Considering another hybrid in place of 3 iron...

ShriekingSheet

Would appreciate people's thoughts.

The long end of my bag sets up as follows:

Driver (9)
3 Wood (14.5)
Hybrid (18)
3 Iron
4 Iron...

The hybrid is essentially a 2 iron. Yardage-wise, everything is really nicely spaced out with regular distance intervals from each club to the next (eg: the hybrid lands half-way between the 3 wood and 3 iron).

It's an important area for me as Par 5s are where I make the majority of my birdies and these are the clubs I tend to use when going for them in two. There are four par 5s on my home course, all of which I can reach in two in most conditions, barring a head-wind which is unusual.

Three of them have bunkers at the front of the green but even with less guarded greens, when it comes to the second shot, I'm coming around to the idea of hitting more elevated shots in, rather than gunning in a 3 iron. But obviously, from the 3iron yardage, not being a tour player, I don't have a huge choice in the matter.

Would I be better off subbing out the 3 iron for a 21 or 22 degree hybrid? I'm not sure if I'd be giving up too much control versus the iron. As a guy who hits a high ball as it is, is it likely a more lofted hybrid (even with a good shaft) might go way too high for me?

Hobart

Whats the yardage difference (given perfect conditions etc...) between your 3-wood and your 3-Iron? Whats the yardage difference between your 4-iron and your 3-iron? How far do you hit the 18Deg Hybrid?

I have two myself. and 18 and a 21. I find the 21 absolutely great from 210 - 190 yards. I use the 18 less, but also good for about 240 (depending on the conditions). I do find I hit the 18Deg about as well and as far as I hit my 3-Wood, but I certainly find the 21Deg an essential club in my bag. I have no irons longer than a 6 in my bag, and if I get into the 180-240 territory I find the hybrids a great option. I also find them a lot easier to shape than a long iron, and a whole lot more forgiving, if you don't hit them as sweet, than if the same happened with a 3/4 iron.

mag

is your course inland or links? personally i put the 3 iron back in the bag when playing on links & use the hybrid for the more sheltered parkland homecourse.

f22

I have a 19 degree hybrid and a 3 iron in the bag.

Given the chance I will hit the 3 iron when I can. I find I can control the trajectory and shape much better. The hybrid simply glides through rough when needed and can be a real added bonus if you need to float a ball into a green.

soundsham

have the same ball flight bit high play off 7 if that matters or not
i changed to 4 rescue 22deg taylor made 3yrs ago never going back(fav club) but i go driver 9.5, 3wood 15, 4 rescue 22 (approx 6deg gap)
defo easier into par 5
easier off tee,
easier to draw/fade
easier from rough
and less mi****s than the 3 iron that i used to hit well 60% ok20% bad20% of the time
only loss is into the wind off tee find it hard to keep down and a 3i would defo be better for placement,as rescue tends to hang up there forever

ShriekingSheet

Hobart wrote: »

Whats the yardage difference (given perfect conditions etc...) between your 3-wood and your 3-Iron?
Whats the yardage difference between your 4-iron and your 3-iron? How far do you hit the 18Deg Hybrid?

Something like...

3 Wood - 255
Hybrid - 235
3 iron - 215

Hobart wrote: »

I have two myself. and 18 and a 21. I find the 21 absolutely great from 210 - 190 yards. I use the 18 less, but also good for about 240 (depending on the conditions). I do find I hit the 18Deg about as well and as far as I hit my 3-Wood, but I certainly find the 21Deg an essential club in my bag. I have no irons longer than a 6 in my bag, and if I get into the 180-240 territory I find the hybrids a great option. I also find them a lot easier to shape than a long iron, and a whole lot more forgiving, if you don't hit them as sweet, than if the same happened with a 3/4 iron.

Yeah, much for the same reason I play with chunky irons instead of blades, I think the forgiveness factor can't be ignored. Though where do you draw the line? Striking the longer irons is not a huge issue.

mag wrote: »

is your course inland or links? personally i put the 3 iron back in the bag when playing on links & use the hybrid for the more sheltered parkland homecourse.

Yeah I play 95% parkland and that would indeed be the plan for links alright. Good point.

Blunder

I would say that if you are playing on a parkland course it wouldnt do any harm to have a hybrid instead of the 3 iron.

Personally I'd never give up my 3 iron, Most consistant club in me bag. Although I would consider having a similar hybrid in yardage to the 3 iron in bag in place of a 60 degree wedge.

I would have thought though that you would lose the workability of a 3 iron when you have a hybrid. ie shaping shots etc.

ShriekingSheet

soundsham wrote: »

have the same ball flight bit high play off 7 if that matters or not
i changed to 4 rescue 22deg taylor made 3yrs ago never going back(fav club) but i go driver 9.5, 3wood 15, 4 rescue 22 (approx 6deg gap)

Erm... 22 minus 15 = 7 degrees For me, that set-up would leave much too big a gap between 3 wood and hybrid and into that gap falls many of the distances I find myself with into par 5s.

It's a personal choice but 7 more degrees and a much shorter shaft (than your 3 wood) woud be something like 40 or 50 yards in the difference for me. Currently I've only got 20 yard gaps there given that I have only 3.5 more degrees and only a slightly shorter shaft.

PhilipMarlowe

I'd agree with the above.
The main difference for me is that I hit the irons very low but when I got fitted for my hybrid I got a shaft to get the ball up. I have the 22 degree 07 burner and it is a much better club for me to get at a green because of the higher flight. 210 yard carry versus 200 for the 3 iron. The only thing is that almost no matter how well I hit the rescue, it won't go any further for me. I creamed it into a par 5 in early March and it carried 205 yards with almost no roll once it landed on the green. Because I'm finding that I sometimes need a few more yards I am getting a 19 degree version because I feel it will be easier to hit into greens than the 3 wood... oh to have the luxury of all reachable par 5's, on my home course 1 is easily reachable, 1 is sometimes reachable, 1 is almost impossible and the other is impossible (for me) )
I have the 19 degree with the same custom shaft ordered and hopefully will collect before the weekend. I'm going to take out the 3 iron when it arrives because the 22 degree and 3 iron do almost the same job.

Downsides.... a 3 iron off the tee is probably a safer shot. Ok, I can sometimes catch them heavy and not get the full purchase on it but equally the rescue can get turned over a little more because it flies higher....
Into a wind it's madness trying to manufacture a low shot with the rescue but maybe your current model takes care of that?

On balance though, there are so many positives like getting out of an iffy lie, being able to hit a 3/4 shot (which is near impossible with the 3 iron), soft landing etc....

My bag will soon be:
9.5 driver, 14.5 3-wood, 19 rescue, 22 rescue, 4 iron

ShriekingSheet

Blunder wrote: »

I would have thought though that you would lose the workability of a 3 iron when you have a hybrid. ie shaping shots etc.

Yeah I think that's fair to say but I don't think it's much of an issue from me. I'm 5, not +5

ShriekingSheet

Licksy wrote: »

I'd agree with the above.
The main difference for me is that I hit the irons very low but when I got fitted for my hybrid I got a shaft to get the ball up. I have the 22 degree 07 burner and it is a much better club for me to get at a green because of the higher flight. 210 yard carry versus 200 for the 3 iron. The only thing is that almost no matter how well I hit the rescue, it won't go any further for me. I creamed it into a par 5 in early March and it carried 205 yards with almost no roll once it landed on the green. Because I'm finding that I sometimes need a few more yards I am getting a 19 degree version because I feel it will be easier to hit into greens than the 3 wood... oh to have the luxury of all reachable par 5's, on my home course 1 is easily reachable, 1 is sometimes reachable, 1 is almost impossible and the other is impossible (for me) )
I have the 19 degree with the same custom shaft ordered and hopefully will collect before the weekend. I'm going to take out the 3 iron when it arrives because the 22 degree and 3 iron do almost the same job.

Downsides.... a 3 iron off the tee is probably a safer shot. Ok, I can sometimes catch them heavy and not get the full purchase on it but equally the rescue can get turned over a little more because it flies higher....
Into a wind it's madness trying to manufacture a low shot with the rescue but maybe your current model takes care of that?

On balance though, there are so many positives like getting out of an iffy lie, being able to hit a 3/4 shot (which is near impossible with the 3 iron), soft landing etc....

My bag will soon be:
9.5 driver, 14.5 3-wood, 19 rescue, 22 rescue, 4 iron

That pretty much sorts it for me Licksy, cheers.