5 Wood & 3 Iron

[westerndevon]

I'm currently gaming a 5 wood that is  21° and can hit this consistently 240 yards from the tee so happy with that. Now my current 3 iron is also 21° so is there any point carrying two clubs of the same loft?

[ZappyAd]

Do you hit them the same distance and trajectory?  If they do different jobs then no reason to drop one of them just because of a number.

[dkolo]

  westerndevon said:

I'm currently gaming a 5 wood that is  21° and can hit this consistently 240 yards from the tee so happy with that. Now my current 3 iron is also 21° so is there any point carrying two clubs of the same loft?

It's not as simple as comparing lofts to determine whether one clubs is a substitute for another, especially iron vs. wood. But you'd know better than anyone whether you have an important enough reason to carry both. I'm hesitating buying a 3H to replace my 5W because I love my 5W off the tee on some holes. But I can't hit it off the ground and I'm trying for enough par 5s in two that it's a trade off that makes sense. Then again, if I played courses where it made sense, I would game both if they were really unitaskers.

[westerndevon]

I struggle somedays with both the 5w and 3i off the fairway so thinking of taking out the 3i and switching it for perhaps a 7w or similar lofted hybrid/rescue club

[dkolo]

  westerndevon said:

I struggle somedays with both the 5w and 3i off the fairway so thinking of taking out the 3i and switching it for perhaps a 7w or similar lofted hybrid/rescue club

Rule of thumb is anyone above a single digit handicap would probably benefit from replacing their irons longer than a 5i with a corresponding hybrid club. It's hard to get contact consistent enough to achieve the launch necessary to hit those clubs well. I hit my driver over 250 on average and game a 4H. Hybrids are the best. (I should add that something like a 7w is a great choice too. I just meant hybrids are terrific as compared to a difficult-to-hit-long-iron)

[westerndevon]

Looks like I'll be heading to the shop and testing a few hybrids on GC2 see what works best

I'm even toying with forgoing the 4i and popping in an extra wedge

[dkolo]

  westerndevon said:

Looks like I'll be heading to the shop and testing a few hybrids on GC2 see what works best I'm even toying with forgoing the 4i and popping in an extra wedge

Consider a hybrid with adjustable lofts like the Nike ones. The adjustability can be helpful fitting it into your set as your set evolves.

[westerndevon]

I'll be looking at the 913 as that's also adjustable and I like the ease of the sure fit system

[WUTiger]

@westerndevon,

Greetings! You didn't mention what models of 5W and 3i you have, so I couldn't look up exact specs for your clubs. One distance differentiator would be the greater shaft length of a 5W. Also, due to its head design, a higher lofted FW will launch the ball higher than a comparable long iron.

Here are comparisons of a couple of wood/iron sets on lofts and shaft lengths. (You may have irons from circa 2008, as most 21º irons these days are 4i.)

OEM	Model	Club	Loft	Shaft
TaylorMade	AeroBurner	5W-HL	21⁰	42.25”
	RSi2	4i	21⁰	38.25”
	RSi.TP	3i	20⁰	38.75”

In this case here, the 5W-HL shaft is 4 inches longer than the 4i, and 3.5 inches longer than the 3i.

I believe you will find similar shaft length differences with other manufacturers, although probably not as much as with TM.

[dkal24]

  westerndevon said:

Looks like I'll be heading to the shop and testing a few hybrids on GC2 see what works best I'm even toying with forgoing the 4i and popping in an extra wedge

I've recently been bouncing between the 4i and a gap wedge depending how I feel that day but I said goodbye to my 3i long ago in favor of hybrids.