{"id":2199,"date":"2007-10-12T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2007-10-12T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/columns\/trap_five\/the_five_club_challenge"},"modified":"2007-10-11T20:31:57","modified_gmt":"2007-10-12T00:31:57","slug":"the_five_club_challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/trap_five\/the_five_club_challenge","title":{"rendered":"The Five Club Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TrapA friend of mine invited me to play in a casual five-club challenge a few weeks ago. By “five-club challenge,” she meant that you could only carry five clubs (not that there were five different clubs competing). As it turned out, I wasn’t able to play because of a little thing called a job (my early retirement plan hasn’t yet come to fruition… come on Super Lotto!), but I did go so far as to start planning out my strategy.
\n
\nI was a little disappointed in not being able to participate. Playing a round with fewer clubs is good for your game. You have to learn to make shots with clubs that are designed to make other shots. For instance, you may need to hit a pitching wedge 150 yards or 80. It’s good for your versatility. Plus, it sounded like fun.<\/p>\n

I’ve mentioned in the forum before that I think the 14-club limit is brilliant. I know what you’re saying: if it was a 15-club limit, I would probably still have a 16th club that I’d wish I could get in the bag. You’re probably right, but there’s something about that 14-club limit that just seems diabolically ingenious. It’s enough to give you an option for most yardages, but you always wind up with some gaps, generally at the upper and lower ends of your yardage range.<\/p>\n

So, just what would I carry if I hoped to shoot a decent score with only five clubs. What five would give me the best chance of getting around the course?<\/p>\n

I’d need to get off the tee, to advance the ball at least close to the green on second shots, and to have a chance at getting up and down on occasion, at least. Then there’s the added problem of par threes and long par fours.<\/p>\n

Here’s what I came up with as my five-club set. Comment below to share your five-club composition.<\/p>\n

Number Five: The Hybrid<\/strong>
\nWhile some folks still like to hit the long irons, a lot of people are switching to hybrids because they are so easy to hit. I currently have two. An 18.5° that I use in place of a five wood and a 23° that replaces my 3-iron. I’ve chosen this club to make my five-club bag because it’s simply one of the most versatile clubs I own.<\/p>\n

I can hit it off the tee, off the fairway, or out of the rough with equal success. I can even chip with it in some situations. Though it gives me a reliable 210 yards off the fairway, on days when I’m not carrying my 4-iron, I can just choke up a little and get 195 or 200 yards pretty easily.<\/p>\n

Number Four: The 52° Wedge<\/strong>
\nEasy decision here… I can hit a full 52 about 125 if I stand on it, but I can also choke down and hit it 110, or open it up and hit a lob shot if the situation requires. It’s also my favorite chipping weapon.<\/p>\n

Number Three: The Driver<\/strong>
\nOh, I could get by with a 3-wood, and that would give me a long club for potentially reaching par fives in two, but the distance and forgiveness of my driver off the tee makes it well worth the limited uses for it. And if I do feel the need to try to reach a par five in two, there’s always the hero shot: driver off the deck.<\/p>\n

Number Two: Everyone Loves the Seven-iron<\/strong>
\nRoy “Tin Cup<\/a>” McAvoy may have said it best:<\/p>\n

\n

Sometimes I fan that two iron.
\n[snap] Better gimme the three.
\n[snap] Sometimes I catch that three a little thin…
\nAnd I’ve hooked my four iron… [snap]
\n… and hit flyers with the five… [snap]
\n… and shanked the six… [snap]
\n… and skulled the eight… [snap]
\n… and fatted the nine… [snap]
\n… and chili-dipped the wedge… [snap]
\n… and bladed the sand wedge… [snap]
\n… and then there’s Mister Three-putt… [snap]
\nBut the seven iron… I never miss the seven iron. It’s the only truly safe club in my bag.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I have missed with my seven iron, but it is overall probably about the surest thing in my bag as well. In addition, you can chip with a seven, and even open it up and hit something approaching wedge shots with it. I figure with a driver (270 yards) and seven (164), I can reach most par fours up to 434 yards or even a little more. And driver-seven-seven will get me to most par fives, even if I didn’t have the hybrid. There are also an awful lot of par threes that play between 150 yards (choke up on the seven) and 170 (smoke it).<\/p>\n

Number One: The Putter<\/strong>
\nYes, I could<\/em> putt with the blade of my wedge or seven iron, but why? I’m going to have about 30-35 putts per round, far more shots than I’m likely to have with any other club. So why not bring along a specialist for the greens? In addition, it will be useful for those Texas-wedge situations where you can putt from off the green.<\/p>\n

What are Your Picks?<\/strong>
\nSo, those are my five picks. What would you do if faced with the same situation? You can only have five clubs to play a full 18 holes on a reasonably difficult course. What are you going to pick? Post your answers in the comments below or, if you’re a member of our forum<\/a>, in this thread<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, what if I could only use three clubs? Hmmm…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You can only use five clubs to play your next round. Quick! What do you pick?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trap_five"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Five Club Challenge (Trap Five) - The Sand Trap .com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/trap_five\/the_five_club_challenge\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"The Five Club Challenge (Trap Five) - The Sand Trap .com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"You can only use five clubs to play your next round. 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