Playing Golf With Fewer Clubs?

[MarvChamp]

A friend plays driver, 5 wood, 4 hybrid, 5, 7 & 9 irons, SW and putter. He says he can be more proficient with fewer clubs than he can with the full bag. Has anyone else tried this? What was your experience? Thanks, -Marv

[G-off]

play on and off with 7 or 9 clubs, scores are usually within two strokes of full bag.

[Patch]

I have a full bag of clubs (14). Reality is I only use 6, maybe 7 of them in every round.. Scores are the same no matter how many clubs I might use.

If I walked, and carried my bag, I would take out some clubs to save weight. These days I either rent a cart, or use my trolley. 

The bigger issue is, if I took the other 7, or 8 clubs out of my bag, I'd have to find some place to put them. Plus, the empty slots in my bag would cause me some sort if mental grief, which would mean more meds, and the complications that go with those meds. 

I got enough problems in my golf game. Best I keep all 14 clubs in one place. 

[RWC]

I tend to play with 7-9 clubs depending on the course (typically based on par 3 lengths). Makes it easier to carry and walk - important at my age. Also with a fairly slow swing speed (75-80 mph) 3-4 deg gaps don't really translate into big difference in distance. 

[Shindig]

I'm going to.  I carry 14 but two are superfluous at the moment.

My recent woods fitting indicated something I sort of knew for a while:  the 3-wood isn't going to be the wood I hit the farthest (I'm getting a 3.5 wood, in effect:  a 4-wood with a setting to make it slightly stronger in loft due to how the Titleist fit system works).  Then in the space between that and my 5-iron, there's going to be a hybrid, nominally marked 3.  Initial estimates put that at about 10-15 yards past the 5-iron and the wood about 10-15 yards past the hybrid.   The reality is I'm a short hitter and working at it, but I'm bad at going to the gym too.

I carry a 4 hybrid for reasons that escape me.  It's half a degree weaker than my 5-iron.  

On the other end, I have a UW iron at 49.5 degrees and a 50 degree Glide wedge.  I use them in different circumstances, but I'm open to re-configuring the bottom of my bag too.

There's a part of me that says I should drop the 4 hybrid (since I rarely hit it anyway) and get an actual 60 degree wedge.  I'm also debating swapping out the 50 and 56 for a 54 and 58.  I don't really hit full shots with my 56 (and rarely with my 50).

Or, better yet, when I'm ready to re-configure the bottom of the bag, go and finally do a full wedge fitting.  Huh, the guy who fit my Edel putter isn't listed on Edel's page as a certified fitter anymore?  It would be nice to know what would go under the UW in the gap distance.  And I should learn 3/4 shots with my iron-wedges to really get the benefit of a wedge fitting.

Long story short (too late) : yes, I'm sort of carrying 12 clubs for playing purposes, plus another two are in the bag. 

[Killa]

I carry 13 clubs and I hit pretty much all of them in a round of 18. 

The 4i, 6i, 8i get hit the least, besides the driver that just gets me into trouble. 

I hit my 3 wood on every par4 and par5 that isn't too tight. For everything else is the 5i. 7i, 9i and down are used on most approach shots after that. 

 

If I'd need to reduce I could probably go with

3w, 5i,7i,9i, PW, 60w and putter. So 7 clubs. Even though the 52 and 56 wedges often come in handy. 

[Shindig]

35 minutes ago, Killa said:

The 4i, 6i, 8i get hit the least, besides the driver that just gets me into trouble. 

I hit my 3 wood on every par4 and par5 that isn't too tight. For everything else is the 5i. 7i, 9i and down are used on most approach shots after that. 

I'd understand teeing off with a 3-wood if we were playing in a 5-club competition, but you (and anyone else) who leaves the driver in the bag for just about every hole is needlessly costing themselves shots.  I don't mean "if you play tomorrow, use driver."  I mean that unless your course is super narrow or has Oakmont-level rough or Pine Valley bunkers everywhere, you should learn to hit driver as a priority.

Have you looked at this thread? 

 

 

[billchao]

I probably hit no more than nine clubs per round. That doesn't mean I don't need the other five clubs. I never know what I might run into. Different courses and conditions require different shots.

[Piz]

A non-golfing friend once asked me if I really needed "all those clubs".  I replied "No...not every round...but a particular shot might be a 6 iron, one day, and an 8 iron the next...depending on the wind and the lie".  My friend was skeptical.  If you only need one tennis racket, or one hockey stick, why do you need 14 golf clubs?  This from a guy who has half a dozen Ping-Pong paddles.

 

 

 

[Aguirre]

Well, I rarely hit the 3 wood. Occasionally off the tee when either very prudent or a necessity. I hit the 5 wood a bit more. After that, I use all my clubs. I chip/pitch with 4 different clubs, and will hit greenside blast bunker shots with as many as 5 clubs, and occasionally 6. 

I don't get hitting a 9 & 7 iron but not the 8. I mean, if you can hit both of the former clubs, there's no reason at all why you can't hit the latter. Unless you have some huge mental thing going on, which I would suggest fixing.

[ghalfaire]

On 7/8/2018 at 3:28 PM, MarvChamp said:

A friend plays driver, 5 wood, 4 hybrid, 5, 7 & 9 irons, SW and putter. He says he can be more proficient with fewer clubs than he can with the full bag. Has anyone else tried this? What was your experience? Thanks, -Marv

Long time ago, when I first started playing,  I had a set of irons with 3,5,7,9 and a 2 wood. It was fun and seems like these half sets were sold in Department stores.  Probably not best quality clubs, but cheap, and works for me.

[Shindig]

1 hour ago, Piz said:

A non-golfing friend once asked me if I really needed "all those clubs".  I replied "No...not every round...but a particular shot might be a 6 iron, one day, and an 8 iron the next...depending on the wind and the lie".  My friend was skeptical.  If you only need one tennis racket, or one hockey stick, why do you need 14 golf clubs?  This from a guy who has half a dozen Ping-Pong paddles.

I've been asked this before;  I point out that not all 46 men who dress on gameday are necessarily used that day by a football team, but there's a reason the coach dressed them.

[JonMA1]

8 hours ago, Shindig said:

I carry a 4 hybrid for reasons that escape me.  It's half a degree weaker than my 5-iron.

I carry a 4i and a 4h. I could easily get rid of the 4h but it's a nice club to have when I want to hit a higher shot out of the rough. If I actually carried my bag (as opposed to pushing it around on a wheeled cart), I'd carry less clubs.

9 minutes ago, Shindig said:

I've been asked this before;  I point out that not all 46 men who dress on gameday are necessarily used that day by a football team, but there's a reason the coach dressed them.

Even baseball players commonly use different sized gloves depending on the position they play. Catcher's mitts and first basemen gloves are obviously a specialty type, but middle infielders prefer smaller gloves with shallow pockets as that helps in turning double plays. Third basemen need a glove with a stronger pocket and outfielders prefer longer gloves.

So yeah, different tools for different jobs.

That said, a hacker like me would probably play at about the same level if I got rid of a couple clubs.

[HJJ003]

I am currently looking for a minimalist set (7 clubs or so) to keep in Colorado for when I go up to see my in laws which we do at least once or twice a year. I have never played with just a few clubs before. I would like to try it some time. 

[1badbadger]

I carry 14 clubs and use all of them.  Maybe not every round, but there is no "dead wood" in my bag.

I have purposely played with only 3 or 4 clubs, and if your experience is like mine, it will change the way you think on the golf course.  I encourage everyone to try it at least once.  Even if it's just 9 holes.  I know it might seem like a waste of money to pay green fees and only take a few clubs, but it's worth it. 

Half of the strategy is deciding which clubs to use.  For example, do you chose a putter, or do use one of your other clubs to putt with?  It will really open up your imagination on the course.  A lot of guys can't fathom playing without a driver (or 3-wood) to tee off with on most par 4 and par 5 holes, but think about it...a 450 yd hole is three smooth 7-iron shots for most guys.  Obviously there will be times where you don't have the club for a particular yardage, so you'll have to manufacture a shot or use a unique strategy that you've never done before.  It's a lot of fun and can help improve your course management.

[Moxley]

A guy in my society shows up occasionally with a tiny carry bag with about 7 clubs, mainly irons. He only plays a few times a year and sometimes submits an excellent score. The guy is obviously a good ball striker, but I wonder how much of that comes from restricting his equipment.

5 hours ago, 1badbadger said:

I carry 14 clubs and use all of them.  Maybe not every round, but there is no "dead wood" in my bag.

I have purposely played with only 3 or 4 clubs, and if your experience is like mine, it will change the way you think on the golf course.  I encourage everyone to try it at least once.  Even if it's just 9 holes.  I know it might seem like a waste of money to pay green fees and only take a few clubs, but it's worth it. 

Half of the strategy is deciding which clubs to use.  For example, do you chose a putter, or do use one of your other clubs to putt with?  It will really open up your imagination on the course.  A lot of guys can't fathom playing without a driver (or 3-wood) to tee off with on most par 4 and par 5 holes, but think about it...a 450 yd hole is three smooth 7-iron shots for most guys.  Obviously there will be times where you don't have the club for a particular yardage, so you'll have to manufacture a shot or use a unique strategy that you've never done before.  It's a lot of fun and can help improve your course management.

 

Great point, I know a few golfers who'd benefit from this. You need to try clubbing well down on a hole to know if it works

[MacDutch]

Today I used 8 clubs out of 13 in the bag. Used my 7i only once to produce a terrible shot. Used my 6 hy only once to chip and did not make up and down. Scored a nett 71 on a 72 course.

Don’t think its difficult for me to score with half a bag.

[Dry Tortuga]

I'm a beginner & don't have the consistency or knowledge of distance to distinguish between a 5 iron shot, 6 iron shot, and 7 iron shot... so I keep my bag slightly lighter and just carry a 6 iron. It is actually one of my favorite clubs.

I own a driver but still don't have the skill to hit it with any consistency... so I use it on the range but not the course.

 

So I'm left with a 10 club bag, 7 of which are 'shorter clubs' and it suits me just fine right now. Maybe when I get better I will add those few long clubs I'm missing. Maybe not.