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Last 5 rounds with no driver or woods.


Seals
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With the season closing down, I decided to switch up my bag setup. Took out the big stick and used my 3 iron (20*). Played around 7000 yards. Longest par 5 played was 620 and par 4 was 475. 

Obviously hit more fairways, and surprisingly hit the same amount of greens considering I had longer shots in. shot a 71 (+1) on the third try as my low for this experiment.

Anyone tried this, or maybe a few rounds with no driver and only 3 wood. How was it?

Edited by Seals
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I stopped carrying a driver a couple years ago.  The course I play, most often, has dog legs on 7 of the 18 holes and clocks in around 6039.  Playing to the corner, instead of trying to work the bend, is the safer route.  Why risk blowing through the corner to gain 30 yards?

In der bag:
Cleveland Hi-Bore driver, Maltby 5 wood, Maltby hybrid, Maltby irons and wedges (23 to 50) Vokey 59/07, Cleveland Niblick (LH-42), and a Maltby mallet putter.                                                                                                                                                 "When the going gets tough...it's tough to get going."

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7 hours ago, Seals said:

With the season closing down, I decided to switch up my bag setup. Took out the big stick and used my 3 iron (20*). Played around 7000 yards. Longest par 5 played was 620 and par 4 was 475. 

Obviously hit more fairways, and surprisingly hit the same amount of greens considering I had longer shots in. shot a 71 (+1) on the third try as my low for this experiment.

Anyone tried this, or maybe a few rounds with no driver and only 3 wood. How was it?

That is such a depressing post for me to read. 

How far do you hit your 3-iron? 

 

Edited by Marty2019
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1 hour ago, Marty2019 said:

That is such a depressing post for me to read. 

How far do you hit your 3-iron? 

 

Of the tee, I can carry it 240 and it rolls to 255-260. 

Edited by Seals
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2 minutes ago, Seals said:

Of the tee, I can carry it 235 and it rolls to 250-255. 

According to this 2009 article, you are well beyond PGA Tour averages.   Have you ever played professionally? 

http://golftips.golfweek.com/average-yards-per-club-pro-golfer-20585.html

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1 hour ago, Marty2019 said:

According to this 2009 article, you are well beyond PGA Tour averages.   Have you ever played professionally? 

http://golftips.golfweek.com/average-yards-per-club-pro-golfer-20585.html

There are a few things wrong with this article. Yes, this counts PGA Tour Averages. 

1. This is almost 9 years old

2. This counts people like Justin Leonard and David Duval, people who played in a handful of events.

Did you see the clubs everyday competitors are hitting. 250 yard par 3 at Erin Hills. Justin Thomas, 6 iron, Spieth 5 iron etc.

A carry 235 to 240 with a long iron off the tee is not that crazy.

Edited by Seals
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12 minutes ago, Seals said:

There are a few things wrong with this article. Yes, this counts PGA Tour Averages. 

1. This is almost 9 years old

2. This counts people like Justin Leonard and David Duval, people who played in a handful of events.

Did you see the clubs everyday competitors are hitting. 250 yard par 3 at Erin Hills. Justin Thomas, 6 iron, Spieth 5 iron etc.

A carry 235 to 240 with a long iron off the tee is not that crazy.

Here's an article from 2015 that says the Trackman PGA Tour average carry for a 3-iron is 212. 

https://blog.trackmangolf.com/trackman-average-tour-stats/

And here's one from 2017 that says the average PGA tour player hits a 3-iron between 210 and 260.  I don't know if that's the carry or total distance. 

https://thegolfnewsnet.com/golfnewsnetteam/2017/02/02/how-far-pga-tour-players-hit-ball-average-distance-102775/

I'm saying, you hit the ball a very very long way, right up there with PGA Tour players. 

So, I had to laugh when you seemed to be asking, basically, "Have any of you guys tried playing 7,000 (or 6,800) yards teeing off with a 3-iron?"  My answer is, no, not me, haha. 

 

Edited by Marty2019
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34 minutes ago, Marty2019 said:

Here's an article from 2015 that says the Trackman PGA Tour average carry for a 3-iron is 212. 

https://blog.trackmangolf.com/trackman-average-tour-stats/

And here's one from 2017 that says the average PGA tour player hits a 3-iron between 210 and 260.  I don't know if that's the carry or total distance. 

https://thegolfnewsnet.com/golfnewsnetteam/2017/02/02/how-far-pga-tour-players-hit-ball-average-distance-102775/

I'm saying, you hit the ball a very very long way, right up there with PGA Tour players. 

So, I had to laugh when you seemed to be asking, basically, "Have any of you guys tried playing 7,000 (or 6,800) yards teeing off with a 3-iron?"  My answer is, no, not me, haha. 

 

Not crazy, my son and his high school team mates hit the same as @Seals when they were competing. My son admits he does this now because he can’t hit hit driver.

Those numbers are almost always carry.

I haven’t done what’s in the OP for a while, and likely won’t because my woods are my strength and I can’t hit my long irons at this point. :-P

Edited by Lihu

:ping:  :tmade:  :callaway:   :gamegolf:  :titleist:

TM White Smoke Big Fontana; Pro-V1
TM Rac 60 TT WS, MD2 56
Ping i20 irons U-4, CFS300
Callaway XR16 9 degree Fujikura Speeder 565 S
Callaway XR16 3W 15 degree Fujikura Speeder 565 S, X2Hot Pro 20 degrees S

"I'm hitting the woods just great, but I'm having a terrible time getting out of them." ~Harry Toscano

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2 hours ago, Marty2019 said:

Here's an article from 2015 that says the Trackman PGA Tour average carry for a 3-iron is 212. 

https://blog.trackmangolf.com/trackman-average-tour-stats/

And here's one from 2017 that says the average PGA tour player hits a 3-iron between 210 and 260.  I don't know if that's the carry or total distance. 

https://thegolfnewsnet.com/golfnewsnetteam/2017/02/02/how-far-pga-tour-players-hit-ball-average-distance-102775/

I'm saying, you hit the ball a very very long way, right up there with PGA Tour players. 

So, I had to laugh when you seemed to be asking, basically, "Have any of you guys tried playing 7,000 (or 6,800) yards teeing off with a 3-iron?"  My answer is, no, not me, haha. 

 

Like Lihu said, those are carry numbers. A pro is not relying on roll for their yardages. 

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Played 2 rounds hitting a soft-high fade with my driver for accuracy (230 carry- 0 roll, thats between my normal hybrid and 3 wood) on a 7000 yards course par 71. I just hit one ball to the trees. But i shot 79-80. Next day played my normal draw with the driver (260 carry- 0 roll). Miss more fairways but 30 more yards gave me more shots inside 150 yards (my stregth) so i played better shooting 75. 
  

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i get about 210 with my 3 iron on average.  But my clubs are from the 90s with more loft and less roll.  They keep delofting the clubs and some people have an awesome swing, so nothing suprises me.  Plus it depends on other factors like hitting into the wind or with it, humidity, down or up a slope, etc.

I like long irons but I stopped trying to crush the ball with them.  It helps me control the overall accuracy.  Same thing with the woods.  I rather get average distance with each club and try to manage the course in terms of limiting mistakes(like avoiding bunkers, water, rough).

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Given that after my driver, 3w and 5w, the next club in the bag is my 4i and that I only carry it to about 170 yards, it would have to be a pretty short course, around 5000-5500 max to make this doable, lol, unless I want to have a 30-50 yards pitch or more as my GIR+1 shot, hoping for pars with ups and downs.

Personally, I find the driver to be the most controllable long club, with the 5 wood next (I carry it about 185-190), and the thought of playing without it somewhat unsettling. I have done it before, when the driver was not under control and I could go around ok, but I find it's a case of "the more you do it, the better you get at it", so by hitting more drivers, I am getting better with the big dog, and worse with the 3 wood of the tee. In fact, I just went through a spell where I couldn't hit a wood at all, from the tee or the deck: it was all tops while bottoming waaaayyy behind the ball...

Philippe

:callaway: Maverick Driver, 3W, 5W Big Bertha 
:mizuno: JPX 900 Forged 4-GW
:mizuno:  T7 55-09 and 60-10 forged wedges,
:odyssey: #7 putter (Slim 3.0 grip)

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A number of years ago when I was getting into the sport for the first time I was hacking around my local 6000 yard track in about 100-105, having not broken 100 once.  This included numerous wayward drivers off the tee and badly controlled fairway woods

I took myself back to the course one quiet mid-week afternoon and played with nothing longer than a 6 iron, and shot 92.  Was certainly losing a ton of distance on longer holes assuming a clean drive, but the benefit of fewer/no penalty shots plus the psychological benefit of not berating myself after wayward drives more than compensated

Luckily my driver is more controlled these days, but I do still think about putting it away completely from time to time.

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I can't say I have tried this, but I have comparable distance numbers so I imagine I could pull it off. I don't carry a 3 iron, but a do have an 18° driving iron that I can hit about 275. I hit that driving iron pretty darn straight so I don't think I would see much of a difference from my normal scores. Longer approaches would probably mean an increase in proximity to the hole so birdies might be tougher to come by. But, I really like to hit my new PING driver so I am not going to give this a try any time soon.

On a different note, I am not sure why its so hard for people to believe someone can carry a 3 iron 240, especially someone with a + handicap. 

Danny    In my :ping: Hoofer Tour golf bag on my :clicgear: 8.0 Cart

Driver:   :pxg: 0311 Gen 5  X-Stiff.                        Irons:  :callaway: 4-PW APEX TCB Irons 
3 Wood: :callaway: Mavrik SZ Rogue X-Stiff                            Nippon Pro Modus 130 X-Stiff
3 Hybrid: :callaway: Mavrik Pro KBS Tour Proto X   Wedges: :vokey:  50°, 54°, 60° 
Putter: :odyssey:  2-Ball Ten Arm Lock        Ball: :titleist: ProV 1

 

 

 

 

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I played yesterday using a 3W, 12 irons and of course my putter. I took an old set out out of mothballs a while back just to shake up my complacent game. 

Shot about 10 strokes over my average, but that score was directly related to post, flu concerns. I was not ready to play 18 holes, and got tired.

Playing the first 9 holes with these irons was really a lot of fun, as I found these clubs still fit my swing pretty well. Distance was not an issue. My accuracy could have been a few yards better on a few shots. 

I am going to play through the winter with this bag of irons (bazooka ironwoods by tour edge) and see what I can do with them.

A side from the irons, I also changed out my trusty putter I have used for decades, for a novelty (legal) Rail Gun putter. This putter is so ugly, it seems to scare the ball into the hole. It also doubles as quite a conversation piece. "Is that thing lega?" is a very common remark I hear. Not sure why I quit using it way back when. It still makes putts for me. 

In My Bag:
A whole bunch of Tour Edge golf stuff...... :beer:

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I don't have the distance to play a course Elin-style.  Even if you don't count hybrids as "woods," my 3H is 175-180.  I'd have to place a course well under 6000 yards for it to really be feasible.  Plus, hitting fairways isn't often the problem (and when it is, there's often a fix elsewhere in my swing;  just found out my setup migrated to a bad position lately).

Maybe when I play with my mom, I can use her tees and hit hybrid.  Might be interesting, perhaps faster.  I wonder what it'd do to my Game Golf driving stat though, as distance is an important part of strokes gained/lost.  Maybe not count that round?

-- Michael | My swing! 

"You think you're Jim Furyk. That's why your phone is never charged." - message from my mother

Driver:  Titleist 915D2.  4-wood:  Titleist 917F2.  Titleist TS2 19 degree hybrid.  Another hybrid in here too.  Irons 5-U, Ping G400.  Wedges negotiable (currently 54 degree Cleveland, 58 degree Titleist) Edel putter. 

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Note: This thread is 2311 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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