Half Bag Golf

[Ian Andrew]

All the same manufacturer or a "found" set?

Found set ... lefties

[Peter Pallotta]

Wait a minute: a small bag with only 8 clubs, a raw 6100 yard course with just one set of tees, a minimalist approach to the design, slow-running greens, no irrigation system for the hard fast fairways, a simple clap-board shack with just enough room to change your shoes, and unkempt-looking mowing lines bleeding into tall wild grasses -- it's almost like as if golf was a game for poor people! 
Well, either that or it's Mike Keiser's most exclusive new destination resort, so far in the north of Ireland that you can only get there by helicopter.... 
   

[Tim Passalacqua]

This thread is getting me pumped up to go back to the half set this season.  I played a half set for 5 years and thoroughly enjoyed it.  You really don't notice much of a difference in your score.  Just more putts from 50 feet, instead of 20 feet when you get in between clubs.  The walk is SO enjoyable.  My half set stemmed from golf trips and carrying for 36 holes per day.  Over the last few years, I would play in club events like the two-man best ball or the club championship.  My partners would always give me grief for not playing a full set during our matches!  For me the half set is no problem, as long as it's casual.  When you have a little competition, its easy to bench the half set of blades and reach for the Pings!

[David Harshbarger]

All the same manufacturer or a "found" set?

Found set ... lefties

Nice. Hopefully some curious lefty will look in your bag one day and for once get a chance to swing one.   

[Ian Andrew]

I have a friend who used to begin every season with three clubs for the first month. He slowly added a few every month, but throughout the year his handicap never changed. He argued that less clubs led to far better decisions and more consistent scores. What he could not give up was the one low round his full set would annually deliver. But he would quickly point out his highest round every season came when the bag was full.

[ward peyronnin]

Thomas I drift on and off the site so I am not surprised there is a precedent thread.

So this promotes walking and is a fun twist; givens perhaps. Forced carries, greens sloped front to back , and green entry bunkers obviously discourage this form of play but what enhances it? Speed slots and firmness obvious; anything else? 

And not to release the Golf Digest instructional section how/what do you all practice to have some sense of mastery? I do not think teaching pros necessarily cultivate this form of instruction.
 

[Matthew Rose]

Since I came over to Oz I've been playing with nine clubs. I'm probably going to fill out the set eventually but for now I don't have a whole lot of money to spend and I've been walking while carrying which is something I haven't done for a whole lot of years. I got one of those moonlite Ping bags and I barely have anything in it except for maybe five or six balls, a glove and a few tees.

I played Yarra Yarra recently and I actually think I got around pretty well even with the limited set; I could have probably used at least one more wedge, though.

The whole thing feels a bit like a throwback to my childhood when I was learning to play, when I had maybe a driver, 3-4 irons and a putter and had to use my imagination to fill in the gaps.

[Thomas Dai]

Thomas I drift on and off the site so I am not surprised there is a precedent thread.
So this promotes walking and is a fun twist; givens perhaps. Forced carries, greens sloped front to back , and green entry bunkers obviously discourage this form of play but what enhances it? Speed slots and firmness obvious; anything else? 
And not to release the Golf Digest instructional section how/what do you all practice to have some sense of mastery? I do not think teaching pros necessarily cultivate this form of instruction.

I’m glad you raised the matter and new posters probably haven’t seen the similar one I raised a while back and there are always new aspects worth discussion and considering. And if it encourages others to give it a go ....
I don’t think bunkers discourage this sort of play, Seve was playing cut-up bunker shots with 3-irons. Try it. I have, it’s not that difficult and teaches good technique. Open the face and use the bounce. Best use more of a blade style club for open face cut-ups than a modern mega wide sole though.
Discouragements would for the most part include things like really long forced carries, lush fairways and rough and soft, sponge like greens, ie many of the things folks posting herein dislike anyway.
I guess teachers don’t teach partial shots much. They could though. Not sure mind that someone needs a teacher to learn soft-swings and three-quarter shots and chips with straight faced clubs. Half the fun is working out how to do it yourself.
Helps these days that most manufacturers will sell irons individually so you can buy say 4-6-8-PW or 5-7-9-G if you wish.
These days I use 10 clubs with approx 7-8 degree intervals between each for more serious golf when using an electric trolley or riding in a buggy. If carrying a lightweight bag 7 does just fine. And the latter applies when I’m playing either old blades/persimmons or hickories.


One other aspect - classic era courses.
These were mostly built during an era when players (Hagen, Little maybe apart) didn’t use many clubs and thus played the game in a somewhat different way to most these days. Play an old classic course with less clubs and folks might, might, start to appreciate former era architecture and construction in a different light.


Atb

[Garland Bayley]

I have gone to 16 degree gaps. SW, 8 iron, 4 hybrid, 5 wood, driver, putter. Could possibly drop the two woods for a three wood. I would have to find a 3 wood I can consistently get airborne from the ground.

Built the 6 club set before a road trip in September. Black club heads, orange shafts. Go Beavs!

[Duncan Cheslett]

In reaction to this thread I played in the Winter League at Cavendish yesterday carrying only a 13 deg fairway wood, 4i, 6i,8i, wedge and putter in my Ping Moonlite bag. In a fierce wind my scoring was no different than I would normally expect with 14 clubs.


I didn't miss my driver at all - the strong 3-wood goes very nearly as far and I didn't miss a fairway. The revelation however, was using the same club with a half or three-quarter swing to hit piercing 150-180 yard shots where an iron would have ballooned into the air on the wind.


When I play at Stockport today with my wife I'll be leaving the 4 iron at home. Less is more!

[Peter Flory]

One other aspect - classic era courses.
These were mostly built during an era when players (Hagen, Little maybe apart) didn’t use many clubs and thus played the game in a somewhat different way to most these days. Play an old classic course with less clubs and folks might, might, start to appreciate former era architecture and construction in a different light.

By the 1920's, there were a lot of matched sets being made by Nicoll and also the big mfgrs like Spaulding, MacGregor, and Wilson.  I believe that once these matched sets took over and golfers didn't have to go through the hassle of piecing together a set, the average clubs in each bag really increased.  Jones had 14 clubs in the bag for his grand slam I think.  And I read that in 1935, they polled players in the US Open and Am and the average clubs per bag was 18+.  And of course, Little went berserk with 30 clubs. 

Lots of the great old courses were designed when the typical player was wielding a modern type set.  One thing that people don't think about was that part of what made golf so difficult in the golden age was that Americans weren't really that good at golf yet.  Bobby Jones mentioned in an interview in the 1960s about how amazed he was driving by a public golf course and seeing all of the good golf swings out there.  He referenced evolution in teaching/ instruction as causing a big modernization of the game. 

[Craig Sweet]

Last summer I carried a driver, 19 degree hybrid, 7 iron, 56 degree wedge and putter...had loads of fun and pretty much shot my usual score.

[David_Tepper]

Does anyone play in competitions that limit the number of clubs you can have in your bag?

[Lou_Duran]

This thread reminds me a bit of several on riding vs. walking where some walkers argued that walking is actually faster and that cart revenues failed to cover costs.   


Because of a fused neck, I've tried on many occasions to play with a reduced set, ranging from 8 to 12 clubs.  Certain configurations worked better, e.g. leaving the 3 wood and 3 hybrid out of the bag had much less impact than packing only odd or even irons, but there is zero question that carrying 14 clubs allows me to score better than with fewer clubs.  If this wasn't the case, I'd just buy fewer clubs and enjoy the lighter bag.


Now, if one plays for giggles without a care about par or score, then by all means, fewer is probably better.  But with reference to the handicap thread, I wonder how you would treat a golfer who mostly establishes a handicap with say, 8-10 clubs, but shows up for competitions with a full set.  Perhaps the number of clubs in the bag during the round should also be posted so the braniacs can create an algorithm to normalize for 14 clubs.


To answer David Tepper's question, there are events specifying a reduced number of clubs, though I've never played in one.  I have never seen less than a full bag in competitions I've participated in or officiated.  That in itself should be relevant to some of the suggestions here.

[Tim Martin]

Perhaps the number of clubs in the bag during the round should also be posted so the braniacs can create an algorithm to normalize for 14 clubs

 

[Daryl David]

One of the past directors of golf at my club used to wave the 14 club rule for all events. He was certain anyone that took more than 14 was in no way at an advantage. In fact he was pretty sure it was a disadvantage.

[John Crowley]

For the last 10+ years I have carried 8 or fewer clubs.


For the last two years I have played with 6 clubs.


Driver 9.5*
26* hybrid
8 iron (6 iron length)
Pitching wedge (6 iron length)
58* wedge
Putter


I play in state Senior Amateur and other completions with only those six. Occasionally will ad a 4wood/hybrid if the course I’m playing requires several 180-200 yard shots from the fairway. With longer club lengths my distance range with the 8 and PW is expanded.


Generally play at 6,000 yards.


Typical round on my summer home course I use:


Driver 14-16 times depending on wind on two longer par 3’s;
26* hybrid 12-16 times (By adjusting grip, stance, ball position hit it from 140 to 180 yards)
8 iron 6-9 times
Pitching wedge 5-7 times
58* wedge 5-10 times (use for virtually all pitches and chips)
Putter (we all have good days and not so good days)


Typical scoring range is from 78 to 82. Shoot age occasionally. Will get 1 stroke easier on my birthday, Wednesday.


In the last two years I cannot remember wishing I had another club in the bag. Creating shots for the circumstance is more fun.