100 yards in - which club to use?

[colin007]

nothing worse than landing a 57 deg next to the pin and the ball backspins off the front of the green coming to rest on the fringe..

and as a 36, how often does that happen?

[jal1209]

well it really depends 100-80yr shot i use a gap wedge. 80yr-50yr i use a 56* sw

[Uncle Peter]

I'd use a PW or SW, depending on conditions.

If it's a winder day then you'd want to avoid the SW, because it usually gets your ball up pretty high.

[chrisronline]

I'd be a SW for me under most circumstances. I typically hit to 100 yards off the tee on shorter par 4s since I feel very comfortable hitting a full SW into greens.

[BonoVox]

I dream of the 100 yard shot with the 56*! Oh man! Green light special under normal conditions.

But everybody is different. Play to your game!

[NM Golf]

Really there are many factors when you look at it. From 100 yards I will use anything from a 60° to a 8 iron. It depends on lie, pin position, wind, course conditions, etc.

For example say an 80 yard shot to a back pin I might hit a 54° sw to drive it in lower and take the spin off. Whereas the same shot to a front pin I might hit a 60° past the pin and let it back up.

One thing is for sure I never ever hit any wedge full out, 80% is about it.

[dreamingduffer]

For 92 yards and in I'm hitting my 54° wedge. If I was stranded on a deserted island I could survive with just some matches and my 54° wedge. I figure that since it has saved me so much on the golf course that it should be able to save me on a deserted island All joking aside I really do feel confident with my 54° wedge.

I also use my 54° as my sand wedge unless I'm in a situation where I'm in a bunker with hard sand (not common to have nice fluffy sand here in Reno, NV) or have an odd lie (i.e. deep in the rough, downhill with a green that runs away, etc). In these cases I'll usually use my 60°.

[zeg]

100 is a bit tricky for me. A full 52 deg wedge is 90-95 yards right now, a PW is about 115-120. Usually I play the 52 for that distance. A full 56 is about 70 yards. For shots under that, I generally pitch with the 56, or perhaps use the 60 degree. That one only gets me about 50 yards on a full swing, but the odds of blading it and hitting it 100 yards are too great so I tend not to use that option.

[Zeph]

PW or 52º.

[andef]

It really depends on the conditions for me. From 110-100 yards I usually hit a soft PW or if I feel very confident try to smash a 54 which can get me just about hundred yards and a decent amount of spin. Usually a normal 54 is about 95 yards while 80 yards or less is 58 degree land unless the wind is strong and I gotta play a knockdown 54.
I'd say it's really up to you. Practicing with the 56 can help add a strong weapon to your arsenal but so is the ability of hitting an 80% PW. It's helped me massively rather than trying to land a SW on the top tier of a green and risk having it spin back 20 feet to the front of the green. A nice easy PW which runs about 15 feet after it lands is perfect in that situation.

[billysandy]

It depends on the conditions.

Pretty sure he just means in still conditions. I hit a 3/4 51*, just letting it roll out a little

[ohiolefty]

Bump and run from 100 yards out? With or without trouble in the front a bump and run isn't the right play from 100 yards out.

The right play is the play that gets

that individual with their skill set in the conditions they are playing in THE CLOSEST TO THE PIN . Golf is about shooting a low score that day. Period. Man, that post made me almost angry to read it. Nothing personal, I just couldn't disagree more whole-heartedly. ... To the OP, I'm not sure how to answer your question. I would tell you that until you get good with your wedges, you're always best to go up a club as you're still going to have sufficient spin with a PW/GW/9I/whatever to hold most greens as long as you play a decent golf ball and don't flip the club too badly. I will tell you this though...my teacher started me on a drill that's become integral to my practice routine and helped my ballstriking in a MANY ways... I practice hitting every iron and wedge in my bag 100 yards. Now, with my 60* that's a little long, but it's the shortest shafted regular club in my bag so I get something out of that. With my 56*, that's a comfortable yardage under normal conditions. With PW and up, I'm really trapping the ball, carving it, knocking it down. I get so much out of that drill it almost would need to be a post on its own, but one of the biggest things it's given me is the ability to hit firm, flighted shots into greens and learn how to adjust yardage and ballflight and shape with different clubs to different distances. I also, now, have expanded the drill to work at 130 and 150 yards (two other distances my range has targets and are short - and I don't start at a 60 to these distances, I start with one club LESS than I'd hit to that distance under normal conditions) but I don't always do this. I always do the 100 yards drill. You don't sound like you hit your irons as long as I do, so maybe try it at 85 yards...see how it works.

[MrDC]

100 yds is a full SW for me, or a soft GW, it depends on the green and conditions but I'll take the full shot most times, usually when I hit it fat with a wedge it's when I go soft, also that's good spin and stop yardage so I want a fuller swing for that as well.

[Mr. Desmond]

Any club where you can take a 3/4 swing - how you set it up depends on what's in front of you and the green.

[mdl]

I hit a not quite 100% 54˚ SW.  For a little while I've been playing with flighting these kinds of shots, a la here.  Don't game it all the time because I'm not super confident with it yet, but the results, on the course and range, have been encouraging so far.

I really recommend that thread on flighting down shots! 

[David L Yskes]

I use a full 50* wedge....   right now 100 yards is amount my max with this wedge...  anything more and it's my PW...       

But yes as the OP said..... i'd love to be able to use a 56* on a 100 yard shot.... but i am not there just yet 

[NJpatbee]

At my level I cannot hot a sand wedge much more than 70 yards, and at times it goes 50 yards.  I basically use my sand wedge for the sand and my PW for most shots 100 and in.  I do vary the type of swing and where I grip the club based on distance and carry needed. 

[rehmwa]

taking out all the 'it depends' stuff

my current 54 (SW) or my old 56 (the previous SW) were pretty much dead on 100 yds for a full swing without anything special - with or without keeping my lower body still - nice and high, plenty of opportunities to muck with spin if it's a good day

 

putting in all the tedious 'it depends' stuff:

• a half swing chip shot with an 8i is nice and low and just about at 100
• mucking about with any other iron can do the job, but I don't really like to guess that much and am not skilled enough to practice that yardage (the SW vs 8i is just fine - adjust for wind) for more than a full swing and chip
• chunking a 5i through a driver may accidentally go 100 yards
• a really bad bladed LW (58 or 60) will go about that far
• I once had a putt that rolled off a false front that 'felt' like it went 100 yards away
• a full 3w into a wall about 140 yards away would net about 100 yards

 

short answer - you can overthink the heck out of it, or just find a nice high shot that gets you there and a nice low shot that gets you there.  figure those two out and you're good for most stuff.  the rest is just fine tuning around those two shots.  For most of us hackers.