yardage gap between 3w & 4H?

[Elmer]

I hit my driver 250+

MY 3W is 225+ or more on a good day

the next club in my bag is 4H which I get about 200 yards. Sometimes more with wind and proper ball striking, but not consistently.

The rest of the bag is 5H, 6i to 56wedge

I have an old 7 wood & a 5 wood that I used to carry, but dropped them because I could not hit them out of the rough (where I usually play from)

I need to put a club in my bag to cover the 215 yard shot.

Would that be a 5 wood or maybe a 3 hybrid ?

or just choke down on a 3 wood?

any advice?

[kw purp]

Id get a 3 hybrid.

I have driver, 3w, 3 hybrid then 4 iron through 9 iron. Works out fine

[rehmwa]

depends on the rest of the bag and if you need a gap covered in the scoring club range (160 and less) - that would take priority over dinking around in the long approaches.

IMO - 25 yard gap in the 200+ range doesn't bother me much.  I'd choke down the 3w if you're hitting that shot - or practice that 90% swing.

I have a 15-20 yard gap between my 4H (210) and 5w (230) and it covers what I already need in that area.
However, I still need to get my set bent to a more even gapping set up - I have a good gap between my PW and 9i, and my 5i and 4H......

there's better people here to answer this question though

[Elmer]

I should mention I just got back from a golf weekend. Three days on the same course with the same pin placement.

I played a 215 yard  par 3. I flew the ball 15 yards over the green once and was short twice.

On my home course I have the same issue with a par 3, if the flag and pin are back I could be looking at a 210 to 215 shot.

I can either be short or too long.

Like I said out of the rough and off the tee I did not know if a 5 wood was the answer or maybe a 3 hybrid!

[chriskzoo]

Why not just choke down the 3 wood to cut 10 yards?

[WUTiger]

You would have to try out different clubs to see how far they fly. Often, a 3H and a 7W will fly about the same distance.

If you already have the 5W, you might try it out. Can you hit the 5W out of light rough , or only from fairway or tee? How well do you hit the 3W? If you can hit the 3W, it seems the 5W would work also.

If you hit hybrids better than FWs, you might try a 3H. If you struggle with your 3W, you might try a 4W with a bit more loft.

[Elmer]

I only use my 3 wood off the tee and off the fairway. It is useless out of the rough. The 5 wood is a little better out of light rough because it has a smaller head, but I tend to leave hybrids out of the rough.

[Big C]

I would recommend a 3H to anyone. My 3H goes about 220 when well struck, which is the perfect bridge between my 3 wood and 4 Hybrid. Plus, I find it to be more versatile than my wood, as I can play it well off the tee, from the fairway, or from the rough. It is probably my 4-5th most frequently used club.

[Jimdangles]

At that range it really isn't a scoring club anyways. Choke down, bite the bullet and hope to get "close enough". If your that distance out you're probably trying to reach a par 5 in 2.

[kw purp]

This

[Dave2512]

How often are you faced with a 215y shot? My experience not is not frequent enough to justify a club just for that. The gap between my 4w and 4h is considerable, 30 yds and up. The only time it comes up is after a blown tee shot on a longer par 4, a long par 3 and long 3rd on a par 5 if I duffed the 2nd shot. Here and there I use the 4h if I absolutely murdered it on a par 5 and I can get home with less than 4w. Maybe a once every ten rounds instance and even then it's likely there's a smarter club choice, the par 3 being the exception.

[Fairway_CY]

I hear a lot of people say to choke down on a club.  Does it actually work?  I'm way too inconsistent to even try that because I can hit my 8 iron 135 yards, or I can hit it 165 yards with the same grip and what feels like the same swing.  Any time I've tried to choke down on a club to reduce distance, I seem to hit the ball further.

My clubs and distances with clean contact (to the best of my estimate based on my current game):

Driver - 240

3 Wood - 225

18 Degree Hybrid / 2 Hybrid - 215

4 Iron - 200

5 Iron - 185

6 Iron - 170

7 Iron - 160

8 Iron - 145

9 Iron - 130

Pitching Wedge - 120

Approach Wedge - 105

Gap Wedge - 95

Sand Wedge - 80

The biggest issue I have is between my 5 iron and my 6 iron.  I can't step back on my 5 iron to hit it 175 because I almost always pull it that way.  I can't swing harder with the 6 iron because I almost always blade it that way.  The gap between my 7 iron and my 8 iron is manageable because I can swing harder with my 8 iron to get (close) to 150 and I can swing a little easier with my 7 iron to hit it 155.

If I choked down on my 5 iron... would I possibly be able to cut those 10 yards off with the same swing I make with a regular 5 iron?

CY

[Elmer]

I guess I should mention that my lofts are as follows:

Driver 10.5

3W      15

4H       22

5H       25

I could add a 5 wood at 18 degree!

Not sure what a 3H run in degreeS!

[RickK]

Add 3hybrid, drop a wedge.

[Big C]

When does a 215 yard shot come in handy? Quite frequently, in my experience. On a short par 5, my 3H is usually the club of choice when going for it in two (I can get way more loft on the hybrid than I can with the 3w). Also, on a shortish (380 yd. or less) par 4, with any kind of trouble off the tee, I will always hit the 3H, as my contact is far more consistent than my driver.

On my home course, there are at least 3 holes where I use the 3H off the tee every single time, and possibly more, depending on playing conditions or my general feeling that day.

To Elmer, most 3H clubs are either 18 or 19 degrees. Mine is a 19.

[MS256]

It's always interesting to me to read all of the comments by people that can count on a certain distance from a certain club (that would be nice).

I could give ballpark numbers (but it's a big ballpark).

I use those ballpark numbers to pick a club and from there I just hit the ball as hard as I think it takes to reach the target. Best I can describe how I play is that it's like hitting a fly ball to a shallow outfielder and then hitting a fly ball to the warning track...With the same bat.

I used a 5 wood on a 160 yard par three a couple of weeks ago (just for fun) and hit the ball on the green with no problem.

So, I don't have any gaps and I also have a lot of gaps, just depending on which club I'm in the mood to hit and from what distance.

Over time I have become more conventional but I'm still a long way from the way most people play. It used to drive my teammates crazy when they would ask what I hit and it was just as likely to be a 6 iron from 125 yards or a 6 iron from 190 yards. They finally reached the point where they never bothered to ask. Now it's not quite that bad and at least a teammate would get a (big ballpark) idea.

[jimmyc]

MS256

+100