Top of bag gapping: Are you "average Joes" playing 3W to gap with driver or higher-lofted fairway wood?

[eric61]

Top of bag gapping question for the average Joes here:

 

A good drive for me goes around 265-270, carry and roll. Then my second-longest club is a Ping G425 5 wood that goes about 220-225 when struck really well. That leaves a gap of somewhere around 40-50 yards between my driver and my second-longest club. 

 

My approach to building my bag on the long end has been that my second-longest club ought to be the longest club I can reasonably play from the fairway -- which is what led me to the G425 5 wood. Any loft lower than about 16.5, and I just can't elevate it enough to play it with any real consistency off the deck.

 

Is that sort of thought process similar to how you all have gone about putting your bags together? Or are you gapping off your driver, even if that means carrying a 3W (or something else, like a Mini Driver) that's a tee-only club for you? 

 

I know there's not necessarily a one-size-fits-all approach to this question. Just curious how others handle it!

[A.Princey]

4w, my avg carry with driver is 245-250. Easily more carry on the 16.5 vs 15, with a little more loft, and just more practical as a fwy option.

Edited October 5, 2021 by A.Princey

[mc2]

Had a similar gap in distance as you and a spare slot in my bag, so I’ve just added mini driver as a second tee option. Only a couple of rounds in but it works perfectly. 10.5 driver and 13.5 mini driver set one notch up to 14.25.

After that I go 19, 22, 25 hybrids. 

 

I found 3W too hard off the deck or tee. Long shaft, small face.

 

Tried driving iron and 2 iron, I’m just not good enough for those, couldn’t find the centre of the face at all. 
 

Tried a 2 hybrid but also found that shaft too long to be consistent.

 

Mini driver as a tee option is very forgiving in comparison to all of those, and my 19 degree hybrid gets me decent (and long enough) results as my longest fairway club. No plans to hit the mini off the deck.

[eric61]

18 minutes ago, mc2 said:

Had a similar gap in distance as you and a spare slot in my bag, so I’ve just added mini driver as a second tee option. Only a couple of rounds in but it works perfectly. 10.5 driver and 13.5 mini driver set one notch up to 14.25.

After that I go 19, 22, 25 hybrids. 

 

I found 3W too hard off the deck or tee. Long shaft, small face.

 

Tried driving iron and 2 iron, I’m just not good enough for those, couldn’t find the centre of the face at all. 
 

Tried a 2 hybrid but also found that shaft too long to be consistent.

 

Mini driver as a tee option is very forgiving in comparison to all of those, and my 19 degree hybrid gets me decent (and long enough) results as my longest fairway club. No plans to hit the mini off the deck.

Yep, this is along the lines of what I'm thinking about. I have a 14-club set-up that works for me now, but there is some overlap. I could easily afford to take a club out and replace it with something that would be for the tee only. I like a 3W off the tee, but it has virtually no other purpose for me -- maybe as like a punch-out club in occasional weird scenarios. Still, there are cases where I need less than driver but would like a bit more than a 5W or hybrid would get me. Lots of trade-offs to consider.

[Billfitz]

I took my 3 and 5 woods out of the bag, because the only consistent results I had with them was off the tee. That amounted to three swings per 18 hole round. I replaced them with a 16 degree 2H and 19 degree 3H, which work just as well off the tee, much better off the deck. They get six to eight swings per round, earning their slots in the bag.

[mc2]

14 hours ago, eric61 said:

Yep, this is along the lines of what I'm thinking about. I have a 14-club set-up that works for me now, but there is some overlap. I could easily afford to take a club out and replace it with something that would be for the tee only. I like a 3W off the tee, but it has virtually no other purpose for me -- maybe as like a punch-out club in occasional weird scenarios. Still, there are cases where I need less than driver but would like a bit more than a 5W or hybrid would get me. Lots of trade-offs to consider.

It was a no brainer for me since I only had 13 in the bag. If you’ve got overlap though it’s worth looking at what you can drop if the gap between driver and 5W is causing you trouble. I’m only a couple of rounds in with the mini but I already know it’s what I’ve been looking for in that gap. I just ignored the mini for too long thinking it was gimmicky. I’ve got my driver setup in neutral at 10.5 and with my swing that’s a fade, and I’ve got the mini setup as a draw being up a click or two on the hosel. I’m a mid cap so that help moving the ball both ways off the tee is useful.

[968cab]

I was playing G425 3w and 7w with the 3w lofted up 1°, so 15.5 & 20.5°.  But unless I caught the 3w really well off the fairway, it never went more than 8 or 9 yards farther than the 7w…maybe 50% success, with the other 50% low runners and ending up shorter than a full carry 7w. It became a tight tee only club—which is two holes at most at my course.

 

So I replaced the 3w with a 5w (17.5°) but use the 3w shaft in it.  Then I bounce back and fourth between the 7w and a 3hy (19°) for now, gapping to 4hy & irons.  The fairways and hybrids being adjustable (all G425) really help dial this in.
 

I’ve had good success experimenting with choking down an inch, inch and a half on the 5w and getting my 7w/3hy distance; yet with the 3w shaft, I can use it off the tee and not really lose anything at all vs the 3w. So I’ve turned one club into a 3 way tool!

 

Due to this and the strong lofts of modern irons—a 44° PW!—I’m thinking about going with 5 wedges (P-G1-G2-56-60) and just the 5w between Driver and 4hy.  Unintended, but it seems more valuable to me, arming myself with more scoring/recovery options for 18 holes rather than long clubs with 8yrd gaps that I might use 3 times a round at most.

Edited October 5, 2021 by 968cab

[azgreg]

Currently it's D, 5w, 4h.

D - 250 yards

5w - 225 yards

4h - 200 yards

 

[jbrunk]

Top 3-4 clubs need to be tee options for me.  Lowest loft fairway wood is a good rescue club, I don’t mind hitting 3W off the deck, but usually have a more reliable option.  I started the year with 1W 10.5° 230-240y, 3W 14.5° 215-225y, 5W 18.5° 200-210y, 4Hy 22° 185-195y. In July, switched out the middle two to 3W 15° and 3Hy 19°; currently 4W 16.5° 3Hy 20° 4Hy 23°. 

[eric61]

20 hours ago, azgreg said:

Currently it's D, 5w, 4h.

D - 250 yards

5w - 225 yards

4h - 200 yards

 

Do you also carry a 4 iron, or go into your 5 iron from there? D/5W/4H then on to 5 iron works out well gapping-wise for me, but puts me at 13 clubs, so I have room to carry one more.

[azgreg]

4 hours ago, eric61 said:

Do you also carry a 4 iron, or go into your 5 iron from there? D/5W/4H then on to 5 iron works out well gapping-wise for me, but puts me at 13 clubs, so I have room to carry one more.

I'm currently carrying a 4i after not carrying one for a long time. More often than not it's used for a punch out club.

 

 

Edited October 7, 2021 by azgreg

[philly2kuk]

On 10/5/2021 at 6:27 AM, A.Princey said:

4w, my avg carry with driver is 245-250. Easily more carry on the 16.5 vs 15, with a little more loft, and just more practical as a fwy option.

Same here. Drive goes 250 avg carry and I use a 4w (3hl). 

[anth]

On 10/5/2021 at 4:27 PM, A.Princey said:

4w, my avg carry with driver is 245-250. Easily more carry on the 16.5 vs 15, with a little more loft, and just more practical as a fwy option.

Yep, this is pretty much me. Driver, 4W  at 16 degrees, hybrid at 19.

 

Works well 

[@_the_crook]

witb:

 

D- 10.5*

5W - 18*

Hybrids available at 17* , 20* ,  23* , depending on course and conditions

same model - different lofts. I usually carry the 20.

irons begin at 24* because I'd rather use the H's than a 3I.

 

 

 

 

[bellview17]

D 275

3W 245

5W 225

7W 205

5 hybrid 190

[animalgolfs]

Driver - 17* fw - 7wd - 9wd - 5h 

[PuffyC]

I’m an average Joe and I’m with you 1000%. I more than happy working with a consistent 40 yard gap up top when the alternative is fighting a 3w that has a mind of its own. 

[CUBuffaloes]

Driver - 240-250

3W (15*) - 220

3H (19*) - 200

4H (23*) - 185  or 4 iron (22*) - 180

5i - PW

50, 55, 60

 

The 4H/4 iron spot depends on course conditions. I'd like to have both but I'd need to get rid of a wedge. Actually if I do drop a wedge I'd keep the 23* hybrid and get a 3 utility iron in there.

[sm_watts]

I gave up on fairway woods completely and go driver (240-250) to 4H (210).  If I need to hit something in between or have a shorter par 4, I just choke up on the driver (45.25") an inch or so and I've found that to be very consistent.  I also put a 3H Tensei blue shaft in the 4H which gets me just a tad more distance.  That's one less club I need to carry, and when you carry your bag every round, finding ways to cut bag weight is a benefit all in itself.

[sfdoddsy]

I've never been a good fairway wood player. I think carrying them caused me more harm than good.

 

Nice gaps don't matter if you can't hit them consistently.

 

After a lot of experimentation a few years back I found that the longest club I could hit consistently was the Cobra F6 Baffler. It is a 4 wood with a shorter shaft. A bit like the new Callaway UW.

 

These days my driver is 250ish. The 4 wood is 200-210. From there I go 3-4-5-6 hybrid (although I'm not convince the 3 hybrid is worth it, then 7-PW, then 52 and 58 wedge.

 

That gives me one. or two spare slots for certain courses or shot shapes. For example I sometimes carry a second hybrid cranked open for courses that need fades.

Edited November 30, 2021 by sfdoddsy

[ChipNRun]

On 10/5/2021 at 12:05 AM, eric61 said:

My approach to building my bag on the long end has been that my second-longest club ought to be the longest club I can reasonably play from the fairway -- which is what led me to the G425 5 wood. Any loft lower than about 16.5, and I just can't elevate it enough to play it with any real consistency off the deck.

 

Flashback to 2012 major demo day. The Tour Edge rep has the new Exotics fairway wood model, in both 15* 3W and 16.5* 4W. For those of us willing, he has us hit both the 3W and the 4W. End result: Most of the golfers hit the 4W more reliably than the 3W, and often just as long or longer. This included a couple of long hitters, who had carried their earlier driver shots 270 or more.

 

A little extra loft and a shorter shaft delivers a lot more overall than a 1-in-10 super 3W shot.

 

In your case, a Ping 5W (either standard or lofted down) is what lots of people in Pingland are playing.

 

Parting thoughts:

• I just finished my eleventh season with some combination of 4W + 7W.
• The marketing swamp gas of having a separate fairway-finder 3W benefits the OEMs a lot more than the golfers. Use your 5W as a fairway-finder.

[LukeDonaldsTiger]

Average Joe here. I wrote a long paragraph about this in another thread, but yeah: 3W is just not consistent enough at my playing level. 

Currently trying to find the ultimate combo, right now it’s:

 

Dr @11.5*/43” (260y)

2H @16* (225y) or 5W @17* (230y)

3H @19* (205y)

4H @22* (190y)

5i @26* (178y)

 

The 5W is an older Mizuno, I’m pretty sure all the new models are longer. Could be the ticket, but the gap to the 3H is pretty big. 

However, I need that club below driver to cover the most distance on a 2nd shot off the deck and thus, that gap is kinda irrelevant. 

 

Advantage 2H: I can flight it low. Harder to do with 5W. 

[SW20 MR2]

After playing a with a 4-wedge setup (blade-type wedges like RAC TP, X-Tour, X-Forged) for about 15 years, my wedge game went to the dumps this year.  It got so bad I bought a 56* CBX wedge, and it really seemed to help.  After I bought it, I stopped using my 52/60* wedges, and I didn't notice any difference in not having them.

 

As a result, I decided to re-do the long game makeup of the bag.  Based on a recent fitting, I'm going from having a 10.5* driver, 17* 4w, and 19* hybrid to a 9* driver, 13.5* 3w, 18* 5w, and 19* hybrid.  We will see how it goes.  It will be an expensive lesson if it doesn't work out cause the woods/shafts were pricey.

[eric61]

I started this thread a while back, and have recently found my solution: A TSi3 16.5 degree 4 wood with a Graphite Design Tour AD DI 7S shaft, at 42.75 inches. 

 

I've never hit a fairway wood this well. Absolutely love it.

[968cab]

On 10/5/2021 at 4:14 PM, 968cab said:

Due to this and the strong lofts of modern irons—a 44° PW!—I’m thinking about going with 5 wedges (P-G1-G2-56-60) and just the 5w between Driver and 4hy.  Unintended, but it seems more valuable to me, arming myself with more scoring/recovery options for 18 holes rather than long clubs with 8yrd gaps that I might use 3 times a round at most.

 

Have spent the last couple of weeks testing/gapping/practicing with this, and will make it a “permanent” change going forward.  

As my new 921 HMPros have a 22° 5iron, and the lofts progress so that the PW and GW are “really a 9 & PW”, I’ve settled on:

 

Dr

5W (17.5 turned down to 16.5)

4Hy (22 turned down to 20.5)

5-GW

52-56-60

 

When the 22° 5iron inevitably becomes a problem (I haven’t played a 4iron in years), I’ve got a 5Hy to slot in and adjust…26° +/- 1.5

 

This is a interesting thread! 

[A.Princey]

Just an observation, but I wonder how many golfers have an unfilled gap on their top end due to a inflated driver estimation? When in all reality, their next longest club gaps perfectly with their “real” driver numbers, lol.

[MisterT]

According to Arccos, I had a big gap between my driver and 3 wood. I have been hitting them both better of late, especially the 3 wood, so hopefully that gap will continue to narrow as my better play continues.