100 yards - PW or SW?

[Mr. Plow]

Took my son golfing today. We knew we didn't have time for 9 holes - started about 6:20p. But, being members, really didn't matter.

So we played a 4 or 5 holes. He can drive the ball pretty well for an 8 year old. No touch around the green. Neither do I, so who's complaining.

Anyway, got to our last hole - par 5 - and decided to mess around a bit. We sat out in my golf cart at roughly 100 yards. I made a bet with him - ice cream vs. clean room. He said that out of 10 golf balls, I would get 4 or less on the green. I thought "Ha. Sucker bet."

So I hit the first 5 with my SW. Then I hit the next 5 with my PW. 100 yards is about my max with my SW, so I was hitting the ball pretty hard. I can hit my PW roughly 120-130 if I hit it well, so I tried to ease up a bit.

Out of the first 10, I only got 3. I had 2 on the fringe, and 2 others that were just off, and a couple that I chunked.

So, we grabbed all the golf balls and went back. I thought, "Second times a charm."

So I doubled the bet. This time, I tried all with my PW. For some damn reason, I couldn't hit the ball 100 yards. I could hit it 120 or 80, but not in between. I did however, manage to get 4 on this time.

So I decided to try again. This time, from 120 yards out thinking this would be perfect. I'll have 6 or 7 on. Bullshit. I still hit 4 of them long. 4 on. And 2 chunks.

Anyway, apparently I am now giving my son 2 nights of ice cream, a room cleaning, and I think I owe him $100 but not sure.

I'm not sure there is a question in here....deal with it.

[rageeumr]

I'm money from 100 out with my SW. I'm a hack from any other point on the course.

[Mr. Plow]

Originally Posted by rageeumr

I'm money from 100 out with my SW. I'm a hack from any other point on the course.

Can you teach me? I'm either trying to muscle my SW or pussyfoot my PW. Why can't there be a P1/2SW?

[ChiefsFire]

same trouble here....

turned out my pw had the loft of a 8 iron

loved the club so i move it forward in my stance and hit a nice lil fade....

[milkman]

There is absolutely a question in here.

"Was I a dumb**** for making that bet with my kid?"

And the answer is an emphatic "YES!!!!!".

[stlchiefs]

Originally Posted by Mr. Plow

Took my son golfing today. We knew we didn't have time for 9 holes - started about 6:20p. But, being members, really didn't matter.

So we played a 4 or 5 holes. He can drive the ball pretty well for an 8 year old. No touch around the green. Neither do I, so who's complaining.

Anyway, got to our last hole - par 5 - and decided to mess around a bit. We sat out in my golf cart at roughly 100 yards. I made a bet with him - ice cream vs. clean room. He said that out of 10 golf balls, I would get 4 or less on the green. I thought "Ha. Sucker bet."

So I hit the first 5 with my SW. Then I hit the next 5 with my PW. 100 yards is about my max with my SW, so I was hitting the ball pretty hard. I can hit my PW roughly 120-130 if I hit it well, so I tried to ease up a bit.

Out of the first 10, I only got 3. I had 2 on the fringe, and 2 others that were just off, and a couple that I chunked.

So, we grabbed all the golf balls and went back. I thought, "Second times a charm."

So I doubled the bet. This time, I tried all with my PW. For some damn reason, I couldn't hit the ball 100 yards. I could hit it 120 or 80, but not in between. I did however, manage to get 4 on this time.

So I decided to try again. This time, from 120 yards out thinking this would be perfect. I'll have 6 or 7 on. Bullshit. I still hit 4 of them long. 4 on. And 2 chunks.

Anyway, apparently I am now giving my son 2 nights of ice cream, a room cleaning, and I think I owe him $100 but not sure.

I'm not sure there is a question in here....deal with it.

Sounds like your son learned a valuable lesson tonight: always use dads ego against him in a bet. Funny story though, I can picture it all and I'm sure your son loved every minute of it. A story he'll remember for a long time: "Dad remember the time you couldn't hit the green and had to clean my room and pay me $100."

[NaptownChief]

You need a Gap Wedge.....Most men will hit there PW 110-135 yards depending on the player and power...Most will hit a sand wedge 75-110 yards but the average length player will be about 85 yards with a smooth sand wedge and about 115 with a smooth pitching wedge which leaves a big gap between them at a very important distance.

You should try to have about 4 degrees difference between all your wedges and short irons. So if your sand wedge is 56 degree then you should probably get a 51 or 52 degree gap wedge. Your pitching wedge is probably 48 degrees which leaves a full club gap between it and your sand wedge.

I play my sand wedge at 85-95 yards, gap wedge from 96-115 and pitching wedge from 116-129 range give or take based on weather. I can hit them all further than that but that is where I'm most accurate with a smooth swing.

[Stinger]

Someone already mentioned a gap wedge. If you don't want to spend money on another club (sacrilege for golfers I know). But my suggestion is if you want to hit the PW 100-110 yards according to your description you might want to try slightly choking down on your PW and loosen your grip a tad.

Choking down on the grip will take a few yard off the flight. Loosening the grip will also take a few yards off but also help prevent some chunks and make a more fluid swing.

[NaptownChief]

Originally Posted by Stinger

Someone already mentioned a gap wedge. If you don't want to spend money on another club (sacrilege for golfers I know). But my suggestion is if you want to hit the PW 100-110 yards according to your description you might want to try slightly choking down on your PW and loosen your grip a tad.

Choking down on the grip will take a few yard off the flight. Loosening the grip will also take a few yards off but also help prevent some chunks and make a more fluid swing.

Definitely good advice to go the cheap route....I have found that griping half way down your grip takes about 5 yards off your normal distance. Working on 3/4 shots and getting to know the distance is also a good way but to be honest if you are only hitting the green from 100 yards around 30-40% with multiple swings then you would be better off taking full swings that you are more comfortable with and just doing it with a club designed to go about 100 yards for your swing. You can get a good gap wedge on Ebay for likely $25-50. About the cost of one round of golf so it is a pretty small investment for a club that should really help you improve your game in the scoring zone. If you do that make sure to get the proper bounce. If your current sand wedge has a lot of bounce like 12-14 degrees then getting a gap wedge without a lot of bounce like 4-8 degrees would be a good mix so that you have some versitility in the bunkers when playing soft fluffy sand versus hard packed wet stuff.

[WilliamTheIrish]

I agree with Nap. Spend the dough on the gap wedge. Then invest an hour per week on the driving range.

You do that for four weeks, then take you son back out and make the same bet.

100 is a PW for me at about 80%. I used to be alright at that distance but today - no idea.

[jspchief]

Choke down.

I have large yardage gaps between my W, SW, and LW. Choking down on the club works wonderfully for me. I don't have to change anything else in my swing.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

The gap wedge is a good investment. It's also a great club to use around the green, as it has some bounce, but not as much as the SW which can lead to skulled shots.

A word of advice: don't swing balls out with your SW...it'll just balloon, going up intsead of out.

[Skip Towne]

It depends on where you live. I'm from Kansas where the wind always blows. All of your fancy wedges are useless here. From 100 yds out I choke down on an 8 iron and hood the clubface and punch it in under the wind. Aim a little left (or right) allowing for wind. This keeps the ball lower and maintains velocity to counteract the wind. A wedge puts the ball way up there while it runs out of gas and the wind really takes over.

[Buck]

You're getting older.