Need advice on WHICH 14 clubs

[SiberianDVM]

OK, here's the deal. I'm gonna play in some amatuer tournements in the coming months (and get waxed, but that's another thread), so I need to get used to playing with 14 clubs. The courses will be about 6500 yards for my tees. Yes, sometimes I have been known to play with 15 clubs. So shoot me.

I'm having trouble deciding on a bag makeup, specifically the fairways and wedges. Here are my pretty close distances and how I hit them. Help me decide on 14, please, although I reserve the right to change my mind from one day to the next.

Driver-9.5* 905T-must have, usually hit it 240-250 yards, sometimes straight, sometimes it's not so straight., especially if I try to hammer it.

3 wood-15* 980F-good for 220-225 yards off the tee, with a high draw, not so good from the fairway: lower than I like and sometimes a fade. Iffy on this club from the fairway, I just don't have the clubhead speed to get the ball high.

4 wood-17* 980F-good for 210 or so off tee, high, straight usually, a little better from the fairway. Easier to hit from the short stuff than the 3 wood.

5 wood-19* 980F-good for 200-205 off tee, REALLY high with a draw, useful for rare holes with sharp dogleg to left near the teebox. Easy to hit off fairway.

21* hybrid-my 3 iron substitute- a keeper, high off tee, low off fairway, 190-200 yards

all of these are must haves:
4 iron- 185 yards
5 iron- 175 yards
6 iron- 165 yards
7 iron- 155 yards
8 iron- 145 yards
9 iron- 135 yards
48* PW- 70 to 125 yards, chips & pitches
52* GW- 60 to 110 yards, chips & pitches
56* SW- 50 to 90 yards, chips & pitches

60* LW- under 50 yards only. I think I could live without this one if I had to.

Putter-duh

So.....2 clubs of the ones in red have to be dropped. Which 2? I'm thinking drop the 3 wood and LW, as I tend to screw up these clubs sometimes. I can usually count on the 4 & 5 woods, but are they too close together? Will I miss the extra 10-15 yards from the 3 wood if I need to tee off on a tight hole?

[Sandpiper3]

Id keep the 3 and 5 woods, especially incase of tight tee shots or off days with the big dog. between the 4 and 5 you wont miss too much, and the 5 will be much easier to hit.

The option of the 4 and lw is solid, but you probly dont need the lw as much, most ppl dont really need it. Id say 3&5.

[dave.]

Drop the 3 and 5 wood,and the 60,use the other 13

[demon]

ditch the 52* gap wedge it seems to be overlapping anyways.

[ualtim]

Drop the 5-wood and the 60*. Based on the provided distances, your 5-wood is too close to both your 4-wood and hybrid and provides no real advantage to be in your bag. The distance gap between the 4-wood and hybrid is not terribly far apart.

The 60* only because you do not sound too confident in it. The 60* can be a tough club to play, and if you do not love it to death your probably not too confident in it.

Go get'em Doc!

[demon]

If your only willing to ditch the ones in red then drop the 4 wood and lob.

[ezra76]

Originally Posted by dave.

Drop the 3 and 5 wood,and the 60,use the other 13

I originally thought keep the 3 and 5. After reading how unlikely you are to use the 5W while carrying the hybrid, I agree with Dave. Take the 4W with you to the range and a few rounds, get used to it and you should hit it a bit longer and more consistant. If they hybrid goes 200 the 4w should easily go 215-220.

[fore142]

keep the 3 and 4 wood, in my opinion, you dont need a 60 degree, im a pretty good golfer(2ish) and i cant hit one. You also dont sound too confident with it. for tournament golf you want to have clubs that you feel like you are going to hit well the majority of the time. They need to be clubs you have confidence.

[chemboy2]

Put me down for another vote to ditch the 3 & 5 woods.

Dave's suggestion about dropping the 60* is good as well. If you're not absolutely comfortable/confident with a club then you probably shouldn't go to use it in a tourney because you'll have trouble committing to the shot. If you're not going to use a club then why carry it.

If you drop the 60* then you may want to throw the 3W back in as an "alternate" driver.

[FKA19]

ok here's the MASTER plan . lol

Driver
4wood
21* hybrid
4-9
48* wedge
52* wedge
and either use the 56* wedge, or trade in the 56,60 to get a 58* wedge.

[Pa Jayhawk]

Take into consideration any par 3's that commonly play into those distance. Next for me would be keep the one I am most comfortable hitting or play off Par 4's were driver is not a wise choice.

My philosophy towards the end of this year with FW's has changed from gauging comfort with the clubs as opposed to worrying about filling out distances. Hence the reason my 3w is currently out of my bag. I had more confidence in every other club in my bag at the time, and figured the strokes it cost me percentage wise from bad shots were more than the strokes saved should all the shots be good.

If I found I commonly needed a club for a par 3 it would likely stay in my bag, otherwise confidence became more important. Another reason the 5i went back in my bag. 3 of the prior shots that I used a 6i became a 5i in colder weather and it was costing me either trying to ease up or add to. I figure the 10-15 yards on my 3w over my iron could more consistently be made up with my irons when finding the fairway, as opposed to a wedge in a less predictable lie. I am not long enough to reach many par 5's in two either.

[Sandy]

You could do what I do, and keep them all in the back of the car and put your 14 together when you arrive at the course, depending on what the weather is doing that day, and how you're generally feeling?

[Rockford35]

Driver
3wd
5wd
Hybrid 21*
4-PW
56* wedge
Putter

Everything else is window dressing until you've mastered the above.

R35

[Davebud]

Drop the 3w and 5w keep the 4w, and most definitely the GW, my GW is money.

[Sandpiper3]

All great advice. Personally I think you should definately drop the LW. Most ppl shouldnt use a lw anywayz, ive slowly stopped using mine moreso, but still practise a lot with it for when i need it for a tight shot.