweight graphite shafts.

All clubs feature the same MacGregor grips, which we more than happy with. They have guidelines for your left thumb and an arrow pointing down to help you align the club parallel. 

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The putter was another nice surprise. It reminded me of a mix between an Odyssey #7 fang and the Rose Axis1 - it's somewhere in between those two.

The feel of the face was surprisingly good, like the driver, and the head design is great for alignment and a bit of forgiveness. Where the putter falls down is in the grip department as it has a very thin grip that is far too similar to the ones on the irons and woods. We'd much prefer a more rounded or thicker putter-specific grip as the fitted one is far too thin. You also don't get a headcover with the putter, which is not ideal as the sharp fangs will over time begin to scratch up anything the putter is next to in the bag.

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If you do go for this set, we'd highly recommend picking up a mallet putter headcover and perhaps getting the putter re-gripped too. If you were to get a headcover and new grip, you'd be looking at adding on something like $40/£40, which still keeps the set very affordable. The headcovers on the woods are very thin so may not offer the best protection, however at least they do come with headcovers unlike the putter.

Moving on to the bag, which for me was a very lightweight cart bag. MacGregor describes the bag that comes with the set as 'a luxury stand bag', although we only had the cart bag version. We certainly wouldn't describe it as 'luxury' but for the money it is more than good enough with plenty of pockets, a good number of dividers and a very decent handle and main strap.

Overall, this set is hard to fault for what it does, which is allow golfers to get out onto the course and experience this great game. At this price tag you're never going to get the perfect set of clubs but we were seriously impressed with what has to be one of the best golf club sets you can buy.

Finally if you want more package set ideas, we have also created guides on the best cheap golf club sets, and best budget golf clubs, where we have tested value models to see if they are any good.