Does the course you are going to play dictate which clubs you carry?

[Anthony Gray]

  Tommy,

  Very good observation. Today I thought should I bring a 3'wood to the KP or a 4 iron. I think you have to play the course before to know what will work better. At home I know what works the best.

  Anthony

[Matt Day]

It does with me, bought a 64 degree wedge and took out the 3 iron. Probably use the wedge 4 -5 times per round. Still don't have a hybrid club in the bag

[Steve Salmen]

Tommy,

I visit Scotland each summer and finally got sick of one thing happening:  ballooning a 3 wood 180 yds into the wind.  I take a 13 degree 3 wood and leave the 15 at home.  Great thought provoking topic.

[Damon Groves]

When playing courses with tight lies I switch out my wedges to ones with very little bounce  and will switch out my 3 hybrid for my 7 wood depending on the course. I think for single digit handicappers it can make a difference but agree with the earlier post that for most golfers they do make it more complicated than it needs to be. However, it would help them to know why they are blading their wedge shots which sometimes may be more because of too much bounce versus just hitting a bad shot.

[A.G._Crockett]

  Good Question. I never use a 3-wood at my home course. So I take an extra wedge. Didn't Phil use two drivers when he won the Masters?

  Anthony

Yes, he used two drivers to win the Masters. If he had played like crap the commentators would have called him stupid just like they did last year when he played no driver at Torrey. But he won, so it was genius.

John,
Maybe not; I think most people understood two drivers for different shapes at Augusta.  I don't think ANYBODY understood NO driver on the longest US Open course ever.  That was, well, unusual...

[Rich Goodale]

13 of the clubs in my current set are fixed (d, 3w, 4-9 iron, 4 wedges, putter).  I normally also carry a 19degree rescue, but ocasionally change it for a 3 iron or 5 wood.  Such changes rarely if ever help.  Note to self:  stick with the normal 14 club bag.  Golf is too difficult even without having to think.

[Brent Hutto]

I have a really high-lofted wedge with little bounce and a sharp leading edge. I put it in the bag in late summer when the Bermuda rough gets real tangly and thick. Only use it to hack the ball out of an impossible lie and onto the green once or twice a round.

Otherwise I carry my normal 12-club set if I'm using the trolley or drop down to 10 or so if I'm carrying on my shoulder. As a bogey golfer who seldom practices I don't have special shots for different course conditions so I certainly don't need special clubs to play those shots. I can actually shoot my usual scores with fewer than 10 clubs but it starts to feel kind of silly at some point.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Tommy,

I visit Scotland each summer and finally got sick of one thing happening:  ballooning a 3 wood 180 yds into the wind.  I take a 13 degree 3 wood and leave the 15 at home.  Great thought provoking topic.

I have an ongoing argument with my three wood.  I hit an old driver off the ground better sometimes.  The last time I went to England I left the three wood home and brought two drivers: one off the tee and the other off the turf.  I left my tfour iron home and brought a three iron.

I don't know how much difference it makes in score but it does make a difference in my head.

[Rich Goodale]

Good point, Tommy.  If you can skull a driver off the deck straight, it is the perfect shot for a fast and firm course from 250 or so out, whether into or with the wind.

[JMorgan]

When I head to SC every winter, I carry fewer wedges, and bring a 5 wood. 

I tried to do 10-11 clubs last season, dropping a wedge and two irons, and didn't notice a difference no matter the course.   

[John Moore II]

  Good Question. I never use a 3-wood at my home course. So I take an extra wedge. Didn't Phil use two drivers when he won the Masters?

  Anthony

Yes, he used two drivers to win the Masters. If he had played like crap the commentators would have called him stupid just like they did last year when he played no driver at Torrey. But he won, so it was genius.

John,
Maybe not; I think most people understood two drivers for different shapes at Augusta.  I don't think ANYBODY understood NO driver on the longest US Open course ever.  That was, well, unusual...

Well, going with no driver is not that odd, at least I didn't think so. If you can keep it in the fairway that is. But even with the 3 wood, Phil was still beating it through the timber and into the weeds. That doesn't make sense. If you can hit 95% of the fairways with the 3 wood, even if the course is 10000 yards long, it makes better sense that hitting driver 20 yards longer but in the rough. Its just that Phil still sprayed it all over.

I shot 73 one time at a course that was about 7200 yards and hit driver once. Every other time I hit 3 wood or 2 iron off the tee. So, its not that crazy an idea.

[Andrew Mitchell]

I usually carry 14 clubs (driver 3w, 3 - 9 iron, PW, GW, SW, LW & putter).  I went to St Andrews this weekend and left out the lob wedge on the basis that with the tight lies I would hit a lot more bump & runs from off the greens.

[Matthew Mollica]

Interesting question to start this thread.

There are some courses I play with flatter greens, which also happen to be some of the longer courses I'll play. I usually drop a wedge (60*) and put in some sort of other long club to use into greens on long par 4s, and as a second shot on par 5s. It also gives me options off the tee on mid length par 4s if need be.

Shorter courses, or courses with lots of moevement in the greens, and I put the 60* wedge back in, and say a 19* hybrid, instead of a 18* 5 wood and 22* hybrid combination used on longer courses.

This means I always hit full shots with the wedges, and can attack pins, with the knoweldge that a short side miss recovery can be played with the lob wedge.

MM