"Rescue" clubs different?

[GaryO]

I just moved to the NorCal area and the courses are nicely tended around my home. However; many of the fairways are cut real short and so are perfect for my fairways. Get a little sideways and you end up in the "rough" where the grass is an inch longer and grabs your club as you make contact. My question is: isn't this what so-called "rescue" clubs like the Taylormade are specifically designed for? Can you folks suggest ant other clubs for this use? Are all hybrids really "rescues" by another name? What say you?

[bobcat]

Your best bet for play from the rough is the current TaylorMade Raylor Hybrid which was specifically designed to help TM Staffers handle the U.S. Open rough a few years back. It features a smaller clubhead and a "keel sole" to help it glide smoothly through heavy rough and the clubhead is rounded at both the heel and toe to make it easier to play from sidehill lies. (No worries that the heel or toe will catch the turf first with this uniuqely designed club).

You are correct that all TM Rescue clubs offer some help in the rough compared to other types of clubs, but only the Raylor Hybrid was designed specicially for playing from heavy rough. Sounds like it may be a very good fit for the conditions you describe.

[mike42]

Here is my understanding of these terms (anyone else who knows better please correct me if I'm wrong): "rescue" was the name of one of the early hybrids (by TaylorMade), and like the term "xerox machine" it caught on and was used more generally for any utility club (an older, pre-hybrid) term. Hybrids are replacements for the lower irons (2, 3, 4, even 5) and are all pretty good out of moderate rough (and hence are all 'rescue' clubs). For example, a 3-hybrid will be much better out of rough than a 3-iron, and considerably to somewhat better than a 7-wood (depending on head size) out of rough (these are comparable clubs). Some hybrids are more "iron-like", and some are more "wood-like", but all should serve your purpose. I'm sure that some, such as the Raylor, are better than others for playing out of the rough, but I suspect that any 3- or 4-hybrid will do fine for you. Hybrids also have other uses: their flight is lower than a comparable wood, hence they are better in the wind; higher than a comparable iron, hence better for stopping on a green. They are even good for putting from grass near the green. They are not good, at least in my experience, from hard, dry greens where the grass has stopped growing and is very short. Hope this helps. Try a number of different ones out before you buy one. FWIW, I'm not really fond of them myself, but usually carry one for just the situation you describe because if I don't, I always seem to need it. My hybrids are TM Rescue Mids (3- to 5-, but I never carry more than one at a time).

[rdsmith3]

[quote name='mike42' timestamp='1338765616' post='5024338']
Here is my understanding of these terms (anyone else who knows better please correct me if I'm wrong): "rescue" was the name of one of the early hybrids (by TaylorMade), and like the term "xerox machine" it caught on and was used more generally for any utility club (an older, pre-hybrid) term. Hybrids are replacements for the lower irons (2, 3, 4, even 5) and are all pretty good out of moderate rough (and hence are all 'rescue' clubs). For example, a 3-hybrid will be much better out of rough than a 3-iron, and considerably to somewhat better than a 7-wood (depending on head size) out of rough (these are comparable clubs). ...
[/quote]

I am not so sure that a hybrid is better out of the rough than a 7 wood. For example, the original Callaway Heavenwood 7 wood had a keeled sole that was excellent for getting through the rough. The Callaway Steelhead fairway woods did not have a keeled sole, but they had small heads that were pretty good at getting through the rough, and excellent off the fairways.

Now I see that Callaway is making an X Prototype Tour Utility Iron for the tour players to use at the US Open at Olympic.

[url="http://www.golf.com/equipment/callaway-x-prototype-tour-utility-irons"]http://www.golf.com/equipment/callaway-x-prototype-tour-utility-irons[/url]

[mike42]

[quote name='rdsmith3' timestamp='1338837140' post='5029220']
[quote name='mike42' timestamp='1338765616' post='5024338']
Here is my understanding of these terms (anyone else who knows better please correct me if I'm wrong): "rescue" was the name of one of the early hybrids (by TaylorMade), and like the term "xerox machine" it caught on and was used more generally for any utility club (an older, pre-hybrid) term. Hybrids are replacements for the lower irons (2, 3, 4, even 5) and are all pretty good out of moderate rough (and hence are all 'rescue' clubs). For example, a 3-hybrid will be much better out of rough than a 3-iron, and considerably to somewhat better than a 7-wood (depending on head size) out of rough (these are comparable clubs). ...
[/quote]

I am not so sure that a hybrid is better out of the rough than a 7 wood. For example, the original Callaway Heavenwood 7 wood had a keeled sole that was excellent for getting through the rough. The Callaway Steelhead fairway woods did not have a keeled sole, but they had small heads that were pretty good at getting through the rough, and excellent off the fairways.

Now I see that Callaway is making an X Prototype Tour Utility Iron for the tour players to use at the US Open at Olympic.

[url="http://www.golf.com/equipment/callaway-x-prototype-tour-utility-irons"]http://www.golf.com/...r-utility-irons[/url]
[/quote]

My sample is pretty small, but FWIW here it is: I normally play a large-headed TM r580 7-wood which is of course hopeless out of rough, but am having it reshafted and for the last three rounds have been using an old Callaway Steelhead Plus 7-wood. Lovely small head and great club, but not as good out of the rough as any of my 3 Rescue-Mids. Nor are the TM Rescue Fairways (which I used to play -- they are called 3w, 5w, and 7w, but as the lofts are 17*, 20* and 23* these labels are misleading) any better. I'm not sure why, and perhaps it is my slow swing, but the hybrids are definitely better out the rough for me than the 3 7-woods I've played.

Thanks for the link about the Callaway Utility irons. An interesting idea -- easy to hit, relatively low ball flight. I guess no self-respecting pro would be caught dead using a 7-wood (3-iron equivalent).

[PeterSinIndy]

My eye has never liked the iron-ish hybrids, and (consequently?) I've never hit them well when I've shopped for them. Instead, I use a 4 iron and a Louisville Golf (persimmon) "niblick" 7 wood. It's 24* and has that "V" shaped metal keel some have talked about in other clubs. I love it out of the rough and off hard-dirt lies in the fairway, too. (Incidentally, is that what you call a tight lie??) I like the persimmon 7 niblick so much I got their 3 wood niblick, which I hit better than my former 3 fairway metal.