Hawsers for courses..

[ianshearin]

So my last Year has seen me enjoy Golf and decide it is where the rest of my sportimg life will be. I bought a full set of clubs with bag and stuff for £250 when I started and now it's time to get some proper clubs.

I have listened to all the advice here and taken note of players views on Irons etc but one thing I havent seen is the breakdown of clubs in a bag.

On my course (Martin Moor) I use a driver on most of the holes, the second shot is generally a mid Iron or a pitch, there are 4 holes that require a good wack from the fairway which is normally a fairway wood.
So my estimation is that I only need
6-PW, Sand Iron, extra wedge for distance accuracy, Fairway Wood, Driver and possibly a rescue club of some sort.
That makes 10 clubs max.

Looking at the Iron sets they come in 3/4-PW which is a couple of clubs I don't need, do you guys actually use those long Irons and is it possible for me to keep the cost down by asking for a set 6-PW?
Or am I missing a trick and should get the full set of irons?

 

[USER1999]

I use every club in the bag, depending on where I am playing. At the moment, on the winter course, with temporary greens, I use/carry 6 clubs.

In the summer, off the back tees, in medals, I carry a full set, but due to the length of the course, rarely need long irons, mainly driver + hybrid.

I also play alot mid week when the course is not so long. Then I need all my clubs, ditto for when I play away.

You may not find this to be so.

 

[bobmac]

Hi Ian.
I would suggest you get the following
Driver
3 wood
5 wood
3 and 4 hybrid
5-PW
GW 50/52
SW 56/58
Putter

 

[The_LHC]

Thing is there's a BIG gap between a fairway metal and a 6-iron, now it might be that it's a gap you never encounter on your home course, but what happens if you go play somewhere else, that has some longer par 4s (but not so long you can hit a fairway metal). More to the point, what happens if you duff a drive off the tee and leave yourself exactly at 4-iron distance.

Having said all that, as a relative beginner you may be better off getting hybrids for the 3/4/5 as they'll be easier to hit. It's not likely to save you any money however, although you should be able to get away with just two, rather than three, if you choose the lofts with a bit of care.

 

[ianshearin]

That looks like a good selection Bob, might just do that.
I like the idea of 4 different short clubs, I really enjoy the short game and find being able to have 4 clubs available for getting the distance correct might be the way for me, I am a bit anal on distance and have invested in a Laser Range Finder which has been invaluable in getting onto the green, well it was until the winter hit us...

erm... whats a GW? Ground Wedge?

Good point on having a club available for those emergency duffs LHC.... *cough* I think I will avoid the Long Irons for now, I guess I can always add them later.

Oh hang on when you said GW 50/52 did you mean 2 clubs or 1?

 

[The_LHC]

GW - Gap Wedge, typically around 52 degrees, it fills the "gap" between the pitching wedge (usually 48deg) and the Sand Wedge (normally 56 deg).

I got one recently, very nice club, very versatile, although I didn't use it this weekend, the greens were frozen, so I was playing chip and runs with the 60 deg lob wedge...

 

[viscount17]

you have to consider that you will inevitably play other courses. have you thought about longer Par 3's for instance, say 185/195 - me, I use 4-iron. What's your plan for into wind tee-shots?
you have to allow yourself all the options and I just like hitting long irons

 

[Imurg]

pitching wedge (usually 48deg)

The theory is the same but most pitching wedges these days are 45 or 46 degrees. When you get into "players" clubs (Mizzy/Titty) then the wedge tends to be 47.
Very few 48's about unless you've dumped the wedge from your set and bought a Vokey or similar.

 

[ianshearin]

I will defo be playing different courses next Year, hopefully taking part in some Open tournaments, I am also going to spend a Month in South Africa staying with a golfing mad mate, so thats gonna be lots of new courses.

The long Par 3's I have generally been using my rescue wood (4) gets up in the air and carries 160-170yds.

No idea what to do about into wind tee shots yet, I was just thinking to adjust my Driving to keep it down.

Im gonna go with Bobs advice for now and maybe add to the bag as I get more experience.

Thanks for comments guys, much appreciated