3 iron or hybrid equivalent

[Jigger]

I use the 3 iron version, occasional mishits but struck well it goes about 215 yards

I’ve got the 4iron and get so much more of the sweet spot than my 4 iron it replace or my 3 hybrid

 

[Fabia999]

Personally I would go and trial a seven wood and a hybrid. I find it a lot easier to hit a hybrid over a wood. It carries further but when I had one I would top it. Hybrid, for me, is much easier to hit and pick up. I have quite a slow swing speed.

 

[Oddsocks]

If be wanting to know why the op is a 28 capper. I know a 24 capper that strikes some of the purest irons yet is the perfect example of a driving range pro! If he spent six months on focused intense short game work he’d be single digits in year 1

 

[Backsticks]

Unless you're the exception to the rule, the vast majority of amateur golfers don't generate enough club head speed to use a 5 iron properly, let alone a 3 iron...
Hybrid...virtually every time...as there's always an exception to the rule....

Is there the exception though ? Surely if someone can pure a 3 iron, they can hit a hybrid. Is there really any gain for ANYONE to carry long irons (other than simply the pleasure of the challenge, but no true performance benefit) ? When even high swing speed pros are using hybrids and 7 woods ...

Is the only reason 3 and 4 irons, and even 5 irons are still common currency, because manufacturers would be losing sales if they removed them from iron sets.
Am in that position myself. Would renew my 15 year old irons showing wear and tear just for newness. But really only need 6 to 9. But I guess manufacturers dont want irons sets to become just 4 clubs !

 

[MACM85]

Is there the exception though ? Surely if someone can pure a 3 iron, they can hit a hybrid. Is there really any gain for ANYONE to carry long irons (other than simply the pleasure of the challenge, but no true performance benefit) ? When even high swing speed pros are using hybrids and 7 woods ...

Is the only reason 3 and 4 irons, and even 5 irons are still common currency, because manufacturers would be losing sales if they removed them from iron sets.
Am in that position myself. Would renew my 15 year old irons showing wear and tear just for newness. But really only need 6 to 9. But I guess manufacturers dont want irons sets to become just 4 clubs !

Personally I can hit a 2 or 3 iron with a good strike the majority of the time. Stick a hybrid in my hands and I struggle massively and can't hit them in the air or get anything from them.

 

[RichA]

Personally I can hit a 2 or 3 iron with a good strike the majority of the time. Stick a hybrid in my hands and I struggle massively and can't hit them in the air or get anything from them.

I struggle to hit a hybrid straight and can't diagnose why it's gone left or right as there's so little feedback. As least with an iron you can tell why you've failed.

 

[Golfnut1957]

Is there the exception though ? Surely if someone can pure a 3 iron, they can hit a hybrid. Is there really any gain for ANYONE to carry long irons (other than simply the pleasure of the challenge, but no true performance benefit) ? When even high swing speed pros are using hybrids and 7 woods ...

Is the only reason 3 and 4 irons, and even 5 irons are still common currency, because manufacturers would be losing sales if they removed them from iron sets.
Am in that position myself. Would renew my 15 year old irons showing wear and tear just for newness. But really only need 6 to 9. But I guess manufacturers dont want irons sets to become just 4 clubs !

Yes, like the guy above I also hit 3 iron better than a hybrid. I'm pretty inconsistent with a hybrid, prone to the occasional hook which plays on the mind. The Mizuno MP 20 HMB 3i almost always has a gentle fade, meaning I can aim (down the left) with confidence. I also get a distance out of it equivalent to a similar lofted hybrid, so there's no issue there.

The only hybrid I carry is a genuine rescue club for ugly spots. No driver either at the minute.

 

[Orikoru]

Is there the exception though ? Surely if someone can pure a 3 iron, they can hit a hybrid. Is there really any gain for ANYONE to carry long irons (other than simply the pleasure of the challenge, but no true performance benefit) ? When even high swing speed pros are using hybrids and 7 woods ...

Is the only reason 3 and 4 irons, and even 5 irons are still common currency, because manufacturers would be losing sales if they removed them from iron sets.
Am in that position myself. Would renew my 15 year old irons showing wear and tear just for newness. But really only need 6 to 9. But I guess manufacturers dont want irons sets to become just 4 clubs !

I just bought an iron set yesterday that is 6-PW, so five clubs. I told him from the outset that I had no need for a 5 iron, so that brought the cost down by 100-odd quid.

I have seen on this forum that some better players find hybrids just hook for them, whereas a 3 iron presumably wouldn't do. I can only compare at a lower crossover point, but I used a hybrid instead of a 6 iron for most of the last two years, and only recently returned to using a 6 iron. What I found with that hybrid (27°) was that it was easier to launch of course, but the downside was a huge fade on occasions, or sometimes the ball flight was just too high and it got murdered in the wind for example. I still have a 24° hybrid that replaces my 5 iron, but in my new iron set the lofts are stronger, the 6 iron is 24.5° now so I might have to rethink at some point.

 

[garyinderry]

Is there the exception though ? Surely if someone can pure a 3 iron, they can hit a hybrid. Is there really any gain for ANYONE to carry long irons (other than simply the pleasure of the challenge, but no true performance benefit) ? When even high swing speed pros are using hybrids and 7 woods ...

Is the only reason 3 and 4 irons, and even 5 irons are still common currency, because manufacturers would be losing sales if they removed them from iron sets.
Am in that position myself. Would renew my 15 year old irons showing wear and tear just for newness. But really only need 6 to 9. But I guess manufacturers dont want irons sets to become just 4 clubs !

The common answer is it's easier to flight a 3I down than it is to flight down a hybrid. For elite ball strikers than can be a huge advantage over hybrids.
The trade off is it's less forgiving and harder to hit out of rough.

 

[Banchory Buddha]

28 handicap 76 yrs old play 3 times a week which club would you advise me to use from the fairaway

Hybrid all day long, fitted last winter for whole new bag, already had a 3 & 4 hybrid, now only go from 6 iron down, and have a 2, 4 & 5 hybrids in the bag. Best decidion ever. 4 handicap.

 

[Banchory Buddha]

Is there the exception though ? Surely if someone can pure a 3 iron, they can hit a hybrid. Is there really any gain for ANYONE to carry long irons (other than simply the pleasure of the challenge, but no true performance benefit) ? When even high swing speed pros are using hybrids and 7 woods ...

Is the only reason 3 and 4 irons, and even 5 irons are still common currency, because manufacturers would be losing sales if they removed them from iron sets.
Am in that position myself. Would renew my 15 year old irons showing wear and tear just for newness. But really only need 6 to 9. But I guess manufacturers dont want irons sets to become just 4 clubs !

No to the bit in bold, hybrids are more expensive so manufacturers woul push them if they could.

Irons are imo much more controlable than hybrids, hybrids easier to hit, if you can strike a solid 3 iron and repeat it, then it's a no brainer to stay with irons, but I can;t so I have 3 hybrids in my bag and no iron higher than a 6.

 

[Voyager EMH]

I just bought an iron set yesterday that is 6-PW, so five clubs. I told him from the outset that I had no need for a 5 iron, so that brought the cost down by 100-odd quid.

I have seen on this forum that some better players find hybrids just hook for them, whereas a 3 iron presumably wouldn't do. I can only compare at a lower crossover point, but I used a hybrid instead of a 6 iron for most of the last two years, and only recently returned to using a 6 iron. What I found with that hybrid (27°) was that it was easier to launch of course, but the downside was a huge fade on occasions, or sometimes the ball flight was just too high and it got murdered in the wind for example. I still have a 24° hybrid that replaces my 5 iron, but in my new iron set the lofts are stronger, the 6 iron is 24.5° now so I might have to rethink at some point.

Wow!
A 3-and-a-half iron.
Hope you get on OK with such a difficult-to-use long iron.


OK we've done all this before and you know I'm mostly joking.
My Ping G10 4-iron is 24d. I have to say that you are using a long-iron if it is 24.5d.

 

[Orikoru]

Wow!
A 3-and-a-half iron.
Hope you get on OK with such a difficult-to-use long iron.
View attachment 44678

OK we've done all this before and you know I'm mostly joking.
My Ping G10 4-iron is 24d. I have to say that you are using a long-iron if it is 24.5d.

I agree. Not a fan of the lofts nowadays but I still wanted forgiving irons as I don't think I'm a great ball-striker, and all the forgiving ones seem to have lofts of this nature nowadays. And this is why I didn't bother buying a 5 iron.

Next time I buy irons in another 5 irons I imagine I'll be buying 7 to Gap or something, and the GW will be 43°.

 

[Bdill93]

I agree. Not a fan of the lofts nowadays but I still wanted forgiving irons as I don't think I'm a great ball-striker, and all the forgiving ones seem to have lofts of this nature nowadays. And this is why I didn't bother buying a 5 iron.

Next time I buy irons in another 5 irons I imagine I'll be buying 7 to Gap or something, and the GW will be 43°.

My GW is 47, then my other gap is 52... In total - 5 clubs with "wedge" in the name in my bag!

PW is 42 degrees - bloody ridiculous

 

[Orikoru]

My GW is 47, then my other gap is 52... In total - 5 clubs with "wedge" in the name in my bag!

PW is 42 degrees - bloody ridiculous

Yeah, my new one is 41. I think I'll refer to it as my pitching iron because to call it a wedge is just daft.

 

[Voyager EMH]

41d ? Pretty much an 8-iron.

 

[Bdill93]

Yeah, my new one is 41. I think I'll refer to it as my pitching iron because to call it a wedge is just daft.

It is a bit silly isn't it!

Numbers stamped on clubs these days mean absolutely nothing!