I have been tinkering with my bag pulling clubs in and out. However I am thinking of trying this configuration.

Driver
3 Wood
2hybrid
3hybrid
4hybrid
5i
7i
8i
9i
PW
52*
56*
60*

The difference from my current bag is that I would take out the 6i and put back the 2 hybrid which I use as a 5 wood replacement. I figure I can make up the 6i either with a strong 7i or an easy 5i. I got the idea from Dave Pelz short game bible as to how he would make his bag in order to carry 4 wedges.

What do you guys think? Would you feel comfortable taking out a middle iron? Talk to me Oobers!

My bag set up is as follows:
Driver - 9*
2 hybrid - 15*
3 hybrid - 19*
4i
5i
6i
7i
8i
9i
pw
gw
54*
58*
trusty cameron putter

I have been debating taking out the 54* wedge, as i play almost all greenside shots with pw. Don't know what I would replace it with though. have thought 3 wood but don't want to duplicate clubs in the long area of my game.

That being said my short game is where i fail most and should probably just get out and practice with different wedges and might shave a few strokes off the handicap.....who knows, still pretty happy with my setup as is.

I have considered putting two different putters in the bag, one mallet and one blade for different type putts, just a thought.

its interesting you don't carry any woods. I wonder what other Oobers set up their bag and if anyone has a gap in the middle like Pelz suggest!

I would hate taking out one of the middle irons. Mine is pretty classic I think:
Dr, 3W, 4H, 4i-9i, PW, 52º, 56º, 60º, P

The 56º wedge has 14º bounce, but it still tends to dig itself into fine sand. Therefore, I often replace it by the original SW when I anticipate bunker conditions are such that I need a wider sole. Also, when the ground is gonna'be hard & dry, I may leave the 52º at home.

Dr
3w
3h
4i
5i
6i
7i
8i
9i
PW
52*
56*

Yes that is only 13 clubs when you count the putter. I have a gap between the PW and 52 but its manigable when I'm playing well. But when I'm having an off day I just have to avoid the 110-120 yard range. Also have one between the 3w and 3h. Trying to figure out which one is more importnat for me to fill.

I currently think it would be best to bend the 52 to 54 fill the (now larger) gap between the PW and 54 then drop the 56 for a 58. But that results in buying 2 new clubs.

Bending that 52 another 2 degrees will also increase the bounce. Do you use it in the bunkers?

My bag is constantly being changed and tinkered with and despite all the money I spend on club swapping I still don't have what I want, that is ridiculous. Often however my plan is to remove clubs rather than shuffle. I like keeping the size down for walking and carrying, I like to simplify my choices, and I decided to remove certain clubs I don't hit that well.

so right now I have:
Dr
3W
4h
5i
6i
7i
8i
9i
PW/47
56*
60*

Though I think I'd like to use a 54* instead of the 56, and only carry the 60 certain times.

On the other hand, when the World Am rolls around I'll likely stock the bag back up to 14 with the irons-matched PW and 50* GW and put another long club in there either a 5W, 7W, 2H or 3H. I'm leaning towards the 7W though they are impossible to find with a stiff flex shaft. On the other hand I have a 2H in my spare bag so that's probably what I'll go with.

My "little" spare bag has only Dr, 2H, 5H, 6i-PW/48, and 54* wedge.

A little Irony. I've been considering getting rid of the 6i well on my last hole today I used the 6i against the wind. If I didn't have it I would have used a 7i because a 5i would have been too much. Well I hit the 6i crisp and it sailed over the green anyhow leading to a bogey. Perhaps that's a sign to get rid of it lol

My core game is from 125 yds and in. I have a lot of shots I can play in that range. My chipping, 'chipitching' and pitching is the strength of my game. Long irons, not so much.

I carry 3, sometimes 4 wedges, plus my PW, which I use for many less than full-swing shots. I will leave out my 5i when I want to carry an extra wedge. I go from 6i to 24* hybrid. I can choke down on the hybrid to take off the 10 yards a good 5 iron shot would give me. My consistency in general with the hybrid is far better than it is with the 5i. By choking down, I am even more consistent with the hybrid.

If I were as accurate with long irons as I am with wedges and short irons, it might be a different story. But, like most of us, that is not the case.

Having a distance gap between 150 and 200 yards will not affect most player's games nearly as much (if at all) as having a gap in the short clubs will.

Golfsmith, one small piece of advice as far as dropping your 6 iron and hitting a strong 7i or easy 5i. I have found that trying to hit any club harder than usual to get that extra few yards often results in a mishit (usually fat). And also, that going at it easy will end up with a perfectly hit shot, going farther than expected, or else you subconsciously decelerate to take something off, and hit it fat. For me, taking a normal swing with my 24* hybrid, but choking down an inch and a half, will give me about 10 less yards. This is a much more consistent method in my opinion. But whatever you do to adjust your distances, longer irons/hybrids/fairway woods are the place to leave a gap.

DougE wrote:

Golfsmith, one small piece of advice as far as dropping your 6 iron and hitting a strong 7i or easy 5i. I have found that trying to hit any club harder than usual to get that extra few yards often results in a mishit (usually fat). And also, that going at it easy will end up with a perfectly hit shot, going farther than expected, or else you subconsciously decelerate to take something off, and hit it fat. For me, taking a normal swing with my 24* hybrid, but choking down an inch and a half, will give me about 10 less yards. This is a much more consistent method in my opinion. But whatever you do to adjust your distances, longer irons/hybrids/fairway woods are the place to leave a gap.

Yeah the only reason I am considering it is because of Dave Pelz. He argues that the gaps you have to worry more about are the woods and wedges. He truly believes the 6i is expendable. The reason I hesitate is because it just feels weird but I may try it, just trying to build up the guts to do it. I am playing an important round today and I don't want a different set up messing with my head.

Driver
4H
5H
5i
6i
7i
8i
9i
PW
48*
52*
56*
60*
Putter

I will occasionally drop the 5i and add a 2h. If I can ever find the right 4w/5w (something around 17-18*), I'll drop the 5h and the 5i and keep the 4w.

mjaber wrote:

Driver 4H 5H 5i 6i 7i 8i 9i PW 48* 52* 56* 60* Putter I will occasionally drop the 5i and add a 2h. If I can ever find the right 4w/5w (something around 17-18*), I'll drop the 5h and the 5i and keep the 4w.

Curious what are the distance gaps between your 5h thru 9i?

GolfSmith7 wrote:

Curious what are the distance gaps between your 5h thru 9i?

I've got a pretty consistent 10 yard gap between clubs from the 6i down(160 w/6i to 120 PW). I haven't hit the 5i much, except for off the tee a couple times on a couple par 3s, which worked out very well. I'm not as consistent with distance as I would like to be with the 5h... it seems to go all over the place lately, and anywhere from 150-180 yards. I've been shopping for a 4/5 wood to put into the bag, as both a 2nd tee club and something to give me a chance to go at a par 5 occasionally.

My bag with distances to the nearest 5 and 10 "standard" yards. 10 yard gaps until the 9 iron. I throttle back more on my standard wedges than i do on my irons. All the clubs have nearly 10yds in reserve as max, i.e. a standard 4 and hard 5 go about the same distance +- a yard.


Dr- 10* - 270
3W- 15* - 245
3hy-20* - 220
4I - 24* - 200
5I - 27* - 190
6I - 31* - 180
7I - 35*- 170
8I - 39* - 160
9I - 43* - 150
PW - 47* - 130
50 - 120
54 - 110
58 - 100
Putter

Almost a classic standard bag set, Driver, 3&5wds, a 21 deg Hybrid adjusted to 22.5 deg.
5 iron - 9 iron, 47 deg PW, 50 deg GW, 54 deg SW. Gap and Sand wedges are carry overs from my last set which had a 46 deg PW, which gave me the 4 deg gaps between clubs, thought about bending them to 51 and 55, but they're due to replace next year. I specifically went to the 54 SW because I never have had good distance out of the sand, figured a couple of degrees stronger SW than the "normal 56" should naturally give me a little more distance.