Sunday 27 February 2011

The Golf Clubs I carry and why... an insight into my bag selection

Here are the clubs I currently carry and my reasons for doing so:

3 Wood - Wilson Staff Fybrid
4 Iron to Sand-Wedge Jack Nicklaus HiCT
60 degree PING Lob Wedge
White Hot Odyssey Putter
Rescue Club - Taylor Made R7 CGB Max Distance 3

Surely a driver?
What no driver? Well for me I have dropped the driver for the moment as my swing tends to cause punishment if I miss-hit. Nothing is worse than hitting a long ball along way out-of-bounds or into some wooded area, and I have found that the 3 Wood can give me the same distance but with a-lot more accuracy. I am surprised sometimes when people take drivers for holes which don't necessarily need a big hit to get the GIR (greens in regulation leaving 2 putts for par) GIR explained.


What about those Irons?
My irons are a newish addition, having replaced some early Slazengers and I am very confident with what these clubs can do. From the tee they create a big distance with great accuracy and at times my 4 Iron will replace my 3-wood for maximum distance and accuracy. Now there is a slight problem in terms of distances between my pitching-wedge and my sand-wedge and this is making me consider a gap-wedge to fill in the missing yardage between the two clubs.

So what is the point of carrying a lob-wedge if you have a sand wedge?
I purely use my 60 degree lob wedge for very gentle pitches around 50 yards or less and where I want to create maximum stopping power. Often it is necessary to say go over a bunker or another obstacle, and so I want to avoid unnecessary run on the ball and will instead focus my flop as close to the target as possible.

And your putter?
My putter is getting old now but we bonded well. This is the most important club in your whole arsenal, and the one you should feel connected with. Why? Well that's easy - this is the club you will hit the ball with the most in any round.

Take a driver, or in my case a 3 Wood - say I would hot that 6 or 7 times a round. Most of my other clubs the same in differing ratios. HOWEVER my putter I will hit say on average 2 strokes every hole - that's an incredible 36 strokes with one club!

My view has always been when buying a putter, that you should never economise. The price tag is not relevant only how you feel with the club. How well will you bond? Good shops often have sample clubs for you to try on the course or at the driving range which is always a good idea to take advantage of.

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