Yardage gaps

Ok so I have been running into a problem as of late that occurs on a few of the Par 5's I play. I got my clubs fitted for me when I was approximatly 12 years old and I haven't changed them around much but I got them knowing I was going to keep them for a few years. I have ran into a problem where sometimes I have a yardage into par 5's that I didn't ever have last year since i got about 25 yards longer over the winter. I will tell you my clubs and there yardages for a full swing:

60 degree wedge--<71 yards

56 degree wedge--80-91 yards

52 degree wedge--95-105 yards

P--125 yards

9--135 yards

8--145-150 yards

7--160 yards

6--175 yards

5--185 yards

4--195-200 yards

22 degree--215

17 degree--245-260

Vokey and Jaws wedges

Titleist 2008 AP1 irons

904f woods

so If I have anywhere from 215-245 yards to go and I am on a shorter par 5, I either have to try and hit a cut to take some off of my 17 degree wood which can turn disastrous or I have to try to hit like a low hook 22 degree which is also not the best shot to have to hit. I am thinking removing my 22 degree since that is the only club in my bag that when I hit it it takes a huge sweeping hook with tons of backspin and replace it with a 2 or 3 hybrid I don't know which because I will start to get even longer which means a lot of par 5's I will be in that general gap yardage. Oh and i would say I can reach about 75% of the par 5s I play. And I also have a good sized gap between my Pitching wedge and my 52 degree for some reason which forces me to take my pitching wedge and swing 3/4 which is a shot I have gotten good at but it doesn't work in every situation. What do you reccomend I do as far as configuring my club set?

if need be I can provide more info later about my game.

Your 22 hybrid and your 4i probably have close to the same loft, and you have 5 degrees separation between your 17 and your 22.  If you like your 17, I would say replace the 22 with a 20 or 21 degree, or switch it up to a 16 and 19.   Anyway, try working on those lofts (and possibly shafts) of your hybrids.  My 20 degree is my most versatile hybrid.  I can play it like a 7 wood or a 3 iron (choked up alittle).

furthermore, go 16, 19, 22 hybrids and consolidate your wedges to 54/60 or 52/58 with mid bounce.  just one example of what you could do.

Sorry I didnt make it clear. The 22 degree is actually a fairway wood not a hybrid so it has a flexier shaft and longer length.

I would work on a 3 wedge configuration ( you currently have 4) and add an extra wood/hybrid.   Just one idea, but it may bridge the gap in your longer yardages.

why not work on taking some off of your 17 degree and using that to fill your yardage gap?  Better to take more club and swing easier than to have to go full throttle to reach whatever distance.

Several options:

1) Choke up an inch on your fairway wood.

2) Hit your 22 hybrid to get close.

3) Work on your wedge game to get up and down more.

I wouldn't worry one bit about the 220-240 yard club.  From that distance accuracy will be at a minimum anyway.  How many times does it even come up?  Kind of pointless to have a club that you will hit once every other round.  Hit the 22º or 4-iron to a good spot in front of the green and get up and down.  Or lay up to 85 yards and have an easy wedge shot in.  You don't have to go for every shot to score.  If you insist on going for every shot however, learn how to choke down on the 17º and use an abbreviated swing.  Pretty easy shot to pull off when you get the hang of it.

Just curious, how old are you?  About 15 or so i guess, seeing how you got fitted at 12 and your irons are a 2008 model?  I imagine you are much taller and stronger now.  Might be time to go hit a few different fairways on a launch monitor, maybe even think about rebuilding your irons (shaft flex/length change may be in order?).

I'm just thinking out loud here..... Your 4 iron is 23°, and your 7W is 22°.  Do you carry a driver?  Just asking since you don't mention one in the list of 12 above.

Maybe switch the woods to a 15° and 19° set.  That would give you 4° between the 3W and 5W, also 4° between the 5W and 4 iron.  You will then have 3° between the 4i - 5i and 5i - 6i, then 4° on down to the PW.

Quote:

On the 17*, can you choke up 1/4 to 1/2" and take a little yardage off that way? It's an alternative to "swing easy," which some people have trouble with.

Being that you have a 6 HDCP, you might switch to wedges of all the same brand and model. Unless you have mix for performance reasons. On the wedges, check the shaft lengths. On numbered irons, you normally have a half-inch difference in shaft length up and down the set. For wedges - stock or specialty - that is not always the case. Go to the technicl specs for the wedges you use and you'll see what I mean.

You can have the lengths adjusted to meet your need. Consider getting a wedge fitting.

That's a good point, I guess I really don't need a perfect fill in on my longer clubs. Yes I do carry a driver I just felt like I didn't need to mention it. As for it, it carries on average about 248 and 263 with roll. I do prefer the 17 degree though because if I need to carry a hazard or something on a par 5, I would get farther carry distance on a 17 degree than with a 15 degree, and if you have good carry distance it plays better all around. And the 22 degree fairway wood is one of my least favorite clubs in my bag because if there is any wind the ball is affected so much it is hard to judge because I can't really hit it low and it has tons of backspin when I hit it and it also for some reason has a big sweeping hook. It is the same brand/shaft as the 17 degree. So I would say my biggest gaps are between my 17 and 22 (22 fairwaywood in absolutely no breeze goes about 10-15 yards farther than my 4 iron, I could maybe ditch it for a cavity back 3 iron with a graphite shaft or a 19 degree hybrid?)  And probably even more importantly, my 52 and Pitching wedge. My PW goes about 125 and 52 goes about 100, 56 about 85, 60 about 72. EDIT: I just was lookin through the lofts of iron sets and saw my PW is 45 which is a 7 yard step up in loft, that makes sense now. But That is odd because my friend who is a very good ball striker hits his drives only about 15 yards farther than me but he is 2 clubs longer in like mid-short irons AND he is using Forged irons which already have more loft than my irons I have. Do some people just not hit their irons to scale with their drives or what? My other friend is about 10 yards shorter than me off the tee but we use the same club at like say 140 yards?

And should I upgrade to forged irons if I don't really need to shape my shots anymore than I do now (which is rare) with my irons or are there other advantages?

LOL sorry about all the questions

Forged or cast makes little difference.  There are 'players' clubs, and 'game improvement' clubs.  Some are forged, some are cast, but forged or cast makes no difference in how you are able to play them.  The process in which a club is made isn't as important as the metals made to make them.  If you are happy with your current set of clubs, then I wouldn't worry about it at this point as long as the shafts are still okay for you.

If you REALLY want to go with a new club then I would ditch the 22 degree and buy a 20 degree hybrid.  That will put you at 3 degree gaps between 17 and 4iron.  That should be all you need to work out all the distances.