I was looking in a student’s bag last week and, after assessing
his capabilities, I realized part of his problem was his club
set
”
make-up.
”
I was looking in a student’s bag last week and, after assessing his capabilities, I realized part of his problem was his club set “make-up.”
The person happened to have a 50-degree wedge, which was only two degrees different from his pitching wedge. His only long fairway clubs were a 5-wood and a hybrid. This poses a set of problems.
First, he is wasting a club because he basically has two clubs which are the same (the wedges). Second, with his lowest lofted fairway wood being a five, what would he do if he had to hit a shot into the wind? A 5-wood would go way too high and lose a tremendous amount of distance.
If the 5-wood is your longest fairway wood, it handcuffs you on some choices. As an example, you can’t choose to carry the ball over a lake because you don’t have enough club. You would automatically have to lay up and that likely adds strokes to your score.
The main goal for your club set is making sure you don’t have distance gaps. You should have a club you can hit every distance, from your driver down through your sand wedge. It doesn’t matter if you are a long hitter or not, just have a club in your bag for each shot.
Don DeLorenzo is a PGA-certified instructor at Gilroy Golf Course. To schedule a lesson with Don, call Gilroy GC at (408) 848-0490.
