Why are we carrying redundant clubs?

Thousands of golfers in the UK and Ireland are playing the game with redundant clubs in their bags. That's the view of Steve Pelisek, general manager of Titleist, the leading equipment brand.

He's hoping the introduction of Titleist 910F fairway metals (21 deg) and 27-degree Titleist 910H utility clubs, with the options of new Mitsubishi Bassara lightweight shafts for golfers with moderate swing speeds, will help them get more from their purchase.

"Virtually every club in your bag except your driver and putter, you're using to hit a shot on to the green," he told me. "And you have to hit a shot in a certain way to stay on that green or that club shouldn't be in your bag.

"We're finding that there are so many players with redundant clubs in their bag, clubs they hit the same distance with the same trajectory.  There's no reason whatsoever to have them in there.

"Sometimes we're finding as little as a total of 14 yards between a 7-, 6- and a 5-iron and as little as 3-4 yards between irons. So there's a little redundancy there."

So what should we be doing about it? One idea, he says, is to replace irons with hybrids and restore some of that gap to make it a much more valuable club in your bag.

"For example with a 27-degree hybrid, compared to a 27-degree 5-iron, you get more spin, more speed (because the club is longer) and a higher launch.

"You also have to take into consideration the landing angle to help the ball stop on the green (it shouldn't be less than about 40 degrees). With a higher launching, higher spinning hybrid you get more stop and it's a friendlier shot. We think it's a much better club to be carrying.

"The same kind of things can be applied to fairway woods; you can see where we're going with this," he explained.

He says it's a waste if you're carrying two or more clubs doing almost exactly the same job, especially when you're only allowed 14 in your bag and two of those are a putter and a driver.

"The 14 clubs should be unique. If you can't stop a ball within 20 feet of where it lands - other than your driver - it really shouldn't be in your bag. You're going to hit it to the green with every single shot, so why are you carrying it?"

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