Desert golfers: Do you carry a desert club so you don’t ruin your gamers?

[llewol007]

Played out in Las Vegas Nevada and a number of their course are carved in the mountainous areas. To say pick up your ball and place it on the fairway is correct is 100%. No way would I ever take a swing on the dessert lies. You will scratch your clubs and on a couple of times, have taken gouges because of rocks. Not worth it. Unless your clubs are sponsored, I would take the drop all day. 

[B_of_H]

they are clubs, you use them...they get beat up then you buy new ones.  if you damage a club then order another to replace it.  If your irons are over 3-4 years old and you play/hit balls 65, 75 times a year then you are using worn out grooves.  why?  do you like fliers and high scores?  I've hit every one of my irons out of the desert multiple times.  there are a few nicks and scratches but who cares?  they are a tool to hit a golf ball.  buy, use, get new ones..repeat every 2-4 years. 

[scooterhd2]

Playing loads of desert courses in AZ and I always bring a foot wedge with me. Seriously though, I usually just clean up the lie. Remove the rocks. Hit off some sand or hardpan. Good to go. 

[the_Danimal]

Yep... gotta go with a 4 or 5 iron

[DoubleEagle08]

Just hit your normal club, what better excuse for a new set. This is golfwrx, is it not?

[Munich77]

Having played a lot in Phoenix a desert club is a must.  I am not ruining my forged iron playing out of the junk.  

[karstens_ghost]

For those that say "I don't care; I'd play my clubs just fine from the desert" have never played from that desert.

 

It's the old tumble finish, but in one spot. 😄 

 

-- I should also add this:

 

Most good courses post "desert areas" can be played as lateral hazards, unmarked. The less expensive courses have areas you might be in that resemble something of a cheap dirt lot that other geographies would simply grow longer grass and call it "rough". It's not a sand trap, but there is a reason a lot of us who grew up in the Sonora develop a "sweeper" swing. Those cheap courses are where you'll see more often guys with a $20 crap wedge.

 

I'm also not trying to get into a "rules" debate, and maybe it's less common to post it officially on the board, but in years past everyone I ever saw had El Gaucho in their bag.

Edited June 15, 2021 by karstens_ghost

[Argonne69]

20 hours ago, B_of_H said:

they are clubs, you use them...they get beat up then you buy new ones.  if you damage a club then order another to replace it.  If your irons are over 3-4 years old and you play/hit balls 65, 75 times a year then you are using worn out grooves.  why?  do you like fliers and high scores?  I've hit every one of my irons out of the desert multiple times.  there are a few nicks and scratches but who cares?  they are a tool to hit a golf ball.  buy, use, get new ones..repeat every 2-4 years. 

 

I used to think that until custom clubs started taking 8 to 10 weeks to be delivered. No thanks.

 

[lefthack]

Guess I always assumed as a "desert golfer" that was just the nature of the game? Never thought about q "desert club".

[Ncgolfing]

I never thought about doing this until I took a new set or Srixon irons to Tobacco Road earlier this year. Lots of wasteland sand with tiny rocks in them. Came back and decided to keep an old 4 iron in the bag going forward for punching out of crappy lies…Glad that I have a name for this club now — the “desert club” has a nice ring to it. 

[drumdude96]

On 6/12/2021 at 11:45 AM, cw1209 said:

Nope. Inspiration to not hit it there in the first place. A desert club is like taking two golf balls to the first tee or a ball retriever in your bag. Things you never want to use ... so don't bring them. 

I carry a ball retriever so that I can fish other peoples' balls out of the water. I'm all about free Pro V1s. Lol.

Edited June 25, 2021 by drumdude96

[jonflesh]

On 6/14/2021 at 1:50 PM, llewol007 said:

Played out in Las Vegas Nevada and a number of their course are carved in the mountainous areas. To say pick up your ball and place it on the fairway is correct is 100%. No way would I ever take a swing on the dessert lies. You will scratch your clubs and on a couple of times, have taken gouges because of rocks. Not worth it. Unless your clubs are sponsored, I would take the drop all day. 

I played in a 3 day tournament out in Vegas a couple years ago. Before that I had no experience with desert golf. I ended up exclusively using my gap wedge out of the rocks and then tossing it at the end of the 3 days. I figured damaging one club was better than nicking up all of them. 
 

I agree if it wasn’t a tournament and I was just playing with friends I would 100% have taken drops. The rocks out there destroy your clubs. 

[falken19150]

Absolutely. We call them "rock clubs" and allow everyone to bring 1 extra rock club. I do a 7 iron but have seen a lot of folks take 9 irons to get over bushes, cactus etc. 

[1Mordrid1]

I don't carry a "desert" club any more, but I also don't play forged irons anymore. During league and tournament play I just hit it as it lies and take my medicine. During practice rounds if my ball is in a very rocky lie then I may clear the rocks and pebbles from the area before I play the shot.

 

One reason I have quit playing forged irons and wedges is that the conditions here in Phoenix just beat up your clubs too much if they are soft forgings. Hitting off of a hardpan desert lie with tiny pebbles might scratch the sole or put a small chip on the leading edge of a solid cast club like my 0211's, but playing off the same lie with my 0311s could sometimes put some serious dings and gouges on the sole and leading edges. While I am not obsessed with keeping my clubs shiny and new, I also did not like having clubs that were a year old look like they had been in the bag for 20 years.

[bcski]

When I am going to be playing in desert areas I toss in an old 7 iron as my 15th club.  Don't tell the rules Nazi's but I still turn in a score....  But I also don't play in handicap tournaments unless they are playing a course I like and the cost is right...  Cause like I said in the sandbagging thread.  If you are playing in a handicapped tourney and you aren't sandbagging, you aren't gonna win squat!!!  You are like me - just there to play a course that day and enjoy a day out of the house... 

 

Did I mention I love being retired??

Edited June 16, 2021 by bcski

[philleeeeep]

I don't live anywhere near a desert, but I'm seriously considering having my old 7 iron in the bag. Just got new P770s that are still in the wrapper, and I'm nervous to break them in.

[NevinW]

I used to play in Las Vegas, and most of the people I played with carried a 9 or pw as their 15th "rock club".  Anything longer and you can't hit chips or half shots from the rocks onto the green.  They were mostly used to get the ball back to the fairway.  Most were taken from the club's lost and found.

[karstens_ghost]

23 hours ago, NevinW said:

I used to play in Las Vegas, and most of the people I played with carried a 9 or pw as their 15th "rock club".  Anything longer and you can't hit chips or half shots from the rocks onto the green.  They were mostly used to get the ball back to the fairway.  Most were taken from the club's lost and found.

 

Yep. Completely normal.

 

They don't make bags with 15 slots for nothing.

 

[wjdpar1]

Absolutely do carry a desert club!