Planning Your Golf Bag and Mapping Your Game

Stephen Covey said in his "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" that one of his key principles in life is to begin with the end in mind. How true. In order to begin with the end in mind, we have to get to the back end of the story to get to the front like what we hope to achieve in life or in golf by getting to the end part and play your own video backwards then you will know how to get there. That's why I read the newspapers backwards. 


Just kidding, I do that because the front page are usually all bad news, economic troubles, plane crashes, etc. This is about charting a path and making a plan even if most plans do not usually work out. Plan to fail if you fail to plan always rings true. I call it mapping as in mind mapping, etc. 


Basically, I am encouraging you to review your golf game backwards - from the green to the tee box and from here on how to map and decide what you put into your golf bag. It's like living your life backwards - first from an old man in retirement to middle-aged in mid-life crisis to a younger working man to a teenage boy as a student to a toddler to a baby and then you find yourself in the greatest race of your life swimming against 9,999,999 sperm cells. My friend, you are a winner from the start that's what I'm telling you. This was how you have emerged against all odds competing with 9,999,999 others (actually there are some 200-500 million cells). You are therefore an Olympic standard swimmer and a winner. But in golf it all started from the tee off.

Evolution

When I bought my first set of golf clubs the bag consisted a driver, 3 and 5 woods, 8 pieces of irons (3-PW) and a putter. The problem is are we able to use every club with equal aplomb? Today's 3-wood club head is bigger than yesteryear's driver's. Some people experienced troubles and frustrations and then go out and buy a new set consisting exactly the same type of clubs. As technology gets more advance with the use of multi, lighter and stronger materials, equipment makers found new ways to redistribute weight and do so more precisely to make the clubs easier to use building them with more forgiveness. 

Club heads get bigger, shafts get longer, new types of clubs and combination, etc came forth. Confusion ensues and many golfers did not know which clubs to buy and add or which to discard and drop. Now, a new set of irons may not come with 3 and 4 irons and start from 5 instead to the PW. Some would include the no. 3 and no. 4 but as hybrids. A few brands even come in a full set of hybrids. More discerning golfers normally buy and use separate components rather than a fixed set just like how audiophiles would choose separate components for their hi-fi set up including separate amplifiers and even separate speakers for audio and then home theatre instead of buying a full hi-fi set of the same brand as a standard set. Some may have caught a disease - "Golfalotitis".

Specialization

Although equipment makers are making very high quality products these days some brands are specialized in only certain equipments or they may later expanded their forays into many more types. Roger Cleveland who founded Cleveland brand started out making replicas of classic woods and made the last persimmon club to feature in a professional tournament. He moved on to woods, irons and specialized in wedges and later sold the company and now works for Callaway as its Chief Designer. Bob Vokey was a custom club maker who joined TaylorMade, left to go to Founders Club and later join Titleist and it was at Titleist where he became a famous wedge designer. 

Titleist also got Scotty Cameron on board for all the putters. Taylormade was founded by Gary Adams who invented metal-woods and later sold TaylorMade to Adidas and formed Founders Club. Ping's name was created from a putter invention and credited with "perimeter weighting" first found in its putters and later also featured in their irons where the Ping Eye 2 became the world's best selling irons ever. Cobra gave us the first hybrid. TaylorMade is now giving us MVT - Movable Weight technology and the list goes on.

So while Titleist has famous Vokey spin-milled wedges and Scotty Cameron putters, they make excellent drivers, irons, etc. too. Ping was founded on putters and then irons but they have great drivers, woods and hybrids too. Ditto for TaylorMade, Cleveland, Cobra, etc. In fact, some are conquering each other's strong turf at times. It's somewhat like McDonalds selling fried chicken and Kentucky Fried Chicken selling burgers and some times the other one can taste better. Well, the big boys usually do everything just like GM and Toyota would make automobiles from trucks, SUVs, MPVs, 4-litre cars to one-litre cars. However, there are some exceptions like "Yes!" making only putters.

Creating Your Map

Let us do the reverse and start from the green. As the rules allow, a golf bag can contain no more than 14 clubs. To maximize it, here's how we do it:

The Putter (#14) - In a separate article I have touched on the various types of putters and how to choose one that is suitable for you. If money is no object, go spend some on a solid one as this is the club which is the most used in your bag.

The Wedges (#11 to #13) - Confusion and confusion. A standard PW is about 45-48 degrees in loft. A gap wedge (which is to fill in the gap between wedges) or approach wedge as some would call it is about 50-52 degrees while a standard SW (sand wedge) is about 55-56 degrees and finally we have the Lob Wedge at 60 degrees. There are known wedges at 62 degrees and there is even a F2 brand that makes one which is 70+ degrees but all those are the main types of wedges. Of importance are the lofts and the gaps you may need to fill from the PW to the Lob wedge. You should definitely need a PW and a SW so you may need another to fill in the gap between the two. Would you prefer an AW (about 50-52 degrees)? Or do you prefer something with more loft for flops, then try the LW (60-62 degrees). The idea is to cover the distances so that you do not end up with too much gaps in between. So there you have it - 3 wedges to do the business.

Short Clubs - 8 & 9 Irons (#9-#10) - These are clubs that hit straight and high. A few brands has hybrids here but most people can handle the short irons. Strong players may prefer bladed irons which are sharper but less forgiving.

Mid Clubs - 5 to 7 Irons (#6-#8) - You are going to use these most frequently. Irons here are still very usable. Those who struggle with these may consider 9 & 11 woods and these will make the bulk of your approach shots. Hybrids as replacements are available too. You are also very likely to use them often for tee shots for longer par 3s. If you are good with the irons stick to that.

Long Clubs - 3 & 5 woods, 3 & 4 irons or 2-4 hybrids (#2 to #5) - You are going to use them from the tee and also from the fairway. Old sets have a 3 & 5 wood and 3 & 4 irons but modern gears provides for wider options. You can opt for 3,5,7 woods if you can hit your woods well. Stick to your irons if you are good at it. A 3-wood can be used as a second driver if your timing is off or on tight fairways. There is also no point in having two clubs that plays the same shots for a similar distance. A 7-wood is equal to a 3-iron while a #4 hybrid directly replaces a 4-iron. Hybrids are generally friendlier to use than the long irons. Make a careful and informed decision here. Hybrids here can be very useful replacements or addition.

The Driver (#1) - You will use it for every par 5 and par 4 and some golfers use it on long par 3s too. However, it may not necessarily be a driver as you may fare better with something else for example a 3-wood or even a 2 or 3 iron. There are no rules to say that you must only tee off with a driver. This area is however, ego driven so most golfers want to do the manly thing.

Conclusion

The only rule is that you must have no more than 14 clubs in the bag. Therefore, plan you gears and equipment according to your own preference so that you play to your strength. It also helps that you may have more than one set of golf clubs or at least more than one putter, driver, woods, irons or hybrids so that when the time comes when you play less well with a certain club, you can punish them for poor performance and bad behaviour that cause you public embarrassment. 

Leave them in the dark store room for awhile until they behave and in the meantime, draw out your other spare clubs to rediscover your feel. However, be careful that you do not over indulge as you may someday find a room full of golf gears and blame it on me. You can further explore by toying with leaving out the 3-wood or 2-hybrid and put in another wedge and vice versa. You may also know before hand which course you are playing and plan your clubs to carry according to the course specifics such as courses with long par 3s then you may take out a wedge and put in a 2-hybrid. Just remember never to carry a useless club in your bag. Every club must be there for a reason and serve a purpose.

So here you go, map your bag, map your mind and map the course. Years from now, someone may find your map buried somewhere which could lead them to some hidden treasures. If all else fails, then go to the mountain to meditate and live a hermit's life for awhile. Do bring along some clubs and balls to practise during your meditation breaks.

Golf as in life, play as it lies.