What club should I get?

[TheMrLandon]

Hi. 

Mid-handicap golfer (11-15), and I got 12 clubs in the bag: D, 3w, 5w, 5-9i, PW, 54, 60, PT. I *think* I need a new club and I've gotten three very different pieces of advice from golfers I talk to.

1) From my golf instructor, well-known guy with probably the best YouTube vids out there. He says a mid-handicap amateur doesn't need more than five clubs and certainly doesn't need any more than I have now. Save my money for lessons, balls, whatever. The "5 clubs" comment may have been hyperbolic but you get the idea. Good guy so he wasn't being snarky.

2) The 'best golfer I know' who is close to scratch. He says I should absolutely get a hybrid (5i is by far my weakest club) and since I'm not getting any younger (55yrs old) I should seriously think about getting one or two hybrids, preferably starting with a 19-22 degree. The age comment might sound harsh but he's around my age so he was just trying to relate.

3) Everybody else I talk to--literally everybody else--from golf shop guys to guys I play with to other pretty good players, all say I should get a gap wedge. Something between the 54 and the PW, preferably a 49 or a 50 degree. 

I don't have a clue, honestly. I'm leaning toward getting the hybrid. I've got $150 or thereabouts to spend (high school teacher so salary is a bit limited) and I *love* golf. I'm grateful for any and all feedback, any and all recommendations, recognizing y'all might have better things to do. Happy holidays. 

TheMrLandon

 

Edited December 21, 2018 by TheMrLandon

[Carl3]

I would say gap wedge only because it is an important club to me. My PW is a 120 yard club and my 54* is about 80 yards, which is too large of a gap. My UW sits at 100 yards and is very valuable and reliable for me. I don't have a 5w, but have a 3h and 4h instead. You have enough room in the bag to look at something like that as well. I also have a 58* instead of the 60*.

[dennyjones]

First and foremost...Welcome to TST.   You've found the best place on the web to talk golf.     

What are each club's distances?   Where are the gaps in the distances.    Hybrids are great to replace a long iron and fill in the gaps for the longer irons but a gap wedge is also nice to fill in the distance gap for the shorter irons.   

If it was me, I'd go with the hybrid.    The best golfer you know gave you some great advise, especially if your 5i 

5 hours ago, TheMrLandon said:

is by far my weakest club) and since I'm not getting any younger (55yrs old)

 

[boogielicious]

Think of gaps and I mean your real gaps. If you can, get to a launch monitor and look at the distance between your 5 iron and 5w and PW and 54.  It is those gaps you want to fill. Also, unless you hit your 3W great, you may want to add two clubs between the 5 iron and 5w. I have 4 iron, 3H. 

[Foot Wedge]

Welcome to the site @TheMrLandon!  I second you taking a good look at the yardage gap between your 5i and 5W.  Personally I have both a 4i and 4H between those two so you potentially have a large gap to fill there.  I would probably fill that one before filling the gap between PW and 54.  You can easily choke down on the PW to cover the gap wedge distance.  Now what the gap wedge does offer is more control on an in-between distance.  I use a 1/2 swing with my 50* gap wedge for the 60 yard range.  But again you could easily dial in a swing with your PW or 54 to cover that kind of yardage.  Plenty of ways to skin a cat.  I'll toss this out there though, have you considered ditching the 3W and getting both?  Or maybe 2 clubs between 5i and 5W as @boogielicious suggested?  Your experience may differ, but for me the 3W was kind of useless since it wasn't that much more accurate than driver and not much longer than 5W.

[saevel25]

7 hours ago, TheMrLandon said:

Mid-handicap golfer (11-15), and I got 12 clubs in the bag: D, 3w, 5w, 5-9i, PW, 54, 60, PT. I *think* I need a new club and I've gotten three very different pieces of advice from golfers I talk to.

I would guess your PW is either 46 or 48 degrees. A 6 degree gap isn't terrible between wedges, but if you have a 10 degree gap then a 50 degree wedge would help fill in the gap there.

I would test out how well you hit your 5 iron. Do you get consistent proper yardage gap between your 6 iron and 5 iron? If not, then you would benefit from a hybrid.

Edited December 21, 2018 by saevel25

[klineka]

7 hours ago, TheMrLandon said:

1) From my golf instructor, well-known guy with probably the best YouTube vids out there.

Welcome to TST! Curious who the instructor is, I'm always looking for new golf YouTube content to watch

[TheMrLandon]

7 hours ago, Carl3 said:

I would say gap wedge only because it is an important club to me. My PW is a 120 yard club and my 54* is about 80 yards, which is too large of a gap. My UW sits at 100 yards and is very valuable and reliable for me. I don't have a 5w, but have a 3h and 4h instead. You have enough room in the bag to look at something like that as well. I also have a 58* instead of the 60*.

Your distance is roughly equal to mine (maybe 5 yards here and there). I know the original post said one club but honestly, with this and the other thoughtful replies? I might just go for the wedge between the PW and the 54 *and* a hybrid. 

7 hours ago, dennyjones said:

First and foremost...Welcome to TST.   You've found the best place on the web to talk golf.     

What are each club's distances?   Where are the gaps in the distances.    Hybrids are great to replace a long iron and fill in the gaps for the longer irons but a gap wedge is also nice to fill in the distance gap for the shorter irons.   

If it was me, I'd go with the hybrid.    The best golfer you know gave you some great advise, especially if your 5i 

 

I appreciate this. Just got back from the range and was fairly consistent with everything *except* the 5i which I'm thisclose to raising the flag on. Thank you for that welcome, by the way. 

4 hours ago, klineka said:

Welcome to TST! Curious who the instructor is, I'm always looking for new golf YouTube content to watch

Monte Scheinblum. I'm seeing him tomorrow for my fourth lesson with him in the last six months. He's got a real knack for identifying what an individual student needs. His YouTube vids are just fantastic. I haven't dived into his paid content but from what I hear, his Driver vid and Wedge vid are both terrific. 

5 hours ago, saevel25 said:

I would guess your PW is either 46 or 48 degrees. A 6 degree gap isn't terrible between wedges, but if you have a 10 degree gap then a 50 degree wedge would help fill in the gap there.

I would test out how well you hit your 5 iron. Do you get consistent proper yardage gap between your 6 iron and 5 iron? If not, then you would benefit from a hybrid.

It's as if you're in my bag, friend. I've got an X2 Hot wedge which I *think* is 46 degrees and after today's range session, there's really not much gap between the 5i and the 6i though it's hard to tell because I'm just not great with a 5i. I mentioned earlier that thanks to the thoughtful replies here, I'm thinking two clubs--hybrid and a 50 degree. Thanks for this. 

7 hours ago, boogielicious said:

Think of gaps and I mean your real gaps. If you can, get to a launch monitor and look at the distance between your 5 iron and 5w and PW and 54.  It is those gaps you want to fill. Also, unless you hit your 3W great, you may want to add two clubs between the 5 iron and 5w. I have 4 iron, 3H. 

Great post, very informative. I appreciate it. I haven't really used launch monitors but I'm going to change that. I happen to be pretty good with the 3w, one of the very, very few things I can brag about. :) 

[TheMrLandon]

5 hours ago, Foot Wedge said:

Welcome to the site @TheMrLandon!  I second you taking a good look at the yardage gap between your 5i and 5W.  Personally I have both a 4i and 4H between those two so you potentially have a large gap to fill there.  I would probably fill that one before filling the gap between PW and 54.  You can easily choke down on the PW to cover the gap wedge distance.  Now what the gap wedge does offer is more control on an in-between distance.  I use a 1/2 swing with my 50* gap wedge for the 60 yard range.  But again you could easily dial in a swing with your PW or 54 to cover that kind of yardage.  Plenty of ways to skin a cat.  I'll toss this out there though, have you considered ditching the 3W and getting both?  Or maybe 2 clubs between 5i and 5W as @boogielicious suggested?  Your experience may differ, but for me the 3W was kind of useless since it wasn't that much more accurate than driver and not much longer than 5W.

These replies are making feel like signing up for this site is an early Xmas present. I hit a 3w pretty well so I'm keeping it in the bag. I really like what you've said about the utility of a wedge between PW and 54--for those 100 to 110 shots, I think choking down on the PW or a lighter swing is useful and I'll practice that. I'm strongly leaning toward at least one club (maybe two) between the 5w and 5i, if not replacing the 5i entirely with a hybrid. Great reply and thank you. :)

[gbogey]

First there is no wrong answer between a hybrid and a gap wedge.  It's very easy to see you adding both as you get consumed by this game.  Since you can only pick one now, I would suggest thinking about your 5 rounds at your home course and thinking about where improving on a set of shots would help you the most.  If you are missing a lot of in between wedges, go with the gap wedge.  If your biggest problem is longer shots, go with the hybrid.  Then get the other one on the next special occasion - birthday, Father's day, whatever.

[cooke119]

As discussed above the gaps in your wedges are to great. I like an ~4* gap between my wedges. My set is 48* PW, 52* gap, 56* SW. I don't carry a lob wedge although I have one, 60*. I find I can open my 56* and get the same or better results.

[TheMrLandon]

Well folks, I'm convinced. Can't just get the one club! :) I got a hybrid and a GW (50-degree). Grateful for every syllable in the replies. A happy Xmas for this mid-handicapper. And a very Merry Xmas and Happy Holidays to all y'all. 

[gbogey]

Excellent choice! Like the attitude - you were going to get both eventually so get both now!