If they changed the rules tomorrow...

[Jcosta]

If they changed the rules tomorrow to allow 15 clubs in your bag verses the currently allowed 14, which club (if any) would you add as your 15th? 

[JeremyD]

I could go so many ways. A second putter for when my first stinks. Maybe putting my hybrid back in, or my 2 iron. 

[MWL_9]

Very good question there - currently, I'm debating on what to do for club #14.  I have an old 3H, but my new irons overlap it in distance so it isn't used.  I'm debating on a 5W, 3H, or 60 degree wedge.  I need to see the distances on the new 5W and 3H.  I'm probably going to go 5W with club #14 so I'd add the 60 degree wedge for club #15.

[SD1199]

I am trying to figure out a club or 2 to drop to lighten the load a little when walking :).  

[Tom the Golf Nut]

Another wedge. I have a PW, 50* Gap Wedge, 56*, and a 60*. The 56* works great out of the sand but not so great out of the fairway. I have a Sub 70 JB wedge bent to 55* and it plays great out of the fairway but I'm not as good out of the sand with it. So the JB would go in the bag. 

[BostonSal]

On 8/2/2021 at 9:21 PM, Jcosta said:

If they changed the rules tomorrow to allow 15 clubs in your bag verses the currently allowed 14, which club (if any) would you add as your 15th? 

I would add a high loft 9 or 11-wood to hit recovery shots from the rough.

I'm not really missing anything else, but restoring the GINTY concept could be helpful,

if anybody here is old enough for that reference.

[cnosil]

Like @Tom the Golf Nuti am going wedge.   Something that I can put a longer swing on to fill the < 100 distance gaps.  

[RickyBobby_PR]

Don’t think I would but if I did would be an additional wood/hybrid that’s a pure distance club 

[Stuka44]

I would say a 1 or 2 iron, loft wise less than my 4 iron.  Solely to have a flatter recovery club to keep the ball low, when I have to roll it out of the trees, and back into play.

[Deacon Blues]

I wouldn’t. I’m perfectly happy with just 12 clubs in my bag.

[Calvo90]

Lefty 7 iron in otherwise righty bag for those nasty shots by the tree or from under the bush. 

[SharkyM]

I'm going with a *20/*21 7W!!!!   Went back to  an 18* 5W after playing 18* hybrid for many years and kicking myself for not having done it sooner.  The 5w is a beast, hzrdus t1000 shaft I can play any shot that I want, high low fade draw...Looking to cover the gap between my 18 5W (230) and 23* 4i(205).   21* 7w with a stout shaft !!!

 

[SharkyM]

5 hours ago, BostonSal said:

I would add a high loft 9 or 11-wood to hit recovery shots from the rough.

I'm not really missing anything else, but restoring the GINTY concept could be helpful,

if anybody here is old enough for that reference.

Ginty FTW!!!  

[Donn lost in San Diego]

Maybe a 2nd putter. I would go with my fav. lighter weight putter for long shots, and add a heavier and more stable/less likely to rotate even a degree, for the short putts.

Or I might go with 2 different 3 woods: one low profile flat bottom for hitting from fairway, the 2nd one a fuller face, like Callaway Steelhead XR, for the tee box. 

[Donn lost in San Diego]

BostonSal, SharkyM. I have a Ginty 2 copper sand wedge that I use about 30 yards from the green, and a copper 7 iron I use as a range practice club/warmup club.  And sometimes I add in my Stan Thompson CloseUp chipper.  Stan Thompson and Don Martin made some nice clubs in southern Calif back in the pre civil war era, I think it was.   Or was it after Teddy rode up San Juan Hill???

[DougE]

Instead of one single, medium bounce Vokey LW, I would add two, a high bounce and a low bounce. SM8 58.12 D and a 60.04L. I own them both and play each one regularly depending on the conditions, but they both aren't kept in the bag for the same round. Inevitably, no matter which one is in the bag, I often wish I had the other at least once a round for a specific lie.

[Hacker Rod]

I'd stop alternating between my 20* hybrid and my 20* utility, and carry them both. 

[Hoyoymac]

A 4 utility iron.  It is my 15th club now.  I bought a Tour Edge EXS 220 #4 utility iron earlier this year.  It is remarkable for low punch shots under trees or any time to get under the wind.  Super hot face and the ball just runs forever.  Good off the tee as well.  I bought it for a trip to Ireland and Scotland for links style courses.  Unfortunately my trip has been postponed due to Covid travel issues.  I carry it in my bag when practicing or playing casual rounds with friends and swap it for my 5 hybrid when playing in a competition if it is windy.  

It produces the most beautiful stingers!  Addicting to hit.  Great for bump and runs and for courses that don’t have raised greens.  Just not as good as my hybrid for hitting the ball high and landing a ball softly on a green.

[MichaelJW]

I would not add any. I only carry 13 now...  

[MCB14230]

I would add a UTI or a driver length 3 wood

[ChuckZ]

Personally I do not see a need to add another club.  If you count the number of clubs you use during a round I bet you do not use every club in the bag.  Most golfers have their favorites.  Look at the pros, most are hitting drivers and wedges on the par fours and reaching the par fives with an iron on their second shot.  How many of them use 14 clubs.  Some do even carry a true three wood.  I say master the fourteen that you have and manage you shots effectively on the course. 

I found an interesting article from Golf Digest regarding the origin of the 14 club rule:  Why do we have the 14 club rule?

"Which often leads golfers to ask, “OK, but why a limit and why 14?” As with most rules that involve equipment, advancing technology was one of the culprits.

For years players were content to go into battle armed with a relatively slim array of hickory-shafted weapons. That changed when the steel shaft was universally approved for use in 1929 (the USGA had approved its use earlier but it took some time for the R&A to get on board). Some golfers were torn, not sure they wanted to go to steel because they were unfamiliar with how those clubs would react, but not wanting to pass on potentially better equipment. The solution for many became to have a bag that incorporated both hickory and steel clubs, sending the number of sticks in the bag soaring.  (mixed bag by today's standards but with unlimited clubs.  This comment is mine and not theirs)

Good news for players. Bad news for the caddies. Those poor bastards often ended up lugging two bags instead of one—and caddies back then weren’t making the kind of scratch they do now. Lawson Little was perhaps the most infamous offender, as the winner of the 1934 and 1935 U.S. and British Amateurs often had 30 clubs at his disposal. Some players went with a set of right-handed and left-handed clubs and a survey at the 1935 U.S. Open showed the average number of clubs in a contestant’s bag was 18.

At this point, the USGA and R&A had seen enough. Just as with today in which the governing bodies are fretting about the role of technology in the game, the rules makers back then were afraid that such a large number of clubs would make skill less prominent. Additionally, it provided an advantage for well-to-do golfers who had the wherewithal to purchase more clubs than their less-fortunate brethren.

In 1936 the USGA and R&A adopted the 14-club limit with it going into effect in 1938. It has been in effect since.

Oh, and why 14? No one really knows, although it has been surmised that most common set makeup at the time was four woods, nine irons and a putter. You don’t even need a calculator to know that’s 14 bats."

I feel that 14 is adequate and let's keep the more skill in the game.    

 

Edited September 17, 2021 by ChuckZ

[puttnfool]

I only have one club in my bag now... a putter.  Going off my last bag (D, 3w, 5w, 7w, 9w, 5-PW, GW, SW, LW, putter), I'd add a 4i.

[ForeRightAgain]

Since I don't play competitive golf, I have 17 clubs currently in my bag. D, 3W, 5W, 2-4 H, 4-9 irons, PW, AW, 52, 56 and P.  Also since I play an array of courses all over the place I never know what I will need on any given day.  On the rare occasion where I'm playing in a match and not playing Wolf, I'll take out my 3W, 3H, and 4I. But that is few and far between

[ForeRightAgain]

3 hours ago, Calvo90 said:

Lefty 7 iron in otherwise righty bag for those nasty shots by the tree or from under the bush. 

Use to carry a the same thing.  Got me out of a lot of jams

[TBT]

Heavenwood!

[CHIPTHEBALL]

My bag has room for 15 clubs.  I would sure like to add my 3 wood back into play

 

[ChitownM2]

Probably wouldn't add anything as I'm already carrying a lob wedge that just sits in the bag unused.

[BIG STU]

18 hours ago, BostonSal said:

I would add a high loft 9 or 11-wood to hit recovery shots from the rough.

I'm not really missing anything else, but restoring the GINTY concept could be helpful,

if anybody here is old enough for that reference.

Oh yeah I am old enough for that reference and I have 2 Gintys. 

Edited September 18, 2021 by BIG STU

[BIG STU]

11 hours ago, ChuckZ said:

Personally I do not see a need to add another club.  If you count the number of clubs you use during a round I bet you do not use every club in the bag.  Most golfers have their favorites.  Look at the pros, most are hitting drivers and wedges on the par fours and reaching the par fives with an iron on their second shot.  How many of them use 14 clubs.  Some do even carry a true three wood.  I say master the fourteen that you have and manage you shots effectively on the course. 

I found an interesting article from Golf Digest regarding the origin of the 14 club rule:  Why do we have the 14 club rule?

"Which often leads golfers to ask, “OK, but why a limit and why 14?” As with most rules that involve equipment, advancing technology was one of the culprits.

For years players were content to go into battle armed with a relatively slim array of hickory-shafted weapons. That changed when the steel shaft was universally approved for use in 1929 (the USGA had approved its use earlier but it took some time for the R&A to get on board). Some golfers were torn, not sure they wanted to go to steel because they were unfamiliar with how those clubs would react, but not wanting to pass on potentially better equipment. The solution for many became to have a bag that incorporated both hickory and steel clubs, sending the number of sticks in the bag soaring.  (mixed bag by today's standards but with unlimited clubs.  This comment is mine and not theirs)

Good news for players. Bad news for the caddies. Those poor bastards often ended up lugging two bags instead of one—and caddies back then weren’t making the kind of scratch they do now. Lawson Little was perhaps the most infamous offender, as the winner of the 1934 and 1935 U.S. and British Amateurs often had 30 clubs at his disposal. Some players went with a set of right-handed and left-handed clubs and a survey at the 1935 U.S. Open showed the average number of clubs in a contestant’s bag was 18.

At this point, the USGA and R&A had seen enough. Just as with today in which the governing bodies are fretting about the role of technology in the game, the rules makers back then were afraid that such a large number of clubs would make skill less prominent. Additionally, it provided an advantage for well-to-do golfers who had the wherewithal to purchase more clubs than their less-fortunate brethren.

In 1936 the USGA and R&A adopted the 14-club limit with it going into effect in 1938. It has been in effect since.

Oh, and why 14? No one really knows, although it has been surmised that most common set makeup at the time was four woods, nine irons and a putter. You don’t even need a calculator to know that’s 14 bats."

I feel that 14 is adequate and let's keep the more skill in the game.    

 

LOL see you are right down the road from me---- Now back in the 60s and 70s i was around a lot of high dollar gamblers. In those games anything goes as long as it is agreed on before hand. One guy I knew in those days must have had at least 25 clubs in his bag. I can remember this guy bought a brand new PGA brand Tuffhorse bag from my old man ( who ran a course) first thing he did when taking it out of the box was take the 3 way divider out ( LOL again remember only 3 way dividers? ) That way his clubs did not tangle. Never figured him out until I was older and got educated in club mechanics. He carried like 3 different brands of 6 irons. He would hit a certain one on different shots. He had all his clubs tweaked to certain lofts and knew what to do with each one. Anothe funny thing about the bag was the reason he ordered it was because of the front "garmet" pocket. He chewed Red Man tobacco and he could take 2 flats of 12 pouches and take the pouches out and stack them in the bag. Another more sinister reason he took the club dividers out was because he carried a single shot 12 guage sawed off shotgun stuck barrel down in that bag. I am telling you first hand that bag was heavy and thank the Lord above for electric carts. I do not think there is a caddy alive now or then that could make 9 holes much less 18 on our hilly course. He was one heck of a player and a terror on the SE "gamblers circuit" Another well know hustler from our area qualified for the US Open one year. Some one asked Jay ( that was his name) why he did not try the US Open. He told them they will not let me carry all my clubs and the shotgun. Quite a character and needless to say no one messed with him. My old man told me that back in the day when he was young Jay could darn near whip anyone with his fists but he had gotten old. He was in his mid 50s when I knew him. I guess the guys like Lawson Little had their clubs dialed in the same way minus the shotgun

Edited September 18, 2021 by BIG STU

[Nolan220]

Would add back my 3h I just took it out bc I got the 4i in there and it was between 3h and 5w .. 5w I hit longer but I had the 3h forever like 10 years ..