Club Gapping - Page 2

Re: Club Gapping

Re: Club Gapping

Originally Posted by youngskip40

All of the irons I'm considering have relatively traditional lofts, PW is 47*, which is apparently conservative as far as PW lofts nowadays. I can't believe there are PW out there with 45 degree lofts. My 9-iron is 44.5*!

Re: Club Gapping

Yah, I rotate a lot of stuff between my Driver and 5i:  Callaway X 3w, Cleveland 4w, Titleist 21 909H, Nickent 3i Ironwood hybrid, this funky early metal 5w with a steel shaft.

Totally whimsical, 3w about 220, I hit all about the rest about the same distance (about 175-195).

That said, when I finally got my wedge gaps down, game became a lot more steady:  

Mizuno JPX 50  Supposed to be more forgiving, which implies less of a shot maker.  Cast, not forged.  Best wedge I’ve ever had.  I do everything with it.

Vokey 56 sand wedge with 14 degrees bounce, yah, launch that whole damn bunker in the air.

60, for the lob and tight troubles.

Full swing:  50 goes 75, 56 goes 60, 60degrees goes 40-45.  All adjustable by angle of attack and swing speed.

Club designer Ralph Maltby has an interesting view: he suggests carrying a PW, SW (56* or so) and a LW (60*).

He claims a GW is not really needed it you practice on partial PW shots a little more.

Another view comes a local guy who has been playing on the mini-tours. Among the pros, he sees 4-wedge bags mainly with the long hitters who want more variety in close. The medium hitters often go with just 3 wedges, to get an extra club for the 200-yd. zone. Just depends on what you want, and need.

For about 18 months I carried a 46* PW, and CG14s in 50, 54, 58. I finally dumped the 54/58 in favor of a 56*. The 54* didn't quite get the ball out of the sand, and I had trouble with distance control on the 58*. You need to realize, however, that I'm 61 years old... so, I was hitting greenside cut shots with a SW for 20 years before the LW was invented.

Also, three wedges is a lot less hassle to practice than four wedges.  

All depends on what your comfortable with. 

For me, i am not a fan of the lob wedge, i have issues hitting it full with out skying the wedge in the air, i can never get that thing down. So i tend to play up to a sandwedge only. Lob wedges are great for people who have issues with bunkers, but are no needed. You can also mess around with shaft lengths and club lofts to get fitted as well. I usually a 80% one wedge around the green guy, so i am more concerned with full wedge shots than multitude of sole grinds for chipping or pitching. Honestly i almost thought of just ditching the lob wedge, go to two sandwedges, with two grind profiles. I just love chipping with a sandwedge, always have. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by youngskip40 

Roughly, my distances for these "gap areas" are:

60* - 95
56* - 110
PW - 145


3i - 225
2i - 240 or 5w - 255
3w - 275


So, if I take the 2 iron/5-wood out of bag and don't replace it at all, I have about a 50 yard gap to contend with there. And while muscling a 3 iron is a little easier than wimping a 3-wood, neither of them are an extremely comfortable shot, nor will they produce reliable results.

I'm already fighting a 35 yard gap in my wedges, and my current PW is actually a 49 bent to 48, so assuming that when I buy a new set of irons in the next month, the loft will be 47*, that gap will lengthen. (I know that's not a huge difference, but it most certainly won't shorten the gap.)

That said... the standard loft of my DCI 990's are at least 1 degree weaker than what the standard now seems to be, so maybe that combined with a little better technology in newer clubs will increase my distance on my 3-iron to 230-235 ish and make that gap a little more manageable?

Any thoughts on that from anyone who upgraded their irons from a set that is say 7-10 years old?

I see your problem with the gap created if you ditch either the 2i or the 5w. Although I personally would like to have nice gaps between my short irons/wedges. You hit the ball far enough to alter your wood options. How about replacing your 5w and 3w with a 4 wood? That way the gap between long irons and woods won't be that severe, plus you'll have an extra club to eliminate that 35-yards wedge gap...