What would you carry in the bag? Driver, Hybrid, and Wood Settings Questions

[Handbanana]

Hello,

I am a long time member, but following a golf hiadus, I have recently decided to get rid of the long irons I've been struggling with.  Added a small driving iron (22*). a 22* PXG 0317 X PROTO HYBRID, a 17* PXG 0317 X PROTO HYBRID, a 15* PXG 0341 X Proto 3-Wood, and a 9* 0811 X Proto Driver (set at 8.5*).  I would like to keep them all in the bag, but because I'm using three wedges (PW= 46*, GW= 50*, SW= 55*, LW= 59*), I was hoping to get some suggestions as to what loft I should play the woods, hybrids, and driver.  Before I took a short break, I hit my 5 iron 210 yards and my driver about 315 yards on average.  To summize, I have two questions:

1) If I play four wedges and have a 4 driving iron, should I take my 5 iron out of the bag, or one of the hybrids?  2) If my driver, 3 wood, and hybrids can all be adjusted +/- .5*, 1*, and 1.5* - what would you space them out as?  Thanks for all help in advance!

If I G 0PXG 0317 X Proto Hybrids 317 X Proto Hybrids 

PIXG 0317 X PROTO HYBRIDS

Edited September 22, 2021 by Handbanana

[eric61]

I think you might find you want the hybrid in between the two you have: the 19 degree. You could go 8.5* driver, 15* 3 wood, 19* hybrid and 22* driving iron, then into your 5 iron, and that gapping could work out really well. Lofting your 17 up to 18.5 or your 22 down to 20.5 might get you to roughly the same place though, just something you'd need to test. 

 

What's the loft on your 5 iron? If it's like 23 or less, then yeah, swap the driving iron in for it because they're probably gonna overlap, and your problem is solved. But if it's higher (mine is 26, for example), you're not going to want to do that -- you're probably going to want to drop one of your long clubs instead. 

 

An easy solution is to go driver, 3W, 17 hybrid lofted up to 18.5, and then pick whichever of your 22 degree clubs you need for that course/the day's weather conditions, either the hybrid or the driving iron, and leave the other one in the trunk.

[Handbanana]

2 hours ago, eric61 said:

I think you might find you want the hybrid in between the two you have: the 19 degree. You could go 8.5* driver, 15* 3 wood, 19* hybrid and 22* driving iron, then into your 5 iron, and that gapping could work out really well. Lofting your 17 up to 18.5 or your 22 down to 20.5 might get you to roughly the same place though, just something you'd need to test. 

 

What's the loft on your 5 iron? If it's like 23 or less, then yeah, swap the driving iron in for it because they're probably gonna overlap, and your problem is solved. But if it's higher (mine is 26, for example), you're not going to want to do that -- you're probably going to want to drop one of your long clubs instead. 

 

An easy solution is to go driver, 3W, 17 hybrid lofted up to 18.5, and then pick whichever of your 22 degree clubs you need for that course/the day's weather conditions, either the hybrid or the driving iron, and leave the other one in the trunk.

That is a great idea!  Thanks for the feedback!

[Handbanana]

Yeah, my 5 iron is a 27 degree.  Swapping the driving and iron and the 22* might be the best bet.

[ChipNRun]

17 hours ago, eric61 said:

Lofting your 17 up to 18.5 or your 22 down to 20.5 might get you to roughly the same place though, just something you'd need to test. 

 

Go from two to one hybrid, with a tweak to even the distance gap.

 

As far as you hit the ball, you would benefit more from short-end even gapping provided by four wedges. 

[Handbanana]

15 minutes ago, ChipNRun said:

 

Go from two to one hybrid, with a tweak to even the distance gap.

 

As far as you hit the ball, you would benefit more from short-end even gapping provided by four wedges. 

Thank you very much for the advice!

[Brausch24]

I agree with evening the gap from 2 hybrids down to 1. Especially with your distance, you probably don't use both hybrids all to often.. could be wrong.

 

I'm pretty similar to you with the setup. I have an 8.5 driver, 15* 3w, but I carry a 2 TM-B iron as my driving iron (typically 265ish club), as well as a 4-9, 46, 52, 56, 60 all SM6.

[Handbanana]

I think I may have found a compromise: My driving iron is standard at 24* - by adding 2 degrees to it, I can bring it to 26*.  Then I can drop my 5 iron (27*) from the bag with my 6 iron sitting at 30*.  I would feel more comfortable hitting the driving iron than the 5, but I can always swap them.  Then my bag would look like this: 

What's in the bag:

Driver: PXG 0811X Proto (8.5*) w/ HZRDUS Yellow 6.5

Fairway Wood: PXG 0341X Proto 3w (14*) w/ HZRDUS Smoke Yellow 6.5

Hybrid: PXG 0317X Proto (18* & 22*) w/ HZRDUS Smoke Black 6.5

Driving Iron: PXG 0311X Gen 2 (26*) w/ True Temper Elevate Tour X

Irons: Adams MB2 Raw w/ True Temper DG X200 (6-GW)

Wedges: Vokey SM8 Black (55* & 59*) w/ Project X PXi 6.5

Putters: Odyssey Stoke Lab 10

[eric61]

That might work out just fine. You might find you want to adjust the loft on your 22 degree hybrid some, too -- maybe up to 23-ish. Just test how the gaps work and take it from there, you have clubs with some adjustability so fine-tuning is no problem.

[mogc60]

Horses for courses is my advice. Being honest in my casual rounds I carry 15 clubs most of the time. When it counts or if it’s for money I just remove a club based on the golf course I’m playing. Sometimes it’s the driving iron, or 4 iron, or 3 wood or hybrid. It just depends on which club I’m more likely to need and it works great. Some courses I hit 3 wood often, others never at all. Same for my longer gap clubs. So just plan according to the course