Are you really worried about gapping at the top of the bag?

I go for options at the top of the bag. For the 7wd, 3H or 4H, I am looking for the club that day that fits the longish par 3. The one or two fairways are for distance depending on the tees I play that day. Driver 1 or 2 depends on the course.:unsure: I'm beginning to think that's too much thinking.:LOL:

I just picked up a Sim Max D and 3W. Loving the 3W, but I gotta get the Driver dialed, all in due time. My MP-25's are 3-PW. Only used the 3i on two shots (Long Par 3's). Seriously considering gaming a 7w and ditching the 3i, OR dropping the Gap wedge (I can gap my PW anywhere from 100 - 125).
 
100% with you. i’m not too concerned about gapping at the top. once we are talking over 200 yards, i want clubs that just do different things, and while yes those clubs will go progressively farther i’m not trying to manage those distances.

i like a 4h for par 5 layups and tight tee shots.
i like a fairway for shorter tee shots and maybe going for a green in 2.
then i need a driver.
 
Driver - 4W - HW - 7W - 5i plays like 260 - 230 - 210 - 190 - 180. I am over due to re-evaluate these distances but I am also not that consistent to worry about +/- 5 yards...
 
I’m not worried about gapping. For the upper end of my bag, I was clubs that I can hit with some confidence and an idea of where they will go.

200+ yard approaches have been my worst SG stat so maybe I should have some more focus in that area of my game.
 
I use my 3w as tee alternative on some holes but mainly only if the driver brings trouble into play...though on a course I play league on there is a couple 270yd par 4's that driver is typically too much for. If I don't have that 3w no way I'm getting home in 1 and knowing that when playing for skins well.... thats what ultimately made my decision haha

Big hitter, the Captain. The flowing robes, the grace.

As to the OP, I need to pay a little more attention to it. My distances are generally acceptable but my dispersion isn't what I want and I hit 3W and 3H lower than I would like. 4H is better but not great. I don't hit any of them too often at my course.
 
I have a 3 wood for another off the tee option and actually added a 4 hybrid between the 5 iron and 5 wood for some options. It seems to be working out well. I don't worry about the top end as much as the wedges.
 
I am not worried about gapping up top, but I am far from “good” there. I have a few clubs that I can hit pretty straight (I carry 3w and two 4 irons) but the distance is far from consistent. My arccos range on my rocket 4i is 203-239, my Ol 4i is 189-214, and my 3w is 218-244. Luckily, the times I need a perfectly accurate 220 yard club is pretty rare. I usually use the 3w/long 4i off the tee and rarely from the deck. If I am in that 225 yard range, what club I use is dictated by lie and where trouble is. I am more likely to hit the 3w long from the deck than the std 4i.
 
The top of my bag keeps changing between 3w, 5w, 3h, 4h, 4 utility iron. I think I've settled on Driver, 3w, 5w, 4hybrid. My course has some long par 4s. The 18th is a 450 yard uphill, against-the-wind monster that has an uphill approach shot over a bunker (plays as a par 5 from the blues, par 4 from the tips). I need a club for 215-230 that lands softly, so I've pulled the 3hybrid in favor of a 5 wood since I've been hitting my fairway woods pretty well these days.

I love the 4utility for tee shots but for landing and holding a green, it's not the greatest, so I opted for the slightly higher launch and descent angles of the hybrid.
 
I started playing the combo I have at the top of my bag a few years ago.
Driver-3wood-3 hybrid-4 hybrid- 5 iron and so on.
This combo works well for me and let's me put a 4 wedge in the bag where it's more important for my game.
 
Not at all. I have clubs at the top that I have confidence I can hit reasonably well. Gapping isn't an issue to me until I get to the shorter irons, especially the wedges.

I probably should pay more attention to that, but my game just isn't at a level that makes it important, at least for me.
 
I don't worry about it too much.
Too many variables at those distances for me. I'm not a long hitter.
I only play one FW (17* Rogue). Great drive for me is 245-250yrds, 4wd goes 210-215ish.
May gapping concerns are 6iron down.
 
Interesting topic! I do care. I don't want my hybrid and fw to be too close in yardage. 10 yards would be too close.
 
There was some moving of the goal posts within the opening post. First, do you pay attention to gapping at the top of your bag, then changing it to "perfect gapping". The fact is that at the top of your bag the range of distances you get with those clubs is greater than with your mid-irons to wedges. The whole point of gapping is that you can cover any distance you may encounter with at least one club in your bag.

With that goal in mind, of course I pay attention to gapping at the top of the bag. In fact, I changed out my 3-hybrid last year specifically because I needed 10-20 more yards from that club to cover the gap between my 4-iron and fairway metal.

But it's also not single factor analysis.

There is a lot I expect from a 3-hybrid. I'm not ONLY looking at filling a gap distance. It has to be a club that I can shape shots easily, glides through the rough, de-loft for recovery shots without a draw or slice bias. I want consistent results, so some forgiveness if I'm a little off center is a requirement.

With most products we buy we have more than one requirement. Clubs at the top of the bag are no different.
 
I like to think that the purpose of the club limit rule is to actually create a gapping problem somewhere in the bag. I would rather have that issue at the top.

I would like to think I blend well from irons to woods, but that's where my biggest gaps are, but it doesn't bother me too much.
I agree with this. I can't possibly close all of my gaps without 15 clubs. No matter what I do. I have tried to cover the in between by 4h and 3wood by going heaven wood. But with that I have closed the gap I would have after my 4h but now I have one between my 3w and HW. Doesn't really matter because even if I smoke a 3 wood I am probably not hitting too many greens once I am over 200 regardless of if I have my gaps fit perfectly.
 
There is a lot I expect from a 3-hybrid. I'm not ONLY looking at filling a gap distance. It has to be a club that I can shape shots easily, glides through the rough, de-loft for recovery shots without a draw or slice bias. I want consistent results, so some forgiveness if I'm a little off center is a requirement.

Dang man, that's more than I can do with a sand wedge! If I'm hitting a hybrid I'm happy when it gets up in the air and finishes in the same ZIP code as the green.
 
Gap at the top of my bag? Yeah, I have a big gap..... I don't worry so much about yardage gap as much as options.... I currently have 5w and 4h which I hit about the same yardage carry +/- 10 yds, but completely different trajectories which allow me to cover some of the yardage gap, one going high one going low. Now if I could just hit the fairway with the low shot :oops:
 
Halfway I guess. I worry more about how to properly get some sort of gaps with what comes after the 3 wood to the 6 iron range. Sometimes it's 3 clubs, sometimes 2. I've gone 5W, 3H, 5 iron. other times HW, 4 hybrid, 5 hybrid. and some HW, 4H 6i.
 
I only have room for one club between my 3UT and driver, that will either be 4w or 3h depending on the course I am playing.

Fairway wood is the hardest club for me as I am more accurate with driver off the tee and lots more accurate with 3 UT. On a par 5 I’m rarely at the perfect distance for it in 2 and often I’d score better laying up.
 
I don’t even think about it, gap questions are at the bottom.
 
I like to have clubs gapped for all full shots right up through 3W. I can handle the shots under 100 yards with mostly just my SW and GW. My LW is the least used club in my bag.
 
Having just gone through the ordering process for the Morgan Cup and seeing some posts about gapping their 4i to the rest of the set is that something you really concern yourself with? My thoughts at the top is obviously driver, then I need a club or 2 that allows me reach a long par 5 in two OR provide a secondary tee option. Same goes for the 4i and 4h. With those clubs I'm not really trying to fill a gap I'm trying to give myself options not making sure I need exact gapping.

What about you? Do you try to create perfect gaps between each club or are you like me and try to have options at the top of the bag?
I'm more concerned about the bottom of the bag than the top. I want obviously a workable driver one wood and a hybrid. I want something that can give me length but also reliability on the top. So current setup is a heavenwood, that can reach 210ish, and a BB 4h that's around 190ish. Then 5i down.

So MC order was a 5w that I hope matches up with a heavenwood, and another 4h.
 
Gapping isn't really that big of a concern of mine up at that end of my bag. It's more about having 'reliable' tools I trust to provide certain shots when needed. Up until 3 months ago I always carried two clubs at the same loft that totaled essentially the same distance but provided me very different options. My 5W would get a nice high softer landing shot that reliably drew for me while my GAPR MID 3 offered a much lower fading ball with rollout and would never surprise me with an unwanted hook. Lies in the rough or in the trees usually favored one or the other depending upon circumstances. Same with tee shots into long par 3s or tight par 4s and 5s.
I upgraded my irons (4-AW) earlier this year and no longer bag the GAPR. My new 4 iron provides me the same shot options though and also gaps a bit better because it's a handful of yards shorter than that GAPR was. Happy accident more than anything. Short knocker numbers courtesy of Garmin Golf:
Old setup at the top: 3W-217 > 5W-204 > GAPR-199 > '180 club' (King F6 4i 181)
New setup at the top: 3W-217 >5W-204 > Mav 4i-193 > '180 club' (T300 5i 182)
 
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I like my bag just the way it is. Top, middle, or bottom, it's all good.

There's probably a gap or two in my bag, but they're not worth worrying about. I not that precise of a ball striker.
 
I don’t worry about the top of the bag at all. I have driver, 3 iron, 3 hybrid, then 4 iron. I have a 3 iron for long punches out of the tress since my course has a crap load of trees. On a normal course I would replace the 3 hybrid with a 3 wood.


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I actually care more about gapping with the long clubs than I do about the short ones. It's easy to ease off a wedge and hit it 10 yards shorter or step on it to hit it 10 yards longer. Can't say the same about a 3-wood. I've had to play my first couple of rounds this year without my gap wedge (waiting to get it fixed) and I don't think it cost me any strokes. I'm pretty much as accurate hitting an easy PW or hard LW than I am hitting a normal GW.
 
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