Comments on: Why You’ll Never Take Enough Club

By: Golf Blog

Golf Blog — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 14:49:03 +0000

Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you writing this write-up plus the rest of
the site is very good.

By: Brad

Brad — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 06:00:19 +0000

In reply to Matt Saternus. I agree, but I think it is definitely dependant on the courses you play. The course I play most often here in Queensland is dead if you are long of the hole for all but three of the holes. Most of those holes either slope steeply down a hill at the back toward a hazard or have a hazard within three paces of the back of the green. 13 of the 18 holes also have the green sloping fairly strongly back to front, which means a chip or putt from off or on the back side of the green will be moving with a lot of pace towards the hole and will be hard to stop. If you want to play smart on my course, you don't want to go past the middle of the green unless the pin is at the back and you are birdie hunting. If you end up short of the green (with the exception of three holes where you will find water short), you can just pitch or chip it with a bit of pace to get to the hole up the slope, but going long makes for a very long day most of the time.

By: Matt Saternus

Matt Saternus — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 16:05:35 +0000

In reply to Brad.

Brad,

I would agree that trouble long is sometimes a concern, but the data shows that players all the way to scratch leave their shots short many times more often than they go long. This indicates bad target choice and/or bad club selection.

-Matt

By: Brad

Brad — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 11:57:41 +0000

Maybe I’m in the minority, but for me coming up short is almost always better than going long unless I have to carry a water hazard. Going long on the courses I play means going into super thick rough, a hazard, or out of bounds. Coming up short on most holes means a chip and putt for par, bogey at worst. This advice might be the go for those who are perpetually hitting two clubs less then they should because of their ego, but If I catch my 3-iron perfect it goes 235 yards rather than the 220 I expected it to. If I hit it fat and it goes 190, so be it.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 02 Dec 2021 14:14:52 +0000

I wish my misses were almost always short. I love the article, but for me “take more club” is on par with “swing easy”. Both lead tend to lead to bad outcomes. Take the right club and swing crisply resonate better with me. Short at my club can still be par or bogey while long can mean worse. Plus my data says missing short is not my issue even though I am a high handicapper at 14.

By: Jerry Payne

Jerry Payne — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 04:50:13 +0000

Super article!

By: George

George — Fri, 26 Nov 2021 00:41:37 +0000

This makes sense on a logical level, but is it correct? I assume this article is aimed at mid to high handicap players. The approach to automatically “take more club” assumes that the player is going to equally mishit their longer iron compared to the shorter iron option. However, it seems reasonable that a mid to high handicap player will, on average, mishit to a greater extent a longer, lower lofted club. This seems like a great theory to test in a Mythbusters segment.

By: Flexing My Calves

Flexing My Calves — Thu, 25 Nov 2021 23:27:04 +0000

In reply to D. He’s saying that a couple issues tend to lead to people not taking enough club. One, on many holes trouble is long so they play conservatively and come up short. Seems like an ok result if trouble is truly long. Two, people remember the one time they carried a 7 iron 170 yards and use that as their marker forever more. In reality, their true carry distance is closer to 160 yards. I imagine like lots of us he’s responding to his buddies asking “what club are you hitting” as he heads to tee up. It’s almost useless information when you tell them you’re hitting a 7 iron (it’s 34 degrees) and know they’re carrying 28 degree 7 irons in their bags.

By: Noel

Noel — Thu, 25 Nov 2021 21:46:45 +0000

Thanks Matt – I have also started to manually record my ‘short’ shots and surprisingly – I am now in the mode of going for the middle of the green and leave it to my putting skills to finish off the hole.

Now, not always works out but, I now know my mis hits and taking steps to correct them.

Cheers

By: Larry

Larry — Thu, 25 Nov 2021 19:25:22 +0000

Well I have one thing to say on club selection. I play with fellows who hit it long and their ego is just as big. They tell me what they hit and I tell them what in hitting, I always answer with is. Let me check back with you in a few years and see what you’re hitting. I’m 76, playing in guys who are in the 50’s early 60’s. Big difference! Let’s check the score at the end.