What’s in your bag? No, not a courteous enquiry from the local Police force, but a question regarding the changes that have been made to the contents of our golf bags these last few years.
Watching the BMW sponsored championships from Wentworth last week it was interesting to note the variety of clubs that the modern tournament player now has at his disposal, and more importantly, the variety of shots that are now available due to the choice.
The most important move in club design since the nineties has without doubt been the advent of the hybrid, or rescue club. With many sets if irons now running from a four iron to a range of wedges, sometimes as many as four in number, the old long irons such as a one iron or even a two and three have been replaced by the hybrid which now features in many golf bags of ordinary club players. The usual mix of four woods, nine irons and a putter so commonly assembled in the seventies and eighties has now changed significantly with the introduction of the hybrid.
Designed along the lines of a shallow metal club, it comes in a variety of lofts to emulate distances from a six iron down to a seven wood, but has the distinct advantage of being hugely user friendly with its comforting bulk and yet streamlined profile. It has the ability to pluck a ball off a short tee peg as well as to nestle behind the ball in short to medium rough, and each stroke has a high chance of a favourable result.
The shot that intrigues me though is the stroke from just off the edge of the green when the distance to the flag is just too much for a putter and maybe the lie too tight for a successful chip. Out comes the hybrid, and a stroke similar to a putter shot usually has the desired effect.
When the fringe rough is more lush and clingy, the “bladed wedge” shot seems to find favour with professional players as was demonstrated by Ernie Els last weekend when playing in the above mentioned event. Hovering the edge of the sand wedge just at the half way point of the ball, he effectively struck the ball in the middle and created enough top spin to roll it to the side of the hole. Hours of practice!
Wrexham enjoyed the camaraderie of an Irish Foursomes last Thursday when the teams of four took over the back nine holes with each player carrying just one club. The composition of the club selection followed broad guidelines starting with either a three or five wood, then a five or six iron, followed by a pitching club and a putter.
The “joy” of the game is that each club throughout the match must be used in strict order which is okay if the opening hole is a par four and played in par. A well played par three could see the ball being holed out with the wedge and the putter being used to drive off on the next tee.
Winners were Angela Miller, Jackie Williams, Steve McKevitt and Dave Phillips with an unknown score and lots of laughs. Try it some time and use a quarter of the combined handicaps for scoring purposes; all very good fun!
On a more serious note, the club DGU handicap league team played the Vale of Llangollen last Sunday and lost by a margin of five and a half to two and a half.
As mentioned in last week’s issue, the Welsh Youth Championships take place at Wrexham on Saturday and Sunday of this weekend with Friday being set aside as an afternoon practice session for competitors new to the golf course.
Jim Johnson