Do you guys see a downside of using a 7 or 9 wood instead of long irons ? I replaced my 3&4 irons with a $5 7-wood last year and it's now my favorite club. I can stop it as easily as any of my irons and it's much easier to hit out of the rough. I don't often play the firm conditions I'm sure some of you do. I know few of the pros use them. What are the advantages of the long irons ?
I was wondering how the untility clubs and 7 woods compare to long irons hitting into a stiff wind, on a windy day I can keep a long iron low, and get pretty decent distance. I had a 5 wood in my bag many years ago when I first started playing and it seemed to want to balloon on me, may have been me or the club.
I had a 7-wood about ten years ago (back when the 7-wood had a lot of loft, and didn't go 200 yards like today's). I hit it about 150, but into the wind the thing would sometimes barely go 90 - it BALLOOONED (capital letters look more like balloons. ).
I learned to hit a good sized draw with the thing into the wind, and it reacted fairly well then.
I feel like whatever gets the job done, the go with it. Long irons are very hard for a lot of people to hit, this is the reason for the hybrid clubs you see today (which even touring pros carry). There really isn't much downside I don't think, unless you're seeing your scores suffer.
I don't carry a 3 or 4 iron. I have a Callaway Steelhead Plus #9 that I hit instead. In normal conditions I hit this club 200-215 yards and the ball almost always lands with very little roll. When I'm playing into the wind I play the ball back in my stance to avoid "ballooning." This keeps the ball flight lower, adds some roll, and results in about the same distance.
My 3 and 4 iron somehow morphed into the same club a few years ago. My mishits from 200 yards got me no where. I tried a #9 wood and my mishits always seem to end up around the green. That's what sold me.
More and more pros are carrying the higher woods or hybrid clubs, depending on what course they are playing. My brother is a 2 handicap and carries a 19* Titleist 980F in place of his Mizuno MP-14 2 iron. He changes out depending on course conditions. When I buy my new irons next year, I will pick up the two iron but I am also looking for a 19-20* wood to carry as well. The clubs do not matter. What matters is where the ball ends up and what number you put on the card.
i find the higher woods harder to predict as far as distance goes.
i dont carry a 5 wood ...but i do have "and wouldnt be caught without " a 7wood
good for going over trees , landing the ball soft etc
downwind it goes 220 - 250
into the wind is a different matter ....
on a par 3 into the wind ...say 2 club wind , 155 yard hole
i could hit 5 iron - have it land on the front and hop/stop close to middle "hopefully lol"
with the 7 wood - the ball stopped where it lands BUT
if i rip it to screds i be 15 yards short of the green
if i hit it full id be on the front of the green
if i just caress the ball , with no effort id be over the green
the reason being , the harder you hit the ball the more backspin
more backspin = more height and less distance
so you can control the distance easily
I'm seeing more and more of the better players switching to hybrids and higher woods. It just makes sense due to their design. Not only to they fly higher than the corresponding irons, but they also are designed to slide through taller grass easier and therefore alleviating the tendency of the smother=hook.
yea everything i hear and read says 3-woods are no good out of rough, as long as the ball isnt buried i can pull it out much more accurately than with an iron
One day I actually dropped balls in the rough and practiced with a 3 wood, long iron, and a hybrid. The three wood worked best for me by fat. It felt like it slid through much easier and that was with the ball sitting down in it with about 3/4 of the ball being below the top of the grass
I love my 3 iron! One of my favourite clubs. I get much better accuracy with it than my 3 wood, which I sometimes hit straight, but sometimes slice dreadfully
Have to go with the wood out the rough though.
The advantages of long irons, if you can hit them is they are usually a little more accurate. Have you looked at hybrid clubs? They are usually meant to replace 2 or 3 irons and try to combine distance of maybe a fairway wood with the accuracy of an iron.
October 15th, 2004, 11:50 AM
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I just gripped down, and swung 2/3. 
It was too deep for an iron
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