Everything You Wanted to Know about Golf Clubs, almost!
by Kevin T. Fairbanks
The modern golfer has an arsenal of golf clubs in their golf bag. The typical set would contain a driver, fairway woods, irons, and a putter. Each golfer has their own unique style and would have different combinations of these golf clubs. Also included would be a replacement golf club for the longer irons and fairway woods known as the golf club hybrid.
The United States Golf Association (USGA) sets the rules of golf. In those rules, it limits the number of golf clubs in a golfer's golf bag to 14 golf clubs. A classic golfer would have a driver, 2 fairway woods, 7 golf irons, 3 golf wedges and a putter. You will find a different set combination in each golfers bag. Hybrid golf clubs, of late, may replace some of the longer golf irons and fairway woods.
The driver is the club that is most golfers favorite golf club, even though it is usually not used on every hole. The driver golf club is the longest golf club with the biggest head at the end of the shaft. This allows the golfer to hit the golf ball with the greatest distance, but not always the most accuracy. Rules regulate the size of the club head. The golf club driver will be the most expensive single golf club in the golfers bag. Name brand golf club drivers will cost between $200 and $400. Discount golf club drivers can be purchased for around $100 or even less.
Sometimes referred to in modern days as metal woods, these clubs have more lofted club heads than drivers. A set of fairway metal woods, consisting of a 3, 5 and 7 wood, can run anywhere from $150 to $300. A set of discount golf woods would provide quite a savings over name brand golf clubs. A typical use of the fairway metal wood is a second shot on a par 5 golf hole or for accuracy off the tee on a narrow fairway.
Most amateur golfers have a hard time hitting the longer golf club irons and fairway woods. Hybrid golf clubs were designed to combine the best features of the longer golf clubs irons and fairway woods. Even professional golfers are now adding hybrid golf clubs to the golf clubs in their golf bag. Hybrid golf clubs can run as much as the price of a driver. The budget conscious buyer should be able to find discount prices on clone hybrid golf clubs, or sometime known as knockoff hybrid golf clubs.
Golf irons are the essence of a set of golf clubs. Two thirds of the shots in a normal round of golf will utilize an iron. Irons are used to hit the golf ball off the ground from distances of 125 yards to 225 yards. Each iron is assigned a number based upon the loft angle of the club head. The 9-iron has the most loft, a shorter shaft, and is used to hit short, high shots. A 2-iron has very little loft, a longer shaft, and is used to hit low, long shots.
Golf club wedges are usually considered part of the purchase included in a set of golf club irons. The pitching wedge, the sand wedge and the lob wedge are common types of golf club wedges. The lob wedge can com in several different lofts, normally around 58 degrees to 60 or more degrees. These wedges are used from close range to the green for accuracy and control.
Also worth noting, there are two primary types of irons available. Forged irons are precision clubs that can give experienced golfers a greater ability to shape their shots. Cavity-back irons are considered to be more forgiving, with a larger sweet spot and primarily for golfers who want to focus on hitting straight shots. A set of 10 irons can range in price from as little as $250, to as much as $1,500. Clone golf irons can provide similar quality to name brand golf club irons. They are also known as knockoff golf irons.
The final and perhaps most important golf club, is the putter. The putter is also known as the "money club" because it is the club used to tap the ball into the hole. The purpose of the putter is to roll the ball, so there is no loft on the club head.
Golf club putters have really transformed in the last few years. Conventional putters have given way to mallet putters, alignment-type putters, belly putters and more, with any kind of combination of all of these. Since this golf club is used the most and is so important, many golfers search endlessly for a golf club putter that they are comfortable with and confident in using. Prices for discount or clone putters can be around $20 with name brand, complex putters running around $300.
http://CollectibleSport.com Get your own completely unique content version of this article.
|
