Opinion & Analysis
Swanson: How to choose the 14 clubs in your bag
Meet new GolfWRX Senior Expert on Everything, Swanson. We recently spotted him playing in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with Al Czervik, David Simms and the “Tiger Woods” from Dan Jenkins’ Golf Digest Interview. Swanson asked to write a few articles for GolfWRX’s Front Page. We told him if the readers like his stories, we’ll let him keep writing. If not, he’ll have to go back to trolling the forums.
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By far my least favorite part of playing tournament golf has always been deciding which 14 clubs to put in my bag, but I’ve learned a few tricks over the years.
During normal rounds of golf, I’ll have anywhere between 20-24 clubs in the bag; that includes drivers with different shafts, long irons (I don’t play fairway woods or hybrids), backup wedges and a few different Scotties.
Practice rounds are for testing equipment, not for playing by imaginary rules contrived by the USGA. But when it comes time to play in a USGA-sanctioned event, 14 clubs is the maximum they allow.
And this is a topic that really hits home for me.
You see, a few years back I qualified for the U.S. Senior Mid-Am Junior event in the second position after firing 71-68 (I hit 18 greens in regulation and had 44 putts in the first round), but a rules official saw I had 17 clubs in the bag after the event. I still have no idea how he saw the extra wedges hidden beneath my driver head cover, but I learned a lesson that day – the 14-club rule penalizes you two strokes for each hole played with more than 14 clubs, for a maximum of two holes. Safe to say, I didn’t qualify.
But now I’m an expert on selecting clubs for my tournament bag. And if chosen, they should be honored and thankful, and perform accordingly during the tournament. So do yourself a favor, print this out, put it in your bag and read it every time you’re deciding what clubs are going to make the cut for your next event.
Driver
Compile all of your driver heads and shafts, and head to your nearest Trackman facility. I have one in my basement, but you may need to go to a custom-fitting shop or a top teaching pro in your area. You don’t actually want a fitting or a lesson; you just want to rent the Trackman for an hour or two. Hit every driver head/shaft combination possible, and then print out a sheet of the averages.
Listen carefully, because this is the important part. You want to play the driver that has the lowest spin rate. No matter what. You can figure out how to launch it higher and make better contact (therefore increasing your ball speed) another time. I don’t hook or slice the ball, but if I did the low spin would help the ball curve less, and of course, it maximizes distance.
People say a 17-degree launch angle and 1700 rpm of spin is optimal, and I can do it every time with my forward-CG, low-MOI driver. You’re probably not good enough to play one, but maybe one day you will be. So buy the hottest low-spin driver every year on the off chance you start striping it one summer.
Editor’s Note: Swanson’s opinions on club fitting are his own, and don’t reflect the opinions of GolfWRX (at all).
Fairway Woods/Hybrids
Personally, I don’t use fairway woods or hybrids because:
- I don’t see the point.
- I don’t have yardage gaps big enough to need them.
I hit my driver 315 yards (on average), and carry my steel-shaft, hand-ground, muscleback 1-iron 275 yards. When would I hit a three wood or hybrid? From 290 yards into a par 5? And what par-5 in America would require me to hit a shot 290 yards on my approach?
None. The answer is none of the par 5s.
Irons/Driving irons
In making the decision on what long irons to carry, you’ll want to check the wind for the day, the par-3 distances and how many irons you’ll need off the tee on par-4s. I usually carry my 1, 2 and 3 irons during tournament play because it intimidates my competitors, and I can launch my 1-iron off the deck really high.
Most golfers will probably need to play irons that are more forgiving than the one-piece forgings I use, but you should test both. Blades are a huge advantage if you can play them, because they’re so much more workable and so much better in the rough.
Also, you may notice I use iron covers; you would too if your irons were hand ground from the same guy who forged Tiger’s Miura irons.
Wedges
This is the trickiest part of the equation. In my current practice bag, I have eight wedges: 50 degrees (bent to 49.5), 54 (bent to 53.5), 54 (bent to 54.5), 56 (bent to 55.5), 56 (bent to 56.5), 60 (extra heel grind), 60 (v-grind) and a 63 (bent to 63.5).
I know how far every one of them flies to a dime, but predicting exactly what yardages I’ll need during a round used to be difficult for me. That’s why I started getting my hands on a yardage book of the tournament course, and picking my targets for each hole. Since I rarely miss my target, especially under tournament pressure, all I have to do is decide which wedges I’ll need most often. One time, through my preparation, I found out I wouldn’t need a club from 197-203 yards, so I didn’t need my 8-iron. I played with six wedges that event and won the National Ultra-Private Country Club Championship.
For beginners, I suggest letting your long iron/fairway wood/hybrid setups dictate the wedges you choose, and simply fill in the yardage gaps appropriately.
Putter
I sleep with both of my Tour-Only Scotties the night before any event; one on my left side and one on my right. Whichever putter I wake up facing is the one that goes in the bag.
Choosing a golf ball
Just kidding. They make other balls than a Pro V1x?
As the editor-in-chief of this website and an observer of the GolfWRX forums and other online golf equipment discourse for over a decade, I’m pretty well attuned to the grunts and grumbles of a significant portion of the golf equipment purchasing spectrum. And before you accuse me of lording above all in some digital ivory tower, I’d like to offer that I worked at golf courses (public and private) for years prior to picking up my pen, so I’m well-versed in the non-degenerate golf equipment consumers out there. I touched (green)grass (retail)!
Complaints about the ills of and related to the OEMs usually follow some version of: Product cycles are too short for real innovation, tour equipment isn’t the same as retail (which is largely not true, by the way), too much is invested in marketing and not enough in R&D, top staffer X hasn’t even put the new driver in play, so it’s obviously not superior to the previous generation, prices are too high, and on and on.
Without digging into the merits of any of these claims, which I believe are mostly red herrings, I’d like to bring into view of our rangefinder what I believe to be the two primary difficulties golf equipment companies face.
One: As Terry Koehler, back when he was the CEO of Ben Hogan, told me at the time of the Ft Worth irons launch, if you can’t regularly hit the golf ball in a coin-sized area in the middle of the face, there’s not a ton that iron technology can do for you. Now, this is less true now with respect to irons than when he said it, and is less and less true by degrees as the clubs get larger (utilities, fairways, hybrids, drivers), but there remains a great deal of golf equipment truth in that statement. Think about it — which is to say, in TL;DR fashion, get lessons from a qualified instructor who will teach you about the fundamentals of repeatable impact and how the golf swing works, not just offer band-aid fixes. If you can’t repeatably deliver the golf club to the golf ball in something resembling the manner it was designed for, how can you expect to be getting the most out of the club — put another way, the maximum value from your investment?
Similarly, game improvement equipment can only improve your game if you game it. In other words, get fit for the clubs you ought to be playing rather than filling the bag with the ones you wish you could hit or used to be able to hit. Of course, don’t do this if you don’t care about performance and just want to hit a forged blade while playing off an 18 handicap. That’s absolutely fine. There were plenty of members in clubs back in the day playing Hogan Apex or Mizuno MP-32 irons who had no business doing so from a ballstriking standpoint, but they enjoyed their look, feel, and complementary qualities to their Gatsby hats and cashmere sweaters. Do what brings you a measure of joy in this maddening game.
Now, the second issue. This is not a plea for non-conforming equipment; rather, it is a statement of fact. USGA/R&A limits on every facet of golf equipment are detrimental to golf equipment manufacturers. Sure, you know this, but do you think about it as it applies to almost every element of equipment? A 500cc driver would be inherently more forgiving than a 460cc, as one with a COR measurement in excess of 0.83. 50-inch shafts. Box grooves. And on and on.
Would fewer regulations be objectively bad for the game? Would this erode its soul? Fortunately, that’s beside the point of this exercise, which is merely to point out the facts. The fact, in this case, is that equipment restrictions and regulations are the slaughterbench of an abundance of innovation in the golf equipment space. Is this for the best? Well, now I’ve asked the question twice and might as well give a partial response, I guess my answer to that would be, “It depends on what type of golf you’re playing and who you’re playing it with.”
For my part, I don’t mind embarrassing myself with vintage blades and persimmons chasing after the quasi-spiritual elevation of a well-struck shot, but that’s just me. Plenty of folks don’t give a damn if their grooves are conforming. Plenty of folks think the folks in Liberty Corner ought to add a prison to the museum for such offences. And those are just a few of the considerations for the amateur game — which doesn’t get inside the gallery ropes of the pro game…
Different strokes in the game of golf, in my humble opinion.
Anyway, I believe equipment company engineers are genuinely trying to build better equipment year over year. The marketing departments are trying to find ways to make this equipment appeal to the broadest segment of the golf market possible. All of this against (1) the backdrop of — at least for now — firm product cycles. And golfers who, with their ~15 average handicap (men), for the most part, are not striping the golf ball like Tiger in his prime and seem to have less and less time year over year to practice and improve. (2) Regulations that massively restrict what they’re able to do…
That’s the landscape as I see it and the real headwinds for golf equipment companies. No doubt, there’s more I haven’t considered, but I think the previous is a better — and better faith — point of departure when formulating any serious commentary on the golf equipment world than some of the more cynical and conspiratorial takes I hear.
Agree? Disagree? Think I’m worthy of an Adam Hadwin-esque security guard tackle? Let me know in the comments.
@golfoncbs The infamous Adam Hadwin tackle ? #golf #fyp #canada #pgatour #adamhadwin ? Ghibli-style nostalgic waltz – MaSssuguMusic
Episode #16 brings us Cliff McKinney. Cliff is the founder of Old Charlie Golf Club, a new club, and concept, to be built in the Florida panhandle. The model is quite interesting and aims to make great, private golf more affordable. We hope you enjoy the show!
Last week, I came across a reel from BBC Sport on Instagram featuring Scottie Scheffler speaking to the media ahead of The Open at Royal Portrush. In it, he shared that he often wonders what the point is of wanting to win tournaments so badly — especially when he knows, deep down, that it doesn’t lead to a truly fulfilling life.
View this post on Instagram
“Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf? Yeah, it brings tears to my eyes just to think about it because I’ve literally worked my entire life to be good at this sport,” Scheffler said. “To have that kind of sense of accomplishment, I think, is a pretty cool feeling. To get to live out your dreams is very special, but at the end of the day, I’m not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I’m not out here to inspire someone to be the best player in the world, because what’s the point?”
Ironically — or perhaps perfectly — he went on to win the claret jug.
That question — what’s the point of winning? — cuts straight to the heart of the human journey.
As someone who’s spent over two decades in the trenches of professional golf, and in deep study of the mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of the game, I see Scottie’s inner conflict as a sign of soul evolution in motion.
I came to golf late. I wasn’t a junior standout or college All-American. At 27, I left a steady corporate job to see if I could be on the PGA Tour starting as a 14-handicap, average-length hitter. Over the years, my journey has been defined less by trophies and more by the relentless effort to navigate the deeply inequitable and gated system of professional golf — an effort that ultimately turned inward and helped me evolve as both a golfer and a person.
One perspective that helped me make sense of this inner dissonance around competition and our culture’s tendency to overvalue winning is the idea of soul evolution.
The University of Virginia’s Division of Perceptual Studies has done extensive research on reincarnation, and Netflix’s Surviving Death (Episode 6) explores the topic, too. Whether you take it literally or metaphorically, the idea that we’re on a long arc of growth — from beginner to sage elder — offers a profound perspective.
If you accept the premise literally, then terms like “young soul” and “old soul” start to hold meaning. However, even if we set the word “soul” aside, it’s easy to see that different levels of life experience produce different worldviews.
Newer souls — or people in earlier stages of their development — may be curious and kind but still lack discernment or depth. There is a naivety, and they don’t yet question as deeply, tending to see things in black and white, partly because certainty feels safer than confronting the unknown.
As we gain more experience, we begin to experiment. We test limits. We chase extreme external goals — sometimes at the expense of health, relationships, or inner peace — still operating from hunger, ambition, and the fragility of the ego.
It’s a necessary stage, but often a turbulent and unfulfilling one.
David Duval fell off the map after reaching World No. 1. Bubba Watson had his own “Is this it?” moment with his caddie, Ted Scott, after winning the Masters.
In Aaron Rodgers: Enigma, reflecting on his 2011 Super Bowl win, Rodgers said:
“Now I’ve accomplished the only thing that I really, really wanted to do in my life. Now what? I was like, ‘Did I aim at the wrong thing? Did I spend too much time thinking about stuff that ultimately doesn’t give you true happiness?’”
Jim Carrey once said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”
Eventually, though, something shifts.
We begin to see in shades of gray. Winning, dominating, accumulating—these pursuits lose their shine. The rewards feel more fleeting. Living in a constant state of fight-or-flight makes us feel alive, yes, but not happy and joyful.
Compassion begins to replace ambition. Love, presence, and gratitude become more fulfilling than status, profits, or trophies. We crave balance over burnout. Collaboration over competition. Meaning over metrics.
Interestingly, if we zoom out, we can apply this same model to nations and cultures. Countries, like people, have a collective “soul stage” made up of the individuals within them.
Take the United States, for example. I’d place it as a mid-level soul: highly competitive and deeply driven, but still learning emotional maturity. Still uncomfortable with nuance. Still believing that more is always better. Despite its global wins, the U.S. currently ranks just 23rd in happiness (as of 2025). You might liken it to a gifted teenager—bold, eager, and ambitious, but angsty and still figuring out how to live well and in balance. As much as a parent wants to protect their child, sometimes the child has to make their own mistakes to truly grow.
So when Scottie Scheffler wonders what the point of winning is, I don’t see someone losing strength.
I see someone evolving.
He’s beginning to look beyond the leaderboard. Beyond metrics of success that carry a lower vibration. And yet, in a poetic twist, Scheffler did go on to win The Open. But that only reinforces the point: even at the pinnacle, the question remains. And if more of us in the golf and sports world — and in U.S. culture at large — started asking similar questions, we might discover that the more meaningful trophy isn’t about accumulating or beating others at all costs.
It’s about awakening and evolving to something more than winning could ever promise.
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Tyler
Apr 20, 2016 at 1:25 am
Hilarious! Best part was the trackman in the basement. I guarantee someone on here convinced the wife to spend $20k on a trackman for the basement.
Timbleking
Apr 16, 2016 at 3:44 am
Jiiiiiiiiiizzzzz ! Swanson, the 8 iron comment made my day! ROTFL!!!
Jason
Apr 15, 2016 at 11:42 am
Coming out of the gates strong…I love it.
Boomshaboom
Apr 15, 2016 at 11:00 am
Wow, God wrote an article about how to select your 14. Suprised he needs a putter.
Cyd2293
Mar 30, 2016 at 8:53 pm
Great Article.
Loved it.
A little humor goes a long way.
Martin
Mar 28, 2016 at 2:15 pm
Hi Swanson!
I always support anyone who wants to be funny, and I think you did ok for the first time. BUT you have to train harder and score better if you wanna make the cut!!! 😉
Good Luck!
Mike Honcho
Mar 21, 2016 at 1:37 pm
So bad Spaulding Smails gave it a shank and two nose picks.
Junior
Mar 21, 2016 at 12:49 pm
where can I get a set of those iron covers?
northgolf
Mar 21, 2016 at 11:11 am
Effective satire requires actually being humorous. This is just old, tired, and worn out. Iron covers in the top photo was the highlight and it went downhill from there.
insider
Mar 21, 2016 at 9:45 am
is this a stab at early ian poulter when he was a club pro?????????????
Mike Honcho
Mar 21, 2016 at 1:38 pm
Go easy or IJP will tweet (whine) about it to your employer and get you fired.
nath
Mar 21, 2016 at 7:33 am
Back to the forums buddy, cmon, you have had your fun!
The front page is no place for you.
I’m glad I just wasted 15mins
Double Mocha Man
Mar 21, 2016 at 11:09 am
Slow reader, huh?
Nath
Mar 21, 2016 at 9:35 pm
Umm Yeh
Jim
Mar 21, 2016 at 5:19 am
I learned nothing, finally.
Steve
Mar 19, 2016 at 3:39 pm
What a dumb article, what was the point? To fill space? Sometimes less is more. Definately less of this guy
Double Mocha Man
Mar 19, 2016 at 12:00 pm
Relax! The guy actually has a 17 handicap and is trying to be funny. Though I did appreciate the part about all his wedges… I carry 5 of ’em in a 14 club bag. Inevitably, the one I want to use is hidden from sight under the other wedges. This a Murphey’s Law, even if the wedge is the longest of the bunch.
The red booties for his irons in the photograph should have been a dead giveaway.
Mill Fickelson
Mar 19, 2016 at 6:13 am
Wow “Dufner” do you even know how to read? You must be from the south if you don’t understand satire!
Ps- nothing funnier than internet outrage, relax everyone it’s just an article and it accurately depicts 99.9% of you
ryan
Mar 19, 2016 at 3:14 am
those who are butt-hurt from this article probably just realized that it’s about people like them and how ridiculous they can be. A+
Jim
Mar 19, 2016 at 1:29 am
This could have been a funny article if it had been done correctly. The manner in which it was written and came out, was lacking and wasn’t funny at all. The only slightly amusing part was the wedges bent by like .3 degrees. Other than that, a waste of what could have been a really funny article.
Cptdot
Mar 19, 2016 at 2:31 pm
10000% agree.. Beat it Swanson
paul
Mar 19, 2016 at 11:20 pm
i have to admit i laughed out loud when i read this article. all parts of it are funny even the disclaimer from Golfwrx . made my day
DB
Mar 19, 2016 at 12:03 am
I haven’t read such a good laugh in a while. I would swear I know this guy in real life. hahahaha, Keep the articles coming!!!
Marc
Mar 18, 2016 at 8:41 pm
Loved the wedge lofts .
RHJazz
Mar 18, 2016 at 8:40 pm
Serious or satire? It’s a fine, line to get right. Problem I had with this is, for some it’s kind of true – over thinking one’s needs and ability and the elitist attitude of some narcissistic players we may actually encounter. For others, it’s just rubbish and so fantastical it almost makes no sense. Good try with high level of difficulty, but failed to stick the landing. I’d judge it “m’eh.”
Kevin Hawkins
Mar 18, 2016 at 7:41 pm
Waste of time reading this. It wasn’t even funny.
PAUL CLARKE
Mar 19, 2016 at 10:53 am
He must be writing about you!!
Kyle
Mar 18, 2016 at 6:53 pm
This is probably the best article I have ever read on this site.
The funny part is that I opened it actually looking for some good advice.
JustTrying2BAwesome
Mar 18, 2016 at 6:38 pm
Hahaha this was great. Thank you.
EO
Mar 18, 2016 at 5:32 pm
The article made me chuckle, the replies gave me a nice belly laugh. Funny article. Of course it’s pointless.
JustPlainCarpe
Mar 18, 2016 at 4:57 pm
Hilarious!
Nolanski
Mar 18, 2016 at 4:44 pm
Lol! I about lost it after the muscleback 1 iron part. You shoulda said something like “I have my putter shafts pured weekly”. Keep em coming.
Tom
Mar 18, 2016 at 4:39 pm
“I sleep with both of my Tour-Only Scotties the night before any event; one on my left side and one on my right. Whichever putter I wake up facing is the one that goes in the bag.” Some golfwrxer’s should try this with their Scotties.
Tom
Mar 18, 2016 at 4:34 pm
6 wedges..ROFLMAO….ya got me.
Scooter McGavin
Mar 18, 2016 at 3:55 pm
Wow, this was dumb. I’m sad I wasted my time reading it. If you’re going to post something meant to be funny and satirical, at least make sure it’s actually funny.
Bishop
Mar 18, 2016 at 3:17 pm
If you didn’t realize this was a satire by the second paragraph “During normal rounds of golf, I’ll have anywhere between 20-24 clubs in the bag; that includes drivers with different shafts…” you may want to lighten up a bit. If you have 20-24 clubs in your bag at one time, you deserve to have to carry your bag 18 holes once per year…. This was funny, albeit a waste of 10 minutes…
Birdie?
Mar 18, 2016 at 2:14 pm
April 1st isn’t for another 2 weeks or so. WTactualF
RG
Mar 18, 2016 at 2:12 pm
What a loser! 8 wedges? I don’t carry a wedge because I never miss a green and I can reach any par 5 with a 2 iron or less. I haven’t been in a bunker since Clinton was in office. Heck 50% of the time I don’t need a putter, I just tap in with whatever club is in my hand. I know your thinking “Why isn’t this guy on tour?” My answer is to much travel, not enough prize money.
Random Reader
Mar 18, 2016 at 1:51 pm
Ha! Good for a smile.
Marc G
Mar 18, 2016 at 1:45 pm
Worst article I’ve read here
Philip
Mar 18, 2016 at 1:42 pm
Too funny! However, can you now write a proper version of the article that gives up a nugget or two? Or are you hoarding those for yourself?
ca1879
Mar 18, 2016 at 1:40 pm
Oh my… some of the comments. I am now certain that it’s impossible to write a satire that’s too obvious.
Wow123
Mar 18, 2016 at 1:34 pm
Funny! But that is because I speak sarcasm.
Clowone
Mar 18, 2016 at 1:29 pm
1st of April is soon this year..
Weekend Duffer
Mar 18, 2016 at 1:16 pm
GolfWRX – The article
michael johnson
Mar 18, 2016 at 12:46 pm
this is the most pointless article ever. it is not a good troll, it is not funny and it is uniformative. booh!
mvandy
Mar 18, 2016 at 12:34 pm
This is a joke right? wtf is this
duffer
Mar 18, 2016 at 12:27 pm
Wow. Send this guy back to trolling. This article was just a forum for him to brag about how he can hit a 1-iron unlike us mere mortals. Completely useless article if you are a normal human being who hits their driver 230 like 95% of us. Get off your high horse buddy! Write an article this isn’t all about how great you are.
Mike
Mar 18, 2016 at 1:49 pm
You do realize it was a tongue-in-cheek article, right?
mhendon
Mar 18, 2016 at 8:24 pm
Lol and someone thought this was serious
Greg V
Mar 18, 2016 at 12:12 pm
I can’t believe I read the whole thing.
Satire
Mar 18, 2016 at 12:02 pm
Enjoyable
Bobtrumpet
Mar 18, 2016 at 1:23 pm
Someone gets it.