[regfortruegoo]

My current set is: Dr, 3w,5w, 7w, 3h, 5i - pw, 52* and 56* wedges, putter.

There are clubs in my bag that rarely got used last year, driver, 5w, 7w, and the 3h.

I used to tee off with the 7w a few years ago and it became a go to club for me. I averaged about 165 off the tee with it. I hit my 3h off the deck the other day while hitting some balls and it went about 170 - 180, nice and high.

One club I had removed from my bag was a 60* wedge that I never used. I've been working on my wedges the last few weeks and am starting to get confident in them. I am hitting my 56* more consistantly then any other club in my bag. Of course I'm a hacker, so I still have a number of mishits with it.

I tee off with the 3w, almost never use the driver. I don't hit many woods from the deck even on par 5s. At least, when I do it's normally not pretty. My 5w and 7w have been regulated to use off the deck. I don't do that alot, so I'm not building any touch/feel/confidence in those clubs.

I am thinking I should put the 60* back in the bag and either remove then 7w or 5w. I will probably start using the 3h off the deck. I'm leaning towards removing the 7w. That could leave me a yardage gap though. My 5i is 150. So I may have a 20 yard gap.

On the flip side, I rarely have used the 5w over the years, so that may be a better choice. There is a par 3 I sometime play with a pond carry that's 160 - 170 to center of the green, so I've used the 7w on that hole.

The obvious choice is to remove the driver. I haven't figured out if I want to dedicate myself to using it off the tee this year and trying to learn how to hit it or not. I decided in '08 to use my 7w, and last year I switched to my 3w early on to learn on the fly. Dunno if that'd be wise with driver though.

[ValdisSeroff]

I'm definitely not an expert or anything, so this is just my opinion.

I would suggest to take the driver out of the bag and become even more proficient with your other woods. Then you can also put in a 60* (though I think that is one of the hardest clubs for amateurs to use) which will give you better scoring opportunities (given that you use it semi-decently).

You won't be shooting for par 5's in 2, so no need to use the driver. If you become proficient with the 3w, that should be more than enough to distance to reach most par 4s in 2, and par 5's in 3.

Just my .02.

[AngelinaLip]

If I am correct, your 7w is 21* (most typical 7 woods are) and depending on what kind of irons you have, your 3h is probably 21* as well. I know my 3 iron with my set is 21*.

If both these clubs are the same degree, it is almost useless to have both of them in the bag.

[regfortruegoo]

Dent,

I think those 2 are very close to the same loft. That's why I'm thinking it's the 7w that goes bye bye.

Now if I also pull my driver then I can add a 64* wedge. I'd just go buy a cheap one, no plans on hitting flops shots or anything. I'd just want it for more yardage options inside 100, but I understand that the 60 and 64 are not easy to hit.

[AngelinaLip]

Dent,

I think those 2 are very close to the same loft. That's why I'm thinking it's the 7w that goes bye bye.

Now if I also pull my driver then I can add a 64* wedge. I'd just go buy a cheap one, no plans on hitting flops shots or anything. I'd just want it for more yardage options inside 100, but I understand that the 60 and 64 are not easy to hit.

You can keep your driver, right now you have 13 clubs in the bag. If you take out the 7w you have room for a 60 and a 64. One concern I see is you have a bit of a gap between the 3 hybrid and the 5i. If you don't notice a distance problem there that is fine. but if you do, maybe toss in the 60* only and throw in a 4 hybrid or a 4 iron.

You might find you have little use for a 64*

[vigraxtru]

Dent,

I think those 2 are very close to the same loft. That's why I'm thinking it's the 7w that goes bye bye.

Now if I also pull my driver then I can add a 64* wedge. I'd just go buy a cheap one, no plans on hitting flops shots or anything. I'd just want it for more yardage options inside 100, but I understand that the 60 and 64 are not easy to hit.

I would definitely eliminate one of the 7W or 3H. I recently decided against a 5 wood, and settled with a 19* hybrid. My advice would be to add a 60* and practice with that sucker. First time I took mine on the course, I toed it and the population almost lost a little kid.

[regfortruegoo]

You can keep your driver, right now you have 13 clubs in the bag. If you take out the 7w you have room for a 60 and a 64. One concern I see is you have a bit of a gap between the 3 hybrid and the 5i. If you don't notice a distance problem there that is fine. but if you do, maybe toss in the 60* only and throw in a 4 hybrid or a 4 iron.

You might find you have little use for a 64*

I have 14 in the bag.
Dr, 3w, 5w, 7w, 3h, 5i, 6i, 7i, 8i, 9i, pw, gw, sw, putter

The gap is a problem but I do have a matching 3i and 4i for my set. I figure I probably can't hit either of them, so I removed them from the bag. They were taken out a few years ago. I think the 4i was removed to make room for the 7w.

The real fun part for me is I've been rebuilding my swing with a local pro. My 5i average is 150 but I have hit it 175 before on a par 3. I hit the beautiful high draw that the pro is teaching me. I'm thinking that I'll start to see some better distances this year if I can keep making better contact etc.

I can easily remove the driver from the bag. I have hit the 3w off the tee in the 220 range a number of times w/o environmental factors helping. I play it more as a 200 club though even though my average is 173 or so. I put my dubbed shot distances off the tee into OOB golf last year, so the 7 yard dub kind hurt me along with the 40 yard mishits etc.

[lungumnentibe]

my .02

bail on the 7w and pick up a 4h or another wedge

[AngelinaLip]

I have 14 in the bag.
Dr, 3w, 5w, 7w, 3h, 5i, 6i, 7i, 8i, 9i, pw, gw, lw, putter

The gap is a problem but I do have a matching 3i and 4i for my set. I figure I probably can't hit either of them, so I removed them from the bag. They were taken out a few years ago. I think the 4i was removed to make room for the 7w.

The real fun part for me is I've been rebuilding my swing with a local pro. My 5i average is 150 but I have hit it 175 before on a par 3. I hit the beautiful high draw that the pro is teaching me. I'm thinking that I'll start to see some better distances this year if I can keep making better contact etc.

I can easily remove the driver from the bag. I have hit the 3w off the tee in the 220 range a number of times w/o environmental factors helping. I play it more as a 200 club though even though my average is 173 or so. I put my dubbed shot distances off the tee into OOB golf last year, so the 7 yard dub kind hurt me along with the 40 yard mishits etc.

My apologies, in your original post I didn't notice you had 60* in the bag as well. If you are working with a pro, and you want the 4i in your bag, you can probably hit it. You are correct your best option right now would be to remove the 7 wood.

[regfortruegoo]

My apologies, in your original post I didn't notice you had 60* in the bag as well. If you are working with a pro, and you want the 4i in your bag, you can probably hit it. You are correct your best option right now would be to remove the 7 wood.

No, it was my bad. The LW in the post where i listed each club was supposed to be my SW.

I'll pull the 7w and that'll give me 4 wedges. Worse case scenario I just put the 7w back and pull the 5w or driver.

[xpllmr]

It sounds like you've really been thinking about this. If you keep the driver I would take out the 3-wood. You could use the 5-wood off the tee, wouldn't lose that much yardage, and it's easier to hit off the fairway. Or, you could take out the driver and use the 3-wood to tee off with.

Have you asked your pro what he thinks you should keep in the bag?

[regfortruegoo]

It sounds like you've really been thinking about this. If you keep the driver I would take out the 3-wood. You could use the 5-wood off the tee, wouldn't lose that much yardage, and it's easier to hit off the fairway. Or, you could take out the driver and use the 3-wood to tee off with.

Have you asked your pro what he thinks you should keep in the bag?

Not yet. The course he's at doesn't normally open till mid April. I could probably get ahold of him sooner via email though.

Adding the wedge is something I've thought about for a day or so. I've just been thinking about how to lower my scores and my recent time hitting balls with my SW gave me some interesting feedback. I can hit my SW alot better then my 5i. No shock since it's shorter and more loft. Add in that the Pro here mentioned my short game when I asked him about my stats.

Lastly, I keep reading how the key is the short game. The round I shot 45, my personal best, I hit 1 fairway and averaged 144 yards off the tee, but I hit GIR +1 on 77% of the holes. So if I can tee off like I did before the weather got colder, when I averaged closer to 185 off the tee and have a better shortgame, I should be able to push my scores lower.

Maybe I have too much time to think about things since I haven't played since Nov, lol.

Anyhow it can't hurt. I'll have the clubs either in my trunk or garage, so if it doesn't work I can easily move things around.

I have started hitting the LW in my yard the last 2 days with good results. I have to wait to see what a full swing with a real ball looks like though. All I can do is chip or pitch a real ball. My full swings with the almost golf balls haveworked well too.