The other day I pulled nine clubs out of my golf bag and stuffed them in my trunk. Thanks to a sore back and some general frustration with my game, I wanted to play with just five. I needed a break from carrying a full bag, and getting in and out of a cart was actually worse (“You could also not play,” my wife suggested, which I assumed was a joke). Plus, I had the sense I was starting to take golf too seriously and this might help me lighten up.

Did it work? Yes. But also, no. Let me explain.

The five-club experiment

The original plan was to play with just three clubs since that would be far more restrictive and require greater creativity. But I went with five for two reasons: one, my driver has been erratic of late and I wanted the opportunity to work on it. Also, my regular golf group plays a modest four-ball Nassau that I didn’t want to disrupt. Was I already compromising the “just go out there and have fun” edict I was purporting to follow? Of course. Is my relationship with golf complicated? Exceptionally.

Anyway, the five clubs I chose: driver, 6-iron, 9-iron, 56-degree wedge, putter. In that arrangement, the biggest gap by far was the 70 or so yards between my driver and 6-iron, but that really wasn’t the hardest part. More on that in a bit.

Where it helped

Early in my round, it was apparent how the limitations of my bag could oddly play to my advantage. The first hole of my club is a beefy par 4. Even with a good drive, I’m usually left with more than 200 yards in, but with only a 6-iron in my bag, I was absolved of the delusion I could get home. Instead, I smoothed an approach to 35 yards short of the green, pitched to 10 feet, and lipped out a par putt.

Most of the front nine played out in a similar fashion. My ball striking is a wildcard even with access to all of my clubs, but my short game keeps me competitive, so I was content to deliver balls to strategic sports short of greens and take my chances from there. The fun was in trying to solve a new puzzle — choking down on 6-irons, bumping 9-irons, or trying to muscle 5 extra yards out of a sand wedge. If I was faring worse on the scorecard, it wasn’t by much, and the benefits were apparent. In mindfulness practices, they call this “beginner’s mind,” in which you approach an endeavour with fresh eyes and without preconceived expectations. For someone who plays a decent amount of golf at the same course, this was an opportunity to play the game from a different perspective. If you find yourself stuck in a similar rut, I recommend it.

And yet …

Where it hurt

There is a reason golf is played with 14 clubs. Ask tour players about the regrettable tendencies of their pro-am partners, and many cite that they don’t take enough club. The mid-handicapper often confuses the ability to hit a 6-iron 165 yards with the ability to do so consistently, which I’d say is pretty stupid if I wasn’t guilty of the same thing. Now take nine clubs out of your bag, and your room for error is pared even more. If I am capable of manufacturing a decent score with a limited set, it’s contingent on me hitting each of those five clubs well every time, which in my decades of playing golf has happened precisely … never. The strain builds, and suddenly this innocuous experiment of playing with fewer clubs had me gripping a 9-iron too tight and trying to fly it 140 yards over a bunker. Spoiler alert: I wound up in the bunker. In this case, I didn’t take enough clubs because I didn’t have enough clubs.

Lesson learned: Frame success differently

The mistake of my experiment was not in setting a goal, but perhaps making it unrealistic. I had a target score that wasn’t so far removed from my normal range, and I was trying to compete in a match at roughly the same level (my playing partners allotted me one extra stroke a side). Now factor in a stiff back, and I made things too hard for myself … which led to frustration … which was supposedly the thing I was trying to avoid.

Testing yourself is good for your golf, and so is trying to breathe life into your routine. It’s when the two pursuits aren’t aligned that things get sideways. I am going to play with five clubs again soon, but next time it will be without a hard target or a goal of trying to figure out my swing. In hindsight, the fewer clubs in your bag, the fewer thoughts should be in your head as well.

The post Can playing with just five clubs make you better? Here’s what I learned appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

There has been monumental growth in golf club technology that has shaped the modern game. Three golfers try three different eras of clubs and see how their performances compare.

Watch to see how they got on:

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The post WATCH — Generation game: Three golfers try three clubs from different eras to see how technology has changed the game appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

1. Count how many clubs you want in your bag up to and including the 9-iron. Starting with your putter, if the number of clubs you’re carrying up to your 9-iron is 11, then you only have room for three wedges. If it’s 10, then you have room for four wedges. In our experience, if you only have three clubs to carry you past your 40-degree 9-iron, you’re going to be playing a lot of in-between and half shots in the scoring zone when you should be making full swings. Finding a way to make space in your bag for one extra wedge is going to give you the ability to have more specific clubs for certain shots. Instead of trying to hit a shot with a 3/4 swing, you’ll be able to take a full swing.

2. Know your pitching wedge loft. If it’s 45 degrees or less, add three more wedges that are spaced apart by no more than 4-5 degrees each. So generally think about putting in a gap wedge that’s 48 or 50 degrees, a sand wedge that’s between 54 and 56 degrees, and a lob wedge that’s between 58 and 60 degrees. These are general guidelines, make sure you’re working with your fitter to get the gapping that works best for you.

3. You must have a wedge between your pitching wedge loft and your sand wedge loft. The gap wedge (usually around 50 degrees) provides vital yardage between those two clubs. Our recommendation is that you endeavour to match the gap wedge to the short irons and pitching wedge in your set because this gap wedge will also likely be a full-swing club. Your sand wedge and lob wedge will be used more around the green than in full swings.

4. Remember wedges can easily be bent a degree or two, strong or weak, to achieve the desired loft spacing. That means a 50-degree wedge can easily be a 51- or 49-degree club, But be aware that as you start strengthening or weakening the lofts of your high-lofted wedges, you’re also affecting the bounce angle. Every degree strong reduces bounce by a degree, and vice versa.

5. Ultra-high lofted wedges may help the ball get in the air quicker, but we think a maximum loft of 58 degrees provides the best versatility for your highest-lofted wedge and a more solid contact for an optimized greenside spin. An ideal progression is for the pitching wedge to be 45 degrees, followed by a 50-degree gap wedge and complemented by 54- and 58-degree sand and lob wedges.

6. As always, get with your fitter to gain a better understanding of how your irons and wedges should work together. In fact, if you’re being fit for irons, it’s an excellent idea to add on a wedge fitting to properly fill out the rest of your bag. You can find certified club fitters at eGolf Megastore here.

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The post Pitching, Gap, Lob & Sand Wedge Lofts: Everything you need to know appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Mike Stachura
The Callaway Great Big Bertha Epic Star woods and irons make up a new collection built on the popular Epic name but aimed at a niche market looking for the kind of lighter specifications seen in models typically only released in Asia. But Callaway’s push to make a lighter club was not a race to the extremes, at least when it comes to weight.

Why? Because sometimes lighter actually is heavier. Moreover, the lightest clubs don’t actually lead to faster swing speed.

“When we went really light in overall club weight, at some point there was no more increase in head speed,” said Evan Gibbs, Callaway’s senior director of research and development in woods. Gibbs explained that often superlight clubs get so light by taking weight out of the grip. That doesn’t work on two fronts, he said.

“Reducing weight is more impactful the further from the hands it gets. If you put an ultralight 25-gram grip on a club, you’re not seeing hardly any change in head speed because it’s all under your hands. So what you have is just a club that doesn’t feel very good and doesn’t help you swing it faster.”

In fact, what’s often happening is that clubs that are superlight, like drivers that weigh 270 grams or less, (10-15 percent lighter than traditional drivers), is those lighter overall clubs end up with heavier swing weights.

“We decided that all-out low club weight wasn’t necessarily our goal, but we did want to keep swing weight under control,” said Alan Hocknell, Callaway’s senior vice president of research and development.

Gibbs said one bonus benefit of the lighter weight is players tended to launch the ball higher because they had more control of the club and are able to hit up on the ball with the driver.

“The two biggest things for lower head speed is one, try to increase their head speed, and two, make sure they get high enough launch,” Gibbs said. “The lighter weight helps some players hit up on the driver, and hitting up on it for a lot of players is a greater benefit than the additional head speed.”

Both the GBB Epic Star woods and irons incorporate the same core technologies found in the popular Epic driver, fairway woods, hybrids and irons. That includes extensive use of carbon composite materials in the crown and sole, comprising nearly half of the head’s total construction and a crown that weighs under 10 grams. The GBB Epic Star driver also uses the internal supporting rods structure behind the face designed to concentrate the flexing of the face across a wider area, what the company calls “Jailbreak Technology.”

While the GBB Epic Star driver’s design saves weight (seven grams) through not having an adjustable hosel, it does feature an 11-gram sliding weight in the rear perimeter of the sole designed to move the center of gravity toward the heel for more draw bias.

The GBB Epic Star driver uses a slightly lighter than standard grip (41-gram J200 from Golf Pride, about 5-20 grams lighter than many standard grips) and a super lightweight Mitsubishi Grand Bassara shaft that weighs less than 40 grams, or about a third lighter than typical graphite shafts used on the standard version of the Epic driver. The overall weight is in the 286-289-gram range about 20 grams lighter than the standard Epic driver and the lightest driver in the company’s current arsenal. Unlike some ultra-lightweight drivers with swing weights of D3, D4 or even D5, the GBB Epic Star will have a D0 swingweight, three points lighter than the standard Epic.

The GBB Epic Star fairway woods continue the lighter theme with a sub-50 gram version of the Grand Bassara shaft. Like the standard Epic fairway woods, they feature a cupface design where the face insert wraps around the crown and sole to provide better rebound. The lightweight carbon composite crown allows more mass to be distributed to the perimeter for more off-center hit forgiveness.

The GBB Epic Star hybrids use a forged 455 steel cupface for improved ball speeed, but provide more swing speed potential with a 50-gram Grand Bassara shaft that’s about 25 percent lighter than typical hybrid shafts. An internal, wave-like, metal-injection-molded tungsten weight pad lowers the center of gravity to improve launch.

The GBB Epic Star irons take their technology cue from the Epic irons, although with amendments geared to servicing the needs of slower swingers. They maintain the core technology of the Epic’s lightweight but stable structure that features a thin cupface supported by two rear beams that work somewhat like the support rods in the Epic driver.

The GBB Epic Star irons use longer lengths and stronger lofts to go with lighter weight to provide distance opportunities for those players lacking natural speed. The set starts at the 4-iron and the lengths stay consistently a half-inch longer compared to the standard Epic irons, while the lofts get progressively stronger through the set. That starts with an 18.5-degree 4-iron (two degrees stronger than the standard Epic) and continues with a 26-degree 7-iron (four degrees stronger than the standard Epic) and a 39-degree pitching wedge (five degrees stronger than the standard Epic).

The GBB Epic Star line’s use of lighter materials, particularly the high-end and ultralight Mitsubishi Grand Bassara shafts, also make for higher prices through the line. As such, they will be offered in limited quantities to select retailers and golf clubs.

The GBB Epic Star driver (10.5, 12 degrees; $700), fairway woods (15, 18, 21 degrees; $400 per club), hybrids (18, 20, 23 degrees; $300 per club) and irons (4-iron through sand wedge; $300 per club) will be available September 29.

The post Callaway GBB Epic Star line of woods, irons aimed at distance through targeted, lighter weight appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Thomas averaged 328 yards off the tee using his Titleist 917DF2 driver (with a Mitsubishi Diamana BF60 TX shaft) and posted a strokes gained/putting mark of 1.818 for the 72 holes and an impressive 2.397 stokes gained/putting on Sunday (considerably better than his .224 mark for the season) en route to the title. However, the shot that might have been the clincher was the mammoth 221-yard 7-iron to 14 feet, 6 inches that he was then able to convert for birdie on the par-3 17th hole that gave him enough cushion to survive a final-hole bogey. That shot was struck with Titleist’s prototype 718 MB 7-iron and the putt was made with a Scotty Cameron by Titleist Futura X5 (a wing-back mallet) that he first put into play during the FedeEx Cup Playoffs at last year’s Barclays and has had in the bag ever since.

Thomas also made a couple of changes this week to his bag, replacing a Titleist T-MB 2-iron with a Titleist 915Fd 5-wood and putting a new Titleist Vokey SM6 60-degree wedge in the bag. Between the changes and the work with then driver and the putter, Thomas was able to add his name to the list of those who have hoisted the Wanamaker Trophy as the PGA champion.

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Driver: Titleist 917D2 (Mitsubishi Diamana BF60 TX), 8.5 degrees

3-wood: Titleist 917F2, 15 degrees

5-wood: Titleist 915Fd, 18 degrees

Irons (4): Titleist 716 CB; (5-9): Titleist 718 MB prototype; (PW): Titleist Vokey

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM5 (52, 56 degrees); Titleist Vokey SM6 (60 degrees)

Putter: Scotty Cameron by Titleist Futura X5

The post The clubs Justin Thomas used to win the PGA Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Sergio Garcia is a bit of an anomaly when it comes to the equipment he used to win Masters 2017. For years he has ground his own wedges in the TaylorMade tour van. Instead of having wood shafts of different weight (usually there is a 10-gram difference from club to club), he uses Mistubishi’s Kuro Kage Silver 80X in all his woods.

For his TaylorMade P750 Tour Proto irons he puts 30-gram weights in the end of the grip to counterbalance them. Garcia had been using lead tape to accomplish that up until the 2010 Valero Texas Open, when TaylorMade tour techs discovered the availability of the weight plugs that could go into the butt end of the grip. Garcia counterbalances the clubs to make the swingweight feel lighter. The shafts in his irons are Nippon’s Modus 130X model.

Garcia also changed two key components of his equipment this year—his driver (to TaylorMade’s M2 2017) and golf ball (to the company’s five-layer TP5 ball). All told, it turned into a winning combination.

Ball: TaylorMade TP5
Driver: TaylorMade M2 2017 (Mitsubishi Kuro Kage Silver 80X), 9.5 degrees
3-wood: TaylorMade M1 2017, 15 degrees
5-wood: TaylorMade M1 2017, 19 degrees
Irons (3-PW): TaylorMade P750 Tour Proto
Wedges: TaylorMade Milled Grind (54, 58 degrees)
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour

 Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images

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