Club Dilemma

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By John P

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  • 12 Replies
  1. John P

    John P
    NJ

    Hello Team Titleist!

    I need some advice on my "gaps" in-between clubs.

    A little background on me. My handicap is 11. I have a little steeper of a swing. Former baseball player. I tend to hit my 3 wood out of the tee box since I can't really control my driver as much (9.5 degree and I hit it pretty high and left). I know I need to practice more to use my driver, but my 3 wood is straight and carries pretty well.

    I carry a TM 3 and 5 wood. 3 wood yardage is 240-230, 5 wood is 215-210.

    My irons are the black AP3s (love them) 5 through Gap. I generally hit my 5 195-190 and my Gap is my 115-120 club.

    My sand wedge is from my old TM burner 2.0 set. I hit that around 90 on a full swing. I tend to hit it shorter as my steep swing gets a little too much ground, but that's a different story :) .

    Last club I carry besides a driver and my scotty is a 60 degree lob Mack Daddy wedge, which I RARELY use.

    So my question is which gap do I upgrade? The in-between 5 wood/5 iron or go with a different sand wedge to close the gap between my gap wedge and sand? I believe the AP3 gap is 48 degrees, and my burner 2.0 sand is 55 degrees. I am leaning towards going to a 52 degree and remove my lob to get a true 56 degree wedge.

    I would love to hear thoughts from everyone.

    P.S Sorry for the long post!

  2. Dana S

    Dana S

    Military
    I would replace your 60 with a 56 and get the 52 as well. Unless you are almost a scratch player, you really don't/shouldn't have the 60.
  3. JAYW3

    JAYW3
    HOUSTON, TX

    Hello John, I'd follow the advice of your fitter. He'll fine tune your set.
  4. Rick M

    Rick M

    A couple of things to consider, how often are you in those gaps per round and have to improvise first? Also, if you haven't upgraded wedges in more than say 75 rounds or so, you are kind of due...just saying. And that makes it s a good time to seek out somewhere locally you can try out on a real launch monitor, clubs to fill the gaps. Make sure you take your existing clubs. If you know how far you hit them fairly precisely, then you take out the effect of said launch monitors accuracy and you are comparing apples to apples.
    Not to write a book here, but most folks will automatically say fix your scoring clubs first. And I don't disagree, but I bet once you fix the other, longer distances, you may find you need different scoring clubs JM2cents
  5. dennis n

    dennis n
    San Diego, CA

    Military
    Do a Titleist Thursday fitting and get your wedges tightened up. Those come into play on any hole and potentially save more strokes than long clubs will. Your gapping sounds like the set an advanced player would love or hate and they can play anything and make it work. The reps will certainly have suggestions for you, I'd listen.
  6. Mike M

    Mike M
    Marblehead MA

    I think Dana S. has it right,replace the 60 with a 56 and get add a 52.The 56 is much more versatile than the 60. I'd get one with less bounce so you can open it up a little if the situation calls for it.
  7. Dave M

    Dave M

    52F12 and 56F14 and 60M08, with a straight 3wd going 230-240, pull the driver for now, tighten up your gaps for shots 125 and under, don't worry about finding a 200yard club, just choke down on the 5wd an inch.
  8. Don O

    Don O
    Madison, WI

    Which distance scares you the most? The 15-18 yard gap at 205 yards can either be a 4I or gripping down on the 5W. For the wedges, you may only need 2 after the GW if you rarely use the 60. You do need a fitting to get the best distance and turf control for your wedges for loft and grind. But get wedges done as a set at the same time. They're more for scoring each round than a gap at 200 yards. Titleist Thursdays are great for that.
  9. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    John P said:

    Hello Team Titleist!

    I need some advice on my "gaps" in-between clubs.

    A little background on me. My handicap is 11. I have a little steeper of a swing. Former baseball player. I tend to hit my 3 wood out of the tee box since I can't really control my driver as much (9.5 degree and I hit it pretty high and left). I know I need to practice more to use my driver, but my 3 wood is straight and carries pretty well.

    I carry a TM 3 and 5 wood. 3 wood yardage is 240-230, 5 wood is 215-210.

    My irons are the black AP3s (love them) 5 through Gap. I generally hit my 5 195-190 and my Gap is my 115-120 club.

    My sand wedge is from my old TM burner 2.0 set. I hit that around 90 on a full swing. I tend to hit it shorter as my steep swing gets a little too much ground, but that's a different story :) .

    Last club I carry besides a driver and my scotty is a 60 degree lob Mack Daddy wedge, which I RARELY use.

    So my question is which gap do I upgrade? The in-between 5 wood/5 iron or go with a different sand wedge to close the gap between my gap wedge and sand? I believe the AP3 gap is 48 degrees, and my burner 2.0 sand is 55 degrees. I am leaning towards going to a 52 degree and remove my lob to get a true 56 degree wedge.

    I would love to hear thoughts from everyone.

    P.S Sorry for the long post!

    If you are faring better with the 3 wood, stick with it and put the driver away. I use the driver sparingly (such as holes with wide fairways).

    In regards to wedges, why not 52 and 58? Nothing says a wedge setup HAS to be 48-52-56-60. I currently carry 46-52-58-64. The 46 is set to 45 because I like the bounce better and I have an even spread between the 8 iron and GW if I use a Sunday bag. When I played Torrey last year, my wedge setup was 50-57-64. I learned how to work the 9 iron then.

    My "full" bag is 13 clubs (as shown) 12-15-21.75-25-28-33-38-42-45-52-58-64. Driver and 3 wood are 10 yards apart (230, 210-220) and the 7 wood is 190-200. 25H is 175-180. 28H is 165. 7 iron 150. 8 iron 135. 9 iron 125. 46* 115. 52* 95. 58* 75. 64 65. I learned how to work distance 10 years ago on a PW because I carried 47-55 for PW-SW. I do have "extra heat" on the driver and 3 wood and have hit my 7 wood 215 once or twice.
  10. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    John P said:

    Hello Team Titleist!

    I need some advice on my "gaps" in-between clubs.

    A little background on me. My handicap is 11. I have a little steeper of a swing. Former baseball player. I tend to hit my 3 wood out of the tee box since I can't really control my driver as much (9.5 degree and I hit it pretty high and left). I know I need to practice more to use my driver, but my 3 wood is straight and carries pretty well.

    I carry a TM 3 and 5 wood. 3 wood yardage is 240-230, 5 wood is 215-210.

    My irons are the black AP3s (love them) 5 through Gap. I generally hit my 5 195-190 and my Gap is my 115-120 club.

    My sand wedge is from my old TM burner 2.0 set. I hit that around 90 on a full swing. I tend to hit it shorter as my steep swing gets a little too much ground, but that's a different story :) .

    Last club I carry besides a driver and my scotty is a 60 degree lob Mack Daddy wedge, which I RARELY use.

    So my question is which gap do I upgrade? The in-between 5 wood/5 iron or go with a different sand wedge to close the gap between my gap wedge and sand? I believe the AP3 gap is 48 degrees, and my burner 2.0 sand is 55 degrees. I am leaning towards going to a 52 degree and remove my lob to get a true 56 degree wedge.

    I would love to hear thoughts from everyone.

    P.S Sorry for the long post!

    I returned the 52 and got a 54-10S in trade. Also bought a 50-08F and bent the loft of the 46-10F back to stock. The most I've played is 5 wedges. My standard 4 wedge setup has been 46-54-58-64 for the most part. I've also played a 50-58-64 3 wedge setup for a "Sunday Bag". My 14 club setup is 12 (10.5 at A4)-14.25 (13.5 at C3)-18 (913H 17 at C3)/21.75 (910F at C3)-25-28-33-38-42-46-50-54-58-64. "Sunday Bag" is 14.25-18-25-33-38-42-50-58-64. I alternate between the 7 wood and 17H. Some courses I leave the driver out and use the strong 3 off the tee.

    I'm unusual in the wedge setup because I play a 64. Been doing that since 2006.
  11. Michael P

    Michael P
    Athens, AL

    The 6 degree gaps between wedges have never presented a problem for me but I think many of us tend to hang on to beloved wedges a little too long when sharp grooves could provide more benefit. May be time to part with the old burner sand wedge and upgrade the scoring clubs that will be used so frequently.
  12. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    Michael P said:

    The 6 degree gaps between wedges have never presented a problem for me but I think many of us tend to hang on to beloved wedges a little too long when sharp grooves could provide more benefit. May be time to part with the old burner sand wedge and upgrade the scoring clubs that will be used so frequently.

    "Beloved" wedges seem not to take long to adapt to. I carried an SM4 54-11 and adapted quickly to 54-10S and 54-08M. What's worse is doing without "favorite lofts"; for instance, 58 and 64. I tried using 60* between 2013-2014 and between 2016-2017. Even when upgrading to SM6 and SM7, tried different bounces on the 58. Taking a 60-08M and bending to 58 was too little bounce. 60-12K and 60-12D too much. Just stick with 58-08M. After 2 years went from an MD3 64/8 to PM Grind 64/10 just a month ago. I gained 15 yards on full swing and pitch (It has been historically 50/25; I've been getting 65/40 lately). Recently have been playing 46-52-58-64. The 52 wasn't doing anything spectacular. I reverted back to 50-54 in the past week. Didn't take long to get distances nailed on the 54. Also, historically, 50 has been successful between 40-100 yards.
  13. John P

    John P
    NJ

    Thanks for all the replies. Seems to be that we are all on the same page. Now I just wish there was a TT event in NJ that I can get this done soon!

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