Yesterday I went to Edwin Watts to spend my gift certificate from last week’s tournament. The guys in the store know me, and what clubs I play. I must be spending far too much time there! I tried a couple of drivers in their indoor range. I was a bit disappointed to find that my clubhead speed with the driver has now dropped below 100 MPH. 98, to be exact. With a 2-iron it was 86 MPH. Old age settling in. It will happen to Tiger someday, too.
I picked up a 2-iron. I’ve decided to fill my bag with 1-9 irons, pitching wedge, 52 and 56 degree sand wedges, and putter. That leaves one opening for something else to stay under the 14-club limit. I haven’t decided whether to carry a lob wedge or a wood. I use my 3-wood on one par 4 hole where I can cut the corner and go for the green, but the 1-iron may give me enough carry. I also like my persimmon driver. That’s probably what I’ll carry, just because.
My home course isn’t really long enough in its variations for using all my clubs in a given round. Generally, I end up playing driver and wedge, with a 6 or 7 iron thrown in from time to time. On two of the par 5 holes I can use the 3-wood after my drive. Otherwise, a 5-wood or less is adequate. So, I’ve decided to go for variety and work on my iron play at the same time. It will be almost like playing a different course. The down side may be that I end up hitting one iron all the time, but wind variations may up the ante a bit. With a long weekend ahead, I’ll get plenty of opportunity to experiment.