What to cut in my bag to get to 14 clubs

[shortgameneedswork]

Hi, I’d love to offer advice as someone who currently plays the 221s with a 50/56/60 wedge setup, TSR4 driver, and titleist 3W, trying a SIM Ti right now as well.
 

Ditch the 5 wood. 

 

What it sounds like you want right now is a better game at the top end of your bag. A safety fairway finder off the tee, a 230y shot off the turf into par5s, and to keep this trusty TS3 wood. This is the exact situation I found myself in a few months back, and here’s what I ended up with. I LOVE my 221s, and I am sure you do too. So I decided to keep them and expand the set. I have FliHi 2 and 3 iron, and a 225 4i. You can play any of those as an 230y safety tee shot, and you can manipulate the ball easier than your 5W, and you can flow through your set better. Find one that works for you, I started with the 3iron but find something on the BST that works for you. 
 

The SIM Ti is great! Save it for another bag, a random day, or sell it. It doesn’t have a place in your bag. If you need a fairway finder off the tee because your driver isn’t working, go to your 3 or 4 iron. This is why I love this club. I CANNOT miss with it. Even on my worst days. Is it 70y shorter? Yes… but it’s on the fairway and it’s outside the bunkers. You won’t replace your trusty 3 wood and you won’t take out your gapping 4 iron. So take out that 5 wood and put something in that is more versatile. You want to shape it, you want to have control, and so do I. That’s why I took out my 5 wood. It’s an easy club to hit and to get out there, but my target area is so much smaller with my 3iron and I can still hold a green well enough. If you had any love for hybrids that’d be in the mix too but you don’t, so let’s just go to the irons that you love so much. 
 

EDIT: username is disclaimer … 

Edited October 31, 2023 by shortgameneedswork

[PaladinGolf]

1 hour ago, shortgameneedswork said:

Hi, I’d love to offer advice as someone who currently plays the 221s with a 50/56/60 wedge setup, TSR4 driver, and titleist 3W, trying a SIM Ti right now as well.
 

Ditch the 5 wood. 

 

What it sounds like you want right now is a better game at the top end of your bag. A safety fairway finder off the tee, a 230y shot off the turf into par5s, and to keep this trusty TS3 wood. This is the exact situation I found myself in a few months back, and here’s what I ended up with. I LOVE my 221s, and I am sure you do too. So I decided to keep them and expand the set. I have FliHi 2 and 3 iron, and a 225 4i. You can play any of those as an 230y safety tee shot, and you can manipulate the ball easier than your 5W, and you can flow through your set better. Find one that works for you, I started with the 3iron but find something on the BST that works for you. 
 

The SIM Ti is great! Save it for another bag, a random day, or sell it. It doesn’t have a place in your bag. If you need a fairway finder off the tee because your driver isn’t working, go to your 3 or 4 iron. This is why I love this club. I CANNOT miss with it. Even on my worst days. Is it 70y shorter? Yes… but it’s on the fairway and it’s outside the bunkers. You won’t replace your trusty 3 wood and you won’t take out your gapping 4 iron. So take out that 5 wood and put something in that is more versatile. You want to shape it, you want to have control, and so do I. That’s why I took out my 5 wood. It’s an easy club to hit and to get out there, but my target area is so much smaller with my 3iron and I can still hold a green well enough. If you had any love for hybrids that’d be in the mix too but you don’t, so let’s just go to the irons that you love so much. 
 

EDIT: username is disclaimer … 

I love my 221s they are amazing irons. I had a U505 driving iron in the past and actually bought the 5 wood to replace it since they go about the same distance, however I get a lot more feedback from my 5 wood than I did the driving iron. I am a massive feel player (hints as to why I own mizuno irons lol) so having feedback is the most important part, as for the sim TI I feel it has its place because like I said I split it with my driver currently. The sim is a 295-300 safety shot atm (could change on a week to week basis because well… golf…) it’s an amazing club to have for safety and to build confidence with the driver. 

I think I will try out some of the wedge combos various members have suggested, t22 prices are dropping atm so I can probably pick up some experiments for cheap.

 

So, I will experiment with wedges, if I find I start loosing strokes there, I’ll come back to the drawing board.

 

Also I have tried the hifli and I find it’s just a bit to big for my taste, I would be more likely to use a 221 3 iron with a graphite shaft. Or pickup one of pings driving irons, because it was the only one I’ve tried recently that gave me the feedback I wanted. The hifli felt good, but it felt soft all the way around, including on mis hits.

 

Thanks everyone for all the feedback!! Please post any more suggestions they all help greatly, a lot of new ideas and setups to try over the fall and into the winter!

[TourSpoon]

On 10/31/2023 at 10:32 AM, PaladinGolf said:

The easiest thing for me to manipulate is my wedges, and I think that combining the 60/56 is definitely something I will look into. Thanks to those who have suggested that it was not something that had crossed my mind. I might look into combining my pw and my 52, also mizuno blades have classic lofts so my pw is 48*. 

I revise my advise and would highly recommend the 48-54-60 wedge setup. I played it for years until the P wedges went to 46 (and lower). It sure made life simple!