Your optimum set : How to make the most of the 14-club rule - golf clubs

Golf Digest, Dec, 2000 by John Strege

The Rules of Golf permit us to carry 14 clubs--all of our own choosing, incidentally. So why do we decide to carry some that are disinclined to cooperate in our perpetual bid to play better?

The long iron, for instance. "The only reason to carry a 1-iron," says Tim Mahoney, a teaching professional with the Golf Digest Schools, "is to place it on the ground for alignment purposes. Two-iron, same deal. Replace it with a lofted wood."

You might even consider tossing the 3-, 4- and 5-irons, as well, Mahoney says, and taking advantage of the plethora of lofted woods now available, each of them easier to hit than their cavity-back or muscle-back-iron counterparts.

The evolution of golf clubs has manifested itself in myriad ways, among them the oxymoronic metal wood that has rendered persimmon obsolete. Technology is our friend. We should embrace it, by customizing the makeup of our sets to better accommodate our level of skill (or lack of it, whatever the case may be).

The place to begin, naturally, is the tee box. "You have to put your ego at bay," Mahoney says, "and understand that golf is an accuracy game, not a distance game. You've got to get your first serve in."

Low-lofted drivers, though representing a degree of machismo, belong only in the bags of better players, those generating enough clubhead speed to launch the ball on an adequate trajectory as well as to square the clubface at impact. Mahoney even suggests that those with slower swing speeds and higher handicaps use a 3-wood in lieu of a driver, though Dean Reinmuth, a member of the Golf Digest Pro Panel, says higher-lofted drivers will suffice. The principle is the same either way: "The more loft, the less the ball is going to curve," Mahoney says.

How many woods?

Generally, women and men with higher handicaps and slower swing speeds ought to carry at least five woods (up to a 9- or even an 11-wood). "They have bigger sweet spots and lower centers of gravity and are easier to hit [than irons]," Mahoney says. LPGA players frequently pack a full complement of woods--e.g., Vicki Goetze-Ackerman (1, 4, 5, 7, 9 and 11), whose least-lofted iron is a 6, and Liselotte Neumann (1, 4, 5 and 9), whose irons don't go below a 4.

The lofted woods should replace longer irons, leaving none longer than a 5 or a 6. Four wedges also are recommended, so players don't have to improvise their swings to vary the distances of pitch shots.

Average male players have more options. Mahoney says that they should carry as many as four or five fairway woods and four wedges.

"The mind-set that these golfers should have," he says, "is to be conservative off the tee and aggressive around the greens."

Reinmuth suggests a slightly more conventional plan. He says the average male players need not carry more than three woods and three wedges. "If they can hit the ball decently, they should stay away from overly high-lofted clubs," he says. "Typically, anything above a 5-wood makes no sense. They should get one of the driving irons. It will help them keep the ball down. They should have a three-wedge set instead of four, because they have some control over distance."

Give yourself options

The better players might want to have as many as 18 clubs from which to choose that day's 14-club allotment, depending on the course and weather conditions, Reinmuth says. Into the wind on a course with long par 3s, you might consider replacing a 5-wood with a driving iron. On courses with several elevated greens, the 5-wood is an option, enabling a golfer to hit higher, softer shots into them.

Mahoney suggests that the better player carry a driver, 3- and 5-wood, and even a 7-wood. His reasoning is that a bad shot with a fairway wood will produce a better result than a bad shot with a long iron. The least-lofted iron to carry is a 4, he says.

Three wedges, at least, have become a staple of the professional golfer's set make-up and should be a part of the better player's arsenal as well.

Buyer, be aware . . . of your options

Once you've determined what to buy for an optimum set, the next step is how and where to buy it. Whatever your skill level, you are likely to wind up with more than 14 clubs anyway. Woods aren't an issue; once sold in sets of three or four, they're usually sold individually now, allowing you to pick and choose, all the way up to an 11-wood.

Irons, however, tend to be sold in sets--3 through pitching wedge for men, 4 through sand wedge for women--and the makeup generally is non-negotiable. The upshot is that you might wind up with a long iron or two that you'll leave in your garage.

Just as the influx of lofted woods, utility clubs and additional wedges has created options in set make-up, the Internet, catalogues, pro shops and off-course shops have increased the options of how and where to buy. Here are the pros and cons of each:

The pro shop

The golf course pro shop traditionally has been the place to buy equipment and retains its appeal for doing so. "There's a pretty good chance of having the club customized for you," says Greg Lecker, head pro at Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, N.J., and the PGA of America's Merchandiser of the Year, Private Clubs. "Say a guy buying a new driver doesn't like the stock grip. They can change grips for you right there." Lecker notes, too, that pro shops typically have an array of demo clubs, enabling the prospective buyer to test equipment either on a practice tee or a golf course before deciding to buy.