Skills · club choice
Clubs and distances
There are seven clubs in the bag, from a 278-yard driver to a 131-yard pitching wedge. Knowing roughly what each one does, and what the lie takes away from it, is most of what good club choice is.
The bag
These are full-swing carries with a pure strike at the bottom of the pure band, before wind and lie: Driver 278 yards, 3 wood 243, 5 wood 221, 4 iron 199, 6 iron 179, 8 iron 156 and pitching wedge 131. The ball then rolls out — about 26 yards for the driver on fairway, falling to about 5 yards for the wedge.
The long clubs are also the least accurate. The driver has the widest natural spread in the bag and the woods are close behind; the irons and wedge are tighter. That trade is the heart of the game: the driver gets you furthest, but it is the club most likely to find the rough.
What the lie does
Where the ball sits changes both the distance and the spread. From the fairway or the tee you get the full number. From rough you keep 84% of the distance and the spread is 1.75 times wider. From deep rough it is 62% of the distance and nearly two and a half times the spread — treat it as a recovery, not an attack.
Bunkers and the fallen-leaf piles in the pine forest both play at 70% distance with almost double the spread, and from either one you cannot carry the ball more than 160 yards, however hard you swing. A cart path is surprisingly playable at 92% distance, and the timber bridge over a burn at 94%.
Rollout matters as much as carry
Where the ball lands decides how far it runs. Fairway is the baseline. The green runs about twice as far as fairway, which is why landing short and running on is often better than flying the flag. The cart path runs about twice as far as fairway too, and the bridge more than three times as far.
Rough runs less than a quarter as far as fairway, deep rough about a tenth, and a bunker almost nothing. A drive that lands in the rough does not just sit down in a worse lie — it also loses most of the roll a fairway would have given it. Often a 3 wood that finds the fairway finishes level with a driver that misses it.
Choosing a club
Start from the distance you want the ball to finish, not land. Subtract the roll you expect on the surface you are landing on, then pick the club whose carry covers what is left with a solid or pure strike. If the number falls between two clubs, take the longer one and ease off — a smooth swing is straighter than a forced one.
Then adjust for wind. A strong wind into you can cost a long club fifteen yards or more, and a crosswind pushes the ball sideways in proportion to how far it flies. The wind guide has the exact numbers.
Quick tips
- On a narrow hole, a 3 wood or 4 iron that finds the fairway usually beats a driver in the rough.
- From deep rough, take your medicine: a wedge back to the fairway is often the best shot.
- Land short of the green and let it run — the green rolls out about twice as far as fairway.
- From a bunker, remember the 160-yard cap and plan the next shot from where you will actually finish.