Tip #44: Club Selection

The fact is most approach shots are not played on absolutely calm days from level, well-clipped fairway grass to dead-flat landing areas. To blindly follow the yardages is almost as wrong as to chronically underclub.

As we all know, virtually every situation calls for some sort of adaptation. And this is where club selection becomes an art as well as a science. This is where an aggressive player can distance himself from the pack.

Wind has a huge influence on distance and ball flight.

Wind is probably the largest influence on carrying distance. Figure on about one club for each 10 miles per hour of wind. If you'd hit a 5-iron under normal conditions, use a 3-iron with a headwind of 20 miles per hour.

A headwind also tends to accentuate any right-to-left or left-to-right action on your shot, so if you habitually play a fade or draw expect it to veer more than normal. In the case of the fade, it's wise to add another club.

When you're playing with the wind at your back, you'll need less club. The same type of formula applies -- one club for each 10 miles of wind speed. With gusts of 20 miles per hour, that 5-iron becomes a 7. Expect lots of bounce and roll too, because the ground will likely be drier than usual. You may want to take even less club and play for a bounce, if the entry to the green allows.

In the British Open, yardage is all but irrelevant because of wind. I remember one day in 1986 at Tumberry playing the 15th hole with a driver. It's a 190-yard par-3. On another day, I reached the green with a 7-iron.

When the wind blows from the side, there's little effect unless you normally play a fade or draw. If you usually hit the ball from left to right, you may be able to use less club when playing with a left-to-right wind, but you may want one club longer when that fade is being buffeted by a right-to-left wind. The same is true with a right-to-left shot -- take less club when following a right-to-left wind and one more when fighting a left-to-right wind.

Grass conditions are also important. If your lie in the fairway is a bit shaggy, expect extra distance and use less club, particularly on the short and middle irons. (When blades of grass intervene between the clubface and ball, you can't put maximum backspin on the shot, so it will fly a bit farther than usual.)

Conversely, from a tight, closely clipped fairway, you'll usually get a bit more backspin and a bit less distance. On Tour we love these fairways because they enable us to make the ball dance. However, most players are well advised to use one more club than normal when the lie is tight.

Turf conditions are important in the area of the green also. When you're landing the ball on hard, dry ground, it will bounce high and roll farther, so plan accordingly. You may want to take one or two clubs less than normal, land the ball several yards short of the green and let it bounce on.

Of course, when bunkers front the green, this strategy is complicated. On such occasions -- particularly on a par-5 with a hard, shallow green, I've intentionally hit my second shot into a bunker in order to be sure of landing the next shot softly on the green.

When the landing area is wet, you'll want to be sure to take enough club to land your ball at or near the hole, allowing for no bounce and roll. Of course, if the whole golf course is wet, you may have that extra distance built into your lie.

From moist fairways, you'll normally get that same flyer effect you get from fluffy fairways, as the water diminishes your ability to apply backspin. So club yourself down when playing out of dewy or moist lies.

When the fairways are downright wet and sloshy, however, it's another story. Your footing and balance will be poor, your club will tend to knife into the turf, and you'll lose distance, so take the longer club and make a more controlled swing.

Now consider the influence of elevation change. When you're playing to a green that is set high on a plateau, you'll need more club because the ball will come to earth before it has had a chance to complete the full extent of its flight and carry. The opposite is true when playing to a valley green. You'll have more hang time, so you'll be able to use a shorter club.

The challenge is compounded if you're also standing uphill or downhill. When you have an uphill stance, you'll tend to catch the ball more on the upswing and hit more of a lifting shot, which will give you extra height but less distance than from a flat lie. Take at least one more club, depending on the severity of the slope and whether or not you're also playing to an elevated green.

A downhill lie produces a lower trajectory, so figure on at least one club less than usual.

When you have a downhill lie, you'll tend to trap the ball and hit a lower shot than usual. It will therefore tend to roll more than normal, particularly if your landing area is also on a downward slope. Figure on at least one club less than usual.

Temperature is also a factor. In extremely hot weather, you can expect to be looser, and your ball will be a bit livelier as well. On average, take one less club. In the cold, you'll be stiff, the ball will be hard, and you'll have no feel. Swing smoothly using at least one club more than usual.

When you're undecided, it's usually smart to take the longer club. As I said, the architect traditionally places his most difficult hazards in front of the green where everyone can see them and be intimidated by them, so if you're in between clubs on a well-guarded hole, certainly go with the longer stick.

However, my overall feeling on this matter is that you should go with your initial choice, no matter which club that may be. Your first choice is the intuitive, confident one and will therefore promote the more natural, free-flowing swing.

To a degree, it's also a question of individual makeup. If you're naturally a hard swinger, I think it's best to take the shorter club and go at it rather than trying to manufacture a short shot. If on the other hand you're a smooth swinger, you should definitely put that smooth swing on the longer club. If, under pressure, you tend to get your adrenaline pumping, go with the shorter club; if you tend to tighten up, go with the longer club.

This between-clubs situation often occurs on the tee of a par-3, and there you have a couple of things you can do about it. First, remember that you can take advantage of the full teeing area. Take the longer club if you want, and step back two driver lengths. As a practical matter this won't make much of a difference, but it may give you the added confidence to make a full swing on the longer club.

Another way of shortening the longer club is simply to tee the ball at the edge of a divot to promote a clean, upward hit and a floating shot that will not fly as far. Conversely, you can lengthen the distance of the shorter iron by hitting it directly out of the grass, without a tee, particularly if you can find a fluffy area of the tee that will promote a flyer effect. I've often used this ploy when playing into a headwind, because it promotes a spinless shot that is less susceptible to the effects of the breeze.

Most of all, however, try to get yourself away from that huge majority of golfers who consistently underclub and overswing, leaving their approach shots short of the green.

I admit there's a certain macho kick in putting a hard swing on a short club and muscling the ball to the green. That's human nature, but it isn't the nature of golf.

My experience is that golfers who like to brag about their 15O-yard 9-irons rarely produce scores worthy of boast. Physical aggressiveness is of minimal use in golf.

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