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Golf Tip #2: Selecting Golf Clubs : Set Make-Up; What’s in Your Golf Bag. More tips for Lethbridge Golfers. 

Cam Waldbauer's Golf Club Selection

To visit Cam’s page on private lessons click here.

Click to visit Al’s page on Custom Clubs click here.

Al Davie, Evergreen Golf Centre; Professional Class “A” Clubfitter/Clubmaker

The fact is, that’s  twenty-five percent of the set you just paid for!  It would seem to be more sensibly to purchase clubs that you are going to use, or better still, that you are capable of using.  A extra wedge or two, or a couple of hybrids to replace the 3 and 4 irons would be the common sense approach, but you are not given that choice when purchasing clubs off the rack. 

A competent custom clubmaker will fit you with a set of irons that you will use, and it may be as few as five or six conventional irons, a hybrid or two and maybe an extra wedge.  Remember, the clubs you are looking at “off the rack” were factory made.  They may, or they more likely, may not be the right length, right lie, right shaft flex and so on for your swing.  A true custom club fitting eliminates this problem. 

Tom Wishon Hybrids

When dealing with Set Make Up, we should not forget the driver.  Remember the clubmaker’s credo which states: The longer the length, the lower the loft, the heavier the weight and the stiffer the shaft, the harder the club will be for any golfer to hit.”  Also, a driver does not have to be a driver.  It simply has to be the club the golfer can hit the farthest distance from the tee and keep the ball in the short grass as often as possible.  In many cases this can best be accomplished with a driver loft that resembles that of a 3-wood.  Depending on the loft of the chosen driver, the longest fairway wood does not have to be a three wood.  Many golfer’s will hit a 5-wood or even a 7-wood farther than a 3-wood simply because these woods have more loft. 

 
Just remember, when selecting clubs, the longest iron in your bag regardless of the number on the bottom, should be the longest iron you hit with confidence and on center the vast majority of the time.  If it happens to be a 5-iron or 6-iron or even a 7-iron, so be it.  That club can then be followed by a hybrid or two, then a fairway wood or two, and finally a proper lofted driver.
You could very well end up with a set that contains somewhat less than fourteen clubs and that’s just fine, at least you will have a use for everything “in the bag”, and you won’t be paying for clubs that you don’t need or don’t use.

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