To have or not to have? 14 clubs...

[tsped83]

Evening one and all,

So, I carry 12 clubs, which you may marvel at below. But how many of you (I suspect a lot) carry/need/use 14 clubs a round? Is there a club you carry but never use?

I ask because I love new shiney things, and whilst my bag has a revolving door when it comes to putters, the rest of the bag hasn't changed much this year. And so I find myself wondering on the vacant two slots in the bag, should i fill them? On my home course (which is 95% of the golf I play) I don't really feel I lack for anything, especially in terms of distance. Maybe a hybrid? But then my 5W is great from fairway and rough, and would the distance gap be that noticeable between a 5W and 20' hybrid?

Lots of questions, now over to you for some answers.

Cheers

 

[Ian_S]

I'm on 12 at the minute since the driver came out of the bag (bad club, get on the naughty step). 3&5 woods, 4-PW, 50 and a 58 wedge and the putter. Possibly a gap there for a 54, but otherwise I'm pretty well sorted with my dozen. Think it's that for 13 and then when I get on with my driver again I'll be up to my full compliment.

 

[Hobbit]

1,3,5 wood.
#4 recovery
4-pw
52*&56*
putter.

The recovery fills the gap between 5 wood & 4 iron. And its far better out of a wooly lie than the iron.

 

[Hallsy]

Just took out my 5 wood and replaced with my 21 hybrid. Im happy with my set up now so will stay as is ......................for a bit

 

[Imurg]

There's times I only use 8 or 9 of my 14 but there are just as many times when I use all of them, maybe only once but they'll all get a run out.
Currently bagging 1,3,5 woods, 3i or 7w, 4-pw, 52, 58 + putter

 

[One Planer]

I have 14 but considering dropping my 3 iron as I can't remember the last time I hit it

Happy with 14 but don't consider it a necessity.

 

[TheClaw]

I use pretty much all of my clubs. Obviously I'll have rounds where a certain yardage/club isn't hit.

Only use the lob wedge around the green, over bunkers etc. so could prob do without it if I needed the space.

 

[palindromicbob]

Going to drop my 3w. It's being very naughty recently. Can honestly say I used every other club in the bag on my last 3 rounds at home including my PBs.

 

[Whereditgo]

Rarely do all 14 get used in one round, but certainly would all get used over 2 or 3 rounds. My favoured set up would be driver, 17 deg hybrid, 3 - PW, 52, 56 & 60 deg wedges and putter, however.....my driver is also misbehaving and will be swapped out for the 3 wood and maybe the 3 iron for the 20 deg hybrid for the Club Champs this weekend.

Generally I will swap about a bit depending on course conditions and how well/badly I'm swinging, the 60 deg stays home in winter for example.

There are a couple of big gaps at the top end of your bag, if you needed an excuse and feel the lure.......

 

[groundskeeperwilly]

A few times recently I have played with only 8 clubs: Driver/3 Wood, 6Iron-PW, 56* Wedge & Putter. Scores are about the same as with 12/13/14....

 

[Gazboy]

I carry my 5 iron although I almost never use it, I'm very superstitious (I really wish someone hadn't told me that opening a bag of crisps upside down was unlucky) so I won't carry 13 clubs. If I'm not taking the driver then the 5i stays behind to keep it company.

 

[Mav281]

I've got 14 clubs in the bag and use the vast majority of them each round at my home club.

Of course different venues need differnt setups and what I dont use at my home club I often use elsewhere.

Quite happy with my setup as it stands.

 

[Pro Zach]

I carry my 5 iron although I almost never use it, I'm very superstitious (I really wish someone hadn't told me that opening a bag of crisps upside down was unlucky) so I won't carry 13 clubs. If I'm not taking the driver then the 5i stays behind to keep it company.

It's quite difficult and can result in crisps up the nose. However, opening an upside down bag of crisps is not unlucky.

I find not having a driver or 5 iron is often unlucky. Especially on many tee shots and some medium length approach shots.

 

[ScienceBoy]

I hardly ever use my 8 iron, thinking of leaving it out the bag to save weight. I do use it for the odd 3/4 shot but its no use on any par 3s at my course.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

I carry 13 and use them all but have no need for a 14th

 

[StrangelyBrown]

I carry 13. Used to keep a 60* but dropped it as it got me into too much bother.

Driver
4w
19* hybrid
4-PW
50* Gap wedge
56* Sand wedge
Putter

 

[mikeb4]

Evening one and all,

So, I carry 12 clubs, which you may marvel at below. But how many of you (I suspect a lot) carry/need/use 14 clubs a round? Is there a club you carry but never use?

I ask because I love new shiney things, and whilst my bag has a revolving door when it comes to putters, the rest of the bag hasn't changed much this year. And so I find myself wondering on the vacant two slots in the bag, should i fill them? On my home course (which is 95% of the golf I play) I don't really feel I lack for anything, especially in terms of distance. Maybe a hybrid? But then my 5W is great from fairway and rough, and would the distance gap be that noticeable between a 5W and 20' hybrid?

Lots of questions, now over to you for some answers.

Cheers

There is no point in having a club in the bag you cant or dont use, you should have confidence with all clubs in the bag, if there is a particular club you like but are struggling with it, practice and then practice some more.
Why dont you get a 3 wood there is a gap between 10.5 and 18 what about a K15 3 wood think they are 16 deg, good club easy to hit.

 

[garyinderry]

I used every club in my bag at least once on sunday. I could easily stick another 3 or 4 in there! more options!


you don't need them, but is sure is nice to have options.

 

[Ethan]

Most rounds there are one or two clubs I don't use, but the trouble is I don't know which ones they will be until afterwards. I didn't hit my 7 iron on Saturday but I wouldn't have considered leaving it out beforehand.

 

[duncan mackie]

Most rounds there are one or two clubs I don't use, but the trouble is I don't know which ones they will be until afterwards. I didn't hit my 7 iron on Saturday but I wouldn't have considered leaving it out beforehand.

:thup:

I also agree Mikeb4's observation that "There is no point in having a club in the bag you cant or dont use, you should have confidence with all clubs in the bag, " All that happens is that you get into a negative feedback loop with a club (like the 8 iron mentioned earlier) through only selecting it when none of your favoured clubs will do the job (bad lie, need extra height etc etc) - inevitably it fails it's impossible task and confirms your existing thoughts that it's flawed, you can't hit it ........

What you should really do is take out the 7 and 9 for a couple of rounds, and learn to love the 8 for what it is.

I play about 30% of my summer rounds on different courses - and on the better courses I find I use more of the clubs.