What's a more useful club: 3i/3h or gap wedge?

[SoundandFury]

Right now I'm carrying a 3w and 5w, and 4i - PW.  As for wedges I'm carrying a 56 and 60.  I have one more spot in the bag, and I'm trying to decide between adding a 3i or 3h, or a gap wedge.  I'm leaning towards the gap wedge because I find myself in the awkward 110-120 distance frequently, where I my 56 is going to be short, so I have to take juuuuust the right amount off the PW otherwise I sail the green.

Thoughts?

[LuciusWooding]

What is the loft of your Pitching Wedge?

[David in FL]

How far do you hit your 5 wood and your 4 iron? For most people, the 3 hybrid and 5 wood are going to be very similar.....

[SoundandFury]

PW loft is 44* and I hit around 130.

Assuming I hit them well (50/50), I hit the 5 wood around 230 and the 4i around 200 +/- 5 yds.

[MEfree]

I have the same 13 clubs as you and carry a 52 gap wedge as my "14th"  It gets a lot of use.

[SoundandFury]

Good from about 100-110?

[David in FL]

PW loft is 44* and I hit around 130.  Assuming I hit them well (50/50), I hit the 5 wood around 230 and the 4i around 200 +/- 5 yds.

A 12* gap in your wedges is huge. I think you'll find that a gap wedge will be the better option right now. If you struggle a bit with the 5 wood, you might consider replacing it with the 3 hybrid though. As I said, I'd bet the distances aren't off by much, and many people find the hybrids easier to hit than fairway woods.

[SoundandFury]

I've tried a bunch of different hybrids, and actually settled on the 5w afterwards.  I'm iffy with it off the deck (but getting better), but I'm pretty good with it off the tee.  Comes in handy when I want to lay up to avoid a 110 yd approach (though this might not be an issue if I add the gw), or when I'm struggling to hit the driver or 3w straight.

[mdl]

I haven't gotten it together to actually get a GW yet ( I need one just like you, though gap's not as bad: 46˚ PW and 54˚ SW), but maybe consider the approach I will be taking when I do.  Get a 50˚ GW and 2h, 18˚ or 19˚, that you hit ~220, so between what your 3i distance would be (~210) and your 5w distance (~230).  Then drop the 5w and play Driver, 3w, 2h, 4i-PW, GW, SW, LW.  If you get a hybrid that you really like, it'll probably be easier to hit than a 3i anyway, and you can just choke up and swing easy to hit it 3i distance.

Small sacrifice, cause how often really are you on the course thinking "I just NEED to be able to hit the ball 230 instead of 220 here!"?  Much less often than you're sitting at 112 deciding between stomping on your SW and finessing your PW JUST right!

Also, if you're having trouble finding a 2/3h you hit 220 (maybe most 19˚ hybrids you find you hit more like 210?), consider the Tour Edge Exotics hybrids.  I picked up an 18˚ of theirs from a few years back cause I saw it for cheap, used, at my golf store.  That thing hits like a monster.  Easier to hit than most woods, but goes as far or farther than many 5ws with longer shafts.

[Valleygolfer]

I guess since I use a SW for yardages from 90 to 110 and my wedge from 115 to 137, I say modify your touch and learn to hit the wedge by touch. If you can hit your 60 at a range of X yards to 0 yards, you can apply it to the PW.....or not..

[WUTiger]

As for 5W and 4i, could you choke down some on the 5W if you needed to shave off a little yardage?

If you can do that, the GW would be a good addition. You might consider a 50* GW, given you have a 12-degree gap (44 to 56) between PW and SW. You'll just have to test some clubs to see if a you can find a GW that will "split the difference."

Also, see if you can get a GW in the same model as the SW. If the PW and SW are different models, you may have to do some tweaking to get the GW to "split the difference." Be aware that many wedge models only have 1/4" shaft length differences club to club, as opposed to 1/2" length differences between numbered irons.

[rustyredcab]

Gap Wedge!

At your handicap, the distance gaps of a 4-iron - 5 Wood may be large but consistency is a bigger factor in your actual results. Unless your irons are really old, the PW is likely close to 45* or 46*. Todays Gap Wedge is like a 1980's Pitching Wedge. You'll find it a very handy club.

[uttexas]

Fifty degree gap wedge for sure--very versatile club. I use my 50* GW all the time (from 115-130, from 100yd if into a strong wind, long bunker shots, shots around the green) Might use my 3H once per round. Rockbottomgolf has the Scratch 8620 in 50 degrees with 10* of bounce for $59 right now [URL=http://www.rockbottomgolf.com/scratch-golf-8620-milled-chrome-wedge.html]http://www.rockbottomgolf.com/scratch-golf-8620-milled-chrome-wedge.html[/URL]

[logman]

Being an old club fiddler from way back this is right up my alley.

SSSSOOOOO, here's my proposition.

Only very good players can hit a green with any reasonable percentage with any club over 5 or 6 iron. Ask yourselves how many balls you'd land on the green with your 5 iron from say 180 meters. MMmmm? how often in a round would you go for the 4 iron? MMMmmm?

My point is, get rid of the 2, 3, 4, 5 irons and replace the with one stick....... a 7 wood. Come on how many greens have you EVER hit a green with your 2 iron ....or even 3? Pros do but we're not pros ,so be realistic yeah.

OK, next the 3 wood. What a weird thing the 3 wood is. It's an attack club on a par 5........and that's about it. So in reality your carrying a club to use twice in a round if your going to attack the 5's anyway.

Wedges: wedges are nice.......but they are reliant on your tee shots. If you drive the ball badly you'll be reduced to using those lovely shiny wedges to hack the ball out of the scrub and not as the scoring clubs they're designed as

SSSSSoooo, The driver sets the style of your play. if you hit the fairway then you get to use the wedges, if not well you know....

So, one of my club sets goes like this 3 drivers.......7 wood........6,7,8,9 irons.....pw, gap, sand wedges........chipper......putter

Here's my rational, 3 drivers : 9 degree long shaft driver......The long bomber, great to try to make a birdie on a short par 4 or to make a birdie on a long par 5 but a 50/50 stick for me so I try to keep it in the bag as much as possible.  Driver 2: a "thriver" 14 degree medium length. This is the tee off club for 60 percent of of par 4's. Driver 3: a short shaft 20 degree 460 cc club. Great for short par 4's when you want position and safety. Its also a great club for longish par 3's, 160 meters and the like. The 460 cc driver head on a 42 inch shaft is almost a guarantee of middling the ball everytime. It's also a great club to stop the ball on the green on a long par 3(try that with a 3 iron)

So onto the 7 wood. I'm a 6 to 10 handicap player and to me 2,3,4,5 irons are useless to me. My success rate just doesn't warrant me carrying these sticks. I can hit the 7 wood with more success than most of these clubs so I drop the irons and rely on "making up" a shot for fairway shots between 150 meters and 200 meters.

Wedges, pretty standard there. I've tried lob wedges but I find them to be too inconsistent. The lob wedge for me is a pro's club not a mid handicappers stick

Ok to the green and the fringe. A chipper is a MUST for anyone that doesn't play of less than 10. Yeah, yeah , I know but come on the short game is the area where ordinary club players can pickup and save shots. A purpose built club for the close to the green shots is important.

Ok that's 13 clubs(I think) . so depending on where i'm playing or how my game is going I'll add a 5 iron, or a hybrid  or sometimes Ill add a second putter but that's another story.

I reckon the club sets that most mid to high handicappers are using are just not suited to them. They're the club set of the traditional pro golfer. They're based on the distance that these clubs will go and not on the job that the golfer wants them to perform.

[Yukari]

It seems to me that you are just carrying 3W and 5W with different head sizes.  My 3W is 15 * Titleist 980f.

My clubs are shown in my signature.  I tend to use the gap wedge a lot because most of the par 4's I need either PW, GW, or SW for approach.  I also hit my 3W often off the tee to avoid going too long into a hazard with a driver.  I don't need 5W as I usually hit either 3I or 4I for 220-230 and 210-220 yds, respectively, for my second shot on some of the par 5's.

The club I tend to use the least are 5-8I.  I hardly ever pull out 5-7I and only rarely do I need 8I.

So I would look at the courses you play and see which club will get used most often.  From what the OP said, it looks like GW should be the one.

Originally Posted by logman

Being an old club fiddler from way back this is right up my alley.

SSSSOOOOO, here's my proposition.

Only very good players can hit a green with any reasonable percentage with any club over 5 or 6 iron. Ask yourselves how many balls you'd land on the green with your 5 iron from say 180 meters. MMmmm? how often in a round would you go for the 4 iron? MMMmmm?

My point is, get rid of the 2, 3, 4, 5 irons and replace the with one stick....... a 7 wood. Come on how many greens have you EVER hit a green with your 2 iron ....or even 3? Pros do but we're not pros ,so be realistic yeah.

OK, next the 3 wood. What a weird thing the 3 wood is. It's an attack club on a par 5........and that's about it. So in reality your carrying a club to use twice in a round if your going to attack the 5's anyway.

Wedges: wedges are nice.......but they are reliant on your tee shots. If you drive the ball badly you'll be reduced to using those lovely shiny wedges to hack the ball out of the scrub and not as the scoring clubs they're designed as

SSSSSoooo, The driver sets the style of your play. if you hit the fairway then you get to use the wedges, if not well you know....

So, one of my club sets goes like this 3 drivers.......7 wood........6,7,8,9 irons.....pw, gap, sand wedges........chipper......putter

Here's my rational, 3 drivers : 9 degree long shaft driver......The long bomber, great to try to make a birdie on a short par 4 or to make a birdie on a long par 5 but a 50/50 stick for me so I try to keep it in the bag as much as possible.  Driver 2: a "thriver" 14 degree medium length. This is the tee off club for 60 percent of of par 4's. Driver 3: a short shaft 20 degree 460 cc club. Great for short par 4's when you want position and safety. Its also a great club for longish par 3's, 160 meters and the like. The 460 cc driver head on a 42 inch shaft is almost a guarantee of middling the ball everytime. It's also a great club to stop the ball on the green on a long par 3(try that with a 3 iron)

So onto the 7 wood. I'm a 6 to 10 handicap player and to me 2,3,4,5 irons are useless to me. My success rate just doesn't warrant me carrying these sticks. I can hit the 7 wood with more success than most of these clubs so I drop the irons and rely on "making up" a shot for fairway shots between 150 meters and 200 meters.

Wedges, pretty standard there. I've tried lob wedges but I find them to be too inconsistent. The lob wedge for me is a pro's club not a mid handicappers stick

Ok to the green and the fringe. A chipper is a MUST for anyone that doesn't play of less than 10. Yeah, yeah , I know but come on the short game is the area where ordinary club players can pickup and save shots. A purpose built club for the close to the green shots is important.

Ok that's 13 clubs(I think) . so depending on where i'm playing or how my game is going I'll add a 5 iron, or a hybrid  or sometimes Ill add a second putter but that's another story.

I reckon the club sets that most mid to high handicappers are using are just not suited to them. They're the club set of the traditional pro golfer. They're based on the distance that these clubs will go and not on the job that the golfer wants them to perform.

[joekelly]

What a driver head<<  20 degrees and 460 cc.  Is this homemade? Only in OZ  !!

[logman]

No, mate not home made, Bang from the good old u s of a. And I reckon it's the most fun to hit. Huge hang time and surprisingly long 210 meters. It's a great dog leg club, and a great option on a long par 3 when you're hitting to a firm green. Sure it's a 5 wood loft but at 460cc it's just tee it up high and swing. Super confidence inspiring.

[logman]

3 wood and 5 wood, kind of but different. The drivers are 460cc's and have all the forgiveness and technology of  that head . The long driver is long 47 inches long. It gives me the option of a real long distance club(with the downside of poor accuracy) and still gives me the option of my safety driver(the 14 degree 44 inch).IMO, the 3 wood is a waste of time in that it's a club that's not one thing or another, and if your using the three wood as a tee club then why not use a 460cc head