"half-bag" interesting observation with the 1st round of the season

[orangeology]

beautiful day here in nyc area yesterday, had a pretty good out with good ppl at Forest Park, Queens*

(one of THE crappiest courses pro'ly in the entire history of muni golf. but hey, you can't beat a 30 dollar quick round with a quick uber'ing from subway station)

some greens were still covered with ice, temp pins for like 3, 4 holes but it didn't really matter as long as you can golf right? (and this is the course famous for keeping the high course rating by not maintaining things proper, if you know what i mean lol.) 

 

thing is that. i wasn't planning to golf 'til the end of March—where most NY NJ courses due to open, still in the midst of new bag build. got my short iron heads all pulled off, waiting for the new shafts coming in etc etc. than an urge to go out with extremely pleasurable weather, heck why not, i brought a half-bag out:

a driver, 3W, 18º hybrid, 21º driving iron and 4 wedges: 47, 50, 56, 60, oh and the putter. a bag totally missing 5 - 9 irons.

 

the result was an amazeball, tho. 

1. bag was so light so easy to walk lol. obviously you can squeeze more 2oz bottles in. 

2. lowered score almost by 10!!! no contemplation to choose what club etc. simple & quick decision on just a full swing or half swing. the priority shifts to 'hit straight' than 'hit it farther'. found all changes actually helped a leaner, simpler and a better game. also you focus more when drive tee-off, as leaving 140, 150 ish will be a challenge with longer clubs. that 'mental' restriction help me focus. 

3. (maybe i'm late in the game) found that when missing it, 'sending over the green' is way easier to handle than 'short of green'. 

 

all in all. quite an unexpected lesson. not that i'm not gonna go back to a full bag. but learnt pretty valuable tactics that will possibly help golfing even with a full bag. i recommend doing this once in awhile. especially folks like me, for bogie golfers. 

 

it was a good day.

#leavenoyardbehind

 

 

Edited March 12, 2021 by orangeology

[tatertot]

Shot my best round - and got to my lowest handicap (low 3s) - the season I played with a 7 club bag. Get's harder to play new courses, but if you're familiar with the track, it's a lot of fun.

[lefthack]

I played in college with a starter set with a few added clubs.

 

Driver, 3w, 5w, 3, 5, 7, 9, SW and putter. It's taken me years to hit even clubs well, but I learned distance control and that's helped me still.

[joostin]

Interesting how you went completely top heavy and bottom heavy.  It's like an extreme version of my own.  I'd give the middle clubs a little love though and maybe pull the 3W out for a 7 iron.  Good test!

[Mike_Honcho]

my short bag is 3W, 3H 7i, 9i, PW, SW and P...i could probably drop the 3W or 3H depending on the course.

[animalgolfs]

10*D- 20* 7w- 30*hyb

 

40*8i- 46* pw - 54*sw 

 

And a putter 

 

7 clubs 

 

 

 

[PEI_Golfer]

Welcome to minimalism.

[ChipNRun]

For local par 3 course: 6i-9i, PW and SW, 4H, putter, and driver. (Relax, I use the driver as a handle to balance bag on my back...)

[Roejye]

I think how the course is designed has a big part in this too. My home course is an outlier apparently in that there is some trouble short, but not much, and long is often worse. I think that's because the next tee box is pretty close to the green.

[JungleJimbo]

15 hours ago, joostin said:

Interesting how you went completely top heavy and bottom heavy.  It's like an extreme version of my own.  I'd give the middle clubs a little love though and maybe pull the 3W out for a 7 iron.  Good test!

@orangeology: Nice half-bag set...
...but "+1" on @joostin's observation, i.e. Where's the "150-170 yard" club? (which IMHO i would need for various Par 3 tee-shots / most 2nd-shots on Par 4's?)

 

On 3/13/2021 at 6:19 AM, orangeology said:

i brought a half-bag out:

a driver, 3W, 18º hybrid, 21º driving iron and 4 wedges: 47, 50, 56, 60, oh and the putter. a bag totally missing 5 - 9 irons.

FYI if interested to go further down the half-set/minimalist rabbit-hole:
Some fun discussions = per the threads linked below.

 

==> https://www.golfwrx.com/584490/long-live-the-half-set/ 
(Love the featured half-set in this article
i.e. mini-driver 13.5*;
4-wood;
26* 5i;
36* 7i;
46* PW; 
56* SW;
Putter.
 

 

Edited March 14, 2021 by JungleJimbo

[slide13]

Half sets are the best!  I almost never carry a full set anymore and went so far as buying my most recent irons evens only (4/6/8/P).  I love the simplicity of it and just enjoy playing more this way. 

[JAM01]

Some of my best rounds were with a minimalist approach - driver, 3 hybrid, 5,7,9 iron, 50 & 56 deg wedges and putter. 8 clubs, 1/2 dozen balls,  a few tees and a small gps and towel in a lightweight bag. There’s something to be said for less pre-shot contemplating. 

[orangeology]

yup, i'd definitely tried a so-called half-set with even/odd numbered irons before, for a sunday twilight run etc—similar to the half-bags suggested above. guess, however the consequence of club-choice contemplating's still there.

 

nice thing about such an unexpected experiment this time was that: top-heavy to bottom heavy "sans-middle/short irons". had thought it was gonna be a banana, completely missing the clubs  for 140-170 yds shots, but it came out that it was actually simpler without contemplation on the course.

 

like someone pointed out, yes i know that course very well, that obviously helped. but again, dealing 140 - 200 yds wider range only with 2 clubs—simply the 18º hybrid from roughs, 21º 4 iron from fairways—was a new fun i found and it worked. 

 

i mean. i still like to play 'proper' golf with a full set indeed. just another way of having fun, heck why not? 

Edited March 14, 2021 by orangeology

[MinimalistGC]

As you can see from my name. I’m in for this. Welcome 

[lefthack]

How about an iron set from Geom?

21º, 29º, 37º, 45º Lofts

 

https://geomgolf.com/collections/irons/products/moe-half-set-forged-players-cavity-irons

[lefthack]

1 hour ago, Geom Golf said:

Hey everyone... here's some pics if you need more info.

 

Those look fantastic. 

[vandyfan]

Played my first round with a half bag today basically on accident because I am awaiting new clubs to be delivered and was invited for a quick 9 before work on a relatively short course. I had an old set (like OLD...like from the late 1960s old) of Sam Snead Blue Ridge Blades that were my grandfathers that I had re-gripped a few months ago and grabbed the 5i, 7i and 9i from the set (obviously very traditional lofts from back then so I played them all like they were a club shorter). Wanted an excuse to play them and got it today. Filled out the bag with an old 3wood and 54* and 60* wedges and a putter. So basically my bag played like this:

 

Old 3W: Carry probably 220

Sam Snead 5i: Carries 170ish
Sam Snead 7i: Carries 150ish
Sam Snead 9i: Carries 130ish
Cleveland 54*: Carries 90ish
Ben Hogan 60*: Don't hit this full

1982 Ping Anser 

 

The result? I shot 38 while basically guessing at iron yardages. To be fair, the average par 3/4/5 lengths out there are about 150/370/490 so it's not particularly difficult but man, what a stress free day. No real decisions to be made on yardages. I only listed my score because that is what I typically shoot out there because, in all honesty, I wasn't thinking about my score. I was just trying to hit golf shots with these old blades and hit the ball as straight as possible. This is likely just beginners luck but it really opened my eyes to having a real halfish bag. Having two wedges so close together was more of me rushing to get a bag together so I think I will probably setup more like this:

 

Driver: Carry around 245
20* Hybrid: Carry around 200
Sam Snead 5i
Sam Snead 7i
Sam Snead 9i
Cleveland Reg 588 51* Wedge: Carry around 105

Cleveland Reg 588 57* Wedge: Carry around 75
1982 Ping Anser

 

As some have mentioned, I wouldn't take this set to a new course or a long course but for my local muni or a shorter course that I know well it makes it come alive. 

 

[AlwaysDormie]

I would rather not play golf than play at Forest Park ever again. 

[kthomas]

On 3/15/2021 at 5:20 PM, Geom Golf said:

Hey everyone... here's some pics if you need more info.

 

Those look amazing!