An Eight Club Golf Bag

[kiwihacker]

Just had eight clubs in my bag (D, 4h, 8-sw, putter), and then, I wondered how exacting am I really? Not very. So now, I have six (D, 4h, 8, pw, sw, putter). (Probably still too many.)

 

I hit a 4h about 200 and an 8i about 140. A yard gap of 60 yards doesn't bother you?

 

Not if your normal drive gets you within 8i distance on the par 4s. If the driver and 4h gets you inside 8i distance on the par 5s, there is no gap.

 

Big hitter or short course? 8i would be short for me on the majority of the par 4's on my home course. Mind you if it's a jacked loft 8 iron equivalent to my 35° 7 iron that would bring more into range assuming a good drive, a poor drive not so much.

[Petunia Sprinkle]

Just had eight clubs in my bag (D, 4h, 8-sw, putter), and then, I wondered how exacting am I really? Not very. So now, I have six (D, 4h, 8, pw, sw, putter). (Probably still too many.)

 

I hit a 4h about 200 and an 8i about 140. A yard gap of 60 yards doesn't bother you?

 

It’s only a gap if you hit a club one particular yardage. ‘Gaps’ are a delusion of the hopelessly anal.

[jslane57]

Just had eight clubs in my bag (D, 4h, 8-sw, putter), and then, I wondered how exacting am I really? Not very. So now, I have six (D, 4h, 8, pw, sw, putter). (Probably still too many.)

 

I hit a 4h about 200 and an 8i about 140. A yard gap of 60 yards doesn't bother you?

 

It's only a gap if you hit a club one particular yardage. 'Gaps' are a delusion of the hopelessly anal.

"'Gaps' are a delusion of the hopelessly anal." This is signature material! PS wins the internet for the day.

I always wonder how people can concerned about such "gaps", yet only carry one putter...

 

Edit: See my new signature! You OK with that PS?

[wolfpack]

Used this this morning and was one Stableford point better than handicap... Yes it is nine clubs and I could probably leave the 3 wood out of the bag next time to get down to eight.

 

I did struggle with one par 3 when I really needed a nine iron

[wolfpack]

great choice on those hybrids, I love those

[kiwihacker]

Just had eight clubs in my bag (D, 4h, 8-sw, putter), and then, I wondered how exacting am I really? Not very. So now, I have six (D, 4h, 8, pw, sw, putter). (Probably still too many.)

 

I hit a 4h about 200 and an 8i about 140. A yard gap of 60 yards doesn't bother you?

 

It's only a gap if you hit a club one particular yardage. 'Gaps' are a delusion of the hopelessly anal.

 

Um ... Ok.

[Petunia Sprinkle]

Just had eight clubs in my bag (D, 4h, 8-sw, putter), and then, I wondered how exacting am I really? Not very. So now, I have six (D, 4h, 8, pw, sw, putter). (Probably still too many.)

 

I hit a 4h about 200 and an 8i about 140. A yard gap of 60 yards doesn't bother you?

 

It's only a gap if you hit a club one particular yardage. 'Gaps' are a delusion of the hopelessly anal.

"'Gaps' are a delusion of the hopelessly anal." This is signature material! PS wins the internet for the day.

I always wonder how people can concerned about such "gaps", yet only carry one putter...

 

Edit: See my new signature! You OK with that PS?

 

Delighted.

[OldBear]

New guy here, long time lurker and finally got a computer at work... hee hee...

 

Play with 10 in an ultralight stand bag:

 

TM Mini 14 *

TM RBZ 4H

Ping G10 5 to SW

Ping Anser 4

 

Love the versatility and the "old school" creativity involved. Don't seem to miss any club, scoring is good to very good, some days.

[Sean2]

New guy here, long time lurker and finally got a computer at work... hee hee...

 

Play with 10 in an ultralight stand bag:

 

TM Mini 14 *

TM RBZ 4H

Ping G10 5 to SW

Ping Anser 4

 

Love the versatility and the "old school" creativity involved. Don't seem to miss any club, scoring is good to very good, some days.

 

Nice!

 

And, welcome to GolfWRX!

[kiwihacker]

What's the maximum number of clubs to still be considered minimalist?

[slide13]

I don’t think there’s a hard number...I think 10 or fewer starts getting you there. I figure a driver, fairway, 4-P, SW, and putter is a full set at 11 clubs so going fewer than that gets you moving toward minimalist.

 

I think truly minimalist sets are in that’s 5-7 range but that’s a lot of gaps for most people.

 

I’m working on a 9 club bag with some custom lofted irons. Going with: driver, fairway, 24/30/36/42/48/54, putter. I’ll probably drop the driver on occasion but otherwise this is a minimalish setup that doesn’t leave me with any huge gaps I’m uncomfortable with.

[kiwihacker]

For me it's more about having a lightweight bag to carry than any true desire to play minimalist golf. 8-10 clubs works really well for me but I sometimes think 7 is a good number too i.e. exactly half a full set.

For me this would be:

 

Driver,

20° hybrid (or fairway wood),

5 iron 27°

7 iron 35°

9 iron 43°

Sand Wedge 54°

Putter

 

I reckon I would still score normally with this setup but any fewer clubs I might start to struggle. If I added an 8th club I'd throw in a 50° gap wedge and swap the 54° for a 56° or 58° wedge.

[Tommy56]

I’d agree that there is no hard number, but think it would have to be less than 10. From that point downward, the clubs one decides to carry requires careful thought to manage gaps.

[jslane57]

What's the maximum number of clubs to still be considered minimalist?

My feeling is that 7 or fewer is the true number, as that’s half the allowed number, but up to 9 is legit. Double digits is where things just blend with a full set.

[Sean2]

For me it's more about having a lightweight bag to carry than any true desire to play minimalist golf. 8-10 clubs works really well for me but I sometimes think 7 is a good number too i.e. exactly half a full set.

For me this would be:

 

Driver,

20° hybrid (or fairway wood),

5 iron 27°

7 iron 35°

9 iron 43°

Sand Wedge 54°

Putter

 

I reckon I would still score normally with this setup but any fewer clubs I might start to struggle. If I added an 8th club I'd throw in a 50° gap wedge and swap the 54° for a 56° or 58° wedge.

 

Same with me...reducing the weight of the bag.

[kiwihacker]

I’d agree that there is no hard number, but think it would have to be less than 10. From that point downward, the clubs one decides to carry requires careful thought to manage gaps.

 

Not true. As Petunia Sprinkle as already pointed out. Gaps are merely a delusion of the hopelessly anal. ;)

[Tommy56]

I resemble that remark to a degree. I do study my gaps pretty closely, but also love creating shots as the need calls for it.

[Ivyguy]

I think it's more of a mindset.

 

The "minimalist setup" is a bit of a misnomer. A high swing speed player will have larger gaps than a low speed player in a standard set.

 

So, to a high speed player 10 may be the smallest that they can go before they start getting into 30+ yard differences and massive trajectory differences. A low speed player may not experience the large differences until they get to 6 or 7 clubs.

 

I use 8. Driver, 1 UDI, 4, 6. 8, pw, 56 and a putter.

 

I don't look at the yardage but more of the flight and my ability to turn a draw over or cut the ball and different heights.

 

I'm not an ultra high speed player (driver at 105), but I do have some 25 yard "gaps". But I can cover those because I have learned to manipulate my trajectories at an acceptable level.

 

Acceptable meaning that I am gaining strokes over a full set. My advantage comes from me choosing how I miss. When I play a full set, I artificially create shots. And my expectations are so high that I cannot achieve them. The smaller set has instilled a more achievable mind frame for me.

 

And this is the "minimalist" set up that makes sense to me. Play an athletic brand of golf.

 

Not so logic and robotic (Batman) or all bashing type (superman). I'm aiming for a combination (spider man) .

 

Sorry for the super hero reference.

[Sean2]

^^^^Colorful analogy. :-)

[Hat Trick]

Fun fact: Chick Evans won the 1916 US Open with 7 clubs in his bag. The norm back then was around 20.

 

15 years later someone asked Bobby Jones what he thought about Evans winning the US Open with only 7 clubs in his bag. Jones' quote is one of my all time favorites.

 

"It's better to be a master of 7 clubs than vaguely familiar with 14."

 

Evans continued to use only 7 up until his last US Am in the 1950s insisting that was all he needed.

[kiwihacker]

Fun fact: Chick Evans won the 1916 US Open with 7 clubs in his bag. The norm back then was around 20.

 

15 years later someone asked Bobby Jones what he thought about Evans winning the US Open with only 7 clubs in his bag. Jones' quote is one of my all time favorites.

 

"It's better to be a master of 7 clubs than vaguely familiar with 14."

 

Evans continued to use only 7 up until his last US Am in the 1950s insisting that was all he needed.

 

Do you know which 7?

[Hat Trick]

Fun fact: Chick Evans won the 1916 US Open with 7 clubs in his bag. The norm back then was around 20.

 

15 years later someone asked Bobby Jones what he thought about Evans winning the US Open with only 7 clubs in his bag. Jones' quote is one of my all time favorites.

 

"It's better to be a master of 7 clubs than vaguely familiar with 14."

 

Evans continued to use only 7 up until his last US Am in the 1950s insisting that was all he needed.

 

Do you know which 7?

 

According to an article published in Golf Journal (August 1994) called "The Magnificent Seven" his bag included a 2-wood, 3-wood, 2 iron, 4 iron, 6 iron, 9 iron and putter. He played 7 clubs in his 50th US Am in 1962.

[jslane57]

Fun fact: Chick Evans won the 1916 US Open with 7 clubs in his bag. The norm back then was around 20.

 

15 years later someone asked Bobby Jones what he thought about Evans winning the US Open with only 7 clubs in his bag. Jones' quote is one of my all time favorites.

 

"It's better to be a master of 7 clubs than vaguely familiar with 14."

 

Evans continued to use only 7 up until his last US Am in the 1950s insisting that was all he needed.

 

Do you know which 7?

 

According to an article published in Golf Journal (August 1994) called "The Magnificent Seven" his bag included a 2-wood, 3-wood, 2 iron, 4 iron, 6 iron, 9 iron and putter. He played 7 clubs in his 50th US Am in 1962.

I absolutely love it when bags like his get named. "The Magnificent Seven". Magnificent! My bag of 8 is named, "Eight is Enough", and as I was whittling down I used 9 clubs for some time and called it, "The Necessary Nine". It is crazy thinking of today's clubs that he used such a top heavy bag. I wonder what the lofts of his clubs truly were? Between the ball they used back then and the lofts he used, maybe it wasn't top heavy at all...

[Need2golfalot]

Taking the leap today with 8 clubs:

 

1w 9.5°

7w 23

5i 25

7i 32

9i 40

AW 49

SW 56

Putter

 

Will report back later. Trying to do better than last week's 86 (par 70) with full set.

 

Should I carry these or bring the push cart?

 

[lefty_forever]

Congrats on making the jump! No push cart allowed :-)

[rwc356]

Taking the leap today with 8 clubs:

 

1w 9.5°

7w 23

5i 25

7i 32

9i 40

AW 49

SW 56

Putter

 

Will report back later. Trying to do better than last week's 86 (par 70) with full set.

 

Should I carry these or bring the push cart?

 

I would think most of us carry - but hey having fun is the key! Its 28 here in Chicago, so no golf today for me - but hope your round turns out great!

[drn92]

Taking the leap today with 8 clubs:

 

1w 9.5°

7w 23

5i 25

7i 32

9i 40

AW 49

SW 56

Putter

 

Will report back later. Trying to do better than last week's 86 (par 70) with full set.

 

Should I carry these or bring the push cart?

 

That is pretty much what I plan to start the season with. Another week or two of skiing then out to the course.

 

drn92

[Need2golfalot]

Carried the 8 clubs along with 8 golf balls, a couple beers, bottle of water, and a laser range finder. Also carried a warm vest I didn't need and barely fit in the side pocket. It was windy, around 50, but the sun was out so felt warmer than expected as the weatherman said mostly cloudy high of 47. Could do without the beer and range finder next time. Along with the extra clothing probably added 3 pounds on the front 9.

 

Anyway, scored about the same as a full set. 42 on the front nine with a birdie on #5. Had a couple penalties and doubles on the back 9, only one par for a 45. Pulled tee shot in the water on #12 and lost ball second shot on #15. Went for big cut with the 7 wood, but hit a big tree on the left. Should have punched the 5 iron.

 

I did miss the 6 and 8 iron a few times. Made the mistake of overclubbing and either swinging too weak and mishitting or swinging easy and sending the ball over the green. Took a few practice shots since I was playing solo. The lesser club was enough to get to the front of the green. Just had to hit it solid. Even got it pin high when I smashed it.

 

Didn't miss any if the longer clubs or wedges. On another course might want the 3 wood off a few tees.

 

Next time might try:

 

D

4h

6i

8i

PW

SW 54°

Putter

and just two sleeves of balls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The Next Fairway]

Ok so I got to play 12 holes on sun.i didn't have a minimalist set as I was mainly there to help a work colleague out (it was his first time on a golf course). I've also not swung a club in anger in about 10 weeks. Used the day to experiment and decide which clubs to drop, keep, replace. I really enjoyed trying to create shots. I wasn't great at it but I'd expect nothing less after 10 weeks off. Anyway I've decided on my set up for my round this weekend. I will play

 

Driver

4 wood

4 hybrid

5/7/9 irons

51/61

Putter

 

May end up switching out the wood and hybrid and replace it with a 18 degree hybrid to drop down to 8 clubs. Can't wait to get back out on the course and try things out.

[bigfatant]

I absolutely love it when bags like his get named. "The Magnificent Seven". Magnificent! My bag of 8 is named, "Eight is Enough", and as I was whittling down I used 9 clubs for some time and called it, "The Necessary Nine". It is crazy thinking of today's clubs that he used such a top heavy bag. I wonder what the lofts of his clubs truly were? Between the ball they used back then and the lofts he used, maybe it wasn't top heavy at all...

 

My terrible ten! Lolz