set make-up ideas for 2012....

I know Erik is gonna eat me alive after this, but I've went back to my Titleist 990b irons (4-PW)... And I have only a 3 degree gap between the pitching and gap wedges...

my current make up is driver, 5-wood, 3-hybrid, 4-PW, 52, 56, 60 deg wedges and obviously putter... I went out and played for the first time last Friday... shot 41... but that's beside the point... I didn't have any gap wedges into any of the greens and I rarely hit my 4-iron...

So for a 10 handicap (I used to be better before my accident)... what's a good suggestion... maybe drop the 52 degree... and take the PW to the lie and loft machine and make it 50 degrees... or make it 48 and the 9-iron 44 and keep the 4 wedges... or is it the top end of the bag that I need to change...

Any suggestions help

44*, 50*, a 56* with high bounce, and a 60, 62, or 64 with low bounce. Then add a 3 wood. I would probably bend the GW strong rather than bending the PW weak, since I prefer a low bounce on my wedges, but you could do the opposite. That's roughly where my set makeup will be next, anyway.

Bending the PW a degree strong seems like the path of least resistance to me. You could also bend the 9-iron half a degree strong as well, and then you'd have four-degree gaps from the 5-iron down. What caught my eye was you're carrying both a 5-wood and 3-hybrid. I agree with Lucius: get a 3-wood, and ditch one of the aforementioned clubs. Based solely on lofts, I'd take out the 5-wood since your 4-iron is 25*, so you'd have 9/15/20/25 at the top.

The 5 wood, all things being equal, should be a bit longer than the 3h, especially with roll added on. I'd say in terms of distance gapping they should both work. The 5w is also a decent option off the tee, while hybrids may have the advantage off the deck and poor lies. Plus it'd stop him from having to buy too many clubs, not that that's a problem.

My suggestion would help on courses that are more challenging, and would help a better player. If he doesn't have a ton of strength or prefers to hit lots of full shots, maybe a ton of wedges would work for him, especially with shorter courses. I certainly almost never hit my 3 wood unless there's a really long par 5, and I really never use it off the tee. If I need a straight shot, I prefer a driving iron over a hybrid and I don't care for my 3 wood.

Some also find a 5 wood to be workable in terms of height; I certainly can't hit a low shot with a hybrid no matter what I do. In fact, every club for me above the 9 iron is losing a lot of yards due to trajectory and spin. If I hit into a 10mph wind, my 9 iron will go 140 or so but my 5 iron will go 170 instead of 210 (It's the shafts; I'm using about 3 flexes too soft for a now 100mph iron swing). The trajectory control is important to some who play in the wind, so that trait might favor low irons or woods over the green stopping ability of a hybrid. A strong wind might make the 3h and the 4 iron fly the same distance some days if it launches high.

First of all, do a distance check comparing the 990 PW and the Watson GW. You are mixing different models of clubs, so don't do any bending until you know what the PW-GW distance gap is.

Clubhead design and shaft length both influence the distance.

well the 3-wood is good advice... I don't know if I wanna stick with four wedges... because my distances are kinda weird... am thinking about getting some Vokey's... here's how the distance gaps look in my bag...

Driver         265

5-wood       230

3-hybrid     220

4-iron         205

5-iron         195

6-iron         180

7-iron         165

8-iron         155

9-iron         142

PW            130

GW            122

SW            105

LW              85

The problem is that minisule 8 yard gap between PW and GW... I figure I'd gain maybe 2 yards in the PW if I strengthen it a degree or lose 3 yards if I weaken it... should i get a 15 degree 3-wood and yank the 5-wood... get "matching" wedges... or maybe drop the gap wedge and strengthen the sand wedge to 55 and lose 1 degree of bounce?

Except for the 5-wood, your set configuration and yardages are pretty much identical to mine before I went from four wedges to three (I had a 3-wood). I originally made an uninformed decision and bought the matching AW and SW, so starting with the 9-iron, my lofts were 43/47/51/55/60. Since I never used the AW and didn't like the clunky look and feel of it and the SW, I got rid of them and decided to put the 3-iron in the bag. What I ended up doing was getting Vokeys (54 and 60) and bending the PW one degree weak, so my lofts are now 43/48/54/60. When I find myself with 122 yards or so, I just choke up a little on the PW. Problem solved. The 3-iron really comes in handy on short par 4s and even tight par 5s that aren't reachable. You could do something like this with your set. Regarding the other questions, I would replace your 5-wood with a 3-wood and get matching wedges. Best of luck, and please let us know what you end up doing.

ok... so this is what I did and this is gonna sound a little strange... but follow me on this...

Kept the Driver... because frankly I do alright with it... I could stand to gain a few yards but what the hell... I don't use it much...

I yanked the 5-wood completely out of the bag... because I have zero confidence when I stand up 230 yards from the green on a par-5... I always lay-up so it's an unnecessary evil...

I replaced the top part of the bag with get this... hybrids ... i decided instead of going with a 3-wood that I would get the Nickent 3DX Genex 1-hybrid with 14 degrees... I replaced the 5-wood with the Nickent 3DX Genex 2-hybrid with 17 degrees.... and yanked the 4-iron and replaced it with the Nickent Genex 3DX 4-hybrid with 23 degrees...

As for the bottom of the bag I got a 54 and 60 degree Cleveland 900s... And kept my irons the same lofts...

So basically I'm the hybrid man out on the course... a Driver, 1,2,3, and 4 hybrids, 5-PW, 54, 60, and a putter... which I'm gonna replace... basically I overhauled my set on less than $150...

Any suggestions on a new putter under $100?

The hybrid experiment is working well... considering I hit driver only 4 times a round on my home course... The hybrid experiment is working to the point of perfection... I hit the 14-degree of the 4th and 18th the two longer par-fours which with the prevailing wind coming of Cayuga Lake... still leaves me with only 8 or 9-iron into 4 and 6 or 7-iron into 18... I hit the 17-degree off of 3, 5, 8, 12(par 5), and 14... the other 4 par 4's I hit the 20-degree hybrid off the tee 6, 13, 15, and 17... I basically have the 4-hybrid for the tee shot on the 200-yard 16th... and to lay-up at the par-five ninth...

Why don't you go to Golf Galaxy and look at used putters and get a like i did best 60 dollars ever spent.