Fairway Woods & non-7 Irons

I'm a newbie at golf. So far, my most oft-used clubs are my Driver, Rescue, 7-Iron, PW, SW and Putter. Was wondering if there're any use for the other clubs?

Yes, the "other" clubs do come in useful. It all depends on the type of shot that I desire to make. E.g. for a low running chip, I may use the 7 or 8 iron and for a chip that needs to go high and land soft, then its the PW or SW or some other more lofted club. And as you get more consistent in your ball stricking that leads to more consistent distances, you will have higher confidence in the club that you use. E.g, for me, the PW is for a 100m shot, the 8 iron for 130m, the 6 iron for 150m and so forth, with my full swing.

Of course mate! Like adjusting air con vents...

Jokes aside...

If you hit your 7i 130m and your rescue 160m and your PW 90m

Then you approach a 115m par 3, what would you do?

That's where your 8i or even 9i comes to use... Wait a min... You don't have them in your bag...

It's ok for beginners to start with half set. Some even advise beginners to ditch the driver in favour of 3w or 4w

I think your bag is ok for now. Finish your lessons (if still yet to complete). Play and practice more before getting a full set.

Good luck!

Hi Syong, as your post mentions, you are a newbie. So I am going to assume that you are like most normal newbies and struggle for consistent contact and in general, a lack of distance on all clubs, with the exception of the SW, where you will occasionally hit it thin and it will fly much further than expected.

If, on the other hand, you are the other kind of newbie that has a >100mph swing speed and needs aftermarket tour stiff or X flex shafts, then please ignore the rest of this post and seek advice at golfwrx.com where there other many other golfers like that.

From your post, it sounds like you have a full set of clubs but seem to be using some clubs more than others. That is not uncommon for a new golfer.

When I first started, every normal Par 4 (from the white tee) was almost the same. Tee off with Driver/Hybrid (Rescue), 2nd shot with Hybrid, 3rd shot with PW or SW, chip with PW or SW, then 2 or 3 putt. The 7i was used for Par 3s (which play to about 110-120m from white) or when the 3rd shot (or 4th shot) into the green was longer than a PW but too short for a Hybrid.

The main reason is that as a new golfer, the quality and consistency of your (clubs) contact with the golf ball will be poor, especially on real grass (as opposed to driving range mats). Hence, your distance on the same club will vary with each shot, and your main aim is to advance the ball forward. Also, you are likely to be leaving the ball short of the green most of the time, so the natural tendency is to compensate by taking a club with a potentially longer distance (in golf jargon, it is referred to as "taking more club", i.e. a 7i instead of a 9i).

The fact is that golf clubs (especially those within the same set) are designed to go different distances when used by the same golfer. The exact distance gaps vary from golfer to golfer and from iron set to iron set, but 9m-10m is normally used as a yard stick. Assuming semi-decent contact, your 7i will go further than you 8i which will go further than your 9i and so on ...

As you skill level improves and you begin to achieve greater ball speed (faster swing, better contact or both), you will start to get a better sense of the distance that each of your irons is giving you. And chances are that, along the way, you will hit some great shots only to see your golf ball fly straight at the flag and land in the water behind the green. At this point, you can't really take the approach of taking "more club" at every shot because your chance of hitting a decent shot and hitting the ball past the green is more likely. And that is when you will begin to see the value of having a specific club for a specific distance range, e.g. PW for 110 to 120m ...

And as you improve and the quality and consistency of the ball contact improves, the distance range for each club reduces, and it becomes clear how far each club should send the ball in optimum conditions (factoring the effect of lie, elevation, slope and wind is another thing completely).

Just a footnote to the long post. After a while, I was able to enjoy using all my clubs from the white tee. But when I first switched to the blue tees, it was back to almost a 4 club game ... every Par 4 was Driver/Hybrid/Wedge/Putter, simply because I was playing a golf course that was too long for me from the blue tees.

So if you are facing your issue and normally play from the white tee, continue to practice, it will come in time.

If you are facing your issue and normally play from the blue tee, continue to practice, but consider playing from the white tees, you'll enjoy yourself more.

If you are facing your issue and normally play from the black tee ... then umm ... "neber mind lah ... course longer more worth it ... pay same money but swing more times = more value ... huat ah!!!"

Derek wrote:

So if you are facing your issue and normally play from the white tee, continue to practice, it will come in time.

If you are facing your issue and normally play from the blue tee, continue to practice, but consider playing from the white tees, you'll enjoy yourself more.

If you are facing your issue and normally play from the black tee ... then umm ... "neber mind lah ... course longer more worth it ... pay same money but swing more times = more value ... huat ah!!!"

Great advice, ESP on the Blue & Black tee part. Play the game as it's designed and you'll likely enjoy it more. I've encountered many golfers who didn't seem to be able to manage themselves or their expectations and in the end, hack their way throughout the 18 holes, causing much grief to those playing behind. It's a bad habit which should not take root.

Back to the topic, the uses for the other clubs are many, but if you're a beginner who just started the game, the clubs you're already using should already be sufficient. I started with only a FW and odd-numbered irons in my bag (7i, 9i, P, SW) & putter. Learn to use each club with full swing, 3/4, half swing etc. You may groove the swing and better learn to control the distance with each club based on the swing used.

Thank you everyone for your advice! I think there's quite a long way for me to go in terms of utilising all my clubs but will get there eventually!