Are irons the least important clubs in the bag?

[Carolina Dundee]

Craig starting fights tonight.

I say when they work they are invaluable but days they don’t I could probably only have a 7i and still be ok

 

[OldandStiff]

I would say that for my very best scoring rounds, my wedges, driver and putter have all been performing extremely well. I need good wedge play to have birdie looks.

I've shot really low rounds missing a lot of fairways, a lot of greens, and not really having to roll in any significant putts. The thing that was great throughout those was my wedges.

I mean I've had great putting rounds that were good, but if they're all from 20' you're not going to make too many. And that's what usually happens when you hit all the greens. Putts are further. I have a number for GIR that I don't like to go over because it means I'm not being aggressive enough and my overall proximity is usually worse. And never going to get close all that often with a mid/long iron. Those are generally two putts. So the wedges need to get close, and up and down with regularity.

 

[havingfun]

My hybrid has more or less replaced use of my fairway woods. A 3 and 7 wood are in my bag purely by habit.

 

[RecGolfer]

They are the most important clubs.

 

[formula8]

Completely get the point and I feel the same way at times. I've played a wide array of irons and am pretty confident there is no measurable difference in my scoring.

 

[Tenputt]

Completely get the point and I feel the same way at times. I've played a wide array of irons and am pretty confident there is no measurable difference in my scoring.

Aw, thank you. For a minute, I was out on an island, all alone.

 

[formula8]

Aw, thank you. For a minute, I was out on an island, all alone.

It's probably not a popular option but it's a hill I'm willing to die on. I've tested it extensively over multiple seasons of golf. I'm talking 50 year old blades to standard Apex and everything in between.

I love gear, testing and dissecting numbers as much as anyone. But for me, play any iron that you like and hit reasonably well and the score doesn't change.

 

[BigMac]

Folks, I am being somewhat facetious. My point is that I think I make way too much out of what type of irons would help me score best. The truth is that I want to hit the green if I have an iron in my hand. I want to have a good birdie look if I have a wedge. With the goal being to hit the green, I think that there is a very wide range of irons that would allow me to do that, but I fret and fret over my irons.

When you frame it that way, and taking your handicap into consideration, I can see where it would be a valid theory for you. You're skilled enough that you could play just about any irons and score well with them. I'm not sure it's a universal thing, though - if you put blades or players CBs in the hands of a less skilled ballstriker's hands they're probably going to struggle and their scores are going to suffer accordingly. Using myself as an example, irons aren't the strongest point of my game so the extra forgiveness is helpful and I'm not confident that I'd get around the course as well with something more demanding.

 

[golfs_happy]

Given how my last round went I would say no. Good iron play can make up for a lot mistakes off the tee and enable easier putts.

When tee play is on good iron play allows for more birdie opportunities.

I would say the gap between driver and your longest iron (for me) is the least important.

Also given the iron only rounds I have played this season (no wedges either) and scores I have posted irons are very important, however that is all just my own opinion!

 

[Keith Prater]

I don’t know what’s the least important, but I do know my wedges are my most important. I could probably survive without my 4, 6, and 8 irons though and just go with 5, 7, 9, and be ok.

 

[Nick20UK]

It depends on the course and your ability.

If you are playing a shorter course and you are a reasonably long hitter the it's not very often you'll need more than a PW into the greens.

The other way round is also true. If you are a relatively short hitter then you're naturally going to leave yourself longer irons in more regularly.

 

[Scribble]

Least, absolutely not I’d likely say that is a fairway wood.

You’re making sense here. I carry a 7w which I call a scoring wood. My 3&5w’s I use to advance more often than hit the green.
each tool in my bag has a purpose and many times I think I can get away with fewer. That doesn’t make them less important.

 

[Scribble]

It depends on the course and your ability.

If you are playing a shorter course and you are a reasonably long hitter the it's not very often you'll need more than a PW into the greens.

The other way round is also true. If you are a relatively short hitter then you're naturally going to leave yourself longer irons in more regularly.
[/QUOTE

When you frame it that way, and taking your handicap into consideration, I can see where it would be a valid theory for you. You're skilled enough that you could play just about any irons and score well with them. I'm not sure it's a universal thing, though - if you put blades or players CBs in the hands of a less skilled ballstriker's hands they're probably going to struggle and their scores are going to suffer accordingly. Using myself as an example, irons aren't the strongest point of my game so the extra forgiveness is helpful and I'm not confident that I'd get around the course as well with something more demanding.

I subscribe to the adage “straight is good”
I’ll take less distance and straight to target any day. Crooked with a wood is “long and wrong”
Irons are necessary to play target golf.
my pop carried 10 clubs and played 4.I told him that. He couldon’t score if his 7i was off. It was the most important club in the bag. Bar none.

 

[1860VS]

I would score much better playing a round with just the irons compared to playing with just the top end of the bag. The results would speak for themselves.

 

[1860VS]

Find it interesting that these days we separate irons from wedges. There is not much, if any difference in the construction or appearance between the two.
It wasn't that long ago that wedges were a part of the set. The the set I still play at the cottage has 1-10, pw & SW.
My Mizuno Grad set is 2-Pw, SW.
I consider them to all be irons.

 

[DataDude]

I hear what your saying but I do think you must at least select the style of irons to get close to what you want in performance. With GI in my experience I don’t see the height nor stopping power neccasary to play my home course that has small elevated greens. Plenty of distance but it’s like a flat rollout distance which isn’t helpful where I play 60% of the time. I need the loft and the spin to get what I need so I at least have to think about that to some extent.

 

[PatsFan]

I would argue Irons are the most important clubs in the bag.
They are the ones we hit the most!

 

[4hourrule]

No, if I gave up anything it would be Woods. I could still play a round easily with everything else

 

[Scribble]

This comes out of Kenworthy’s book Resilient Golf Improvement
208 is first read

 

[Bernoulli]

Probably yes for me. As a shorter hitter, I tend to hit more longer clubs than irons in any round of golf.

 

[Briton G]

I think it depends on course but in general I would say fairway woods... My home course is short so its typically Driver , wedge putt. Only hitting irons on par 3s and 2nd shot on par 5s but longer courses I use irons a lot more and if I am not hitting them well then I wont score

 

[1860VS]

It depends on the course and your ability.

If you are playing a shorter course and you are a reasonably long hitter the it's not very often you'll need more than a PW into the greens.

The other way round is also true. If you are a relatively short hitter then you're naturally going to leave yourself longer irons in more regularly.

IMHO If you find yourself seldom needing more than a a PW into the greens, you are playing the wrong tees, unless you cant beat the hell out of the course playing drive and wedge golf...... Then your wedges need a lot of work.

 

[Acesteve]

It depends on the course and your ability.

If you are playing a shorter course and you are a reasonably long hitter the it's not very often you'll need more than a PW into the greens.

The other way round is also true. If you are a relatively short hitter then you're naturally going to leave yourself longer irons in more regularly.

this is my finding. i'm not a long driver and regularly playing a course that plays very long. I often have 5i into greens.

The woods must be my least important clubs because I don't carry any fairway woods; I stop at a 3h and just have a big gap between D and 3h

 

[Sox_Fan]

If they were the least important, my handicap would be much better. I cannot hit them worth a darn for some reason and that puts a lot of stress on my short game and putter.

 

[Tenputt]

It depends on the course and your ability.

If you are playing a shorter course and you are a reasonably long hitter the it's not very often you'll need more than a PW into the greens.

The other way round is also true. If you are a relatively short hitter then you're naturally going to leave yourself longer irons in more regularly.

I completely agree with this thought. Since I live in the high desert of Northern Utah, the ball goes further. Put me at sea level and my number of approaches with wedges decreases dramatically and irons become much more important.