"More" or "Less" clubs in your bag

when I first start golfing. I like to have as many clubs in my bag as possible. Driver, 3W, 5W, Hybrid 19 degree, iron 5-9, P, A, 56,60. Clubs changing become a habit. Think the weapons can leapfrog my game. The game does not improve. Balls fly all over the green. I realized it was because I can not master all clubs, I do not have the feel of the clubs especially the short irons,long wood. Now I am going to change my strategy, use less clubs but master the feel of each club, especially the short irons. So my plan is to have only Driver, 19 degree hybrid, iron 4-9, P, A, SW. All short game under 60M will be the 52 degree wedge. All long fairway drive more then 150M will be using 19 degree hybrid.

Does anyone gone through this stage?

I believe the goal is to ensure you have club for the distance you need.

I took out 56 & 60 and put in 58 to simplify my decision making ard the greens

I took out 3w/5w and put in 4w. It is longer than 5w yet easier to hit than 3w

I took out 3i/4i and put in 22 deg hybrid. Easier to hit and covers a wide range of distance.

My stand bag is much lighter now

PS interested in ur comments on the hybrid... so you control the distance of your 22deg by controlling the extent of your swing? Does that work well and what kind of distance spread does it cover (not the actual distance but the difference of controlled distances, if u get what i mena).

Tx bro.

Except for woods, i dont ever hit full swing. I take one more club and swing 90%.

I hit "knock downs" to control distance. Ball slightly back, choke down a bit. Finish 3/4. Same back swing/power/tempo. This way i get 5-15m less by shortening my finish. My 5i also gives same distance with a full swing but i prefer take one more club and hit knockdowns. I dont hit knockdowns with 4 wood though, this is my cheong club for par 5 so i always hit full swing.

If a course has 170-175m shots into par 3 (usually from blue tee). then i may bring the 3hybrid bcoz the 4 cant reach. Most long par 4 i chicken shit lay up with 4h and go for one chip one putt

nanohenry wrote:

when I first start golfing. I like to have as many clubs in my bag as possible. Driver, 3W, 5W, Hybrid 19 degree, iron 5-9, P, A, 56,60. Clubs changing become a habit. Think the weapons can leapfrog my game. The game does not improve. Balls fly all over the green. I realized it was because I can not master all clubs, I do not have the feel of the clubs especially the short irons,long wood. Now I am going to change my strategy, use less clubs but master the feel of each club, especially the short irons. So my plan is to have only Driver, 19 degree hybrid, iron 4-9, P, A, SW. All short game under 60M will be the 52 degree wedge. All long fairway drive more then 150M will be using 19 degree hybrid.

Does anyone gone through this stage?

From your post I can make out you have left out your fwy woods and 60deg ... not a bad idea for now, as both types of clubs require a certain level of mastery ... get comfortable with your other clubs, and gradually add back the fwy woods and 60deg ... once practiced with , woods and the lob wedge are essential weapons helping you to shoot low scores!

pushslice wrote:

Except for woods, i dont ever hit full swing. I take one more club and swing 90%.

+1 to that ... inside of 150m, 80-85% effort shots result in 10-15% less distance, with 10-15% (or even more) accuracy for me! Massive impact on GIR, at the expense of some damaged ego having to hit a longer club! So worth it!

I have a golf kaki, 60+ year old. Walks 9 holes mon thru fri, 18 holes on sat.

Par 4s:
Tee off: driver
2nd shot: 3w or 5w, not on usually
3rd shot: putter to on green. If bunker or a little too far, 56* wedge
4th or if necessary, 5th shot: putter.

Par 5s:
Tee off: driver
2nd and 3rd shot: 3w or 5w, not on usually
4th shot: putter to on green. If bunker or a little too far, 56* wedge
5th shot: putter.

He scores low 90s or high 80s...

Another note... Par 3s: he has a few hole in ones already...

There is not much different in distance for my 5W and 19 degree Hybrid, also not much different in 56 and 60 wedege. But the 60 wedge have a high chance of top shot which may add another 2 strokes. Better play safe then agreesive.
By the way, I bought my 60 edgree wedge(John Daily) in cash converter Toa Payoh. It is still under plastic wraping for S$10. Bought for a try.

Actually, as long as you can cover all distances, it does not matter how few clubs you carry as long as you are comfortable with hitting them (I played with a pro who played 70s with just 5,7,9,sw and a putter). However, it may limit your options if you are "off" a certain club that day.

End of the day... you can always leave something in the bag and not use it. Given that we use golf karts on most courses, weight should not be an issue. So, it is just how you practice self-control.

By the way, I only carry 13 clubs in my bag. I left one empty on purpose so that I can alway find an excuse for myself for playing badly (e.g. "If I carried my xxx club, I would have played 10 shots lower")... Sad right?

When I play on my walking course game, I bring

Driver
3 wood
4 Hybrid
6i
8i
PW
SW
Putter

or

Driver
3 wood
5 hybrid
7i
9i
AW
LW
Putter

This is to give my clubs a rotation. I may also add my chipper in as the 9th club.

I believe you should have 13 or 14 as i become easier to get the right distance , as less club in the bag you have a lot of half swing and the distance you will hit is less accurate... make it easier on your self mate take 14 club in your bag ... you got less chance to miss your distance as the most you will do is 75% of your full swing . your distance will be more accurate



see my bag distance set up. i only my wedge where the distance is more as i know i can control my pitching wedge between ( 90m to 125) , same for 54(SW) i can control it between (60 to 85m).

Driver - 245m
3 wood - 225m
Hybrid - 215m
3-iron - 195m
4-iron - 185m
5 iron- 175m
6-iron - 165m
7-iron - 155m
8-iron - 145m
9-iron - 135m
PW - 125m
54 - 85m
60 - 55m

nanohenry wrote:

Driver, 3W, 5W, Hybrid 19 degree, iron 5-9, P, A, 56,60.

Your 5w and 19h are both around 19 deg ... and to improve distance gaps you'd be better suited with a 21h, especially with your irons starting at 5!

nanohenry wrote:

So my plan is to have only Driver, 19 degree hybrid, iron 4-9, P, A, SW

Add a 3w and 60 , and thats my present configuration! Cheers

5W has a 2inch longer shaft , theoritically it should be 30m more right. Easy to lift the ball then 3W.

Cyp_PGA wrote:

Driver - 245m
3 wood - 225m
Hybrid - 215m
3-iron - 195m
4-iron - 185m
5 iron- 175m
6-iron - 165m
7-iron - 155m
8-iron - 145m
9-iron - 135m
PW - 125m
54 - 85m
60 - 55m

Wah your PW is 125m! Thats my 7i distance. 3 club lengths behind!

Gray wrote:

Cyp_PGA wrote:

Driver - 245m
3 wood - 225m
Hybrid - 215m
3-iron - 195m
4-iron - 185m
5 iron- 175m
6-iron - 165m
7-iron - 155m
8-iron - 145m
9-iron - 135m
PW - 125m
54 - 85m
60 - 55m

Wah your PW is 125m! Thats my 7i distance. 3 club lengths behind!

We Play different division ... i mean better get hybrid if you got not a lot of club head speed or dont hit long iron well see KJ Choi 3 to 5 iron ( Hybrid) but get your distance control easier to manage around the course ... i just want show example how i work my bag . just go around the course and see if you need more wedge as your are often inside 100m , or more often between 180m to 230 then u need hybrid and wood more... i will say. but best way to talk a club fitter and golf coach before pulling out golf club of the bag or adding some .there are the best to advice you as they know your game pretty well and have the data. the good thing will be to go big fish with ur coach to set up the bag with your coach advice and club fitter and the numbers..

nanohenry wrote:

5W has a 2inch longer shaft , theoritically it should be 30m more right. Easy to lift the ball then 3W.

30m! I doubt it ... Have you measured your club distances ... Like cyp_pga has done ... Its a very fruitful excercise ... Highly recommended!

Denmeister wrote:

I have a golf kaki, 60+ year old. Walks 9 holes mon thru fri, 18 holes on sat.

Par 4s:
Tee off: driver
2nd shot: 3w or 5w, not on usually
3rd shot: putter to on green. If bunker or a little too far, 56* wedge
4th or if necessary, 5th shot: putter.

Par 5s:
Tee off: driver
2nd and 3rd shot: 3w or 5w, not on usually
4th shot: putter to on green. If bunker or a little too far, 56* wedge
5th shot: putter.

He scores low 90s or high 80s...

I got a friend, 60+ yrs old also, small size, 5 ft tall and thin.

Driver : about 180 m. Second shot mostly FW. But deadly chips/putts so up and down mostly.

Usual scores from white tee ; high 70s low 80s. I don't dare bet with him.

My have a tolerance on my distance:

Driver - 180-220m (depend on how the ball fly...)
5 wood - 150-170m
Hybrid 19- 140-160m
4-iron - 140-160m
5 iron- 140-150m
6-iron - 130-140m
7-iron - 120-130m
8-iron - 110-120m
9-iron - 90-100m
PW - 80m-90m
52 -70-80m
56-40-60m
60 -30-40m

Plus a R/L 10 degree tolerance. So cutting one or two clubs does not made much changes.
My average score is 100-110. Try to break 100

nanohenry wrote:

My have a tolerance on my distance:

Driver - 180-220m (depend on how the ball fly...)
5 wood - 150-170m
Hybrid 19- 140-160m
4-iron - 140-160m
5 iron- 140-150m
6-iron - 130-140m
7-iron - 120-130m
8-iron - 110-120m
9-iron - 90-100m
PW - 80m-90m
52 -70-80m
56-40-60m
60 -30-40m

Plus a R/L 10 degree tolerance. So cutting one or two clubs does not made much changes.
My average score is 100-110. Try to break 100

You should put a 21 degree on the bag , it'll make your life easier (Just an Advice).... for High handicapt hybrid are easier to hit than long iron . see hank haney , KJ Choi , Y.E Yang they all got 2 or 3 hybrid in the bag to replace long iron....

freedrop wrote:

Denmeister wrote:

I have a golf kaki, 60+ year old. Walks 9 holes mon thru fri, 18 holes on sat.

Par 4s:
Tee off: driver
2nd shot: 3w or 5w, not on usually
3rd shot: putter to on green. If bunker or a little too far, 56* wedge
4th or if necessary, 5th shot: putter.

Par 5s:
Tee off: driver
2nd and 3rd shot: 3w or 5w, not on usually
4th shot: putter to on green. If bunker or a little too far, 56* wedge
5th shot: putter.

He scores low 90s or high 80s...

I got a friend, 60+ yrs old also, small size, 5 ft tall and thin.

Driver : about 180 m. Second shot mostly FW. But deadly chips/putts so up and down mostly.

Usual scores from white tee ; high 70s low 80s. I don't dare bet with him.

i was fortunate to play with a 60+ year old golfer last sunday for the league games.....

not athletic but lanky golfer, similar to coastguy but abt a head taller than me, drive abt 220-230m, push me all the way to the end, one of my best matchup in my league games...

had only a fairway metal with bunch of hybrids, how i wish i can play like him when i'm in my 60s.....

thats his scorecard, if not for his OB on the 3rd n 5th hole..... i doubt i can win

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wah shifu u got 10 par and 1 bird!

+7