Can’t get on with Hybrids?

[Crow]

The trend seems to be for Iron sets to be 5 to PW these days unless you want to go top end, so choice becomes more limited and cost goes up.

You have to fill out the bottom end too!
Irons used to come in sets of 8, or 9 if you included a sand wedge, what a big marketing con golf has become.

 

[Britishshooting]

You have to fill out the bottom end too!
Irons used to come in sets of 8, or 9 if you included a sand wedge, what a big marketing con golf has become.

It is strange how it all changes via marketing, clever on their part to sell a wider range of clubs.

I've only dropped the 3 iron this year and that was in favour of a 2 iron to get closer to my 3 wood.

I remember buying sets and being confused why they were removing clubs everytime i seem to get fitted:

1st set:
3-sw

2nd set
3-pw

3rd set
4-pw

4th set
5-pw and its remained that way.

Now just have to add 4 iron to my set and suitable longer iron.

 

[Hoganman1]

I don't know when you bought your first set but if it was in the mid 90s or before my guess is the lofts were weaker. If you check the lofts you'll find that today's 4 through gap wedge corresponds to what the 3 through PW sets used to be twenty five years ago. My recollection is that Cobra Golf started this with their King Cobra irons. It wasn't long before other OEMs followed suit. I looked at a set of TM Aeroburner irons recently and the 4 iron was 19*. That was a 2 iron in my old set of Ping Eye 2s which I still own.

 

[Orikoru]

It is strange how it all changes via marketing, clever on their part to sell a wider range of clubs.

I've only dropped the 3 iron this year and that was in favour of a 2 iron to get closer to my 3 wood.

I remember buying sets and being confused why they were removing clubs everytime i seem to get fitted:

1st set:
3-sw

2nd set
3-pw

3rd set
4-pw

4th set
5-pw and its remained that way.

Now just have to add 4 iron to my set and suitable longer iron.

True. The strengthening of lofts over time has meant the 5 iron from today's sets are almost similar to the 3 iron of 20 years ago. So they've taken 3 irons out because most ordinary golfers can't hit them anymore. But this has obviously created the need for gap wedges and the like.

Really they need to rename the PW as a '10 iron' these days, and then include the PW after that at a loft more akin to the old pitching wedges. I don't even think of my PW as a wedge, it is one in name only really. I think of it as another iron.