Set makeup

[Splunge]

Well that 7i, that club never lets me down!

 

[MCDavis]

Dump the driver. It's only going to fail you at a critical time anyway.

 

[azgreg]

Dump the driver. It's only going to fail you at a critical time anyway.

 

[Anders_H]

For me the 3i, 3h, and 7w all do the same thing.

Go OB??

 

[azgreg]

Go OB??

On occasion.

 

[WWBDD]

For me the 3i, 3h, and 7w all do the same thing.

Spray balls into the desert?

Edit: AndersunderscoreH beat me to it.

 

[ChrisLyons]

I still say drop the 5 and 7 woods and get a TEE CB4 4 wood for cheap and drop the 3 iron for the hybrid and your done.

 

[eclark53520]

I'll agree with the two of the three clubs that do the same thing for you. Save the one you're most confident with. Then you'll hvae plenty of space in the bag.

 

[Splunge]

I'll agree with the two of the three clubs that do the same thing for you. Save the one you're most confident with. Then you'll hvae plenty of space in the bag.

Thing Is that I'll switch out the 3i and 19° on how I'm feeling, or what course I'm playing, because I'll use the 3i more off the tee than the 19° but I can use the 19° better off turf and from rough. The ones in thinking about dropping are the 5&7 wood. Maybe I'll drop both and get a three or four wood.

 

[Louie_T07]

I still say drop the 5 and 7 woods and get a TEE CB4 4 wood for cheap and drop the 3 iron for the hybrid and your done.

This does seem like the easiest and most logical solution right here. I struggle with the same thing sometimes. Always leaning towards the hybrid.

But I do agree with Splunge on having clubs that interchange depending on the course I'm playing that day!!

 

[Splunge]

I've played recently with just driver 3w then 3i/3hy depending on the course/weather, and I've really liked it, great backup tee clubs in the 3i/hy and the 3w, and then lots of options in the lower bag.

 

[Louie_T07]

Set makeup is such a personal thing and is so dependent on your ability. I played today and only used about 7 clubs, but was carrying 11. My driving was on today so the 5W only got used off the tee box on some short par 4s and one long par 3. On most of the rest of the shots I used 7 iron thru my wedges. I only hit my 8 iron once and did not carry my 4 or 5 iron today. I cannot advise you on what to carry, but I would say that you should gather stats on what clubs you use the most and are most confident with. Truthfully, once you get proficient with teeing clubs (driver or FW), wedges and the putter, you could get by with just a few in-between clubs that get you in position or out of trouble. I never carry 14 clubs, and sometimes only carry 8. My sig lists 13 clubs, but this is what I own in that set, not carry.

My ususal kit is driver, 5W (or 3W but not both), a 21* hybrid, 6-W, UW, SW, Putter for 11. When walking I carry Driver or 3W (not both), 21*h, 6, 8, W, UW, SW, putter for a total of 8.

I also really like this idea PaPaD, and I have put it into practice, especially when playing the executive courses with my best gal!! I don't ever need my driver or 3w out there so I don't bring them. I also leave a hybrid at home too. Then for fun I take a couple irons out. My set usually ends up being 5w, 5h, 9- wedges and a putter.

It makes it a breeze to walk and makes the course a lot tougher on me, honestly! I really enjoy having to make shots up as I go. Bumping 5h's along the ground or trying to hood a 9i for ten extra yards... Awesome!! My wedge game is improving ten fold because of it!

 

[Splunge]

Loving my current set up, ditched the 5 and 7 woods, playing 4 wedges, and three wood. Hitting all the shots I need to

 

[NiftyNiblick]

In configuring a bag, I think of essentially configuring two sets.

The first set is the shot-specific utility weaponry. I like to spend five of my fourteen club allotment on utilities with which I do not hit full swing shots from the fairway:

1. driver
For me, this is a driver or driving spoon in the 12-13º range.

2. driving iron
The driving iron is for tight driving holes where the shot dispersion with my driver is not reliable.
The driving iron isn't particularly good for long par threes to protected greens. A fairway wood which hits the ball high and lands it soft will better hold greens that are protected and need to be hit on the fly. If you can run the ball on, that's a different story.

On par fours and fives where you're hitting through a tight corridor, the driving iron hits an ugly line drive that lands hot and is very minimally moved by any crosswind. All you're looking to do here is find short grass with a reasonably flat lie where you can make a more heroic second shot.

3. short side miss wedge
A wedge with 60 degrees or more of loft can be miserably difficult when it comes to hitting consistent, full swing shots. You almost need to be a single digit player to pull it off. Still, the club is useful to everybody on short side misses into a green.

You pull your approach to the left or push it to the right. Now, just a few yards from the green, you've got to lob the ball over a gaping bunker, but the hole is cut only nine to ten feet from the near edge of the green....or maybe less if the groundskeeper is a real dick. You've short-sided yourself, so you need to lob the ball high and have it drop vertically and stop. You can't hit the ball hard enough to really spin it, and you're not swinging fast enough to take a divot. You need lots of loft and virtually NO bounce. That's the short side miss wedge.

4. dedicated sand iron
When you can find time for golf, you play, not practice. Your bunker game sucks. Sand saves are not the primary goal. You just want to be putting after taking a single sand shot. You want to avoid the soul-sucking humiliation of taking multiple shots in the bunker. Thus, you invest in some horrific looking club with a name like Alien or Lovett, or Worx, or Sandy Andy or Sure Out. It's virtually useless anywhere but in soft sand or shaggy greenside rough. You know, however, that you'll just swing it once and mercifully grab your putter.

5. putter
Someday, somebody will invent one that works. Until then, we all need one anyway.

The standard loft progression: at this point, I've got nine clubs left to use on all of my fairway shots from any distance.

19º fairway wood
I'm a senior and not a big swing-speed hitter anymore, so I don't need a fairway club stronger lofted than eighteen or nineteen degrees.

23º fairway wood
I'm not a hybrid guy, so this will take me into my middle irons.

7 irons and wedges
These last seven clubs, the simplest ones, are where we must get creative. For me, that means wider than four degree increment gaps in my irons and wedges. This is what creates room for all the other clubs that I want to bag.

Something like this works for me: 27, 32, 37, 42, 47º irons; 52, 57º wedges.

That's fourteen clubs covering every likely situation for the 10-18 handicap player.