"Why do you use a 2 iron when woods and hybrids go farther, are more forgiving, more versatile, and easier to hit?"

[jgallant415]

19 hours ago, AdamMH said:

Man... 1-irons are really so far in the past now that the joke has moved a whole club down?

As we all know, lofts are jacked so the 2-iron is really just a 1-iron with the wrong number printed on the bottom.

[Ephemerlol]

I have a 19* 3i built up with a graphite shaft.  I mostly hit it on shorter par 4s where 210-230 off the tee is plenty.  It also gets used a lot for long low runners and out of trouble.  The club is very useful, but it is not great from 210 into a green or out of deeper rough, a hybrid does that job better for sure.  I only play 3 wedges so I just carry both 🤷

[jmcm87]

If you play a 2 iron and aren't a low digit/+ hcp you're throwing shots away for the sake of your ego. 

 

[Pepperturbo]

21 hours ago, boggyman said:

Calling @Pepperturbo…🤣 For whatever reasoning, I prefer the 2 iron to a hybrid. It’s my swing I know, but I’ll hook a hybrid off the planet. I know my swing. Fitter in Florida once handed me his personal hybrid and said it won’t go left, 3rd swing, I said that’s off the planet , he said yep and put it back in his bag.  I can deal with a 5 wood but prefer long irons still. To each their own.

LOL I hear ya.  I've tried many hybrids, all look weird, 5wd is fine too.   The natural look of my 2 iron with 90g HIGH bend composite, goes just as far but with near zippo dispersion.  If fairways are fast, I can get 225-235yds out of it... brings out my gorilla tendencies... 😛  If I want a higher flight, I adjust my address and grip.  The only way I found to keep a hybrid from going left is a TX shaft, but then it's NOT as long.

[Honeybadger]

Because I hit it straighter.

 

That and it’s great for punch outs when you’re under a tree. 

[MelloYello]

It's interesting to note that if you put a graphite shaft into a big, hollow-headed driving iron, the launch / spin numbers on a Trackman won't look very different from those generated with a "hybrid" so it's often really up to what the player wants to see. 

 

Most modern driving irons are basically hybrids that've been sculpted to look more like an iron but deliver the launch and forgiveness of a hybrid. The Srixons in my bag for instance, generated the same numbers as did Titleist's TSR-series hybrids when put up against each other on a grass range with a Trackman capturing data. 

 

So are people really playing "irons" or are they really playing "hybrids?" If a Trackman can't tell then it's just a cosmetic difference.

 

When I talk about playing a 2-iron I'm referring to a time when 1-piece forged irons (MBs or CBs) were produced in 2-iron form and carried by a lot of good players. I used to play a Nike VR Split Cavity 2-iron that I could roast back in my 20s.

 

These days, that would be impractical for a host of reasons:

 

(1) I don't have that 5-10 mph of SS I used to so my tee shots wouldn't go as far with an iron. 
(2) I'm significantly better with my Driver / 3w now so I prefer to hit those as often as possible. 

(3) I prefer to be as aggressive as I can be getting into to Par5s and the 2-iron was just never the right club for that on the hilly, undulating, pond-rich courses here in the Southeast USA.  

 

 

.

Edited June 3, 2023 by MelloYello

[kasting333]

2 irons aren’t that hard to hit off the tee. A lot of regular Joe golfers benefit by using them off the tee 

[Leftyjoe89]

I can’t hit a hybrid or a driver …I can hit irons though.  I give up some yardage but not accuracy and workability 

[Chunkitgood]

6 hours ago, jmcm87 said:

If you play a 2 iron and aren't a low digit/+ hcp you're throwing shots away for the sake of your ego. 

 

So, hybrids are for people who don’t play so well?

 

Always suspected as much.

 

People who don’t play so well, but aspire to, might use a 2 iron, or some other club you think above their level, because they aspire to be better.

 

Throwing shots away?  Who cares?  If you do, and you think your golf score matters, maybe it’s you who needs to check your ego.

[uglande]

Chicks dig it. 

 

But seriously, this post is spot on. Trajectory is really the only advantage of a 2-iron, but if you can develop a little stinger shot with a hybrid/FW, you have the best of all worlds.

[Anthony26]

On 6/2/2023 at 11:40 AM, pjc said:

I don't believe that fairway woods and hybrids are easier to hit than a long iron.  Some of the so called "driving irons" these days do help with launch and are forgiving, there are also those that are definitely designed for taking worms heads off.  Gotta be selective for what you want.  I have hit hybrids that refuse to launch up in the air, same goes for fairway woods.

I believe this for real... I think even as a beginner I'd much rather use a driving iron vs a driver/wood. Especially if you're decent at hitting irons

[NoTalentLefty]

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/myshot_gd0611/amp
 

Dana Quigley

[Stro2014]

I've had a 790 driving iron in the bag for a couple years now. Super hot face pretty easy to line up left and hit the little bleeding cut with it. That's something I struggle to do with the hybrid. Honestly I don't feel like the new driving irons are that much more difficult to hit than the hybrids. I do swap it out with an 18* hybrid if the course doesn't call for any tee balls with the DI. 

[bnperrone]

I'm gonna be completely honest and say that, while I have struggled in the past with fairway woods and hybrids and therefore there was a legitimate call for driving irons, there is also unmistakably an appeal of having the "Hitogami" in the bag. Regardless of whether it was the best club for me. 

 

Years later I kinda cracked the code on hybrids when I set them up less like OEM hybrid specs and more like iron head replacements, and my fairway wood relationship seems to be mended (I've said that before). So the ZX utility which replaced the aforementioned MP-H5 1-iron is likely out of the bag. But I'm not quite ready to sell it, either. Because of my windy coastal SC location, I need to spend some more time making sure I really can hit a bullet with the G430 that replaced it. 

 

There's an ego thing for sure, and I think that's true of a lot of players even if they refuse to admit it. 

[ShortGolfer]

I learned to play golf with a 22* four SGI iron off the tee.  The  executive course fairways are too narrow for many golfers to hit driver.

Edited June 5, 2023 by ShortGolfer

[reider69]

1.  Much smaller misses.

2.  Easier to get through the wind and less likely to float OB.

3.  Shorter shaft and easier to control imo.

4.  Pretty darn forgiving with today's technology!

[jda]

My 2 iron is 19 degrees Titleist 660 blade.  It is one club behind my 3 wood.  I can hold a green within about 8-12 feet of runout.  I can play it low and still get 245ish off of the tee with it.  The blade gets through the rough with ease if you even a bit steep at impact.  I cannot get a hybrid or 5 wood to do any of these things as well.

 

If you can play one, you should.  The thread title is not accurate for some folks.  It is a better tool for those who can use it.  None of this is easy and the effort required to do so is probably not worth it for most folks and I would not spend time on 2 iron if you cannot handle wedges or the big dog.

 

On the stupid side, it does feel incredible when you nut it and/or your playing group cannot believe that you still have one and it works better than their hybrids (in your hands).

[Striker Ace]

On 6/2/2023 at 2:02 PM, Albatross Dreamer said:

Apparently he's slowing down with age, guess a billion plus years will do that to ya. Should start doing some speed training

Or get up off of the throne once in a while HAHA 🤣😂👊🙌

[Cmiles]

Never been an elite ball striker. Added a 5w to the bag and realize I should have done it awhile ago. 

[Gr8Balls]

Although I've been bagging 5w more often lately, my personal reasons for 2i come down to misses and being off.

 

If I'm off with driver I'm on another planet.

 

If I'm off with a fairway wood I'm on another hole.

 

If I'm off with 2i I'm in the rough.

 

 

Edited June 7, 2023 by Gr8Balls

[RoyalMustang]

On 6/2/2023 at 12:51 PM, MelloYello said:

I certainly wouldn't use a 2-iron now that my driver SS has fallen to around 105-mph. I simply don't have the juice for it now that I'm closing in on 40yo. 

 

But there was a time when I did use a 2-iron and felt like I could really stripe it, especially off the tee where it'd get most of it's play.

 

What I would've said at that point is that the 2-iron is easier to hit straight and much more effortless to control in terms of trajectory and curve. You aren't ever going to hit a 2-iron off the planet no matter how you swing it.

 

So if you've got the speed, it can be a great control club. It's usually a "fairway finder" for those big hitters who can pipe it 225-250. 

 

Keep in mind those same guys are not having to use fairway metals or hybrids to get into Par-5s at their local club. They're probably looking at a mid- or long-iron approaches which (with their speed) they have no problem hitting well enough to attack those greens. 

 

 

.

 

Mello-that's too early to be losing swing speed due to "getting old"! Unless you have an injury or illness, it sounds like something else is going on. You may want to get a physical screen from a PT who has a golf background and see what is going on. There may be a certain muscle group that is underdeveloped for whatever reason or you are losing flexibility (sitting at a computer is a common cause) but that can be easily remedied. As I understand it, loss of flexibility is a far greater cause of lost distance and poor play than loss of strength. I certainly know that was true with me. 

[black bnr32]

Because Tiger stingers are cool af

[ac6]

On 6/2/2023 at 10:38 AM, AdamMH said:

Man... 1-irons are really so far in the past now that the joke has moved a whole club down?

 

After another couple decades of loft jacking only God will be able to hit a Pitching Wedge

[Pepperturbo]

When I took up golf I learned using D, 3wd and a 15' 1 iron, bent to 16', later a 17' 2 iron; never thought about adding an easier club to hit. 

 

I eventually used a 17' 4 wood or 18' 5 wood (both in storage), but they didn't demand much, so in time I went back to 2 iron, it's been in my bag ever since.  When you learn to consistently strike a 16' or 17' long iron, pure, shorter length clubs benefit too.  Today, at 70+, smacking 2i or 4i pure and on-line is stimulating; that way score takes care of itself.  Thank You technology!

 

 

Edited June 8, 2023 by Pepperturbo

[bodhi555]

I learnt to swing a golf club when hybrids weren't a thing, hence you drifted towards fairway woods or long irons. 

 

I was a long irons guy back then, and still am. I find them more versatile in terms of the shots you can play, and they seem to fit my swing better. Hence when I have to drop clubs at the top of my bag the hybrid is always first to go. 

[RCGA]

Modern fairway woods stomp all over driving irons. 

 

And I was a player who went driver, 2i with no fairway woods. 

[Ivyguy]

On 6/3/2023 at 5:23 PM, Chunkitgood said:

So, hybrids are for people who don’t play so well?

 

Always suspected as much.

 

People who don’t play so well, but aspire to, might use a 2 iron, or some other club you think above their level, because they aspire to be better.

 

Throwing shots away?  Who cares?  If you do, and you think your golf score matters, maybe it’s you who needs to check your ego.

I think it’s more about what you like the look with. 
 

I loath the shape of most hybrids. Only ones I like were the old boxy pro golds from Adams.  Round hybrids look weird and I hit them left. 
 

I know I am giving up optimal distance and height, what I’m gaining is the bad one aren’t costing me lost ball penalties. 
 

My buddy, who is my golf equal, carries a 7 wood and 24 hybrid. Great with both. 
 

We both envy each others clubs. He wishes he could hit a 18 utility, I wish I could make a 7 wood work for me. 
 

Horses for courses. 

[mvvraz]

I played driving irons for a few years, 3i blades, 2i blades, even had a retro 1 iron for when I really wanted to show off 

 

Now I'm 27 years old and my set looks like I'm 80, I play Driver - 3 wood - 5 wood - 4 hybrid at 24.5C - 5 iron 

 

In my other set I go driver - 5 wood low spin (set to low flight) that mimics a 3 wood - 5 wood that I shoot for greens - 7 wood - 5 iron

 

I've dumped all the low irons, I play a draw so getting the ball to stop on fast greens is already hard enough. I can almost shank my hybrid and it's still going to go reasonably straight, and even when I absolutely pure it, the hybrid goes higher with more spin

 

Worth noting that the places I live don't have any crazy windy conditions, and also that my natural ball flight is quite low and penetrating, so playing low irons is suicide anyways

[Ger21]

18° 3 iron is just so much straighter than a hybrid. And these modern hollow heads are still pretty easy to launch.

[QuigleyDU]

Is anyone carrying a true 2 iron these days? It is all utility type irons right?