Why 14 Clubs In The Bag?
My beloved Sengkang-Punggol FC affectionately known as The Dolphins is making a roaring start to the new S-League campaign. They have won, drew and lost one each and sitting in sixth position but level on four points with the third best team. In their last game, they went for the jugular and had French upstart and new boys Etoile by the balls until they conceded a last minute goal or they could have added another feather in their cap.
The Dolphins are affiliated to me by zone. Meanwhile, in the English Championship, Newcastle is perched right a the top with a three point lead and is looking good for a quick return to the Premier League. Arsenal has been dropping points like bird droppings for defending like novices. You could see Chelsea defending with up to seven man while Arsenal got caught too often with their attacking play and it was never more evident than the game against Manchester United. Like it or not and for all their arrogance, Man U is the best counter-attacking team around and as I have mentioned just last year, their key player is Wayne Rooney not Ronaldo. Rooney was made to play all over the places so that they could suit Ronaldo's game. If he can keep out of injury and maintained that rich vein of form, England can serve up a treat at the World Cup.
The Dolphins are affiliated to me by zone. Meanwhile, in the English Championship, Newcastle is perched right a the top with a three point lead and is looking good for a quick return to the Premier League. Arsenal has been dropping points like bird droppings for defending like novices. You could see Chelsea defending with up to seven man while Arsenal got caught too often with their attacking play and it was never more evident than the game against Manchester United. Like it or not and for all their arrogance, Man U is the best counter-attacking team around and as I have mentioned just last year, their key player is Wayne Rooney not Ronaldo. Rooney was made to play all over the places so that they could suit Ronaldo's game. If he can keep out of injury and maintained that rich vein of form, England can serve up a treat at the World Cup.
Moving on I was asked a very good question recently as to why only 14 golf clubs are allowed in the golf bag. To paraphrase it - it should be why are only 14 clubs allowed to be used by a golfer for a round of golf? Some may not know but it is better that you realise it now in case you are playing in a competition or even a friendly round. I am sure you are aware that you are not allowed to carry more than 14 golf clubs in a bag and must have read that even some professional golfers made errors of carrying 15 and got penalised by being dumped out of a tournament by means of disqualification. This usually happened when the pro carried his extra wedges in the bag for training and had forgotten about it. It pays to have two different bags with one reserved for tournament. Can you imagine the frustration.
Nobody really have thought about this question quite seriously until a friend brought it out as he could not find a true reason or explanation for this rule. I have a feeling he might wish to carry more like by adding another 8 pieces to his arsenal of weapons. It could be he has been playing every club so well so he might calculate his distance gap by just one yard or everything he has been carrying doesn't seemed to work.
History
It is possible that in the old days, the terrains were more dangerous and more treacherous such that golfers could easily have been mugged by bandits during a game or they could have been frequently set upon by wild animals like grizzly bears or wolves so having extra clubs might have helped - 14 clubs over 18 holes may have been thought of as a safe number in case of breakages while fending off attackers.
Sometimes, it could be possible that clubs are lost while golfers try to retrieve balls from snake holes or hill sides and if you were to add to some hot tempered fellows who break their clubs whenever they got bad shots, 14 isn't really sufficient or is it? Then there are those who may attack one another in the flight when being teased or laughed at so more weapons meant more fun to club each other on the head. They can also use the rod for fishing in case they wandered off track and got lost.
Golf probably evolved from other games where they used a stick to hit some small objects. The Romans had "Paganica", the French had "chole", English had "Cambuca" and the Dutch laid strong claims to a game called "kolfas" where they would place a ball on a pile of sand called "tuitje" which we now referred to as tee. Well, surely the Scots themselves will dispute this of course. Golf was so popular in Scotland at one time that it was taking too much time away from archery practice necessary for national defence that they banned it. They found the first manufactured golf club which was made in Scotland in or around 1603. The first sand wegde was introduced by 1931. I have also heard one where they said it was in Scotland in the early days where shepherd boys would use a stick which they called a flog (like a shepherd's staff) to hit stones, fruits or whatever they could find whenever they felt bored by reversing the stick so that the curved end became like a club head. They then reversed the word flog and it became golf. China too can lay claim for the invention as they too played a similar type of game back then.
Watch What You Do During Your Spare Time
In view of the above, I would like to urge you to be careful and to always watch what you do during your spare time. Because what you do now when you feel bored may be adopted as some kind of game or sports by the next century where millions would spend billions and countless hours tearing their hair out over it. What you do today can have a profound effect on the future.
Why 14 Clubs?
Why 14 Clubs?
There has been a story that some time in a US Amateur Championship around 1934, a golfer actually participated carrying 29 clubs! A USGA official who witnessed the poor caddy slugging around and struggling with the extremely heavy bag got furious and at that moment vowed to stop such behaviour from golfers which tantamounts to abuse perhaps. Some day later, he became the President of the USGA and the opportunity to turn his desire into a rule became a real possibility. His name is Harold Pierce. The recommendation of 14 clubs became a rule only in 1938/39. Before that, Bobby Jones himself carried 22 clubs while at the opposite end another golfer Chick Evans need do with only 8 clubs in the bag.
At this point, Tour players wanted to increase it to 16 clubs but failed in their attempt. So why not 12, 13, 15 or 16 clubs? Well, don't ask me ask OCBC. The only reason why 14 clubs was suggested was they have simply put forward 14 as a discussion and this discussion included caddies and even 14 appeared too many at the time. The other consideration other than being too heavy for the caddy was that players would have to take too long in thinking which club to use in play and would eventually slow down the game. Just like asking you to choose from 25 types of coffee to drink each morning, 30 types of tea in the afternoon and then 40 types of beer in the evening and 10 different cars to drive - You will freeze from indecision which will further lead to constipation, oh sorry, I think it should be complication.
Caddy job will become the most hazardous in the world and golf bag size would be huge. Golf carts will give way to golf trucks or maybe for those who has money to burn could drive your own golf truck which resembles a showroom to the course. Can you see the reason why emperors die young in the old days having to choose from so many concubines? I mean the brain would just crack and you die standing right? Human beings are such that when you have rules they are already bending them so you can imagine when you don't have rules. This can also lead to some desperate and abused caddies or creative golfers who can't swallow their pride to tie their super heavy golf bags to their ankles and jump into the sea or the nearest pond into the watery grave.
At this point, Tour players wanted to increase it to 16 clubs but failed in their attempt. So why not 12, 13, 15 or 16 clubs? Well, don't ask me ask OCBC. The only reason why 14 clubs was suggested was they have simply put forward 14 as a discussion and this discussion included caddies and even 14 appeared too many at the time. The other consideration other than being too heavy for the caddy was that players would have to take too long in thinking which club to use in play and would eventually slow down the game. Just like asking you to choose from 25 types of coffee to drink each morning, 30 types of tea in the afternoon and then 40 types of beer in the evening and 10 different cars to drive - You will freeze from indecision which will further lead to constipation, oh sorry, I think it should be complication.
Caddy job will become the most hazardous in the world and golf bag size would be huge. Golf carts will give way to golf trucks or maybe for those who has money to burn could drive your own golf truck which resembles a showroom to the course. Can you see the reason why emperors die young in the old days having to choose from so many concubines? I mean the brain would just crack and you die standing right? Human beings are such that when you have rules they are already bending them so you can imagine when you don't have rules. This can also lead to some desperate and abused caddies or creative golfers who can't swallow their pride to tie their super heavy golf bags to their ankles and jump into the sea or the nearest pond into the watery grave.
Do You Need 14?
Frankly, do you really need 14 clubs? I mean one can practically use a 7-iron and put 2 0r 3 on given a par 4 or 5. Whether you use 9, 12 or 14 clubs, I can tell you that your score is likely to be the same on each occasion. If I could hit an 8-iron to a distance of 135-140m it would not be that much a difference if I were to hit it with a 7-iron by easing up a little with the swing so that the usual distance of 145-150m for a 7-iron could become the 8-iron's distance. Carrying less clubs can force us to do that and in doing so can help us foster a greater understanding of the characteristics of each club. When you play by easing up with the longer club rather than forcing with the shorter one the result is probably going to be better. Definitely direction-wise.
It will also certainly help many of us who might let our ego get in the way of our choices and decisions in selecting a club which when we use is not going to reach the target or have a better result anyway but our ego is too big, etc. Having said that, having more clubs can also be fun as you can vary and construct your need in the bag according to your own liking, strengths and weaknesses.
It will also certainly help many of us who might let our ego get in the way of our choices and decisions in selecting a club which when we use is not going to reach the target or have a better result anyway but our ego is too big, etc. Having said that, having more clubs can also be fun as you can vary and construct your need in the bag according to your own liking, strengths and weaknesses.
Your Bag
Your bag can be mapped consisting: One driver, two woods (fairway woods 3 & 5), two wedges, one putter, 8 irons 3-9/PW = 14. Or you could discard the fairway woods and throw in hybrids instead. Otherwise, replace the 3/4 irons with hybrids. Increase another wedge by taking out another club, etc. Phil Mickelson sometimes carries two drivers. See this article on planning your game by mapping your bag.
However, the sadist streak in me suggest to reduce the number of clubs in the pros' bags as they are already highly proficient and skilled. When this happens, you will get to see real skills in action. So here you have it - why are only 14 clubs allowed in a golf bag and not more. Now you know it and you hear it from the ..... Guru....Ommmmmm.....
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