Are 14 clubs really necessary?

[TheJollyGolfer]

I posted this question to the members at my previous golf club and most of them said 'yes'. I then organised two tournaments with the club limit fixed at 7, and after these two tournaments were over, I asked the same question and most of them changed their answer to 'no'.

I personally have been playing with 7 clubs for a long time and I have no interest in carrying any more. My set...

Driver 360cc 9.5° - For my longer tee shots.
5 wood 18° - for longer par three, strategic tee shots and longer fairway shots.
5 Hybrid 26° - for all shots from 150 - 175 yds
7 iron - for all shots from 130 - 150 yds
9 iron - for all shots from green side to 130 yds
SW 56° - green side bunkers, and in emergencies when the ball must go high and land soft.
Putter - for obvious reasons and I will almost always take the putter from the fringe.

There isn't a single length I can't cope with, within my yardages, and I am rarely left with club selection problems.

But why carry 7 when you may carry up to 14?

I coach this game and can no longer allocate the time to hone my swing like I could in the past. I average 4 hours of practice per week and 36 holes of play. I would say I practice and play slightly above the normal averages. Earlier in my career, when I was a good scratch player, I could treble these playing and practising figures.

One day it dawned on me. three times the time to play and practice, 14 clubs to control, no problem. But now I have restricted practice and playing time, what can I do? I decided to economise my time and practice and play with 7 clubs. I have basically taken the more difficult clubs and gap clubs out of my bag and with the remainder, I am becoming very familiar and therefore very confident.

There is one other reason why this decision was easy for me to make. I have often carried only a nine iron for nine holes. I do this because I am often on the course for 9 holes playing with total beginners and I like to show them how good control with one club makes the game look easier. I should really carry two clubs, adding a putter, but as I must demonstrate various things, my hands are more free with just the one.

I have become quite good with this one club and estimate that I play bogey golf with it, on average. The courses that I have played fortunately have no long carry frontal water hazards and I can always find short grass somewhere with the nine iron, which I rarely hit or try to hit further than 140 yds.

I blade my putts and this has really ironed out any twitches in my stroke. I rarely 3 putt any green with it. This did however take a good bit of practice.

So, Are 14 clubs really necessary? For tour pros probably - they put in the hours - but for everyone else, probably not.

P.S. I am getting much closer to playing to scratch again!

 

[nututhugame]

I like this post. I am going to try it soon... play 9 holes with just a 9 or 8i.

Welcome Jolly, tee it up and stay a while.

 

[SilverUberXeno]

I've always thought that this argument is bologna for anything beyond a beginner. If your clubs are poorly fit and mismatched, you might need 14 swings. Even a recreational golfer can apply nearly the same swing with most of their clubs. What the "every other" club method does is force you to learn how to hit unnatural shots with fewer clubs.

Your 6i swing with your 5i will take the ball 12-16 yards farther, generally. If you need to hit it farther but you aren't carrying that club, you have to hit your 6 hard or your 4 soft. You're missing half of your normal, full swing distances. Why anyone would do this is beyond me. It's a cute idea, but it's absolutely ridiculous. You don't have to use all 14 every round, but you better believe I want every weapon I'm allowed to carry to fight the course with.

With 30 yard gaps between clubs, you're making the game much harder than it needs to be. The only people who might not benefit from carrying as many clubs as possible are those who can't hit the clubface at all. In that case, justt carry a putter and one iron to duff around with.

Tin Cup parred the back side with a 7 iron. He could've shot 6 under with the rest of his clubs. A sensible, somewhat competent golfer should be carrying as many clubs as he can.

 

[Golfanatic]

At some point Im going to try a few rounds with this setup;

- 16* #2 Hybrid
- 25* #5 Hybrid
- 31* #7 Hybrid
- 37* #9 Hybrid
- 52* Wedge
- 60* Wedge
- Putter.

Ive gotten pretty good with these Alpha RM-5 Hybrids and know just what I can do with them so it shouldnt be too hard to score as well as I have been since Ive been teeing off with the 16* Hybrid a lot anyway.
Fewer clubs seems to mean just making more shorter swings instead of always using a full swing.

 

[BigJim13]

I've always thought that this argument is bologna for anything beyond a beginner. If your clubs are poorly fit and mismatched, you might need 14 swings. Even a recreational golfer can apply nearly the same swing with most of their clubs. What the "every other" club method does is force you to learn how to hit unnatural shots with fewer clubs.

Your 6i swing with your 5i will take the ball 12-16 yards farther, generally. If you need to hit it farther but you aren't carrying that club, you have to hit your 6 hard or your 4 soft. You're missing half of your normal, full swing distances. Why anyone would do this is beyond me. It's a cute idea, but it's absolutely ridiculous. You don't have to use all 14 every round, but you better believe I want every weapon I'm allowed to carry to fight the course with.

With 30 yard gaps between clubs, you're making the game much harder than it needs to be. The only people who might not benefit from carrying as many clubs as possible are those who can't hit the clubface at all. In that case, justt carry a putter and one iron to duff around with.

Tin Cup parred the back side with a 7 iron. He could've shot 6 under with the rest of his clubs. A sensible, somewhat competent golfer should be carrying as many clubs as he can.

I understand your argument and have no real counter to it except this: try it sometime!

Seriously, when I started playing my set consisted of Driver, 3w, 3,5,7,9 & PW and a putter. I didn't shoot any worse then than I do now. I really could have dropped the woods out too, i never hit them back then. I get your argument about distances, but try it sometime. You will be surprised.

 

[SilverUberXeno]

If I miss a load of greens, I'll still miss greens. There are plenty of times now where I wish I had an "in-between" club to hit a particular distance. If your irons aren't consistent to within 20 yards or so, you won't miss every-other-iron. That's true. But if your normal PW, 8i, and 6i is 130, 155, 180, you're going to have to hit annoying shots for the yardages that would be simple with your 7i and 9i.

I don't doubt it's fun. But it's like you're making the game harder than it already is. It'd be like telling a sprinter to try skipping. Might be fun, but it isn't as fast as running. Ideally, I'd have a club made with every degree of loft possible so I could use ONE swing to hit every single yardage. I don't want less clubs, I want MORE.

 

[azgreg]

I once played in a 4 club tournament. Choose any 4 you want. I chose 4 iron, 8 iron, pw, and putter. I shot a 86. They are having this argument over on another board and it's not going well.

 

[xamilo]

If I miss a load of greens, I'll still miss greens. There are plenty of times now where I wish I had an "in-between" club to hit a particular distance. If your irons aren't consistent to within 20 yards or so, you won't miss every-other-iron. That's true. But if your normal PW, 8i, and 6i is 130, 155, 180, you're going to have to hit annoying shots for the yardages that would be simple with your 7i and 9i.

I don't doubt it's fun. But it's like you're making the game harder than it already is. It'd be like telling a sprinter to try skipping. Might be fun, but it isn't as fast as running. Ideally, I'd have a club made with every degree of loft possible so I could use ONE swing to hit every single yardage. I don't want less clubs, I want MORE.

I agree with you regarding the consistency. If you are consistent enough, you do have more weapons with you.

I play with 12 clubs for example. I am not consistent enough with my 4i so I dumped it. I rathe hit 10 yards shorter but get anywhere close to the fairway than 10 yards longer and hit a tree hehehe

 

[TheJollyGolfer]

I like this post. I am going to try it soon... play 9 holes with just a 9 or 8i.

Welcome Jolly, tee it up and stay a while.

Thanks for the welcome!

You could also try doing it like Seve and learn the game with a 3 iron.

 

[TheJollyGolfer]

I've always thought that this argument is bologna for anything beyond a beginner. If your clubs are poorly fit and mismatched, you might need 14 swings. Even a recreational golfer can apply nearly the same swing with most of their clubs. What the "every other" club method does is force you to learn how to hit unnatural shots with fewer clubs.

I don't feel uncomfortable with the differences in distances when the gap clubs are dropped, I just decided to drop all gap clubs and play the clubs that I felt most comfortable with. I thoroughly enjoy the inventiveness I need when i am playing with 7 clubs and I do believe that it is this that makes me a better player than with 14. I played for over 35 years with 14 clubs and it just got boring. Apart from around the green I was dialling up clubs for particular lengths. Occasionally a shot would present itself and I would have to use some inventiveness but they were few and compared to my present capabilities I was a novice in such situations.

In the OP you can read about my exploits with just one club etc which led me to my present game. This is probably the best way for me to explain my reason for playing this way.

Why do we all play the same 14 club game? Maybe some time in the future I will go back to 14 but I am enjoying this version too much at the moment. I do believe I have learned rather neglected skills - which are more a part of being an accomplished player than just dialling up distances - touch, imagination, inventiveness, non conforming and creativity.

​

 

[TheJollyGolfer]

At some point Im going to try a few rounds with this setup;

- 16* #2 Hybrid
- 25* #5 Hybrid
- 31* #7 Hybrid
- 37* #9 Hybrid
- 52* Wedge
- 60* Wedge
- Putter.

Ive gotten pretty good with these Alpha RM-5 Hybrids and know just what I can do with them so it shouldnt be too hard to score as well as I have been since Ive been teeing off with the 16* Hybrid a lot anyway.
Fewer clubs seems to mean just making more shorter swings instead of always using a full swing.

I'm all for using clubs that make me feel confident. You've got the idea but may I make a couple of observations or queries?

1) I am surprised that you find a 2 hybrid easier to hit off the tee than one of the more forgiving 360cc drivers

2) I feel the gap between 9 hybrid and 52° wedge a bit too much compared to your other gaps. I would be inclined to have a 9 iron and a 56° wedge.

But who am I, you know your own game best.

 

[TheJollyGolfer]

I once played in a 4 club tournament. Choose any 4 you want. I chose 4 iron, 8 iron, pw, and putter. I shot a 86. They are having this argument over on another board and it's not going well.

In what way is it not going well?
Which board?
Its on many boards and has received 100's of replies! There are a few negative replies - as always - but on the whole it is being well received.

 

[Golfanatic]

A guy I used to work with watched Tin Cup way back when and started playing with a 7 iron and a putter.
He was a pretty bulky guy so he could really nail that 7 pretty far. I dont know what yardage he was getting, but I do know he was scoring pretty damned close to the other 2 guys we were with who both were playing a full set of clubs.
He had a crazy looking swing and a really exaggerated draw, but it seemed to work well enough for him.

When Im 150 to about 90 yards out I use the same club for my approach shots every time....my 15 wood.
If I need to make a short shot I choke down to the bottom of the grip and take a 3/4 swing.
Since Ive been doing it this way Ive missed maybe 3 greens from 150 and in. And the ones I have missed have been close enough to the edge of the green to use a putter anyway.
I like learning the touch part.

I do understand why players who like the scoring aspect of the game would want to be able to dial in exact distances and know every club they hit within a yard. With scoring or money on the line Id probably feel the same way.

I do believe I have learned rather neglected skills - which are more a part of being an accomplished player than just dialling up distances - touch, imagination, inventiveness, non conforming and creativity.

 

[TheJollyGolfer]

One of the other boards has a poll option and here are the results.

​

The poll is throwing out two surprises.

1) That 23 people out of a possible 35 have actually tried playing 2 tournaments with 7 clubs is a shock. That's 65.7%

2) That almost four times the amount who have tried it don't think its better. That's completely different from the results at my club.

I think too many participants in the poll are saying they have already tried it. That's polls for you.

 

[Golfanatic]

I'm all for using clubs that make me feel confident. You've got the idea but may I make a couple of observations or queries?

1) I am surprised that you find a 2 hybrid easier to hit off the tee than one of the more forgiving 360cc drivers

Ive been hearing that from a few people.
Ive heard that some guys can just hit hybrids and some cant.
It may be that Im just one who can?

I have maps of the courses I play on a letter sized sheet so I can map out where my tee shots go and you wouldnt believe how many dead straight down the pipe tee shots Ive made with this 2Hybrid right from the very first day on the course.
I havent even had it on the range yet. I bought it and the first time I really hit it was playing a round and I was amazed at how well I did.

I played a round a couple days ago and the first 15 holes (it was actually 16 I pulled out the #2 hybrid) I only used the driver to tee off with (except the 3's, of course) and I had a number of good shots, but too many bad ones to leave very happy.
Id been telling the guy I was playing with that I wish to hell Id have just tee'd off with my hybrid to begin with.
So I pull it and told him to watch what happened.....right down the middle and damned near as far as he'd hit his driver. Hes not a great player either, he had spent a while in the trees looking for his own tee shots, but he could hit 230 or so here and there with his driver.
Once I started teeing off with my #2 hybrid I was ok again. Almost parred that last horrible hole even and its a long par four. Got a bogey again, but I can live with that. Had I tee'd off with the driver it could have been a lot worse. Was on in 3 and in close enough to make a par putt, but the green is really uneven so it took 2 putts for a +1.

Ive tried stiff and now regular and even girly flex shafts and a number of different head styles and sizes and I just cannot hit a club yet once the shaft gets to over 40-41 inches consistently enough to rely on it.
I'll keep working on the driver on the range this season and hopefully by next year...

2) I feel the gap between 9 hybrid and 52° wedge a bit too much compared to your other gaps. I would be inclined to have a 9 iron and a 56° wedge.

But who am I, you know your own game best.

may leave the 9iron in