Do you still carry a 5-iron?

[The 300 year old golfer]

I am 72 years of age. Over the years I have lost distance. The gap between my irons got narrower so that the longer irons all basically all went about the same distance. it became increasingly hard to get the longer irons up in the air. I decided that I would increase the gap in the lofts from 4° to 5°. Now my irons are 60°, 55°, 50°, 45° pitching wedge, 40° 9 iron, 35° 8 iron, 30° 7 iron, and 24° 6 iron. That makes the six iron almost a 4 iron in loft but because of the technology it still goes high. I then go to a four hybrid, seven, five, three wood and driver. The gap between the six iron at 26° and the four hybrid at 24° is just right as the hybrid is longer.

[Julius]

I am 59 and walk the course 90% of the time.  5 is the lowest iron in my bag, and I generally only use it for 2 situations. 1 - the most common being when I am in a place such as under a branch or other obstacle that where I need to keep it low and I use it to punch out and get some decent distance (and I can control it).  2 - if I am in longer rough and I need to get it out and need some distance also (as the woods/hybrids are more difficult in that grass).  I have a 3,5, and 7 wood in my bag and a 4 hybrid that is rarely used.  I could leave the 5 out of the bag and just use the 6 as well I guess.  Years ago I left behind the lower irons of 3 and 4 as I found them too hard to hit and not having much differential for distance, and then for me woods are much easier to hit.  Hybrids I am hit or miss with, sometime i can hit it well but I am much more consistent with the woods. 

[Pots]

51 here....5-iron is the lowest iron in my bag.  Still have enough speed to hit it (106-108 w/ driver).  It will be the first to likely go when that changes.  I find it helpful to have in the bag for lower-trajectory shots like a punch out from the trees or in windy conditions.  Also, it is the fairway finder for that tight + short par 4 or the dogleg that requires a placement shot...

[MajorMike]

Still have a 5 in the bag though it is the lowest iron, then a 7 wood.

[och27]

I've used my 5 iron more the last 2 weeks than I have in the past 2.5 years. Im kicking myself for not trying it more consistently before.

I feel it was a confidence thing for me.

Dr, 5w, 4hy, 5i-PW

[Rhatz]

Just turned 75. The last set I ordered was Mizuno JPX 221 Tour 6-PW. Haven't carried a 5-iron for some time. Replace a few years ago with PING hybrids 22* and 26*. All my long clubs are PING.

[Glenn Kraemer]

My 5 left my bag 10 years go. I am 74 years old and play to a 6.7 handicap. I am not a fan of hybrids, so I have added Cobra 4-5 wood as well a 6 and 7 wood. I never thought I would add 7 wood, but Father Time catches all of us. He is undefeated

[Norman K]

I don’t carry a 5 iron anymore. I carry 60°, 56°, 50°, 46° & pitching wedges, 9, 8, 7, & 6 irons. I carry a driver, 5 hybrid, 7 wood & change between a 4 hybrid or a 5 wood depending on the course I’m going to play. 

[THE GOLF GUY]

On 5/10/2024 at 8:51 AM, Gbufer said:

These are really solid distances and gaps! 

Not bad for a 63 year old

[OldGuyGolf]

Stop sending me these emails.  The friggin follow  topic undo button isn't working !

[Mr Lundt]

10 hours ago, OldGuyGolf said:

Stop sending me these emails.  The friggin follow  topic undo button isn't working !

You can check out anytime you like

But you can never leave

[jonry]

I carry 3-pw Ping i3 OS. Not as strong lofted as current irons but nicely gapped for me.

[JCole]

My 5 iron is one of my favorite clubs. Has been since I started playing

[wayne52]

I'm 71 and took out my 5 iron 4 year ago and now choke way down on my 5 wood or use my 7wood if i need the height. I have been thinking of shopping around for a 4 wood or testing a senior shaft in my 3 wood.

Callaway epic speed driver

Mizuno 3 & 5 woods

Callaway 7 wood

Titleist   AP2 6 thru GW

Titleist Vokey  SM8's 54 & 60

[Franc38]

I haven't yet turned 50 (that's for next October), but I still carry a 5 iron... and a 4 iron, and hit them both relatively often. The 4 I often use off the tee for shorter par 4 to avoid the trouble of the green complex, to punch out of trouble, and for any approach that's 205 to 215 yards, the 5 iron I use for the obvious 200 yard approach and for playing knocked down shots into the wind. I must say I don't use the 5i as often as the 4i, but hey.
I used to have, when I returned to the game 7 years ago, a 4 hybrid after my 5i, but I do control flight and direction a bit better with my irons so I've converted said hybrid into a 3 (21° of loft) and by closing the loft, that opened the face limiting a bit it's natural tendency to curve viciously to the left. Still, I don't use that often because it's a 225 yards club with a high trajectory and at that distance I'm typically laying up while I would prefer to tee off with either the 4i or the 4 wood... Still, from time to time it comes in handy and as I already only have 13 clubs in the bag, it stays!

[Eltrain41]

Reading the comments I do believe age is a factor with long irons unless you're a very low index of course. I'm 41 and still carry a 4 and a 5 iron. I feel mostly comfortable hitting them both off a fairway into a par 5 if the yardage works. I also hit them both quite a bit of the tee where it's very easy to hit them. My irons travel far so on a short Par 4 I often times will hit iron to keep the ball in play, and still be left with 9 iron or wedge in. The 4 and 5 iron can be useful too, when under trees to advance the ball down the fairway and try to save par. I even carry a 2 iron (driving iron) but that's another topic. 

[Kschicky]

I recently updated my clubs and dropped the 5 iron from my bag.  My bag now consists of the following 

Driver - Srixon ZX5 mk II

3 wood - Callaway AI Smoke

5 wood - Taylormade QI10

3 & 4 hybrid - Taylormade Sim 2

6 - Gap wedge - Srixon zx5 mkII

54 & 58 wedge - Cleveland zipcore cbx4

 

 

[revkev]

Great topic - when I turned 50 the question was 4 iron rather than 5 but honestly they are the same club. 
 

That was right around when I got rid of 4 iron in favor of my first hybrid for the first time. At 30 I shifted from 2 iron to 5 wood (that was so hard because I loved that 2 iron).  At 40 it was 3 iron for 7 wood. At 50 it was the 4 iron and 3 wood for 4 wood - I also played the best golf of my life after that. 6 iron made it to 65 at least  

[THE GOLF GUY]

I do carry one but I’m currently testing the Titleist Utility Build 200 5 iron with an Aerotech steel fiber 95 gram shaft and love it . My old 5 iron is a Taylormade P7 MC and I hit it around 192 yards but hit the Titleist 195 and with more confidence too. So I’m about to put it in play . I have changed the top of bag a little in the last few weeks .

Taylormade Stealth 2 10.5* to a Q10 Max 10.5*

Taylormade Stealth 2 HL 3 wood to the 13.5* Mini Driver 

Still playing the Stealth 5 wood & 7 wood 

Taylormade P7 MC 5 iron to a Titleist Utility Build 200 5 iron 

 

Edited May 14 by THE GOLF GUY

[Sanjeev Thakur]

I love my 5 iron. Its like a go to club for above 160yards. 

[BeansGuy]

I just ordered a seven-wood to add to the bag or replace my five-iron. Our course has many trees, so I would consider keeping the five irons in the bag, as it's beneficial for getting out from under the trees. 

[Haro]

Turn 59. Change my 4 iron for a hybrid 2 years ago.  Never really liked hybrids in the past but I’m feeling like it’s much easier to hit 

My 5 iron goes 175 carry and I can hit a green 190 yards as long as there no water in front 

But my consistency is not as good as the 4 hybrid   I think of switching not just my 5 iron but 6 , 7 and 8 irons out.   

I tested a bunch of hybrids 24 degree to 37 degrees at the golf store

and all were high launch and can carry to the green without rolling off. I think I can probably switch out and  try all hybrids from 8-4 some day 

The 16-20 degree hybrids I tried were too “driving” and I felt like a need longer shaft. These degrees were more suited for fairway wood to match up my swing 

Edited May 17 by Haro

[sejohnson]

Back when I was young, dumb and full...needless to say I carried all the way down to a 2 iron. Right now, the longest iron I have is a 4 iron and I believe I will be trading that in for a 7 wood in the very near future. I hit my 5 iron very well so should have it for the foreseeable future, but I imagine that will start to be phased out as I continue to accumulate rings on my tree.

Edited May 17 by sejohnson
typo

[The 300 year old golfer]

I keep hearing that a five iron is being kept for low punch shots. If you play a seven iron two or 3 inches back in your stance it becomes a five iron. Also because it is shorter, it is easier to make solid contact and easier to maneuver if you are in the trees or bushes. This frees you up to have an extra club in your bag. When you are in the trees, the object is not to hit a ball a long way. It is to simply get out safely.

[Lefty11]

The highest iron I carry in my bag is a 6 iron. Last season, I switched to a 5 hybrid because I've had great success with my 3 and 4 hybrids.

[RetiredBoomer]

I was, on this very forum, recently advised to drop my five iron to get down to the fourteen club limit while still bagging all the utility specialty clubs that I like to bag.

In the end, that's very possibly going to be the route I take. 
For now, while I'm on the shelf temporarily with a minor ailment,
I took my three fairway wood set out of the bag
for a two fairway wood set with a different loft on the shorter one.
We'll see how that works out first.

That made me think of something.
In deciding which clubs to include while configuring a bag,
I wonder if most typical recreational players
actually know the lofts of each one of their clubs,
even when they have extras and thus choices to make.

I do, but maybe I'm just weird.  Probably, because I'm not a technically minded person in general.  I wish that I could still have a 1990s flip phone instead of the complicated smart phone that I have to use now...and I still have a land line!

Please ignore this part if you're bored, but these are my present lofts.

driver...................................13.5°
utility driving iron..............19°
fairway wood....................18°
fairway wood.....................23°
5-iron....................................26°
6-iron.....................................30°
7-iron.....................................34°
8-iron......................................38°
9-iron......................................42°
pitching wedge...................46°
gap wedge............................52-08
lob wedge.............................58-04
utility sand iron...................62°
putter........................................3°

 

 

 

[BLKACES]

Yes, I have 4-10 iron, 2 wedges (52 & 54), driver, 3w, 5w, 3/4 hybrid, putter

Also rotate a 3 Ping driving iron in bag, remove the hybrid or 5w at times.  

[Micah T]

I’m 42 and still game a 4 & 5 iron. I keep a close eye on my gaps and I think the 4 iron might be gone by the time I’m 50, but not the 5. Then again, who knows what the loft of a players distance 5 iron will be by then…

[Will_Mac]

I'm 56, and 5-iron has been long removed from the bag. It's not a SS issue as I'm still (thankfully) 110+ mph with driver. I just went the easier route with hybrid.

And last year, I turned the easy route on its head. [emoji6]

After seeing a video of then Korn Ferry Tour, now PGA Tour player Kevin Dougherty about his caddy cutting a 300 Mini-Driver down to 7W length, I followed suit. I already had a 300 Mini collecting dust in the corner, figured, what the heck?

It's been tremendous for me.

https://www.pgatour.com/video/video/6326263643112/kevin-dougherty-shows-off-his-mini-driver

And, above 6-iron, I went unorthodox again with Cobra Radspeed one-length hybrids. They're 7-iron length, look goofy as all get-out, as if kids clubs. But I hit them straight and long. Nearly instantly forgot to care about how they look.

I'm a decent golfer who can still hit 3-iron, as evidenced by a good range session recently with a buddy's. But, for me, it's a question of "why?" Now, 3-iron is a big leap from 5-iron. But, when I can hit other, even silly, clubs more easily than 5-iron?

Then... "why not?" [emoji2369]

I'm firmly in the why-not camp. Regardless of how odd the bag set-up may appear. I'll always just play what works (for me).

[MarcM]

I have recently decided on my new titleist t350 iron set to buy 6 thru PW only

the five and lower clubs I question the need for these when hybrids and hy-woods get the ball airborne with a softer landing.

easier to hit off hard fairways no reason for long irons. I’m a 15 handicapper