Why is the 7 Iron Your Favourite Club?
What is your favourite club in the bag? Unless you are one of those unfailingly promiscuous golfers who trawls eBay and goes through dozens of putters and new sets of irons each season in a desperate pursuit of success, then there is likely one standout club that you just can't imagine parting with.
Tour players are no exception. Famously, Tiger Woods has won 14 of his 15 major championships with that iconic Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS Putter in hand, which he used consistently from 1999 to 2010, before later making a welcome return, including at his stratospheric Masters triumph in 2019. Jack Nicklaus loved his MacGregor Tommy Armour 945W Driver, having it in the bag for 14 years until 1990, including unforgettably using it to success at the Masters in 1986.
The Golden Bear also won the 1978 Open Championship, 1980 U.S. Open and 1980 PGA Championship with that driver.
Ben Crenshaw, twice a winner at Augusta National, was renowned for his touch on the greens, something that can be attributed to his old reliable, the Wilson 8802, known as Little Ben, which he used on and off for over 40 years.
And more recently, Henrik Stenson carried his trusty Callaway Diablo Octane Tour 3-Wood for the better part of a decade, winning the Open in 2016, FedEx Cup in 2013, and Race to Dubai on two occasions. That must have been a bittersweet farewell when he progressed to the Epic Flash last autumn.
But what is your most beloved golf club?
Recently, we discovered what the Golfshake Community believed was the Most Important - the Putter beating the Driver - but identifying your favourite isn't necessarily the same thing.
Studying 3,500 responses to the 2019 Golfshake Survey, we asked regular, everyday golfers: "What is Your Favourite Club in the Bag?"
Here are the results for all handicaps.
- 0.5% - 1/2 Iron or Driving Iron
- 5.3% - 3 Wood
- 3.8% - 5 Iron
- 4.4% - 5 Wood
- 4.5% - 6 Iron
- 11.6% - 7 Iron
- 8.1% - 8 Iron
- 16.7% - Driver
- 10.9% - Hybrid (All Variations Combined)
- 9.6% - Putter
- 14.7% - Wedge (All Variations Combined)
The driver and wedges were the narrow winners in this overall battle, with the long irons unsurprisingly the least popular. "Not even God can hit a one-iron!" as Lee Trevino once memorably exclaimed.
However, when you separate golfers into distinct handicap categories, you see that the answers are noticeably different.
For single-figure players, the driver, wedge and putter run away with the poll - identified by the great Ben Hogan as being the three most important clubs.
< 10 Handicap
- 8.5% - 7/8 Iron
- 27.9% - Driver
- 20.9% - Wedge
- 14.7% - Putter
Whereas for higher handicap golfers, their affections are expressed towards the 7 and 8 Irons - hence the title of this article. It's a suggestion that these players most value the clubs they find the easiest to hit, the more lofted irons.
> 21 Handicap
- 10.4% 3/5 Wood
- 24.5% - 7/8 Iron
- 12.8% - Driver
- 10.7% - Wedge
- 12.5% - Hybrid
- 7.1% - Putter
We also broke down the responses by age, which presented similar findings in favour of the shorter irons.
Under 45
- 19.2% - 7/8 Iron
- 18.8% - Driver
- 18.3% - Wedge
Over 54
- 19.9% - 7/8 Iron
- 15.9% - Driver
- 13.4% - Wedge
- 11.9% - Hybrid
So, what is your favourite golf club? Are you one of those lower handicap players who favours the driver, or do you enjoy the relative forgiveness of a 7-iron? Maybe you are like Tiger Woods and Ben Crenshaw, being inseparable from your putter.
Let us know what it is and consider why it may be your choice!
What do you think? post your thoughts and feedback on the Golfshake comments: jump to comments here.
Tags: tiger woods Survey putters PGA Tour irons industry insider GOLFERS Golf Clubs gear equipment drivers daily picks clubs