14 Way Bags - Love em? Or Hate em?

[Julius]

9 hours ago, RetiredBoomer said:

Julius with a "J?"

Where do you find a "J" in Milan?

Surely, Compare, you must be Giulio!!!   

Retired Boomer - thank you for your comment!! If I was born and raised in Italy, you would be right!! I am from the US originally and Julius was my father's name (a legacy of our German heritage), as I moved to Europe many years ago for work and am now settled here, it still works, but yes, in Italy they all start it with the "G" (the same story for our daughter Julia, in Italy they all spell it Giulia).  I split my time between Sicily and Milan now depending on season. 

 

Here is wishing you a great round today!!!

[RetiredBoomer]

4 hours ago, Julius said:

Retired Boomer - thank you for your comment!! If I was born and raised in Italy, you would be right!! I am from the US originally and Julius was my father's name (a legacy of our German heritage), as I moved to Europe many years ago for work and am now settled here, it still works, but yes, in Italy they all start it with the "G" (the same story for our daughter Julia, in Italy they all spell it Giulia).  I split my time between Sicily and Milan now depending on season. 

 

Here is wishing you a great round today!!!

Back at you, Buddy!

All four of my grandparents were all born in Sicily, btw.  

I'm a rare American with pedigree papers!

[Julius]

4 minutes ago, RetiredBoomer said:

Back at you, Buddy!

All four of my grandparents were all born in Sicily, btw.  

I'm a rare American with pedigree papers!

Wonderful!! From which part?? My wife is from Catania, was born in Palermo.  Most of our good friends are here, we live on Etna.   And golfing in Italy is more expensive than the USA in general although you can find reasonably priced clubs (I was previously a member in Lecco for example). 

[RetiredBoomer]

11 minutes ago, Julius said:

Wonderful!! From which part?? My wife is from Catania, was born in Palermo.  Most of our good friends are here, we live on Etna.   And golfing in Italy is more expensive than the USA in general although you can find reasonably priced clubs (I was previously a member in Lecco for example). 

We were all from the East Coast area near Catania.

My maternal grandparents were from Trecastagni.  
(Thus my love for roasted chestnuts, perhaps.)

My paternal grandparents were from Biancavilla.     
(Ironically, they were very fair skinned Sicilians like myself.)

Maybe the names actually mean something,

Do you like the singer Carmen Consoli?

 

Edited August 29 by RetiredBoomer

[Julius]

1 hour ago, RetiredBoomer said:

We were all from the East Coast area near Catania.

My maternal grandparents were from Trecastagni.  
(Thus my love for roasted chestnuts, perhaps.)

My paternal grandparents were from Biancavilla.     
(Ironically, they were very fair skinned Sicilians like myself.)

Maybe the names actually mean something,

Do you like the singer Carmen Consoli?

 

I know who she is but I can’t say I listen to her.  So we have a place very close to Trecastagni now, in Aci San Filippo and are looking to buy a place in Viagrande. My wife’s father was from Alia near Palermo and he was fair skinned also.  Sicilia is such a mixed heritage you find all kinds of differences here!!  Right now we are in Menfi (where the American military landed in WW2). The whole area of Etna with those small towns is beautiful- and now the wine is world famous from there, especially the Etna Rosso.

[skraeling]

7 hours ago, Julius said:

Retired Boomer - thank you for your comment!! If I was born and raised in Italy, you would be right!! I am from the US originally and Julius was my father's name (a legacy of our German heritage), as I moved to Europe many years ago for work and am now settled here, it still works, but yes, in Italy they all start it with the "G" (the same story for our daughter Julia, in Italy they all spell it Giulia).  I split my time between Sicily and Milan now depending on season. 

 

Here is wishing you a great round today!!!

 

2 hours ago, RetiredBoomer said:

Back at you, Buddy!

All four of my grandparents were all born in Sicily, btw.  

I'm a rare American with pedigree papers!

Got my dad a little drunk at golf one night and he let slip I was conceived in Italy lol.  Guess thats what happens when you get off a carrier and your mother meets him for shore leave hahahah

Do I technically count?

Edited August 29 by skraeling

[Julius]

5 hours ago, skraeling said:

 

Got my dad a little drunk at golf one night and he let slip I was conceived in Italy lol.  Guess thats what happens when you get off a carrier and your mother meets him for shore leave hahahah

Do I technically count?

I think it would be close enough!!

[AP Major]

10 hours ago, RetiredBoomer said:

All four of my grandparents were all born in Sicily, btw.  

Another Sicilian (Palermo), checking in. My mother is a Macaluso. My grandfather was the first of his family to make roots in America (New York) and I also have family from Napoli.

Edited August 29 by AP Major

[RetiredBoomer]

Here is a purely theoretical issue with the fourteen full-length divider bag.

Which clubs from your new set do you put in it?

[GolfSpy_APH]

19 hours ago, RetiredBoomer said:

Here is a purely theoretical issue with the fourteen full-length divider bag.

Which clubs from your new set do you put in it?

At least for me there are easy decisions. Chipping iron and 64 degree are more than useless so they are gone. Same with 4 and 5 wood, don't need both. Drop the 5 because there is a 7 wood and then given I don't currently use one the 4 iron can also be given the boot. 

That's 4 clubs gone, so now I have extra space for alignment sticks.

[RetiredBoomer]

1 minute ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

 

That's 4 clubs gone, so now I have extra space for alignment sticks.

I've used one alignment stick as a headcover holder for the driver or fairway wood that I'm hitting.
Why would one need two?

 

 

[GolfSpy_APH]

Just now, RetiredBoomer said:

I've used one alignment stick as a headcover holder for the driver or fairway wood that I'm hitting.
Why would one need two?

 

 

Training and drills

[RetiredBoomer]

1 minute ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Training and drills

 

Ah!

[Josh Parker]

19 hours ago, RetiredBoomer said:

Here is a purely theoretical issue with the fourteen full-length divider bag.

Which clubs from your new set do you put in it?

Easy selection

Driver

4w turned to 15.75*

5w 

7w

5-PW

48, 53, 58

[RetiredBoomer]

2 minutes ago, Josh Parker said:

Easy selection

Driver

4w turned to 15.75*

5w 

7w

5-PW

48, 53, 58

No long iron for tight driving holes?

[Josh Parker]

2 minutes ago, RetiredBoomer said:

No long iron for tight driving holes?

Have the 5 iron or 7w. Both should be easy to shot shape and hit on tight fairways. 

[RetiredBoomer]

Just now, Josh Parker said:

Have the 5 iron or 7w. Both should be easy to shot shape and hit on tight fairways. 

That does seem like the modern approach. 

I've always had a long iron for tight driving holes since the Mizuno Fli Hi II about twenty years ago,
and I even once had a Wilson 1200GE 1-iron way back in the day
which I wouldn't even have dreamt of trying to hit from the deck.
[It went about as far as a 6-iron from anything other than a perfect lie.]

Today, however, there are lots of options and no such thing as a standard set configuration.

That would seem to be a good thing.

[Josh Parker]

9 minutes ago, RetiredBoomer said:

That does seem like the modern approach. 

I've always had a long iron for tight driving holes since the Mizuno Fli Hi II about twenty years ago,
and I even once had a Wilson 1200GE 1-iron way back in the day
which I wouldn't even have dreamt of trying to hit from the deck.
[It went about as far as a 6-iron from anything other than a perfect lie.]

Today, however, there are lots of options and no such thing as a standard set configuration.

That would seem to be a good thing.

You only had a 4i on your list and the difference between 5i or 7w aren't enough for me to want to keep it. I would rather have the height of the 7w to stop the ball on a long par 3

[RetiredBoomer]

8 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Chipping iron and 64 degree are more than useless so they are gone.

Chipping iron and 64 degree are definitely clubs that the vast majority of players can do very easily without.

Not sure that they're useless, however. 

The best ones can be excellent one-trick-pony specialty clubs.
There's our issue right there. 
It's those of us who like highly specialized clubs that have trouble with the 14-club rule.

It does appear that the majority of players do not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rob Person]

If the bag has 14 slots, but the putter slot is extra wide,  use that for 1 extra club. Alternatively, some bags have an external putter well and a 14 way top. (Some even have 2 external putter wells)

[Coulter]

I definitely prefer something other than a 14 way bag but it isn’t a deal breaker for me example being I just bought a new stand bag that had everything I wanted for the right price but it was a 14 way bag. So if that’s the only problem I have it is very easy for me to over look.

[buckpillar]

25 minutes ago, Coulter said:

I definitely prefer something other than a 14 way bag but it isn’t a deal breaker for me example being I just bought a new stand bag that had everything I wanted for the right price but it was a 14 way bag. So if that’s the only problem I have it is very easy for me to over look.

I like the individual slots for each club, a little less wear and tear , but I use neoprene iron covers to prevent nicks and dings also club chatter.

[Coulter]

59 minutes ago, buckpillar said:

I like the individual slots for each club, a little less wear and tear , but I use neoprene iron covers to prevent nicks and dings also club chatter.

While I sometimes pride myself on not really caring what others think the stigma associated with iron covers is one leap I haven’t been able to make. I do hate seeing the dings on my irons but just can’t bring myself to get the iron covers. I do like the idea of the 14 way bags but it seems like I am always fighting a club back into its slot where as other bags I never really had that problem. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

4 hours ago, RetiredBoomer said:

Chipping iron and 64 degree are definitely clubs that the vast majority of players can do very easily without.

Not sure that they're useless, however. 

The best ones can be excellent one-trick-pony specialty clubs.
There's our issue right there. 
It's those of us who like highly specialized clubs that have trouble with the 14-club rule.

It does appear that the majority of players do not.

Chippers or a chipping iron I don't get. While I know their purpose I also know that a 4,5,6,7 iron can essentially do the exact same thing and you have even more options or versatility. 

64 is not something I have ever had or plan to. I don't even carry a 60 and stop at 57 as that's what suits me. 

I know we sit on opposite sides of this, which is all well and good. I most often have 13 clubs in my bag and truly never feel that I am missing out. The gap I have is at 230-240 yards. Course management would tell me that I am better to lay up rather than go for it at that range. 

[RetiredBoomer]

6 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Chippers or a chipping iron I don't get. While I know their purpose I also know that a 4,5,6,7 iron can essentially do the exact same thing and you have even more options or versatility. 

64 is not something I have ever had or plan to. I don't even carry a 60 and stop at 57 as that's what suits me. 

I know we sit on opposite sides of this, which is all well and good. I most often have 13 clubs in my bag and truly never feel that I am missing out. The gap I have is at 230-240 yards. Course management would tell me that I am better to lay up rather than go for it at that range. 

For those who don't get the purpose of the Cleveland chipper, it's this. 
It's got a sole and upright lie angle specifically designed for the chipping stroke,
not for a regular golf swing. 

You're right; it's not necessary, but if you have room for it in your bag,
and if you struggle hitting chips thin or fat, 
it really helps to solve your problem.

As for uber-loft wedges, they're also one trick ponies; they're short-sided recovery clubs.
Drop and stop with NO green with which to work.
You're either comfortable with that shot or you're not. With me, it's a shot I can make.
Especially with machine-shop altered grooves. [Our secret.]

Same thing with drivers, driving irons, and putters;
they're also one-trick ponies.
You don't hit a variety of shots with them.

So now imagine that you have FIVE or SIX one-trick pony clubs in your bag, 
all quite useful, none the least bit versatile.  

You have to do your entire regular- shot gapping progression
with eight or nine clubs,
or you need a bag that has more full-length dividers than fourteen!
That's the price of enjoying specialty clubs.

As for having a gap at 240/250, congratulations, APH!!!

That's my very best driver hit.

 

Edited September 2 by RetiredBoomer

[cnosil]

2 hours ago, RetiredBoomer said:

if you struggle hitting chips thin or fat, 
it really helps to solve your problem.

Same thing with drivers, driving irons, and putters;
they're also one-trick ponies.
You don't hit a variety of shots with them.

 

It is a matter of perspective.  

I'll agree drivers are used for a sole purpose:  hit the ball as far as possible.  But you don't have to have a driver in your bag.

Driving irons are used off the tee or from fairway/rough.   Again, don't have to have  one in your bag.  

Putters are used from on and off the green and are used to hit from countless distances and contours.   Again, don't have to have one in your bag.   

You have simply chosen to consider them one trick ponies.   You have chosen to setup your bag with what you consider one trick ponies.  Others learn to make the clubs they hit more versatile.    My bag has 13 clubs and could be cut back to 12 with no issues.  I have tried a chipper and disagree that you can't hit them fat or thin.     

[RetiredBoomer]

4 hours ago, cnosil said:

   You have chosen to setup your bag with what you consider one trick ponies.  

Good observation, C.
I don't completely disagree.

I've been playing golf for a long time, however.

Biomechanically, I know how to hit every shot that I try to hit.
Physical coordination deteriorates with time, however.
The brain gives the correct instruction, but the body doesn't execute every time.

Along the path, however, we find things that help a little bit.
Certain "one trick pony clubs" make it easier, on specific types of shot, to execute the body movement
that one is trying to make.

Driver and putter are a given, but......

A very forgiving driving iron for scary driving holes.

A sand iron with a very curved leading edge,
not ideal from the turf,
but it gets through the sand easier.

A chipper with a more upright lie angle than one's regular irons
and a sole designed specifically for the chipping stroke
to facilitate actually making that specific chipping stroke.

An uber loft wedge to give vertical drop when you can't spin it as hard as you used to.

A certain type of player will regard these extra clubs as crutches,
and that's reasonable enough to think, I admit,
but if you're playing this game for fun,
whatever makes it more fun for you is a good thing.

A cart bag with sixteen or seventeen full length dividers would enhance my fun 
if I could find one.  That's really all that I'm saying.
I don't expect everybody to understand,
but still,
some people like to hear an alternative perspective.

 

 

[Javs]

On 8/31/2024 at 3:10 PM, RetiredBoomer said:

Here is a purely theoretical issue with the fourteen full-length divider bag.

Which clubs from your new set do you put in it?

If you carry a 7 wood do you need the 4 and 5 iron? I don’t see the need for a 64 degree or the chipper. 

[RetiredBoomer]

1 hour ago, Javs said:

If you carry a 7 wood do you need the 4 and 5 iron? I don’t see the need for a 64 degree or the chipper. 

 

1 hour ago, Javs said:

If you carry a 7 wood do you need the 4 and 5 iron? I don’t see the need for a 64 degree or the chipper. 

Golf clubs are obscenely expensive, today.
If you buy the whole set, you don't want to leave parts of it at home.

Lofted woods and longs irons may hit the ball the same distance,
but they're two totally different kinds of shot, both of which are useful.

The purpose of the 64 and the chipper is alluded to higher up on the thread..

[Javs]

1 hour ago, RetiredBoomer said:

 

Golf clubs are obscenely expensive, today.
If you buy the whole set, you don't want to leave parts of it at home.

Lofted woods and longs irons may hit the ball the same distance,
but they're two totally different kinds of shot, both of which are useful.

The purpose of the 64 and the chipper is alluded to higher up on the thread..

Guess I was looking at it from my view and my game.