7 and 9 wood gapping - anyone play both?

[adamc92]

Lefty and unable to demo or test. Considering experimenting switching out 3/4 iron for woods. 

 

Curious if anyone plays both a 7 and a 9 wood? If so, how has gapping been between the two? Is it worthwhile having both?

 

Have seen many videos on how versatile a 7 wood can be between 200-230. Wondering if the 9 becomes redundant?

 

About me: 108 driver ss, low spin and low ball flight, miss is a steeper pull slice, play in PNW, soft conditions, tight, tree lines courses with small greens. 

Edited March 28 by adamc92

[NZ315]

I picked up a 9wood last year around fall time. It does fit in between my 7wood and 5iron. Maybe not as much gap as you might like but launches higher than my 4iron maybe 5yards +\- longer. 

pending where I play the 4iron goes in the bag for the low stingers
 

[st1800e]

Will be bagging a 3,5,9 woods this season.  Was 3+,4,7 for several years.   
I’d suggest you look at your lofts, mine are both 2018 rogues, 7 is 21° and 9 is 23°,

 

 2° is too close for gapping I’d probably get some overlap with both in the bag depending on my swing and strike.  So that’s why I’m going 5w @19° and 9w @ 23°

Edited March 28 by st1800e

[Cwebb]

Try to think about actual loft, more than the club number stamped on the sole.

 

If there is only 3* of actual loft between fairway woods, most players in the swing speed range that would fit into a "9 wood" loft, will usually not see enough of a difference in distance to justify carrying both.

 

Something like a 19/20* actual loft, combined with a 24/25* actual loft is a better idea

[animalgolfs]

198 7wd

185 9wd

 

7wd is turned down 20* - must be magical loft for my ss as I can get 212 outta it, when I step on it. I will barely get 193 outta my 9wd when I step on it

Edited March 28 by animalgolfs

[tilasan]

7 wood around 215-220 carry.

 

9 wood around 200-205 carry.

[subrew]

As already mentioned, no idea why the OEMs (especially Callaway) loft their woods so close to each other.  I experimented with some Maverik MAX woods and the 2* loft difference between the 5, 7, 9, 11 was just too close.  Ended up only being 8-10 yards difference between clubs.  Ended up going 3+, 5, 9, and played with shaft lengths and weights to get the 5 in the middle of the gap.

 

Played that setup for about a year, and found it just to one-dimensional, especially the 9w.  Yes it was nice and high and soft landing, but any wind would balloon it up and land 15 yards short.  

 

[adamc92]

2 hours ago, Cwebb said:

Try to think about actual loft, more than the club number stamped on the sole.

 

If there is only 3* of actual loft between fairway woods, most players in the swing speed range that would fit into a "9 wood" loft, will usually not see enough of a difference in distance to justify carrying both.

 

Something like a 19/20* actual loft, combined with a 24/25* actual loft is a better idea

Looking at g430 so 21/24. 
 

Little worried they just land on top of each other or within a couple yards and it’s tough to justify one or the other. 

Edited March 28 by adamc92

[st1800e]

7 minutes ago, adamc92 said:

Looking at g430 so 21/24. 
 

Little worried they just land on top of each other or within a couple yards and it’s tough to justify one or the other. 

I believe they’re adjustable so you could widen the gap between them.  Although that depends on what you have on either side.  

[Bonneville85308]

I play a Callaway 7-wood (21 degree) and a Ping G425 9-wood (23.5 degree adjusted to 25.0). I got rid of my 5-iron when I got the 9-wood, it was one of my best equipment moves in many years. I can grip way down on the 7-wood to hit it a similar distance to a full 9-wood, but it does not fly high, land soft and sit like the 9-wood does. Full 7-wood goes at least 15 yards longer than a full 9-wood for me, but my swing speed is way below yours. 

[sosuHands]

I tried testing 7 & 9 wood to figure out a gap between my 5 wood and 5 iron, I found 7 wood 200~205 carry and 9 wood got me 190~195 carry. So I ended up with paradaym 9 wood which is 24 degree and fit my need for gapping better.

[NZ315]

2 hours ago, st1800e said:

I believe they’re adjustable so you could widen the gap between them.  Although that depends on what you have on either side.  

This what I did lofted down my TSR2-7wood and lofted up my G430 -9wood

[Urb]

I hit my 7 wood very high.  A 9 wood would be comical.

 

 

[MrCook]

Check this vid:

 

 

For mikey, the gap between G430 7 and 9 was too big.

 

There's no way to tell how it turns out for you. They might go the same distance, they might gap perfectly. Go get fit.

[gator022]

3 minutes ago, MrCook said:

Check this vid:

 

 

For mikey, the gap between G430 7 and 9 was too big.

 

There's no way to tell how it turns out for you. They might go the same distance, they might gap perfectly. Go get fit.

 The interesting part here is that his longest iron now is a 6i T150 at 28* and I believe he’s more like most of us from a SS than not.

[animalgolfs]

2 minutes ago, gator022 said:

 The interesting part here is that his longest iron now is a 6i T150 at 28* and I believe he’s more like most of us from a SS than not.

Longest iron is 34* 7i - I play hybrids at 26* & 30*

[MrCook]

7 minutes ago, gator022 said:

 The interesting part here is that his longest iron now is a 6i T150 at 28* and I believe he’s more like most of us from a SS than not.

 

I agree. I landed in a similar 7W, Hybrid, 6i setup around two years ago when I decided to trade some ego for better scores. Not gonna look back.

[rouski12]

I dropped the 5i, as well, and currently play 7W, 9W, 6i (T100s helps the gapping). It is a little tight on gapping but I can hit 7W anywhere from 215-245 (225-230 avg) depending on swinging hard, choking down, taking some off, etc. 9W normal swing is like 215, but I don't feel like I can manipulate it as much as 7W. My 6i is around 190 with maybe a max of 195 with a harder swing so there is a bit of gap there. I am a lower spin/launch player which helps considering the height you'd get from the two woods.

[aquapig]

On 3/28/2024 at 4:59 PM, NZ315 said:

I picked up a 9wood last year around fall time. It does fit in between my 7wood and 5iron. Maybe not as much gap as you might like but launches higher than my 4iron maybe 5yards +\- longer. 

pending where I play the 4iron goes in the bag for the low stingers
 

Same setup for me.

 

I go 4w, 7w, 9w 5 iron.

 

My 7 w is my 215-220 club. 9 w is 195-205 club. 

 

5 iron is 185 club.

 

When conditions call for a lower flight 190 shot I use 5 iron. When I a high 195 shot, it's 9 wood.

 

Gapping is tight, but versatile with my set-up and I've been playing this setup for the last few years. I'm hovering around scratch and a big part of getting there from upper 70s was ditching the 3 and 4 irons (and my ego) and realizing I'm much more consistent hitting 7 and 9 woods than I was hitting long irons. 

 

 

[NZ315]

29 minutes ago, aquapig said:

Same setup for me.

 

I go 4w, 7w, 9w 5 iron.

 

My 7 w is my 215-220 club. 9 w is 195-205 club. 

 

5 iron is 185 club.

 

When conditions call for a lower flight 190 shot I use 5 iron. When I a high 195 shot, it's 9 wood.

 

Gapping is tight, but versatile with my set-up and I've been playing this setup for the last few years. I'm hovering around scratch and a big part of getting there from upper 70s was ditching the 3 and 4 irons (and my ego) and realizing I'm much more consistent hitting 7 and 9 woods than I was hitting long irons. 

 

 

I use a 5w lofted down to about 4wood loft. Pretty much same as you. Just about 10-15 yards longer on the setup as you. But you are about 10strokes better with your handicap. I hover around 10. 
7-9W are just so easy to launch and are useful for me as I tend to hit a lower flight. Me and hybrids just don’t get along.

[BirdieBoy1]

I have 7 & 9 and hit them very differently 

 

I’m not that great because I still slice but on a good day I’ll hit the 7 wood 190-200

 

the 9 wood for some reason only about 150ish? Really odd 

[aquapig]

17 hours ago, BirdieBoy1 said:

I have 7 & 9 and hit them very differently 

 

I’m not that great because I still slice but on a good day I’ll hit the 7 wood 190-200

 

the 9 wood for some reason only about 150ish? Really odd 

Yeah something is way off there...has to be the shaft. 

 

The gap between 7w and 9w should only be 15-20 yards..not 50.

[BirdieBoy1]

57 minutes ago, aquapig said:

Yeah something is way off there...has to be the shaft. 

 

The gap between 7w and 9w should only be 15-20 yards..not 50.

It’s my swing, I’m not that great 😆

[aquapig]

On 3/31/2024 at 9:42 AM, BirdieBoy1 said:

It’s my swing, I’m not that great 😆

If you're hitting the 7 w 200ish, then it can't be all your swing. 9w should be even easier to hit and go 185ish. What 7w/shaft are you using and 9w/shaft?

[KnoxvilleReb]

On 3/29/2024 at 8:50 AM, gator022 said:

 The interesting part here is that his longest iron now is a 6i T150 at 28* and I believe he’s more like most of us from a SS than not.

This is where I'm at currently. My swing speed is around 98-100. I can hit a really nice 6i around 170. When I switch to the 5 iron, a lot of the ball flights are unplayable (or at least provide no real value to me) due to not having enough speed at that lower loft. I currently go 6i (27*) to 7 wood (Cobra LTDx which is 22.5*, so more like an 8 wood). I carry the 7 wood on a normal shot 195-200. Right now i'm deciding between trying to practice a 180-185 swing with the 7 wood (a distance I almost never come across at my house course, evidenced by feeling this gap in my current bag once every 3 rounds or so) or trying to find a 9 wood or 5/6 hybrid to fill it. I purchased a 24* 5 hybrid but the flight path was much too low. I'd really just be using this club to hit greens, so I want the high flight I love out of my 7 wood. 

 

I did see that Lou Stagner (Arccos Golf) switched to a 9 wood recently to replace his 5 iron. He is using a TSR1, and did something interesting in that he cut it down an inch. I think he did it more to increase control, but in theory that would also decrease swing speed and help increase the yardage gap between a standard length 7 wood. 

[BirdieBoy1]

3 hours ago, aquapig said:

If you're hitting the 7 w 200ish, then it can't be all your swing. 9w should be even easier to hit and go 185ish. What 7w/shaft are you using and 9w/shaft?

They’re both stealth 2 woods

 

the dame Ventus bogus TR

[driveandputtmachine]

On 3/28/2024 at 7:21 PM, adamc92 said:

Looking at g430 so 21/24. 
 

Little worried they just land on top of each other or within a couple yards and it’s tough to justify one or the other. 

I am playing a G430max 5 wood and seven wood.  I am playing the 5 wood at stock length and shortened the 7 wood length a 1/2" and I play it as a 4 iron replacement.  My 4 iron is 22* of loft so it is closer to a 3 iron than 4, but I can choke all the way down and carry it about 8 yards longer than my 5 iron or go full length(which is shorter than stock mind) and get about 20 yards of difference.