Do you still use a 3-iron?

[9wood]

How many of you still use a 3 iron. If you don't use one any longer, what have you replaced it with?

[Yukari]

I still use mine. See my signature. It's my 230 club. Or windy day club as it has a lower trajectory. 

[bubble]

a n3 hybride, it's 19° and about a 2 iron equivalent.

then I have a 4 iron of 24°, small gap but at 200-220 I looking for straight more that distance precision.

 

[iacas]

I do, but that's mostly because hybrids tend to launch the ball too high.

I rarely use it, though, as I rarely face the shot it requires. And no, I don't need to add another wedge or anything, either.  

[bradsul]

I still use mine a lot.  Like @iacas I find the hybrids launch too high most of the time and I don't want to have to hit a bit of a knockdown every shot just to get a 'normal' ball flight.  I can still launch my 3i over 30yds peak height so I'm not too worried about it either way just yet.

[Fourputt]

3 hours ago, 9wood said:

How many of you still use a 3 iron. If you don't use one any longer, what have you replaced it with?

I last had a 3 iron more than 15 years ago.  20 years ago I also carried and used a 2 iron.  Now my longest is a 4 iron, then I have a 7 wood and 5 wood - no hybrids.

Of course my 4 iron today is at least as strongly lofted as my 3 iron back in the day.

[Pendragon]

4 hours ago, 9wood said:

How many of you still use a 3 iron. If you don't use one any longer, what have you replaced it with?

It's been quite a while since I've had a 3 iron in my bag. Pretty much as soon as hybrids were introduced, I made the switch. The first hybrid I ever had was the original TaylorMade Rescue, back when their color scheme was still that awful burner orange. I recall that first one having 19 degrees loft, and I made a hole-in-one with it about a month after I got it. The hole was 206 yards, and I was sold on hybrids after that.

I carry 2 hybrids now (20 and 23 degree), both are the Adams A12 Pro's.

[mvmac]

I voted Yes. I used the i E1 3-iron for a few months this year and really liked it. It went high enough and I could hit it super low if I needed to. Before that I had G30 4-iron which was the loft of a 3-iron and currently doing the same thing with a GMax 4-iron. I think I may prefer the i 3-iron because I just hit better shots with it.

[graham57]

I seem to launch all my irons quite high, so ball flight is not a problem, as long as I keep my head down and avoid topping the ball. I use a long iron (sometimes 3 iron, more often 2 iron) almost exclusively for my second shot on par 5's or sometimes on longer par 3's. I have never found a hybrid or fairway wood I can hit consistently, but generally do not have a problem with the irons - at any rate: it's not the weakest part of my game!

[9wood]

I still use a #3 iron when I still have a good distance to go from the fairway. It also comes in handy on windy days when I don't want to hit a high trajectory shot. One other use for the 3 iron is when there are over-hanging tree branches and I need to keep my ball flight low to avoid the tree limbs. I use to have a #1 driving iron but could never hit that thing so it had to go.

[dak4n6]

I have always played a 3i., and I never had any issues with it. I hit it about as well as any of my other mid/long irons, as long as I have a decent lie, or off of a tee. I love the sight and feel of a smoothed 3i. Although, you really have to get it moving to hit it out of even moderate rough. Anything thick or deep, gotta hit more loft.

[mcanadiens]

Not normally. The way I hit the ball (or don't hit the ball), I skip from 5I straight to 5W. I only use 3I for punch shots under branches or odd situations where I'm very afraid of a slice.

[Pretzel]

I used to switch it out depending on the day (whether or not it was windy), but I've been debating recently whether I should put it in the bag full-time over my hybrid. I hit it approximately the same distance (it's about 5-10 yards shorter, off the deck/off the tee), but it gives me the versatility of being able to hit it much lower than I can hit the hybrid. I also have the additional issue of slightly less control with the hybrid simply due to the longer shaft. I like the hybrid since it has more forgiveness for mishits, but I can't hit anything but a draw (with a more common miss than I;d like of a hook) with it, while my 3-iron is much more controllable.

My ballstriking has been solid enough that I plan to place the 3-iron in my bag for my next couple of rounds and see what the results are. I predict the only downside being a slightly lesser chance of reaching a par 5 in two since I also, unfortunately, have troubles with my 3-wood off of the ground. I don't predict it to overly affect my score though, just because I can hit my 3-iron very nearly as far as my 3-hybrid anyways with the greater versatility. 

[DrvFrShow]

If you count my 20 degree 4 iron as a 2 iron, I still use one. In 1984, the Titleist 2 iron was 20 degrees of loft. Now they make 4 irons with 20 degrees of loft. 5 irons have the same loft as 3 irons used to. 

[WUTiger]

Four years ago, I carried a 3i and used it strictly as a driving iron on tighter holes. It was a Callaway X20 Tour with PX 5.0 Rifle Flighted shaft.

I charted holes where I used it off the tee - mostly par 4s - and I parred 80% of them.

Following that year, I switched out of 3W, and 5W (or variant) and went to 4W and 7W, and found some hybrids I liked. I used a 4H instead of a 3i.

Last season, I reshafted my X20 Tours with lighter shafts, and also picked up a set of SLDR irons. The SLDRs, with their ThruSlot on 3i through 7i launch the ball well on the longer irons. The SLDR 4i (21* - same loft as my old X20 3i) proved to be an excellent driving iron for tee shots. But, the hybrid is more reliable off the fairway,

The 7W and 3H went the same distance. The difference - 7W better in summer to get ball out of medium rough // 3H better Nov-Feb when rough is sparse and the winds are high.

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For those who are marginal in their success with 3 irons, a suggestion: Get your 3i (and probably your 4i) softstepped. To do this, you would put a shaft tipped for 2i into 3i, and move the 3i shaft to 4i. That way, you lengthen the flexible part of the shaft and get a better launch on the ball. Or, if you have steel shafts, you could put a graphite shaft into the 3i and improve the launch.

[Lihu]

On 12/4/2015, 1:11:20, 9wood said:

How many of you still use a 3 iron. If you don't use one any longer, what have you replaced it with?

Sometimes, when I want to torture myself I play with blades and steel shafted clubs.

In my scoring set of clubs, I replaced the 3i with a 20 degree hybrid which is pretty much bombproof compared to the 3i.

[imsys0042]

I switch it in and out with a 19 hybrid.   The 3-iron is good for firmer conditions for me because I feel like I get more roll if I hit it off a tee. 

It also largely depends on where I am off the tee.  My home course has a lot of angles and trouble and 3/4 irons off tees are good options.   If I need more distance or feel like my swing isn't where it should I tend towards the hybrid.  If I am striking my irons well I use the 3-iron and use it off several tees.   There is less dispersion, I find, with the 3-iron vs the hybrid.   However I can hit par 5s in two easier with the hybrid since it comes in higher. 

[Fourputt]

5 hours ago, DrvFrShow said:

If you count my 20 degree 4 iron as a 2 iron, I still use one. In 1984, the Titleist 2 iron was 20 degrees of loft. Now they make 4 irons with 20 degrees of loft. 5 irons have the same loft as 3 irons used to. 

My current 4 iron is 19°.  No idea what loft the 2 iron I had back in 1989 was.