I apologize for taking this further off topic, but I'm just going to be the jerk here, because some of what is being said in this thread is laughable. The idea that an 18 handicapper can predictably hit their irons within a +/- 5 yard range (or even +/- 10 yards) is silly. To then take that a step further and say an 18 handicap player can not only hit their full iron shots within a tight range, BUT ALSO adjust their swing to reliably hit 50% - 90% shots is ridiculous!
An 18 handicap means the player's ten best scores (out of the last 20) are somewhere in the low 90s, perhaps with a high 80s score on occasion. The ten rounds not counted toward their handicap are in the mid 90s or higher. So, 18 handicappers don't shoot an average score of 90-92, they shoot somewhere closer to 95 on average.
Of course high handicappers have terrible short games. They are generally happy to have a chip or sand shot simply reach the putting surface, and routinely 3 putt. They could probably lower their handicap most by practicing their short game. However, this does not imply that their game from 75 to 200+ yards is no problem. 18 handicappers pretty much suck at everything.
Let's say we take ten 18 handicap players to a driving range and (after as much warm up as they prefer) ask them to state their average/target distance with a 7 iron. Given ten swings, how many of the ten players could hit 7 out of 10 shots within +/- 5 yards of their chosen distance? I would say 1 or 2, maximum. Many on this thread seem to contend it would be 8 to 10 of them.
Bringing it back around to the topic of this thread, the reason high handicap players can use fewer clubs (say 6 to 
and still shoot approximately the same as with 14 clubs is because they aren't good enough for the precision offered by additional clubs to matter. Frankly, the same pretty much goes for all but the very best players. I include myself in this group of lesser players (90% or more of folks that play golf), which is why I think I could shoot about the same score with 8 clubs as with 14...but not because I have incredible control of half and 3/4 shots when I am in between clubs (I do love to try to hit these shots, and they are thrilling when executed well). It's because I am not good enough for it to matter.
Ok, an interesting post.
I'll agree with you that most HHers can't give an accurate distance for their clubs down to +/- 5 yards. The thing is, I read the golf magazines and see the Shot Tracker stats and the pros (and by a streeeeeeeetched extension, the scratches and single digits and otherwise) can't do so either, not with the regularity presumed on here and in the various tables. The average misses are NOWHERE NEAR what most, on here and otherwise, presume.
I'll likewise agree backing off to reach a controlled standard is far beyond the realm of most HHers. I'd ever throw in a far or maybe even a far far to that.
I don't know that most HHers routinely 3 putt, but simply adding in 1 (ONE!) additional putt on each hole, going from up and down to up up and down, adds 18 strokes in a round. My chips certainly aren't to the "dead" range that Pelz desires (less than 6 feet, IIRC), they are probably more like 10-15 feet. Even most Tour Pros aren't routinely burying 10-15 footers. Again, hole after hole, it adds up.
But, it doesn't mean we're routinely 3 putting. It means we're occasionally 3 putting on a hole we're on in regulation, and usually 2 putting most holes for bogey, and occasionally 3 putting for double. Occasional is not routine, not in my book, anyway. I'm not defending, just trying to tighten up the language.
I'm happy to do your driving range test, any day you choose. I'd guess we might both be surprised with the results. Name the time and the place, and I'll be there if it's reasonable, and if not, you better be coming to me. Keep in mind, I'm basically a single mom, so I'm kinda tied down.
I don't play often, but when I do, I have a good idea of the length I hit my clubs. The direction, far less so, but the length, that's not the problem. Neither the distance nor really even the consistency, other than the fact that my misses are dramatically different, whereas the better golfers are less so.
And that's really my main point.
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Sean, with all due respect, and I mean that, as I greatly respect your thoughts and opinions, I don't think you really do remember what it was like to shoot a 95. It's really easy to turn a 4 into a 6 with one errant shot. Trust me, I do that all the time. And it's not because I don't know how far I hit my irons.