What Are The Main Types of Golf Clubs Used?

Golf

You’ve been to Top Golf (incredible fun by the way!), swung some golf clubs, and you’ve decided golf would be a great hobby to take up. For beginners to golf, we’re here as golf specialists and retailers to introduce you to what you need to play golf, starting with the types of golf clubs commonly used.

Scotland is home to some of the finest and most challenging golf courses in the world. If you’re planning on picking up a set of golf clubs to start out, it can be confusing to know what you should have in your golf bag.

Golf clubs are typically separated into 5 categories; woods, irons, hybrids, wedges, and putters. Each category has a variety of individual clubs, designed differently to affect distance, height / loft, and aim on your range of shots. If you’re facing 18 holes, all with various distances, strokes, and hazards, you need a range of clubs and shots to get around the course.

Woods

Woods are typically the club used when teeing off on longer holes. They have a wider, flatter bottom surface area and a smaller loft angle on the club face.

The loft angle on the face of a golf club is the imaginary angle from a vertical line perpendicular to the ground

The smaller that loft angle is, the more power (and therefore distance) the club will produce. This is why woods are typically used for teeing off on longer holes, however with great power comes increased difficulty in control. Managing the distance with the accuracy is essential for good play with woods.

Common types of woods in a golf bag:

Irons

Your irons are your longer to middle distance golf clubs, typically from the fairway (or the rough if that wood went a little wild…). Golf irons are numbered most commonly from 3 to 9. Each number represents the loft angle and club face of the iron. Irons are usually broken down to 3 groups;

  • Short Irons: 7, 8, 9
  • Middle Irons: 4, 5, 6
  • Long Irons: 3

The club head on an iron is typically thin with a grooved face. The longer the iron (shorter number) the higher the distance, but the lower the loft. A 4 iron for example will get you down the course, whereas a 9 iron has a shorter distance for negotiating hazards and getting you closer on the green.

Hybrids

Growing in popularity, a hybrid golf club is as it suggests, a combination of the best elements of different types of golf clubs. A crossover between woods and irons, they can generate higher distances with higher loft than a wood can.

Wedges

Golf wedges aren’t dissimilar to irons in look, however they have a much higher loft angle than irons and woods. These clubs are designed for height and accuracy on approaching putting greens, or escaping hazards. There are 4 different types of golf wedges:

  • Gap Wedge: ideal for short distances on approaching the green
  • Sand Wedge: Used for escaping sand traps and bunkers
  • Pitching Wedge: Best for approach shots which are a little further from the green
  • Lob Wedge: Perfect for short distances where height is required, for example where a bunker blocks your path to the green

Putters

Drives for show; putters for dough. The other clubs may get you down the hole, but if you can’t accurately guide the ball in the hole, it will be a long round. Using a small, bladed club head, a putter has a shorter shaft to allow you more control helping to guide the ball from the green into the hole.

Shop Golf at Greaves

There’s nothing more important to starting out playing golf than a set of golf clubs (maybe a ball!). At Greaves, we have golf club sets for a range of ability levels and our golf specialists can help you find the right golf clubs to compliment your existing set. We also stock a range of golf balls, golf accessories, and golf clothing to help you get the most out of your round.

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