The Golfer's Equipment

Since we play this game with clubs, our first thinking should be about the equipment we use. And there is plenty of material for thought here. How heavy should they be, what should be their swing weight, how stiff should the shafts be, how many should we carry, and which ones should they be?

Weights of clubs seem to go in cycles. In the early 1930's the tournament pros felt that with light clubs they could swing faster and thereby get more distance. The word spread about how the pros felt, the demand for light clubs increased, and the manufacturers of course obliged. This lasted until somewhere in the 1940's, when the pros decided that with heavier clubs they expended less physical effort; they would, in effect, let the club do the work. So heavier clubs came in. By 1960 the trend had begun to go the other way, toward slightly lighter sticks, not much but a little.

We prefer a club a little on the heavy side, for the reason that it doesn't have to be swung so fast. It can, and will, do most of the work if it is given a chance. With such a club the player can concentrate more on swinging correctly, making the proper moves that will bring direction, and not concern himself with getting adequate distance.

The average driver today weighs 13¼ to 13½ ounces and is 43 inches long, measured from the base of the heel to the tip of the shaft. The other woods are shorter by about a half inch with each number. The No. 2 iron is about 38% to 38⅝ inches, and the others drop about 7/16 of an inch each, down to the No. 9. The irons weigh from 14½ ounces for the No. 2 to 16½ for the No. 9. Sand wedges will go up to 17½.

Shafts of clubs are graded in three types, flexible, medium, and stiff. Most of the bigger, stronger pros use the stiff shaft. The medium shaft is for the average player. The flexible is generally considered best for players of more advanced age and for women. It is best suited for a slow swing. The limber-ness of a shaft is known to the manufacturers as shaft deflection.

The amount of loft in the face of a club (the amount it inclines from the vertical) varies from 10½ degrees for the driver up to 58 degrees for the sand wedge. There is only one degree difference between the No. 4 wood (19 degrees) and the No. 2 iron

In a general sense, the more you "feel" the head of the club when you waggle it or swing it, the higher the swing weight. You have often heard players say, and no doubt you have said it yourself, when handling a new club, "Feels like a lot of head in this." What you are feeling is the swing weight.

You could be fooled, of course, by the shaft. A medium swing weight, for instance, in a club with a flexible shaft, would feel like a very high swing weight. You would "feel" an inordinate amount of head when you swung it. In fact, with a club like this, you would have a very difficult time developing a decent swing at all. But the manufacturers have taken care of this.

Since the USGA permits the carrying of fourteen clubs, it would be difficult to persuade the average golfer that he shouldn't take full advantage of the rule. He would not be happy, indeed he would feel himself laboring under a handicap, carrying fewer than the rule allows. So, which ones should they be?

From the conventional set of three woods, nine irons, a sand wedge, and a putter, the average player should drop the No. 1 iron and the No. 2 wood. For these he should substitute the No. 4 wood and a pitching wedge. The No. 2 wood and the No. 1 iron, with their relatively straight faces, are the hardest clubs of all to use. Many pros dispense with the No. 2 wood, the old brassie, though most of them carry a No. 1 iron, mostly for use off a tee. If the pros cannot use them effectively, what chance does a 16-handicapper have to make them behave?

It is also a fact that most golfers find a lofted wood easier to handle than a long iron. This seems to be specially true as the player grows older. If you are one of these, and do not want to or cannot take the time to master the longer irons, then drop out the No. 2 and pick up a No. 5 wood.

Generally speaking, we recommend the carrying of a driver, Nos. 3 and 4 woods, Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 irons, a pitching wedge, a sand wedge, and a putter.

There are some to whom the No. 1 wood, the driver, seems to be a special type of poison. There is no logical reason for this. Anybody who can hit a 3 wood, or any other wood, off the fairway has more than enough ability to hit a teed-up ball with a driver. If you hook or slice so badly with the driver that you are afraid to play it, something is radically wrong with your swing.