Set Configuration

[Ye Olde Boomer]

I hope that I haven't posted this already.
My memory isn't what it once was.

Set configuration is a favorite topic of mine. From experience, I don't configure a set in linear progression from driver to putter.

I bag ten fairway clubs chosen in coordination with each other to work as a set. These can vary, but presently they're...

4- or 5-wood
7-wood
5-9 irons
48, 53, 58º wedges.

I bag four shot-specific utilities chosen individually without regard to each other or the other ten. These are always the same.

driver (or strong fairway wood used as driver)
driving iron
sand wedge
putter.

If the driving iron has a loft overlap with a fairway wood, no problem.
If the specialized sand wedge has a loft overlap with a grass wedge, no problem.
Each club has its own job.

When I looked at the complete set as a whole, I couldn't get down to fourteen clubs.
When I divided the set into two parts, I could then choose the fourteen most useful clubs for my game.

 

[Foxholer]

...
When I divided the set into two parts, I could then choose the fourteen most useful clubs for my game.

That's all that matters!

 

[Deleted member 23270]

I'm not sure of the point of this thread. Am I meant to respond with what's in my bag?

 

[Orikoru]

Mine's sort of similar actually. I have one wedge - a crappy Dunlop 60 degree - that I only use in bunkers. I also have recently bought a GAPR Hi to use as a driving iron type of club - probably won't get used off the deck much at all.

A couple of years ago I had an old graphite shaft 3-iron in the bag, which I was using only off the tee - a really chunky Big Bertha one from the 90s. It was the same loft as my longest hybrid (20°). But the iron was better off the tee (straighter), whereas the hybrid was much easier to hit off the deck, hence why they were both in the bag for a while. So I get where you're coming from.

 

[garyinderry]

Pretty sure you did this exact thread a few weeks ago.

 

[carldudley]

Was having a few thoughts about my bag last night too.

5i is coming out (not working at the moment), new GAPR Hi and 6i going in.

Then I've started hitting (well, making contact) with my 3w so that is a contender too.

The course I play is short and tight, will be trying a new tactic this weekend of going driving iron (2i)/GAPR off the tee and see how i fair.

Takes some working out and what's working well at any particular point.

 

[Orikoru]

Pretty sure you did this exact thread a few weeks ago.

https://forums.golf-monthly.co.uk/threads/set-configuration-old-and-new.103951/

 

[Orikoru]

Pretty sure you did this exact thread a few weeks ago.

https://forums.golf-monthly.co.uk/threads/set-configuration-old-and-new.103951/

Wait a minute, there's this one as well: https://forums.golf-monthly.co.uk/threads/configuring-a-set-of-golf-clubs.103849/

 

[Ye Olde Boomer]

I'm not sure of the point of this thread. Am I meant to respond with what's in my bag?

Not about brands and models.
It's about choice of clubs.

Nicklaus, for example, played driver, 3-wood, 1-9 irons, PW, SW, putter.

Michelle Wie carried driver, 3-wood, 5-wood, 7-wood, 9-wood, 6-9 irons, PW, GW, SW, LW, and putter.

Both have fourteen golf clubs. Totally different set configurations. Brands and models aren't relevant to the discussion.
I'm interested in how players arrive at the decision of what fourteen clubs to bag out of the many choices which now include hybrids..

 

[Deleted member 23270]

I never mentioned brands, I just said I don't understand the thread. I know people have different setups in their bags.

 

[Ye Olde Boomer]

I never mentioned brands, I just said I don't understand the thread. I know people have different setups in their bags.

My interest, obviously unshared, is the thought process that went into configuring a set.
Clearly, nobody else is curious about these things which is fine.
We'll let the thread pass on.

 

[Deleted member 23270]

My interest, obviously unshared, is the thought process that went into configuring a set.
Clearly, nobody else is curious about these things which is fine.
We'll let the thread pass on.

OK I'll indulge you. I swap between a hybrid and a driving iron depending on the type of course I'm playing.

 

[ScienceBoy]

Ive made pretty terrible back setup decisions over the last 10 years since I took up golf, I cant afford to correct them and they probably wouldn’t improve my game much if I did as I can barely hit anything over a 5 iron anyway.

I’m stuck with a 3 wood and a hybrid I just cant learn to get on with (not the clubs fault, its my swing) and a driver that is perfect for me but I never practice enough to reach its potential.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

I have :
Driver
4 wood
Hybrid
4-pw
50,54,58
Putter

I only have that set up because I only own 14 clubs- I know that seems weird on this forum, but there it is!

I don’t really understand having a variety of set ups, unless you regularly go from links to parkland, and maybe prefer a long iron to a hybrid at times .

 

[bobmac]

9 deg Driver,
12 deg 3-wood
1-9 irons, PW, SW, putter.
Same as the big guy.

I do have an 18 deg hybrid which I swap with my 2 iron if It's a serious comp.

 

[Orikoru]

Not about brands and models.
It's about choice of clubs.

Nicklaus, for example, played driver, 3-wood, 1-9 irons, PW, SW, putter.

Michelle Wie carried driver, 3-wood, 5-wood, 7-wood, 9-wood, 6-9 irons, PW, GW, SW, LW, and putter.

Both have fourteen golf clubs. Totally different set configurations. Brands and models aren't relevant to the discussion.
I'm interested in how players arrive at the decision of what fourteen clubs to bag out of the many choices which now include hybrids..

Well lofts have changed so those two sets are probably not quite as different as you think. Wie's GW is probably equivalent to Nicklaus PW or maybe even 9 iron. So it's just three long irons replaced with woods really - whatever the golfer feels they hit best.

 

[Orikoru]

Ive made pretty terrible back setup decisions over the last 10 years since I took up golf, I cant afford to correct them and they probably wouldn’t improve my game much if I did as I can barely hit anything over a 5 iron anyway.

I’m stuck with a 3 wood and a hybrid I just cant learn to get on with (not the clubs fault, its my swing) and a driver that is perfect for me but I never practice enough to reach its potential.

How can you not afford it? Sell one on ebay, replace it with a second hand club, barely cost you anything in the exchange. That's what I do all the time. Sell one to buy one, only in exceptional circumstances have I bought brand new clubs.

 

[Bxm Foxy]

Driver 10.5 degree
3 Wood 16.5 degrees
5 Wood 19 degree
4 and 5 H
6-PW
50, 56, 60 Wedges

 

[ScienceBoy]

How can you not afford it?

Everyone's situation is different, I have priced it up and I can't afford to do what I want right now. Your suggestion is certainly right for you but would bring no benefit to me and would not be time and money well spent in my mind. Its important to be comfortable with your purchases or you will only have the itch to get rid of them.

I am "Comfortable" with my clubs as they are and I know my limitations with them. I personally feel more comfortable just hitting a 5 iron than changing things up with my set right now, I am where I am and I accept it.