Hello Golfer - Welcome to SSWT!
SBI is a good all-in-one option for someone just starting out, with no prior experience. Ken Evoy offers the free - so you may want to read this before you decide.
Rosalinds is also a good read, and offers all of the resources you would need for a do-it-yourself site, start to finish.
Of course, you can find all of the information on your own, too - and invest in specialized guides or programs as needed. For example, you can get a domain name at for 8.95, and inexpensive web hosting at
http://www.clicknewz.com/hostgator.htm . You may need a website template or you might design your own... and then you're good to go!
As for SMG - I've looked into it, and honestly... it's as much work as doing it on your own. Also, there's another program out there about half the price - I'll have to find that link and get back to you with it. It is a little bit technical. Requires installation on the web server, some basic configuration... and then all of the pages generated will need to be checked and hand-edited (IMO).
It's not a bad option, and does include templates - but if you can manage to create a template and locate a feed on your own... you can do just about the same thing yourself. You may not be able to generate pages as quickly, but by the time you edit all of those - - you could have created them the way you wanted them as you went. Again, just my thoughts on that.