What's My 14th Club?

[mdl]

Wasn’t loving my old hybrid and replaced it with a 2i, which I love. Turned out I hit it in between my 3w and 2h, closer to the 3w. Which I’ve long disliked. 2i is now my fairway finder. Do I get the U500 3i (expecting it to go 230-235)? Try to find a 3w I hit 275? Neither feels super necessary. Do I redo my wedges past PW and add a fourth to tighten the gaps? 60 degree yardage is pulled down by lots of partial shots. “Full” shot is more like 92.

[boogielicious]

If you choke down on the 2 iron, what is the distance and how is it off the fairway? That may fill that gap.

[mdl]

1 hour ago, boogielicious said:

If you choke down on the 2 iron, what is the distance and how is it off the fairway? That may fill that gap.

Solid off the fairway. And solid for a club with loft that low out of the rough. Which is to say, I'm not digging balls out from deep, thick rough with it. But I'm not doing that with a hybrid or wood either

Choke down I haven't tried much to be honest. I haven't played any par 3s playing more than 220 since getting my 2i and dropping 2h and 3w. If I'm 225-240 out on a par 5 I'll generally just hit a stock 4. That gap is why I include 3i in the mix but it happens so infrequently I'm not sure it's worth a club...

Edited November 29, 2021 by mdl

[TourSpoon]

This sounds like a good problem to have. 

I recently went to the U500 3iron @20* and cranked the 3 wood down to 13.5 to fit the bag.  If you went with the 20*, you could possibly go 1* stronger with the 2, but I would probably look at a strong 3 wood to fit in that 50 yard gap. You have 4 wedges and you can tighten it up by subbing out or adjusting lofts for better gapping. I guess it comes down to where are you missing the shots to get you to the next level? You want to make sure you have all the shots you need to score. 

 

Edited November 30, 2021 by TourSpoon
grammar

[mdl]

4 hours ago, TourSpoon said:

This sounds like a good problem to have. 

I recently went to the U500 3iron @20* and cranked the 3 wood down to 13.5 to fit the bag.  If you went with the 20*, you could possibly go 1* stronger with the 2, but I would probably look at a strong 3 wood to fit in that 50 yard gap. You have 4 wedges and you can tighten it up by subbing out or adjusting lofts for better gapping. I guess it comes down to where are you missing the shots to get you to the next level? You want to make sure you have all the shots you need to score. 

 

You're suggesting bending a U500 to 18-19˚ to get it in the 240 range and then adding a 265-270 3w?

Honestly I'm not really sure what shots I'm missing. I've been having a lot of success with the (17˚) 2i as my alternate tee club so haven't really felt like I need a 270 3w. I guess at that end of the bag I have most often run into 235 yard par 5 approaches where it would've been nice to have a 3i/3h. But like I said in the OP it hasn't felt like a big scoring penalty to just hit my 4i. Step on it on days when that feels like a good idea and hit it 230-235. Swing smooth on other days and accept a short up and down for birdie which I'm pretty good at anyway.

But then I haven't really felt a huge wedge gap either. I absolutely love my 60˚ around the green, so I won't be going to a 58˚ or the like. I suppose I could find a 60˚ that I can hit 95-100 with a full swing and then fit a SW that goes more 111 so I can have 13 yard gaps. The other option is staying with a 60˚ that goes ~90 yards with full swing and going with five wedges that go like 140, 128, 116, 104, 92. I'm sorta leaning towards that but can't quite shake the feeling it would be dumb to have an 80 yard gap behind driver with only one club in it.

Alternatively I suppose I could just get a chipper Or play with 13 clubs and obnoxiously brag to friends when I beat them that I did it with fewer clubs...

Edited December 1, 2021 by mdl

[boogielicious]

Another thought would to be get the 3iron, find a 3 or 4 wood and pick up another wedge. Then put them in with respect to the courses you play. Some may need a 3W off the tee, others the short game may need more versatility. 

I play a Titleist 917F2 3W, which is really a 4W at 16.5 degrees. It’s nearly as long as the 15 degree, but I can hit it better off the fairway.
 

[TourSpoon]

11 hours ago, mdl said:

You're suggesting bending a U500 to 18-19˚ to get it in the 240 range and then adding a 265-270 3w?

Honestly I'm not really sure what shots I'm missing. I've been having a lot of success with the (17˚) 2i as my alternate tee club so haven't really felt like I need a 270 3w. I guess at that end of the bag I have most often run into 235 yard par 5 approaches where it would've been nice to have a 3i/3h. But like I said in the OP it hasn't felt like a big scoring penalty to just hit my 4i. Step on it on days when that feels like a good idea and hit it 230-235. Swing smooth on other days and accept a short up and down for birdie which I'm pretty good at anyway.

Actually I see 2 possibilities, you could fit in a U500 3iron (or a hybrid as a specialty club) and bend the 2iron a degree to 16* to get a little more out of it. I think getting 260 out of your driving iron would be ideal as that probably gets you around the course just fine when you don't need to really bomb it. Or just leave it alone and add a 275 3 wood. 

11 hours ago, mdl said:

But then I haven't really felt a huge wedge gap either. I absolutely love my 60˚ around the green, so I won't be going to a 58˚ or the like. I suppose I could find a 60˚ that I can hit 95-100 with a full swing and then fit a SW that goes more 111 so I can have 13 yard gaps. The other option is staying with a 60˚ that goes ~90 yards with full swing and going with five wedges that go like 140, 128, 116, 104, 92. I'm sorta leaning towards that but can't quite shake the feeling it would be dumb to have an 80 yard gap behind driver with only one club in it.

Alternatively I suppose I could just get a chipper Or play with 13 clubs and obnoxiously brag to friends when I beat them that I did it with fewer clubs...

I wouldn't go 5 wedges personally, as you can tweak what you have if needed.  

I think if you play 13 for a while, the answer will come to you. 

[ChetlovesMer]

2 hours ago, TourSpoon said:

I think if you play 13 for a while, the answer will come to you. 

This.

The next few times you play look for scenarios where you say "Dang, I wish I had _______." Fill in the blank.

What ever fills in that blank is your answer. 

[trombettista_vecchio]

My driver used to be my 14th club as I rarely pulled it from the bag.

Now, maybe for the first time since my Titleist Howiter a cuiple of decades ago,

I've got one that I can hit from four or five tees in a typical round.

 

Thus, I no longer have a "14th" club. 

 

 

[mohearn]

On 11/29/2021 at 10:42 AM, mdl said:

Try to find a 3w I hit 275? 

3w would be my answer.  For me I tend to shape my driver (slight fade) one way and the 3 wood (slight draw) the other, so the combo works for me.  You have nice distance, I wish I could hit it that far!

[Denny Bang Bang]

I don’t see anything wrong with your bag.  Maybe just continue messing around with longer clubs until you find something you really like?
 

Not sure an extra club in your scoring clubs is necessary either.  I think the best way to tighten up that end of the bag is working on flighted shots.