Refining My Bag - Club Choices

[Nutsmacker]

Hey All,

Over the years I have continuously changed my club configuration in my bag to suit the typical courses I play and the shots that I need.   I used to carry stronger 3 woods and longer irons when I was younger because "hitting it far at all costs" was the name of the game for a young man.  It was foolish but fun.  Probably cost me lots of strokes over the years by trying to go for every par 5 in two and make the hero shot.  It was awesome when successful, but I had to be honest with myself and the 4% or 5% eagles I made vs the increased double bogeys on par 5's  was costing me my handicap and any real attempt to get closer to scratch.  

As of right now my set is 

Titleist TS4 Driver - Distance average is 270 yards (8.75 degrees x stiff)

Ping G10 3 wood - 240 yards

Ping G10 5 wood -  230 yards

Callaway XR 7 wood - 215 yards

Ping G Irons

6 Iron - 190 yards

7 iron - 180 yards

8 iron - 170 yards

9 iron - 160 yards

PW - 150 yards

UW - 125 yards

Cleveland CBX 52 Degree wedge - 112 yards

Cleveland CBX 56 Degree wedge - 100 yards

Cleveland CBX 60 Degree wedge - 85 yards

I got rid of most of my long irons as my thought process is that if I am looking at an approach of 200+ Yards, I am not going pin hunting.  I just need to get it airborne and somewhere on or around the green.  This is accomplished with the 7 wood/6 iron depending on the wind, conditions, and my ball striking of the day.   I use my driver and 3 wood off the tee most of the day.  However, I find myself rarely needing the 5 wood and a shot of that range, 230ish yards, I could simply use my 3 wood or 7 wood to compensate.  Bottom line is that the only time that club comes out of my bag is for an attempt at a par 5 in two.   I use all of my wedges a lot more often and the gap between my PW and UW causes me some fits as I find myself in the 135 yard range often for an approach.  This requires me to try and dial down the PW or swing hard with the UW.  The degree of loft on those clubs are 45 degrees for the PW and 50 degrees for the UW.   Anyhow, the dial down or swing "hard" method is not ideal for pin hunting.  I would like to remove my 5 wood from the bag and add a 47 or 48 degree wedge.  However, I really want it to feel like the other clubs in my bag.  The CBX wedges match nicely with the Ping G irons.  Do you folks have any good suggestions on a wedge that would fit in between my PW and UW?  I must say, my scores have improved by giving myself more granularity on my wedges and getting rid of the 5 iron, 4 iron, etc.  It just makes more sense as I want to be close on 150 and in.  200+ and out, I am trying to get par, not birdie.   Any thoughts or insights into similar bag configurations is appreciated.

Edited October 8, 2021 by Nutsmacker

[Vinsk]

Hello and welcome to TST. I don’t see why you can’t be more versatile with your PW. The 25yd gap doesn’t seem too difficult to cover as I believe most people have a range of distances they hit their PW. Your PW max is 150yd, do you only swing it full swing? Do you find it that difficult to dial it down to 135yds? If so,  have you considered just bending your UW to 48*? 

[Nutsmacker]

11 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

Hello and welcome to TST. I don’t see why you can’t be more versatile with your PW. The 25yd gap doesn’t seem too difficult to cover as I believe most people have a range of distances they hit their PW. Your PW max is 150yd, do you only swing it full swing? Do you find it that difficult to dial it down to 135yds? If so,  have you considered just bending your UW to 48*? 

I mean, yes I am able to be versatile with it.  It is not like I am totally messing up the shots or anything.  It is just my thinking that my 5 wood rarely sees any action and when it does it really isn't that important anyway when it comes to my overall score so why not remove it and add a scoring club that will probably get more action.  I lose a little bit of distance control trying to hit the PW between 130-145.  My thought is if I had a stock shot at 135, I might be putting myself in better shape for more birdie opps.  If a club in my bag is not getting used, why not replace it with something I would hit more often?  I realize I am splitting hairs, but this season I have got my handicap down a few strokes for the first time in awhile and I am trying to get down a little further.  Every little bit counts at this point...

[Vinsk]

9 minutes ago, Nutsmacker said:

I mean, yes I am able to be versatile with it.  It is not like I am totally messing up the shots or anything.  It is just my thinking that my 5 wood rarely sees any action and when it does it really isn't that important anyway when it comes to my overall score so why not remove it and add a scoring club that will probably get more action.  I lose a little bit of distance control trying to hit the PW between 130-145.  My thought is if I had a stock shot at 135, I might be putting myself in better shape for more birdie opps.  If a club in my bag is not getting used, why not replace it with something I would hit more often?  I realize I am splitting hairs, but this season I have got my handicap down a few strokes for the first time in awhile and I am trying to get down a little further.  Every little bit counts at this point...

With your ball striking apparently being pretty darn good, the UW bent to 48* might help. Easier to work with shorter, higher lofted wedges than PW perhaps.