If You Had Only Five Clubs to Play With…

[Denny Bang Bang]

16 hours ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Holy cats and dogs, you hit your 3 wood a long way. How longs your driver? According to my season stats last year my smart distance total driver average was 262.1 yards, my 3-wood smart total distance average was 237.2 yards. That's 25 yards I'd be giving up 14 times per round. (350 yards total) My hybrid, which is more versatile in my hands than my 3-wood, average was 214.4 yards. That's 23 yards I'd be giving up 2 times per round. (46 yards) ... No brainer... I gotta put the driver in the bag. For me putting 3-wood in the bag instead of driver makes the course 300 yards or more longer. 

Sorry if I sent you down a rabbit hole with the term "terrible". I just know to score my best I need get as close to the green as I can get. 

I'm not really against the 3 wood. If your 3-wood is really versatile and you can hit a wide variety of shots with it, like my buddy @Bonvivant, great take it. I'd go hybrid instead. I hit it a lot more often in "normal" golf. Plus, in my hands its more versatile. 

Most people I've played with need that distance off the tee about 14 times per round. I think very few golfers in "real life" are as long as you are. Once again, with 5 clubs I'm really surprised how few people chose to take their driver. 

But maybe I'm thinking about it all wrong. Let me know. 

Most of my rounds are at 4,200 ft, at sea level that 3W is probably 15ish yards shorter.  I’m not as long as it sounds, unfortunately.  I would utilize the 3W on more than just 14 tee shots (2nd shot on par 5s, choke down for some 190-230 shots, hit some low punch shots).

I’m certainly not saying you’re thinking about anything wrong (as far as your game and selection), I was hung up on the “terrible option” comment.  I really like my driver and hybrid as well, if this were a 6 club challenge I’d swap out the 3W for the driver and hybrid all day.  But alas, we only get 5 clubs.

[mdl]

On 12/7/2021 at 6:44 PM, Denny Bang Bang said:

There are of course other factors that aren’t disclosed in the original post (e.g. how long is the course, what is the longest carry, etc).  Then of course a lot of this depends on each of our individual abilities.  For me personally, my 3W is roughly 265-270 off the tee.  I have no problem with that being my tee shot on most courses.

I just object to a 3W being “terrible”… it more depends if one can play it or not, which then I can see how it would be terrible to a specific person or not.

Fair enough. Obviously confidence and comfort are huge in golf. And everyone's game is different. So 3W totally might be right for you.

My point was that I'm nearly 100% certain that if you calculated expected score – maybe averaged over like 50 different courses so you don't have to worry about course setup for this abstract question – for the "average" 8.8hc carrying (3W, 7, 9, SW, putter) versus (Dr, 7, 9, SW, putter), the expected score would be significantly lower for the bag with the driver. I'd argue (Dr, 5i, 8i, SW, putter) would be even lower, but that's not the debate we're having 😂

[Double Mocha Man]

I've posted this pic before.  A friend of mine doesn't play with 5 clubs... he plays with 4.  (Driver, 4 hybrid, 9 iron and putter)  Shoots in the low 80's and high 70's.  And referring to another thread, his clubs don't get stuck in his tubes.

[Piz]

Five is a bit obsessive.  Three is plenty.  Two is better and one is the way.  For me that is a 5 wood.  Shivas may disagree but there were not 5 woods then.  The scene where he strikes the ball, with a crooked stick, implies that he was using a utility club.  Which makes sense.

[tomvk77]

3wood 7 iron pw sw putter

[ChetlovesMer]

8 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

I've posted this pic before.  A friend of mine doesn't play with 5 clubs... he plays with 4.  (Driver, 4 hybrid, 9 iron and putter)  Shoots in the low 80's and high 70's.  And referring to another thread, his clubs don't get stuck in his tubes.

That's super cool. Apparently he never needs more than 3 golf balls as well. It looks like everything he needs and nothing he doesn't. 

I am curious though. If he was to carry 5 clubs, instead of 4? Would he just add one more club? Or, would he do something like take out the 9 iron and put in a 8 and a wedge of some kind, or something like that?

[Double Mocha Man]

4 hours ago, ChetlovesMer said:

That's super cool. Apparently he never needs more than 3 golf balls as well. It looks like everything he needs and nothing he doesn't. 

I am curious though. If he was to carry 5 clubs, instead of 4? Would he just add one more club? Or, would he do something like take out the 9 iron and put in a 8 and a wedge of some kind, or something like that?

I will ask him and get back to you.  Interestingly, he uses that hybrid for shots between 130 yards and 180 yards, just by varying the length of his backswing.  However, because a lot of those shots have to roll into the green he would not play well on a well-trapped course or one with a lot of water in front of greens.

Oh, and if he added a club he would have to rebuild his bag. 😄 He carries a couple of extra balls in his pocket, but obviously no snacks, no rain gear, no beer.

Edited December 10, 2021 by Double Mocha Man

[pganapathy]

I selected Driver, 4 hybrid, 8 iron, SW and Putter.  Now, whether a putter is mandatory or not is a different issue.  If not, I might even go 7 iron, PW and LW because I normally use a PW around the green for most shots unless I need to get out of a bunker or hit a high flop type shot