Which hybrid loft(s) do you carry? Why?

[amking]

I know that ultimately this is just going to depend on preference + distance gaps in an individual player's set, but i'm currently shopping for a hybrid (have a buddy's 19° in my bag) and wanted to get some feedback.

right now i'm more looking specifically @ the 17° & 19° titleist's.

[Jack_2251]

Well, as you can see in my signature, I play the 585 Titleist hybrid. As you probably know, they are great clubs. Mine is 17* of loft, and I hit it about 10-20 metres less than my 15* Fairway wood (Which is the same fairway as yours), so I would expect you to be about the same.

[amking]

yeah i really like the 585 series (and more so the new hybrids overall) now that i've gotten the chance to playtest one a bit... i was a little skeptical before, but now i definitely can see the benefit of having one (vs my old 2 iron/5 wood/4th wedge swap spot). in fact now my concern is less on whether or not to carry the hybrid, but on how my short game is going to respond to the change (went from 48-52-56-60 with an old iron set to 47-52-58 now).

i have been leaning towards the 17° simply because the loft and shaft length differences make it just that much more viable as a "driving iron" (ie good for tee shots on tight par 4's) when compared to the shorter 19°. i was just concerned initially that the 17° would be too close to the 15.5°, but it hasnt really been.

[powertrip240]

I carry a 23 degree Nike Slingshot hybrid in place of a 3 iron. It fills the yardage gap perfectly between my 5 wood and my 4 iron, and is much easier to hit than my 3 iron. I've been thinking of picking up a 17-19 degree hybrid to repalce a fairway wood.

[hkmp5]

I bought all four titleist 585 h , as I could not decide but use the 19 and 24 simply because they are 4 degrees differerence from my irons and 3 wood ! the other two 17 and 21 are almost in perfect shape if your interested I would let them go at a great price !

Ray

[Big_M]

used to play Nike CPR's of 18 and 21 in place of 5w and 3i... but now I play Adams Idea Pro and their 2 and 3 is 18 and 20... hope they fill in my distance gaps and I don't have gap between 3h (20*) and 4i.

[hawkeye]

19 degree for me - don't use it a lot (maybe tee-shot on 1 tight par 4 on my home course) but great out of the rough for long approaches - from 170 to 215 yards depending on lie/wind or under trees.

i won't be getting rid of it anytime soon!

[Sherpat]

Hi Amking -

I think that, particularly considering your handicap (which I imagine you want to maintain or even improve on) you should go beyond decision making based on subjective "preference". Impressions can sometimes be deceiving; you may bias your preferences towards things which are familiar, rather than things which pragmatically improve your game but initially feel odd.

Go get a thorough fitting and some actual numbers. A good fitter will be able to tell you, based on your launch angle, etc., which loft(s) hybrid you'll be best off carrying. That's the route I took, and I'm glad I did. My fitter calculated that I was better off making 5-iron the longest iron in my bag. Anything longer and I got better results with the more forgiving, longer shafted hybrids. On top of that, I got to find out exactly which lofts provided the best distance to fill in gaps, and optimum lie angle and shaft length recommendations for my build and swing. It was money well spent. (And as you probably know, most fitters don't require you to purchase clubs from them. You can just get a fitting, then take that data and purchase whatever brand of club you want in those specs.)

That's just an opinion based on my own experience, of course. Good luck with whatever you decide!

[jammer59]

I carry a Mizuno Clk 20* which basically replaces both the 3 and 4 iron. Depending upon lie and whether I choke down a bit, swing easier, etc. I can carry this one 180 to 210. I tried the 4h 23* hybrid (several brands) and have trouble with these ballooning and fading too much.