What clubs for this competition ?

[paininthenuts]

I am playing in a 3 clubs+putter comp tomorrow. I think I am going to take my driver, 24* hybrid. and 9 iron. I believe the driver will give some distance, as I considered taking a higher lofted wood and using off of the fairway as well, but I am very inconsistent with woods off of the fairway. The hybrid doubles up nicely from the rough and fairway, and I get reasonable distance. The 9 iron I can use for short distances, pitching, and chipping.

 

So, what would you take ?

[badgermat]

 

Depends on the longest hole you'll be playing, but if it's anything less than 420 yds I'd go for a 20deg Hybrid, 7i and PW.

You'll get to the longest hole in two, and be able to mash all the par 3s.

bm

 

 

[Jason Smith]

I know many of you have trouble figuring exactly how the chip and pitch shots work. Since all clubs have different distances, when using the chip or pitch shot.

Keep these things in mind:

1) What is your lie in the rough and how far away is the green. Remember if you are more than 2yds from the green, don't use the chip.

2)What is the elevation difference.

3)What is the break of the green where your shot will first hit the green. The break may be slight near the hole, but remember that the ball rolls for 75% of the shot. Try dragging the aim arrow to where you think the ball will touchdown, and check the break there also.

4)Always practice using 1 type of chip. I always use backspin, very rarely using topspin or no spin, so all distances givin are using backspin.

Edited May 13, 2016 by Jason Smith

[Gator Hazard]

I would take either 3 or 5 wood. 5 hybrid and my 54 degree wedge. 

[Fourputt]

5 wood, 7 iron, gap wedge, just as a general guess.  To make a real choice I'd have to know the course and how it was set up for the competition.  When I've played in these tournaments, the course is usually pretty short.  I only take driver if several par 4 holes are really long.  I prefer having as many multifunctional clubs as possible for this sort of event.

[sirhacksalot]

26 minutes ago, Fourputt said:

5 wood, 7 iron, gap wedge, just as a general guess.  To make a real choice I'd have to know the course and how it was set up for the competition.  When I've played in these tournaments, the course is usually pretty short.  I only take driver if several par 4 holes are really long.  I prefer having as many multifunctional clubs as possible for this sort of event.

I am on board with this too.  I would go back and forth whether to take my strong 3 or strong 5 but the 5 wood would probably win.  This would be taking a 200ish, 150ish, 100+ish club for me so its probably the best gaps for distances.

[Gator Hazard]

I agree, just don't see driver as a good club for this set up. 3 wood 5 wood or 2 or 3 hybrid or iron for the big club and then whatever mid club you feel hit best and can manipulate and then a short range club you consider your go too one for around the greens out to about 115 or so and in. 

[Big C]

As others have suggested, it's going to depend on the specific course. But generally speaking, I would classify your club choices into 3 categories

- Tee shot club

- Short Game club

- Par 3 club

On most courses, I'm going to choose a 3 Wood for my tee shot club because it will give me acceptable distance on most holes, while allowing the option to play a long second shot "off the deck" if the situation calls for it. If you have no confidence in your 3 wood, you could substitute driver or hybrid, but each of those has drawbacks in terms of versatility or distance. 

The short game club is critical because you are probably going to be missing more greens than usual due to distance gaps. Whatever club you feel most confidence with for green-side pitches, chips and bunker shots is the club that I would choose. In my case, that's a 58 degree wedge. To @paininthenuts, I think having a 9 iron as your shortest club could be a mistake. While you can likely execute most short game shots acceptably with a 9, I would guess you will have more than a handful of times when a 9 iron isn't going to cut it. 

The gap in between those two clubs would be filled by whatever distance most closely fits the par 3's on the course I am playing. 

On my home course, my 3 clubs would be a 3 Wood, 8 Iron and 58 degree wedge. In any case, those events are a lot of fun and I wish you luck!

[Golfingdad]

10 minutes ago, Big C said:

As others have suggested, it's going to depend on the specific course. But generally speaking, I would classify your club choices into 3 categories

- Tee shot club

- Short Game club

- Par 3 club

Totally agree.  Did this once (after reading about it here and talking with buddies, we decided to try it) and I went with 3 wood, 8 iron and sand wedge.  In retrospect, it was a mistake to not consider the par 3's.  8 iron was too short of a club for 3 of the par 3's.  7 iron would have been the better choice.  (One of the par 3's is usually a 9 iron, and one is usually a 6 iron - for that one, I'd just aim for the front left area near the green and try to get up and down.  The other two are similar holes and usually call for a 7 iron)

And because of the extra distance there for approaches, I think I'd also have dialed back and gone with hybrid for the long club for more accuracy.

[Patch]

10 minutes ago, Golfingdad said:

Totally agree.  Did this once (after reading about it here and talking with buddies, we decided to try it) and I went with 3 wood, 8 iron and sand wedge.  In retrospect, it was a mistake to not consider the par 3's.  8 iron was too short of a club for 3 of the par 3's.  7 iron would have been the better choice.  (One of the par 3's is usually a 9 iron, and one is usually a 6 iron - for that one, I'd just aim for the front left area near the green and try to get up and down.  The other two are similar holes and usually call for a 7 iron)

And because of the extra distance there for approaches, I think I'd also have dialed back and gone with hybrid for the long club for more accuracy.

I play these type tournaments 4 or 5 times a year. On your par 3 issue, I just grip down on my driving club, and use a shorter swing. Something like a punch shot. I land the ball short of the green, and let it roll on from there. If there is a hazard guarding the front of green, I usually just take my medicine, and lay up, hoping for a one putt par. 

[Jeremie Boop]

I think it depends on your length. I'd probably go 3H, 8 Iron, and 56*

[Rainmaker]

I would definitely take my 4w, 7i, 56 degree wedge and putter. 

4wood for tee shots and also it's my favorite "rescue" shot - the (extremely) low running punch shot. 

7iron for approaches and bump and runs

56 degree for sand, chipping and pitching.

Putter . .useless to me but I always carry one for some reason.

 

Sounds like a good time - hope you do well.

[paininthenuts]

3 hours ago, Fourputt said:

5 wood, 7 iron, gap wedge, just as a general guess.  To make a real choice I'd have to know the course and how it was set up for the competition.  When I've played in these tournaments, the course is usually pretty short.  I only take driver if several par 4 holes are really long.  I prefer having as many multifunctional clubs as possible for this sort of event.

It's a 9  hole course, par 37, 3440 yards

[Fourputt]

29 minutes ago, paininthenuts said:

It's a 9  hole course, par 37, 3440 yards

What tees?  Are you playing from the back?  That equates to almost a 7000 yard 18 hole course.  That would be unusually long for a limited club tourney.

[chilepepper]

20 deg hybrid, 7 I and a wedge.