Filling the Gap

[p1n9183]

After compiting in Scratch tournaments, i was faced with several shots between 200 - 220 yards of carry on approacho shots an even for laying up on par 4/5´s, distances that are not common at my home course so i don´t have a club to hit that shots. I currently hit my 3 wood 230 carry and my 4 iron 190 carry. That´s a big Gap i need to fill.

In orther to fill it i will buy an 19° Hybrid (set to 18°), my issue is what club to take out off the bag. This is my current Clubs/Degrees/Carry Distances.

Driver 9° 250 
3 Wood 15° 230
New Hybrid 18° 210 (Gap filler)
4 Iron 22° 190
5 Iron 25° 180
6 Iron 28° 170
7 Iron 31° 160
8 Iron 35° 150
9 Iron 39° 140
P 43° 130 (chip wedge)
W 47° 120
G 51° 110 (pitch wedge) 
S 56° 95
L 60° 85 (pitch, lob, sand wedge)

Note: G and L wedges are in my bag since 2000. The rest were bougth in 2016.

So, witch club I take out of the bag ?
 

 

Edited March 21, 2017 by p1n9183

[Club Rat]

It would really depend on the style of courses that are played.
I rotate my gap wedge and 4-iron frequently (short or long courses)
Also, if I'm not using a specific wood often, I'll rotate either 3 or 5 wood out pending season conditions.

One of the features of having adjustable heads in my FW Woods is the ability to tweak them for wind conditions or course styles.

[Denny Bang Bang]

@p1n9183 I use my LW a lot, but I'm sure I could get away with just a SW if I got used to not having a LW.  So that was my vote.

I don't worry as much about the gaps in the longer sticks, but 40 yards at 200 out is getting big.  Tough choice, but @Club Rat is right on... you can decide round to round.

 

[Typhoon92]

I would dump the 3 wood and hybrid and replace with  5 wood or a 4 wood.

Choke down on the 4 wood some and u got 210.  If your looking for a 200 club this will work too.  What are your chances of hitting anything perfect from 200...even a long putt or a chip you might be fine with.

 

I don't know your handicap but I think u said layups on par 5 leaves an awkward distance so why bother with the 3 wood...a 4 or 5 is more versitile I think.

[WUTiger]

You might leave out the 47* (it's a late add on and you don't label it). If  you did this, you would have to learn how to choke down 1/2" or so on the 43* to shave off yardage.

If you did that, you might put two extra wraps of tape under the lower hand so you could choke down without getting too much taper narrowness, and possibly rolling the face closed.

Also, try a 3/4 swing with the 39* 9i.

You would just have to experiment and see how these work.

Or, you could find a demo 6i that matches your set, bend it to 27* and add 1/4" to the shaft, and drop out the 5i. (You would keep the original 6i and the 5i at home). This might give you 15 yds. between a strong 6i and the residual 4i, but that would be manageable.

[Pretzel]

Your lofts seem rather strong, what set of clubs are you using? A 9 iron is generally 43-45 degrees and a PW 46-48 degrees, compared to the 39* and 43* clubs in your bag. 

If you had your irons bent to traditional lofts, you could then purchase a 20 or 21* hybrid that would likely fill the desired gap (hybrids go longer than their equivalent lofted irons) and you would be rid of the W in your bag since it would become redundant. 

[p1n9183]

On 21/3/2017 at 1:01 PM, Club Rat said:

It would really depend on the style of courses that are played.
I rotate my gap wedge and 4-iron frequently (short or long courses)
Also, if I'm not using a specific wood often, I'll rotate either 3 or 5 wood out pending season conditions.

One of the features of having adjustable heads in my FW Woods is the ability to tweak them for wind conditions or course styles.

Generally on championships i play long corses >7000 yards. Im a short hitter too, so i don´t hit too much wedges to the greens. Only on Par 5 and maybe a short tigth hole. The hybrid i just bougth is necessary. 

On 21/3/2017 at 9:54 PM, Denny Bang Bang said:

@p1n9183 I use my LW a lot, but I'm sure I could get away with just a SW if I got used to not having a LW.  So that was my vote.

I don't worry as much about the gaps in the longer sticks, but 40 yards at 200 out is getting big.  Tough choice, but @Club Rat is right on... you can decide round to round.

 

Think about this too. For the moment it´s what i´ve done. But i not sure about it. 

42 minutes ago, Typhoon92 said:

I would dump the 3 wood and hybrid and replace with  5 wood or a 4 wood.

Choke down on the 4 wood some and u got 210.  If your looking for a 200 club this will work too.  What are your chances of hitting anything perfect from 200...even a long putt or a chip you might be fine with.

 

I don't know your handicap but I think u said layups on par 5 leaves an awkward distance so why bother with the 3 wood...a 4 or 5 is more versitile I think.

But if I only play with a 4 wood my distances will be.. Driver 250, 5 wood 210, 4 Iron 190. Now i have a big gap between My driver and my 5 wood. I choke down on every club in the bag, can´t choke down more. 

My Handicap it´s 0. My awkward distances are on long par 3 and long par 4. Maybe on short par 5 too. 

38 minutes ago, WUTiger said:

You might leave out the 47* (it's a late add on and you don't label it). If  you did this, you would have to learn how to choke down 1/2" or so on the 43* to shave off yardage.

If you did that, you might put two extra wraps of tape under the lower hand so you could choke down without getting too much taper narrowness, and possibly rolling the face closed.

Also, try a 3/4 swing with the 39* 9i.

You would just have to experiment and see how these work.

Or, you could find a demo 6i that matches your set, bend it to 27* and add 1/4" to the shaft, and drop out the 5i. (You would keep the original 6i and the 5i at home). This might give you 15 yds. between a strong 6i and the residual 4i, but that would be manageable.

The 6 iron idea is brilliant. Never cross my mind. But i don´t whant to alter my irons. I'm curious, how could you add 1/4 shaft to a club ?? I´m not good on half swings, and i already choke down everything. That´s why i have 5 wedges, no gaps in my wedges but that means 40 yards gap in my longer clubs. 

19 minutes ago, Pretzel said:

Your lofts seem rather strong, what set of clubs are you using? A 9 iron is generally 43-45 degrees and a PW 46-48 degrees, compared to the 39* and 43* clubs in your bag. 

If you had your irons bent to traditional lofts, you could then purchase a 20 or 21* hybrid that would likely fill the desired gap (hybrids go longer than their equivalent lofted irons) and you would be rid of the W in your bag since it would become redundant. 

Yes, they are really strong from fabric. I play the titleist AP1 716.

Maybe setting my 3 wood from 15 to 16,5 and setting the hybrid from 19 to 21 i can get out of the bag my 4 iron.
I guess the yards will be as follows:

Driver 250
Wood 220
Hybrid 200
5 Iron 180
6 iron 170 and so on.. and i get to keep all my wedges.

What do you think ?

[Typhoon92]

On 3/21/2017 at 0:01 PM, Club Rat said:

It would really depend on the style of courses that are played.
I rotate my gap wedge and 4-iron frequently (short or long courses)
Also, if I'm not using a specific wood often, I'll rotate either 3 or 5 wood out pending season conditions.

One of the features of having adjustable heads in my FW Woods is the ability to tweak them for wind conditions or course styles.

Ok...scratch...good info!  I happen to be +3 and my issues are also that end of the bag.  Club Rat nailed it then....it's what I do as well, set up depends on the course.

I carry 4 - w, 50,54,60,64.  Driver, 5w and putter.  That's home.  Liable to take out the 64 and add a 3 or 4 wood.

 

From 210 to 240 I'm just hoping to either be ON the green or just off it and get it up and down.  For me I can get my 5 wood anywhere from 210-230 depending on what I want to do.

[WUTiger]

13 hours ago, p1n9183 said:

The 6 iron idea is brilliant. Never cross my mind. But i don´t want to alter my irons. I'm curious, how could you add 1/4 " shaft to a club ?? I´m not good on half swings, and i already choke down everything. That´s why i have 5 wedges, no gaps in my wedges but that means 40 yards gap in my longer clubs. 

I understand about not wanting to alter your main iron set. That is why you would find a demonstrator 6i which matches your model of irons. You take the demonstrator 6i and make the loft a degree stronger, and add a 1/4" plug to the butt when you regrip the iron.

Then, you put your set's original 4i and 5i on the shelf - uncut - in case you have a course where you want more longer irons.

Then, the low-end irons in your bag would be:

• 4 Iron 22° 190
• Strong 6 Iron 28° -->27° + 1/4" shaft plug = 175? Fine tune with test shots.
• 7 Iron 31° 160

The idea of in-between or "tweener" irons comes from Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible, Chap. 10.

[ZappyAd]

I have a similar gap at the top end but as yet haven't found the right solution.  I have a space in the bag though because my inter club gaps are a bit bigger.

Could you bend the 5i a degree or two stronger ( to hit 185), and then drop the 4i and get a hybrid to fit between 190-210?

Or look at bending all the lofts a bit to spread out the distances and then drop a club.

[BamaWade]

So this is just me, here...and tailored to my game & preferences:  It's an expensive option, but with 5 wedges I'd have to make the cut there.  I'd ignore your 43° PW as that's a strong enough loft I'd barely consider it a wedge.  Beyond that, I'd go with 3 wedges gapped at 6°:  48°, 54° & 60°, all new, matching brand with bounces/grinds setup as you like.  I'm at my most creative w/wedges, the 6° gaps feel a-okay w/me.  If you go that route, maybe you could get a little cash out of the old wedges...or hand them down to someone picking up the game.

I had an almost identical gap last year and bought a 4H (adjustable) that fills it perfectly.  I found, unexpectedly, that I use it a lot around the green.  A versatile club makes for a good investment.  I think you'll like yours a lot.  Best of luck!

BamaWade

[Typhoon92]

Now that it's been mentioned, I totally forgot that the same idea popped into my head last year.  Leave out my 6 iron.  Glad it was mentioned!