How To Know Which Club To Use

How To Know Which Golf Club to Use 

Golf is a simple game - advance the ball in the least amount of strokes. Sounds easy right? It isn’t. With the introduction of annual equipment cycles from the biggest hardware brands in golf, how do you know which club to use? Let's dig into it and unravel the mystery. 

A full set of golf clubs will consist of 14 clubs, and break down (loosely) as follows:

• Woods – a Driver, 3-wood, and a 5-wood (3)

• Irons – 5-PW (6)

• Wedges – dependent on your gapping this may consist of 52, 56, 60-degree wedges (3)

• Hybrid – A blend of a wood and an iron (1)

• Putter – often a love-hate relationship (1)

With so many clubs, selecting which one to use can be difficult as you work your way along the course, particularly as amateur players will lack the consistency of the pros, and often find themselves in some not-so-ideal areas of the course.

Your driver is your biggest club. It can be used off the tee (or off the deck if you’re Bubba Watson) and will give you the longest distance with the help of the low loft.

Golf drivers have a long shaft and a large head of steel, graphite or titanium. This is your most expensive club and will give you a hitting distance of 180 to 300 yards, depending on your power.

Once you are on the fairway, woods can be used to gain distance towards the pin. Dependent on the par and course shape, a player may decide to take a wood straight off of the tee and lay-up off of the green. Though this will be dependent on a player’s driving distance, gapping and present hazards.

Next are irons, the clubs you use to approach the green, your bread and butter if you like. Once a player develops a consistent, repeatable swing, the choice of iron picked will be decided by the distance to the green. They are tools of precision more than power, so you are more concerned with direction and ball placement rather than distance. 

Distance is dependent on multiple variables such as club path, club head speed, attack angle, ball speed, face angle etc. but once these have been zeroed in, a player can develop their all-important gapping which will dictate club choice for shots where an iron is required. Irons have an average distance of:

• 2-iron - 200 yards

• 3-iron - 190 yards

• 4-iron - 180 yards

• 5-iron - 170 yards

• 6-iron - 160 yards

• 7-iron - 150 yards

• 8-iron - 140 yards

• 9-iron - 130 yards

A hybrid is a club that gives you a blend of wood and iron for when you want more distance with your accuracy. They are also useful when you have a hazard but are still far from the green. This club has an oversize head and shorter shaft than a traditional wood, so it is easier to maneuver. They normally have a larger and flatter sole at the base of the club head which makes the club more forgiving when playing through areas of rough.

Wedges are in the iron camp and are specific tools for particular situations. They come with varying degrees of loft to get the ball in the air and come in four main types:

Pitching: With the lowest loft angle, this wedge will give you more distance as you approach the green.

Sand: A sand wedge is to get your ball out of a sand bunker (we’ve all been there).

Gap/Approach: This wedge sits between the pitching and sand wedge with a little more loft than the pitching wedge for similar uses.

Lob: The lob wedge gives you the highest loft for a steeply angled accent and decent. It works well for getting over a tree and making shorter distances.

Finally, you are on the green and need a smooth and graceful club to get to the hole. There is a variety; spider, mallet, blade, armlock, and many others, so it is best to try as many out as possible. A large portion of putting is feel, so it is best you select something you’re comfortable with. 

Reading the green will make or break your shot and no putter will save you should you not be able to perfect this element of the game. As always, practice makes perfect. After a driver, this club will be one of the most expensive ones in your bag.

These are your clubs, and understanding their role and abilities will help you know what club to use when playing your round of golf. Remember, golf is about having fun and improving your game, so work hard to perfect your swing and learn from your mistakes. Even the worst round of golf has you enjoying nature in all its glory.