Hypothetical - 6 more clubs

[augustgolf]

I grew up playing competitively with only 13, and that included a 2-iron that maybe got hit "full" once every 3 rounds, and used to punch out maybe once every other round, so I could easily have played with 12 clubs.

 

From what I have been told about the historical value of the number of clubs - once Sarazan created the "modern" SW, many tour caliber players began putting 5 or more variations of it in their bags - kind of what we are seeing today, with so many players adding more clubs to the lower part of their bag, and being able to stay within the limit by dropping higher clubs.

 

Lord - I was a caddy. "No Tip" Loftus, with his 25 clubs in his MacGregor staff-sized bag, carrying 60+ balls, and slicing at least 50 yards off-line on every hole - he would have added another 12 clubs just for good measure!

 

(and, the Loftus' always asked for me on Friday Twilite 9 - he, with his monstrously heavy bag, always playing either right tree or a fairway over, and his wife, with her duck cotton bag, 1 wood, 4 irons, and a putter, and maybe one sleeve of 3 balls, drastically duck-hooking her way around the back 9)

 

I always felt like I had caddied 36 holes for them after their 9 hole twilight (and remember...."No Tip")

[tiderider]

um, no ...

 

um, yes...

Having 6 wedges and extra 4/5 wood and or driving iron would be extremely valuable on Par 5s. No yardage gapping whatsoever. I like carrying 4 wedges so I always have a decent gap between my 2 hybrid and 3 wood. 245 is a nightmare yardage for me. That number doesn't come up that often, but when it does....

Then of course having a 2 driver setup would be amazing once you got it dialed in. I would love to have a driver set up for a draw. A bit more loft, a slightly softer tip, and a little weight towards the heel.

I honestly believe it would shave a full stroke off the pro's average score.

 

regardless of shaving strokes, still a horrible idea, imo ... why limit it to 20? ... why not tell everyone to have as many clubs as you feel is necessary since you can dial it in with anything? ... why learn to hit a X ft chip with a wedge? ... just use 10 wedges ... can't learn to hit a draw or fade with the same club, let's technology our way out of it ...

 

god forbid we learn how to hit a golf shot ...

[puttingmatt]

I don't think giving the average golfer six clubs more is going to change anything, but the more time it takes to figure out what club to use. 14 is to many.

[gvogel]

Too many clubs as it is. Lower the limit to 9 or 7 and would make it more interesting.

 

I believe your avatar played a 7 club set. There is a pic of them in his book. Greatest golfer in the history of the game when he retired.

 

Edit, found the pic on line, it was actually 9 clubs.

 

 

Good find.

 

Chick Evans won a US Open and US Amateur with just 7 clubs.. I like Vardon's nine.

 

I don't think giving the average golfer six clubs more is going to change anything, but the more time it takes to figure out what club to use. 14 is to many.

 

12 is the new 14.

[Santiago Golf]

Im playin best golf of my life with 9 clubs

[Frostfield]

um, no ...

 

um, yes...

Having 6 wedges and extra 4/5 wood and or driving iron would be extremely valuable on Par 5s. No yardage gapping whatsoever. I like carrying 4 wedges so I always have a decent gap between my 2 hybrid and 3 wood. 245 is a nightmare yardage for me. That number doesn't come up that often, but when it does....

Then of course having a 2 driver setup would be amazing once you got it dialed in. I would love to have a driver set up for a draw. A bit more loft, a slightly softer tip, and a little weight towards the heel.

I honestly believe it would shave a full stroke off the pro's average score.

 

regardless of shaving strokes, still a horrible idea, imo ... why limit it to 20? ... why not tell everyone to have as many clubs as you feel is necessary since you can dial it in with anything? ... why learn to hit a X ft chip with a wedge? ... just use 10 wedges ... can't learn to hit a draw or fade with the same club, let's technology our way out of it ...

 

god forbid we learn how to hit a golf shot ...

 

I never said it would be a good idea. It wouldn’t.

[Roadking2003]

Change the rules to only allow 10 clubs. Everyone wins except the club manufacturers.

[@_the_crook]

every now and then I ditch a few long irons, carry a hybrid and the game suffers not one iota.

 

sometimes just a set of irons is fine, as long as the first one is a two.

 

for lightweight fun, a miniset of driver, 4,6,8,PW and putter is sufficient.

 

flexibility is key. have a good time out there.

[GMR]

There are a few more clubs pros could bag that would help in terms of their flexibility. Namely I think you'd see guys carrying 2 drivers: a "distance" driver for holes without too much trouble and an "accuracy" driver for regular use. Guys also wouldn't be forced to swap out between options like a 5w or 2UDI...just take both. Could do that and then carry 4 or 5 wedges to boot--bet we'd see a big pickup in the number of guys with 64* options, even if rarely used. Could also pick your favourite loft and carry two wedges with significantly different degrees of bounce and/or sole grinds. In pure strokes gained terms, however, I'm doubtful that even with all that you'd see too much of a change in scoring...probably a half stroke at best for the field as a whole. That said, a half stroke is quite a bit at that level where the margins are so thin...

[c7015]

I think if you gave them 2 more clubs you would see a drop in scoring with 6 more I think there we see the law of diminishing returns come in...

 

 

Hell, I have to stop at a 4 iron in my set because of my wedge setup I could use a 3 and 2 iron at the top end so I'm sure the pros could really customize the top and bottom of their bags ..everyone would add a 64* and some kind of long hybrid/iron/fw wood that gives them a new trajectory at the top of their bag they are compromising on now.

[smashdn]

Change the rules to only allow 10 clubs. Everyone wins except the club manufacturers.

 

Ten is a nice round number.

 

I am amazed out how rarely I hit my 9i. I can go months at a time and not hit with the exception of on the range. I have a 56 that I only hit out of the sand. Can go long stretches with never having to hit it. The courses I play don't have a lot of sand.

 

I shouldn't pack a 3 wood. It only gets me in trouble.

 

I am down to 11 clubs now with that logic.

[Vardon Grip]

Change the rules to only allow 10 clubs. Everyone wins except the club manufacturers.

 

Ten is a nice round number.

 

I am amazed out how rarely I hit my 9i. I can go months at a time and not hit with the exception of on the range. I have a 56 that I only hit out of the sand. Can go long stretches with never having to hit it. The courses I play don't have a lot of sand.

 

I shouldn't pack a 3 wood. It only gets me in trouble.

 

I am down to 11 clubs now with that logic.

 

"Yeah, there is Mr. Three Wiggle, isn’t there?"

[sdandrea]

They could probably score as well with 6 fewer clubs.

 

 

[tiderider]

every now and then I ditch a few long irons, carry a hybrid and the game suffers not one iota.

 

sometimes just a set of irons is fine, as long as the first one is a two.

 

for lightweight fun, a miniset of driver, 4,6,8,PW and putter is sufficient.

 

flexibility is key. have a good time out there.

 

i did that quite a bit over the past 2 years since i carry/walk ... carry with a 10 club bag and the game doesn't suffer a bit ... makes you hit shots ...

[Lancj1]

If they allowed Pros to use 20 clubs, would it make a difference in their scoring? Would the ability to have a big choice of wedges and other clubs in their bag improve their scoring? By how much?

 

Or are the pros good enough to hit what shots they need to make with their current number of 14.

 

I remember some pro even played once with two putters, one for long putts and one for short ones.

 

What say you?

 

if things carry on, 14 clubs....... and 6 wedges