Hybrid?

Does anyone use a hybrid in place of an iron or a couple of irons? I’m debating about putting one in my bag to replace my 3 and 4 iron. I used to play Driver,3W,2-pw,SW,LW. I decided to ditch the 2-iron in favor of a GW since I hardly ever used it. Now since I’m hitting my driver better, I’m finding that I don’t use my 3 and 4 irons much. Any suggestions?

As you know, it always comes down to putting a great swing on the ball. However, it you can do that I am firm believer that a hybrid or two can shave strokes off your game.

I removed my 3 and 4 irons in place of some Hogan hybrids, and I can not and I will not go back. I just can’t find any good reason to do so. My miss hits are better, my ball flight is higher, thus landing softly on the greens, and I feel like I have a much greater opp to reach those long par 4’s or short par 5’s than at any time in my previous 25 years fo golf.

I say go for it, you can always go back. It is those who do not try that limit their own growth. Let me know how it works out.

Good luck!

Hybrids are definitely the way to go. They make it much easier to get the ball into the air and onto the green. For more info and reviews check out this site.

I bought a TaylorMade resuce mid 3 19 degree hybrid this summer after much deliberation and can’t believe how much it has helpled my game! I actually took my 3 wood out of the bag and am getting the 16 degree TaylorMade as well. At $100 bucks, with the new price drop, you can’t go wrong…just do it!

See here is my concern: I already hit the ball really high. The only difference in my 3 iron and my pitching wedge is about 85 yards. They are both very high. I have heard that the hybrids help get the ball up but I don’t need that. I just want something a bit more forgiving and easier to hit. If that is what the hybrid is, then I can handle that. Do they make hybrids NOT designed for more loft? I guess that would kinda defeat the purpose but I’m just afraid to hit it any higher as it may not come back down and if it does, it may have some clouds stuck to it….

I recently got 3 & 4 hybrids with my new irons (Tour Edge Combo set – July ‘05) and so far no complaints. They seem a little more forgiving and definately handle rough better.

I haven’t noticed any automatic height increase but I have the opposite problem—low ball flight (I use an 11.5 Deg. driver). But now it does seem easier to get some more height if I want it with the hybrids.

Also, I play a 2-iron as I have never mastered fairway woods— so I recently got a 2-iron-wood and so far so good. It seems less squirrely than the old iron.

Spring will tell. I live in IL so golf is pretty much done for now up here. What’s winter golf like in GA?

G’Luck!

RE: thadeuce

Hybrids do more than just help you hit the ball high. They help you hit the ball…..period. If you are a good enough player that you can consistently hit the sweet spot of a 3-iron off the ground, i don’t think it really matters what you play with. For the other 95% of folks that play golf, forgiveness with a long iron is key. Hybrids don’t absolutely kill you when you toe or heal a shot, like a 2 or 3 iron might. You will actually get a playable shot off a mishit, rather than an penalty stroke.

There also a little longer.

Ok, cool. Golf in GA in the winter is bearable. Just gets a bit windy since I live on the coast. But nothing like IL. No snow. No ice. Just temps in the 40-50’s.

As for the hybrid, I’ve decided to take a chance using one. Now the question is: What loft?

Hybrids – everything you wanted to know is on www.franklygolf.com website. Frank Thomas, former Technical Director of the USGA (responsible for testing and ruling on equipment standards) has provided survey, research, lofts, brand usage and probably too much information on which hybrid. Plus I just finished an instruction article with Bob Baldassari or Cannon Ridge, Fredericksburg, VA, and we focused on the hybrid as a “bump and run” alternative, just like Todd Hamilton in his Bristish Open win. Good luck. I started with Tour Edge hybrid years ago, and have since carried the Adams.

Do it!

Us mere mortal golfers do not have to make it any harder than it already is with a 2,3 & 4 iron if the manufacturacturers are producing equipment that makes the shot a wee bit easier.

Cheers, John.

I play with 3 hybrids and (17,21,23 respectively) which replace my 2,3,4 irons..actualyl I use the 17 deg more like a fairway wood also. Why make the game harder for yourself..I love hitting my 3 iron these days..uh..I mean my 21 deg hybrid.

I usually stick 2 hybrids (20 & 23) in my bag to replace my 3I & 4I. I prefer the irons of tee, but since I have a nack for ending up every now and then in the thick stuff I found the hybrids way more useful. I just have to live with the tee-set-up feeling…

The hybrids are as mentioned excellent to chip with and bump and run…

Since the season has ended in Sweden and I have had sometime to reflect on my (lack of) golf progress. I have come to the conclusion to down size the bag and just use (and try to master) 7 clubs in the beginning of the next season. So I will have a little pencilbag with:

Spoon 14, Hybrid 23, I7, I9, GW, SW, LW + Putter

Well I’ve decided to take a whack at it with one of these hybrids…pun intended. I’ll get to try it this week as I’m going down to FL to play the King and the Bear. I’ll be sure to let you all know how it goes. Thanks for all the help.

I have two hyrbids that I use to replace my 3 and 4 iron. I can hit my 3 and 4 iron, but I am more accurate with the hybrids so therefore they stay in thre bag.

I just purchased a 13° 2-iron and have a 3-5 set of hybrids. I love these things! Don’t know what took me so long to get ‘em.

I have just picked up a 3 & 4 in the Bobby Jones Hybrids and these are great clubs! No problem getting them up in the air from any lie. The ball just shoots off the face and dead straight. Very forgiving too. Last time out I hit the 4 from about 200 yds and hit it off-center. With an iron, I would have hit that in the woods and about 150 or so. With this club, I ended up about 5 yards short of the green and about 15 yards to the right of my target. Amazing.

Well after all the trying, I didn’t stick with the hybrids. They just went too high for me. I just decided to practice more. Now I’m down from a 19 to 8.9 in just over a year. Practice was the key for me.

I think the hyrbrids rock they are very utile and, are way more accurate than the long irons,such as 3&4 .They are even making hybrids for chipping,fairway and tee shots called the bobby jones hybrid.

I won a Tour Edge 21 degree 3 hybrid at an outing last year – hated it!! After a year and half, I have to say, it has become one of my favorite clubs and I dropped the 4 iron out of my bag.

I hit it well from the tee on par 3’s and from the fairway.

But here’s my question: Do you any of you guys have any luck using the hybrids out of the rough? I tend to go back to the 3 iron when in the deep stuff.

I posted 9 months ago (see above) and said I felt they’re better out of rough than the equivalant irons. Another summer of golf almost gone and I still feel the same. I guess they act like fairway woods—pushing the grass aside rather than trying to harvest it like my irons do. G’luck

Yeah, I tried them but they just launch too high for me. I lose so much distance. I agree that they are easy as pie to hit. I just hit them way too high for them to be useful for me.

Have you tried a lower loft hybrid? For someone who gets a lot of height, you might benefit from a 14 or 16 degree hybrid. The longer hybrids are also meant to replace your fairway woods. If you strike the ball well with your irons, you might save some strokes replacing your 3 or 5 wood with a 1 or 2 hybrid.

The only reason I would use a hybrid would be in place of a long iron. I have no trouble with my woods.

I agree… the hybrid is a good choice as a replacement for long irons. I personally only have one, and its loft puts it somewhere in between a 2 and 3 iron. The biggest plus is, like most have said, on mishits—I so don’t miss that feel of a mis-hit long iron that just jars your hands!

I’m now playing around with something slightly longer, as I still have a 5 wood, and I think another hybrid might be a more useful alternative…

Well as I have said before, I’d love to use a hybrid if they came in a “ball-doesn’t-get-up-quickly” version. I hit everything high already so the forgiveness would be welcome but I tend to lose distance because of the height of the shot.