I know we've done this thread a number of times but let's do it again anyways because.....well.....we can. :)

Next weekend my group is having a 3 club challenge at Falcon Golf Club in Goodyear Arizona (suburb of Phoenix). Home | falcongcWe will be playing the white tees at 6294 yards.

I'm really having a tough time deciding on what I want to bring. I'm currently thinking 3h, 7i, and a strong sw (54°).

I find 3 clubs to be fairly easy to play with, you essentially want a wedge you like, a versatile iron, and a long club.

Last time i did this i played with a 3 wood, 8 iron and SW. But i was playing a 6700yd course. From 6200 i probably would have used a hybrid. My thinking was that 3 wood got me into the 140-160 range on a lot of holes, i could still attack most par 5's with back to back 3 woods. I felt pretty comfortable hitting little punches and stuff with my 8 iron. And sand wedge was useful for pitches and anything around the green

The hardest part was putting, as i find it easier to putt with a 5 iron than an 8

I have shot 37-38 a bunch of times with 3 clubs. It's not always THAT much harder than playing with a full bag if you dont' get in any really bad spots

That's a tough one I might do: 3W which on most holes would give me an iron or wedge into the green, also make the Par 5's reachable in 2. The next club would be either a 6i or 7i but most likely the 7i, makes the longer Par 3s reachable with ease and a 51° wedge for around the greens and it's also great for me at 125 yards out as I basically throw darts at the green with it.

To recap: 3W, 7i and 51° wedge.

So a 3 clubs challenge would actually be really cool to try out.

3wd, 7 iron gap wedge would be the way to go

4 Hybrid, 8 iron and putter.........and keep out of the bunkers!

this is what I would lean towards if putter counts as one of the 3.

I'd probably go..

3 iron, 7 iron & 52° wedge. I'd give up on going after par 5s in 2.

That is good shooting Jeff. :-)

Last time i had 2 hybrid, 6 iron and wedge: broke 80 but i think a 3 wood would have been better..FORE

Putter, if chosen, counts towards the three.

I was screwing around on the practice green the other day trying different clubs and failing when a guy came up to me and asked what I was doing. I told him about the three club challenge and he told me he had played in about 7 of these. The one thing that stuck out to him was the winner always had a putter. He felt you're more likely to lose strokes on the green then you are being short off the tee.

5 wood, 6 iron, pitching wedge. Should have the par 3's dialed close enough, par 5's would be 5w 5w wedge, feel like the par 4's would mostly be covered. I think you want a 215 yd club, 175 yd club, and a 100 yd club. Putt with whichever you putt with the best. (The 6 iron for me; Ithink I can putt -close enough- to my normal putter with the 6 iron and mega forward press!)

Always a putter, short iron and long club

i've played more than 5, putter would be a waste. our assistant shot 68 with a wedge, hybrid and 5; putted with the hybrid

Depending on the skill level of the group, I agree that strokes lost on the green without a putter could definitely come in to play. I would go 5w/2i, 8i, Putter. If I was going to go sans putter it would be 2i, 7i, 54*.

I would go with 2H, 7i, and 54 and as another poster stated would be putting with my 2h.

We do this annually in our league. And lots of "betcha" hole scenarios...

In a "typical" round, your putter accounts for half of the shots, why on earth would you leave it in the trunk?

Bring your personal best off the turf long club, a decently lofted iron (8-w) and a putter. You will miss lots of greens and will have to bump and chip your way to the hole.

I shot 2 over with a 7 wood, 9 iron. For 9 holes, 7 straight pars, then I bogeyed the last 2...

For those that think they putt just as good with a bladed wedge, or hybrid, I can guarantee you don't. And that's where the money is made.

These events are loads of fun, just about every shot makes you think....

Surprisingly, most guys shoot within 2-3 shots of their handicaps, kinda makes you wonder if 14 clubs are really necessary.

Enjoy.

I spent an hour on the putting green trying everything and sucked at all of them.

Just played Falcon yesterday. i think i could get along without a wedge there. Not a ton of sand around the greens. And the greens are pretty good size, with room to run chips out. I never got short sided, but i think i wouldnt have lost a stroke if I had an 8 or 9 iron in my hands instead of a 54 or 58.

It's probably been 3 years or more since I've played there. Thanks for the info.

Depends on your distances completely, so without know that, hard to say what. In terms of distances, with that for a card, top end club would be a 180y club as this will get your within pitching distances of the 2 long par 3s (talk about stupid yardages...) and will get you around the green/on the green for almost all par 4s. This should also let you reach all par 5's. Having a club you can trust that will be most of your swings will help with consistency/routine in making good swings without having to manipulate too much.

Personally I have no problems putting with a wedge, so a 58* (personal preference in loft) would be bottom end of the bag for me. Gives you a club for everything in and around the green that you would encounter.

So depending on what clubs those are for you (what ever your 180ish yard club is) and between top and bottom, I'd fill in with something.

This assuming you aren't 'automatic' with a longer club for off the tee, but gives you yardage covereaged for what you would mostly like encounter over and over through the round.

I personally would go 3 hybrid, 9 iron, and putter. It sounds like lots of folks can putt with other clubs, but I know I can not. I would hate to waste strokes on the greens. Let us know what you choose and how it goes.

I always start with the par 3's and then try to work from there. Basically, you have 2 x 200y, 1 x 170y, 1 x 150y, & 1 x 100y. So, assuming your 100y club is a club that you are comfortable hitting various short game shots and putting with, you can basically just pick the clubs associated with those yardages. I would go one club stronger on the 150 & 200 clubs, because you can always knock them down just a bit, its much harder to lean on them and squeeze out a few more yards.
So, for me on this course, I'm picking my 4i (210 club), 8i (155 club), & Sw (105 club, short game club, & putter) The 4i & 8i would come straight out of my bag, and the Sw would be an old Titleist 54° that has a much straighter & blunted leading edge than my PM grind, making it much easier to putt with. All of this said, I just saw @scooterhd2 's report on the course and if the greens are pretty easy to navigate around, I'd switch up my mix to 4i, 8i, Gw.

I'm also a pretty strong putter off handed (left, for me), so I've always wanted to grab one of those old two sided chippers and Frankenstein it into a club that would serve as a lefty putter and a righty 9i-ish type of club, allowing basically for an additional club in these types of events.

had to think about this some, having just played the course from the blues, the layout is still incredibly fresh in my mind. i also have zero experience putting with anything other than a putter. so as it stands, im going 4 iron, 8 iron, putter. I think on the par 3s and 5s. I could definitely play to my handicap with those. if i had some time and got confident putting with my hybrid, i could see going hybrid, 7 iron, pw.

Well, I'm really leaning heavily on taking a putter. That leaves two clubs. I really like my set gap wedge (51°) I use it all the time from 120 yards and in. Flighting it down for shorter distances isn't a problem at all and I can hit it out of sand if I need to. The last club is another story. The longest iron I carry is the 6I and it's good for 170 yards. I really like my 5h which is good for 185 yards but I'm less confident in my ability to hit shorter shots with it than my 6I. I'm thinking about just playing this course to be on the green in regulation +1 for most of the holes. Make some putts and who knows.

Decided to go with 6i, gw, and putter. Tee time at 9 am and there are 50 guys registered for this thing. Should be a blast. Wish me luck.

I always enjoyed golfing Falcon when I visited my parents in Sun City. Well kept course but also fun to watch the fighter jets take off to go train over the California mountains. When they would come back for lunch they would come in so low over the course.

3h 8i 54*

3h is my putter

Back long ago I actually used the back of my mp14 8i as a putter - putted left handed with it & was pretty damn good

Ended up playing pretty much bogey golf today and finished top 10. Made a few pars and a few bogeys. I'm pretty happy with the clubs I chose. Would have been nice to have been about 20-30 yards further on a few of the holes though. Only one guy in the top 10 didn't have a putter.

No fighter jets today but Arizona Motorsports Park next door had motorcycle racing today and you could hear them all over the course.

I like what you have picked OP!