Seven clubs or fewer?

[dcopp7]

Awesome^^^

 

I need to throw together a 7 club bag for fall...but I just got my new clubs last week, so I need to play these out this season I think.

Nah, just play half of them...

Mainly I just hit driver then wedge then putt anyways. On par 5's it may be driver, utility, wedge, putt. Par 3's would be the only issue, although I could just half swing a hybrid...

[jslane57]

Awesome^^^

 

I need to throw together a 7 club bag for fall...but I just got my new clubs last week, so I need to play these out this season I think.

Nah, just play half of them...

Mainly I just hit driver then wedge then putt anyways. On par 5's it may be driver, utility, wedge, putt. Par 3's would be the only issue, although I could just half swing a hybrid...

Isn't that the truth! When I play minimalist, the irons are always chosen around the par 3s. Turns out to the evens these days...

[GolfNutRiblick]

Seven clubs. Great walking 9 with my son. Enjoyed a warm West Michigan September afternoon.

[sdandrea]

Played 18 with SWMBO today. We had our usual match so my manhood was once again on the line. I put together my Titleist sunday bag with a 10.5* driver, 20* FW, 25* hybrid a PING Eye 2 8i, W, SW and my tried and true Scotty Cameron Fastback I scored as good as I ever have on this track (5 over), but lost to her 1 up. Two reminders for me here: I don't need many clubs to play my best and the Eye 2 iron was Karsten's best ever design!

[scruffynick]

Well my summer experiment is over, played last competition of the year today (in horrid condition by the way) and didn't like playing with the full lot. I've played weekend full (apart from one round and shot 80 gross) and played utter pants.

Played Wednesday comps with minimal (8 clubs) and had 78,78,79 and two 80s in gross off 8 handicap...... I think there's a pattern here??!!

I love minimal golf and I feel happier playing golf this way, but I like just having my light weight bag and sticking it in my locker straight after my round. I get really fed up sticking all my junk into my car afterwards.....it takes yonks, and it's depressing when I've played in truth crap!

So this winter and all coming seasons it's 8 clubs (7 in winter and non comps, as the 4 wood is left out) that's all ive got now as I'm selling everything I don't need or want.... Sorted

[scruffynick]

It's the last competition of the year which was last week but this is a rearranged one due to the utterly awful weather this summer.......and it's raining! Watching my daughter do her gymnastics and I'm really hoping my playing partners say ' stuff this for a game of soliders' and we'll stay in the warm and dry!

[oldschoolrocker]

Dare I say,"Global Warming, or, Climate Change?" It has been a horrid summer here as well, with respect to liquid sunshine. The year of tropical storms and hurricanes has really put a damper on the amount of golf I've been able to play. I'm no fair-weathered golfer, but, there is a point of diminishing returns.

[scruffynick]

We didn't even bother OSR, the greens were flooding at dinner a hour before we teed off. It was truly awful, yet I watching the golf from St Andrews and Kings barn at the same time and it wad clear blue sunshine in Scotland...typical!

Played 10 this morning (don't work Monday's) and it was wet, really really wet.....in 30 years of being a member at my club I can't remember it being this wet and more dreadful weather due this week

[Langlands]

Played my first 9 holes on Saturday with 7 clubs - driver, 4,6,8, W,SW and putter. Level par 35 including holed wedge for eagle at the 1st! Great to get out again with the pencil bag.

 

Played my first 9 holes on Saturday with 7 clubs - driver, 4,6,8, W,SW and putter. Level par 35 including holed wedge for eagle at the 1st! Great to get out again with the pencil bag.

[dcopp7]

Round was so good he typed it twice!!! ^^^

[oldschoolrocker]

Round was so good he typed it twice!!! ^^^

 

Works for me. Possibly a solution for slow play. Play nine, double score and post.

[Tumbleweed_1968]

Played my first 9 holes on Saturday with 7 clubs - driver, 4,6,8, W,SW and putter. Level par 35 including holed wedge for eagle at the 1st! Great to get out again with the pencil bag.

 

Played my first 9 holes on Saturday with 7 clubs - driver, 4,6,8, W,SW and putter. Level par 35 including holed wedge for eagle at the 1st! Great to get out again with the pencil bag.

Nice round! I love playing with a minimalist set. Any other noteworthy shots? (So those of us whose season has officially ended and are sidelined can play them out in our dreams?)

[sandtrap]

Try playing w 3-4 for 9 holes, you end up shooting about the same score

[Langlands]

Played my first 9 holes on Saturday with 7 clubs - driver, 4,6,8, W,SW and putter. Level par 35 including holed wedge for eagle at the 1st! Great to get out again with the pencil bag.

 

Played my first 9 holes on Saturday with 7 clubs - driver, 4,6,8, W,SW and putter. Level par 35 including holed wedge for eagle at the 1st! Great to get out again with the pencil bag.

Nice round! I love playing with a minimalist set. Any other noteworthy shots? (So those of us whose season has officially ended and are sidelined can play them out in our dreams?)

 

Just solid play, nothing too spectacular. Followed the eagle with 2 bogeys but steady after that. Nice to play and not get rained on haha.

[Chris122]

I have always carried my clubs but now with aching knees and back I'm constantly fiddling around to find the best and lightest combo which at the moment is a recent-ish Wilson Staff 3-wood with stiff shaft for tee and fairway shots,Macgregor Muirfield 20th 4,6,8,wedge,an old Callaway sand wedge and Bobby Locke putter,the handicap has crept up to 15 but I'm still making a reasonable number of pars and had back to back birdies last week and was main scorer on our card on Monday for which we won £2 each!(Hope the taxman isn't reading this).

[Sean2]

I will probably give this a try this winter...assuming we are able to play golf. lol

[birly-shirly]

I remember this thread from wayback, but never really gave this a go at the time. I have always enjoyed the walking part of the game, but am now finding that carrying a full set is a bit of a chore, but also that I don't really want a push cart. So, have now played a few evening rounds carrying a 7 club bag. Driver, 20* fw, 5 7 9 irons, SW and putter. Lots of fun, and not a great detriment to scores as far as I can see. So much so that I played the weekend club medal with the same set up.

 

One thing that I did do was make my 7 clubs a bit more forgiving than my usual set up. So modern driver and ping irons. This may or may not stick, but for now I feel that the extra margin of error is nice when you're between clubs and you need to either leather or feather it.

[Chris122]

Seniors' Open last week was 905R driver,4,6,8,pw Tommy Armour Silverbacks (4&6 cavities,8&pw blades),Callaway sw and 'Old Faithful' Ping Anser.

It was a better ball competition which I enjoy more than the (seemingly) perpetual am-ams and came in on the card 11 times with two birdies on the back nine (a 2 on par 3 16th won me 4 balls!YAY!)

There are some long par 4's and one par 5 and I find that not carrying a fairway wood is beneficial as I'm never tempted to 'go for it' which in competition play almost invariably results in trouble,so I hit layup shots,play for position and look to get up and down for par.

The longer,more difficult holes I receive a stroke on anyway but my principle aim is to score on every hole by good course management and the half-set concept works wonderfully as well as being easy to carry.

I feel a vintage attack coming on but can't decide on which percies....Macs,Penna or Ram,irons...LH2 wingbacks or Muirfields?

Might be simpler if I didn't have so many.....

[birly-shirly]

Nice setup. You've given yourself a second option in the wedges, which is probably the gap I'd plug in my own set up. I wouldn't mind a true pitching wedge that I can hit comfortably when a SW is becoming a bit of a stretch - although I'm hopeful that I can learn to hit better partial shots with my 9 iron in the 70 - 90 yard range.

 

My 2nd wood comes in useful off the tee, as there are a few holes at my home course which are penal both left and right, as well as some longish par 3s where I'd struggle with a 5 iron.

 

There's no rule I suppose that we can't add an 8th club, but I'm happy to continue to work with this for now.

 

It's true also that you don't NEED to play a short set to play smart golf, but I am also making more of an effort to play for position and damage limitation. There is something rewarding about a par, or even a bogey (since my h/c allows for a few of them), when you've played the hole in such a way to take anything worse out of play.

[Chris122]

I actually prefer the stronger half (odds) of an iron set as I feel that the 9-iron is more versatile for round the green play but that depends on the irons and the course.

The 9-iron in my '59 Macwingbacks (new name) is possibly the best short range iron I've ever used (Staff FG-17 pw a close second),it will play every shot desired including bunker shots.

Had a repeat outing with the Armours yesterday,swapped the Ping for the Bullseye flange,yellow tee stableford competition and despite one blob and two one-point holes I managed 39 points and played the back nine in three over gross for a handicap reduction!

What I meant to post (before I distracted myself) was that you hit the nail on the head with tailoring your bag to the course rather than randomly stuffing clubs in a bag,unlike you,we have two short par 3's and one longer that invariably plays into an onshore breeze,machismo gets the boot and I'm happy to choke down on a driver and give it full gas,all the trouble,a ditch,a gully and rough grass,is short of the green so being 'up' is important.

One of the biggest rewards playing a short set is that the thinking process comes into play more exactly as you say in the final paragraph.

[birly-shirly]

The funny thing is that even with only 7 sticks, I played earlier in the week and still had one club that was all but redundant. I hit my 7 iron only twice, and both times from a distance that, but for the lie, would have been a comfortable 9 iron. One fw bunker and one steeply hanging lie with shank written all over it - both situations where I want to hit an easy 3/4 bunt. I'll keep it in the bag for now...

 

Choked down driver to a par 3 is one of the great dirty pleasures of the game!

 

Good shooting and congratulations on the cut.

[birly-shirly]

And then there were 6! Penna Jupiter Slugger, Apex IIs 2, 5, 8, Special SI and, like the proverbial sore thumb, a Ping Craz-E putter!

 

First outing in ages for the Penna and the Hogans - and it was lovely to be reacquainted. Still enjoying the short set - carrying is a breeze, and I'm convinced that learning to take 10 or 20 yards off a shot will repay the effort.

[BIG STU]

Seniors' Open last week was 905R driver,4,6,8,pw Tommy Armour Silverbacks (4&6 cavities,8&pw blades),Callaway sw and 'Old Faithful' Ping Anser.

It was a better ball competition which I enjoy more than the (seemingly) perpetual am-ams and came in on the card 11 times with two birdies on the back nine (a 2 on par 3 16th won me 4 balls!YAY!)

There are some long par 4's and one par 5 and I find that not carrying a fairway wood is beneficial as I'm never tempted to 'go for it' which in competition play almost invariably results in trouble,so I hit layup shots,play for position and look to get up and down for par.

The longer,more difficult holes I receive a stroke on anyway but my principle aim is to score on every hole by good course management and the half-set concept works wonderfully as well as being easy to carry.

I feel a vintage attack coming on but can't decide on which percies....Macs,Penna or Ram,irons...LH2 wingbacks or Muirfields?

Might be simpler if I didn't have so many.....

Sounds like you go through the same delima I go through constantly. I have so much quality vintage stuff it is a battle on deciding what clubs to play that week

[scruffynick]

Been with this set up this year, the hybrids have been great this season especially my 24 degree which looks like a 6 wood. Gutted I lost my club cup knock out semi final this morning but hey ho gave it a good go!

[Chris122]

I almost went vintage today but ended up with 905R driver 3,5,7,9, 690mb (no dot) and an old 1982 forged Titleist sw,putter today an old gun-blue Scotty,it was a mixed competition ladies and seniors,we missed first prize by one point and I was best individual bloke with 43 points full handicap Stableford and double bogied the last!

Scotty was the man,27 putts,couple of 10-12 footers and half a dozen 3-4 footers.

Titleist pencil bag and a Trusoft golf ball to complete the outfit!

[birly-shirly]

Gassed the last!!! Otherwise very tidy. The fully matching bag is probably the ultimate contrarian act by the standards of this contrary corner of the web.

 

The NRJyzr needs to see this - he'll be pleased for Team Titleist!

[Chris122]

The added bonus was a handicap reduction to 13.1,thank you for the kind words about the bag,it happened because I was telling our pro about the post by the son of the man who designed both the 983k driver and original 690mb irons,I realised that mine had been redundant for some time so dragged them out.

 

Note for Big Stu;

 

Having read of your liking for V-steel fairways I found a steel shafted 5-wood and put that in the bag today instead of the 3-iron and hit some very good shots with it including greening my second shots on two of our toughest par 4's.

 

Thank you Big Stu!

 

After a breather and glass of sparkling mineral water(Harrogate!),I took my most recent Penna Mod12 driver and 5-wood onto our 9-hole academy course,par on the first two,on three lost my tee shot left on the breeze into knee-high bundu,second ball down the middle and hit it well for the remaining holes.

Also in the bag,5,7,9, Mac FC4000 wingback and Toney Penna 'Soft Touch' putter which I found a bit light compared to a Bullseye flange.

 

I was at the course at 8.15 this morning and got home about 30 minutes ago......knackered and starving!

[BIG STU]

The added bonus was a handicap reduction to 13.1,thank you for the kind words about the bag,it happened because I was telling our pro about the post by the son of the man who designed both the 983k driver and original 690mb irons,I realised that mine had been redundant for some time so dragged them out.

 

Note for Big Stu;

 

Having read of your liking for V-steel fairways I found a steel shafted 5-wood and put that in the bag today instead of the 3-iron and hit some very good shots with it including greening my second shots on two of our toughest par 4's.

 

Thank you Big Stu!

 

After a breather and glass of sparkling mineral water(Harrogate!),I took my most recent Penna Mod12 driver and 5-wood onto our 9-hole academy course,par on the first two,on three lost my tee shot left on the breeze into knee-high bundu,second ball down the middle and hit it well for the remaining holes.

Also in the bag,5,7,9, Mac FC4000 wingback and Toney Penna 'Soft Touch' putter which I found a bit light compared to a Bullseye flange.

 

I was at the course at 8.15 this morning and got home about 30 minutes ago......knackered and starving!

Thanks man glad to be of service---Those old V-Steels are hard to beat --- That second set up ain't bad either Penna Model 12 I have a fondness for them too and FC-4000s man o man.

[gloucesteroldspot]

Years ago I sometimes played with an old school friend who had no clubs of his own, so we'd split mine, with one of us using the odds and one the evens. I had two putters and the course we favoured (actually, it was the only one we could get on) was a short council-run glorified pitch and putt where the longest hole was 280 yards, so woods were not needed. Necessity.

 

Since I got back into golf and started messing around with a few 1930s steel-shafted clubs, I've found it both good fun and very effective. Preference.

 

There's something to be said for not putting numbers on the bottom of irons, but thinking more in terms of loft. My lightweight set breaks down thus:

 

Driver - 10 degrees loft - 200-225 yards

Spoon - 18 degrees loft - 175-200 yards

Iron - 25 degrees loft - 150-175 yards

Mashie - 35 degrees loft - 125-150 yards

Mashie-Niblick - 45 degrees loft - 100-125 yards

Niblick - 55 degrees loft - 75-100 yards

 

(Lofts are approximate, by comparing with known lofts on other clubs in my collection. I don't have a loft-lie machine to measure them exactly, but I reckon they are within a degree either way)

 

With putter that makes seven clubs. I have played in club comps with these, and the only limitations are driver distance and bunkers (the niblick requires a very precise stroke out of compacted sand!). If I swapped out the woods for my TM R15 driver and Mizuno TP15 5-wood and threw in a sand wedge in lieu of the niblick, it would make a rather strange combination, but I'd not feel at any disadvantage on the courses I play.

 

.

[Wriggles]

Years ago I sometimes played with an old school friend who had no clubs of his own, so we'd split mine, with one of us using the odds and one the evens. I had two putters and the course we favoured (actually, it was the only one we could get on) was a short council-run glorified pitch and putt where the longest hole was 280 yards, so woods were not needed. Necessity.

 

Since I got back into golf and started messing around with a few 1930s steel-shafted clubs, I've found it both good fun and very effective. Preference.

 

There's something to be said for not putting numbers on the bottom of irons, but thinking more in terms of loft. My lightweight set breaks down thus:

 

Driver - 10 degrees loft - 200-225 yards

Spoon - 18 degrees loft - 175-200 yards

Iron - 25 degrees loft - 150-175 yards

Mashie - 35 degrees loft - 125-150 yards

Mashie-Niblick - 45 degrees loft - 100-125 yards

Niblick - 55 degrees loft - 75-100 yards

 

(Lofts are approximate, by comparing with known lofts on other clubs in my collection. I don't have a loft-lie machine to measure them exactly, but I reckon they are within a degree either way)

 

With putter that makes seven clubs. I have played in club comps with these, and the only limitations are driver distance and bunkers (the niblick requires a very precise stroke out of compacted sand!). If I swapped out the woods for my TM R15 driver and Mizuno TP15 5-wood and threw in a sand wedge in lieu of the niblick, it would make a rather strange combination, but I'd not feel at any disadvantage on the courses I play.

 

.

 

Surprisingly, the old 1930's clubs play quite well. I occasionally play with a pyratone set of Walter Hagens. Driver, Spoon, 4, 6, 7, 8 and putter, sometimes omitting the 4 iron for 6-7 clubs.

 

Seven clubs is a full kit for me, even with modern stuff.