Playing a round with half set of clubs?

big_drive

I saw on another forum a poster mentioning his lessons with a pro who suggested every now and again to play a round with a half set. Aim to help shot making, etc.

Anyway last week I tried it out.

7 clubs- driver, 3 hybrid, 5 7 9 irons, 52 degree & putter.

Turned out to be very enjoyable. Most interesting was my scoring was no different to usual.

Anyone here tried it? I'd recommend trying it

whizbang

I was carrying a pencil bag for a while, in the bag I took: Hybrid, 6,8,P irons, 52 wedge, putter.

Taught me an awful lot about the distance off the tee, BUT still having difficulty remembering the lesson!

Put in a 58 Degree shortly after, and improved scoring a bit, but i think it was a good time of year to be sticking greens.

The only real issue was a dogleg right, which needed a good tee shot to see the green in two, but strangely enough, since using the 3wood, my score on the hole hasn't got much better.

You should try without the driver also. I was constantly reminded how often even good golfers would hit mediocre drives, and a reliable hybrid would still get me there.

For Paws

Used to do this regularly (no car at the time, and 6 clubs in a pencil bag was all I could manage on a motorbike).

Main lesson learned was the old 'when in doubt, take more club'.
eg; 135 yards out ; are you going to kill a 9i or hit a controlled 7i ?

Being able to hit 'arm' shots is very useful. It does mean having to put extra thought & planning into the shot. Instead of just reaching for whatever club you'd normally hit you have to plan the shot out.

markthespark77

was often thinking of doing this myself,seems like a good way of developing ur course management.

big_drive

I found I always took more club instead of trying to force the shot, it resulted in a more controlled shot. I was in bunker a couple times, used 52 degree and it worked ok.
As I mentioned earlier my scores was similar to most rounds
For the winter I think I'll use a stand bag with half set and leave the trolley at home, will be easier when greens are roped off etc

mike12

I learned how to play with a half set and could honestly say i don't think it would make much difference to my score. Even in a 4 club comp i never really struggle. Driver 8 iron Wedge and Putter will get me around most courses.
Mike

Anatom

It sounds like a good idea, but what should I leave out? I'm not a good enough golfer (19) to have confidence in hitting a higher iron softly enough to not overfly the target for example, so I'd worry about leaving something out that I think I might need. But having thought about it a bit, I suppose it would be no harm giving it a try.

I had a think about which clubs I used in my last round last Sunday in Palmerstown House - Driver, 3 & 5 wood, 3 & 4 hybrid, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and all three wedges (and putter of course). In other words, I used them all - with some success as well - a load of pars and bogies, and only one scratch - two balls pumped into the water on the 4th:mad:.

So, what could I do without? On my own course, the three-wood could go. Likewise the 5-iron and possibly the 8/9 as well and one of the wedges. After that, I think I'd start to panic a bit.

Mind you, I pull a full, heavy bag around (and we have a lot of hills in the Curragh!) and apart from developing my game, it would leave me a lot less tired...

I must give it a try this weekend. I need a pencil bag though!!

GreeBo

any casual golf I play (Inc winter comps) is with a half set.
every second club plus all the wedges.
in winter I alternate between odd and even irons for excitement, the only difference is at the end your back is fine, my score would never notice.

Ronney

Great way to test your shot making ability,

Although half set probably a few too many.... Check out these boys taking on St Andrews with only a 5 iron.

youtube.com/watchv=Nlh5E9SVxiE&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DNlh5E9SVxiE

shane0007

Many moons ago, my old club pro used to get us to play a round with just 2 clubs & one of which being a putter. You'd pick your most dreaded club in the bag & by the end of the round, you were well able to overcome any doubt of that club, manipulate most shots.

Green bunker shots with a 5 iron were fun as were teeing off in a par 5 with a pitching wedge. Round score was surprisingly lower than expected.