How To Fill The 14th Spot In Your Bag

How To Fill The 14th Spot In Your Bag 

You're only allowed to carry 14 golf clubs at a time in your golf bag, so how do you use each of those slots most effectively? While 14 clubs are available to every golfer, most will only carry 12 or 13 clubs, leaving some gaps in your bag that we think you could be using more effectively. Here, we're going to take a look at seven clubs you should be adding to your bag so you can play even better golf. Even if you do carry 14 clubs already, check out these seven pieces of advice to see if there's a better way you can configure you golf bag. 

How To Fill The 14th Spot In Your Bag 

1. Adding another driving club 

Have you ever considered having a second driving option in your bag other than your driver? We think having a go-to second option if you're having a bad day with the driver can help you find more fairways during a round.

We'd suggest an adjustable 3-wood (most of the best fairway woods are adjustable for loft these days) or something like the TaylorMade Mini driver. Both of these clubs lofted at around 12°-13° would still provide plenty of distance off the tee, but would be a lot easier to hit and should lead to more fairways found. 

2. Another wedge with more loft

Wedges are one of the most important scoring clubs in the bag, so it's important to get the set up right. If you only carry two wedges at the minute, we'd highly recommend adding a third wedge, preferably a lob wedge if you don't have one already. Although you may not use it a lot, a lob wedge will come in handy when you find yourself needing to delicately get the ball up and down quickly beside a green. If you already carry three wedges, there's no harm in adding a fourth if there's space in your bag - even a 64° lob wedge could come in handy every now and then.

3. Add a 7-wood to your bag

The humble 7-wood is very much back in vogue, especially on Tour. We've seen the likes of Leona Maguire, Tommy Fleetwood, Nelly Korda and Xander Schauffele use these clubs to great effect, and they're equally useful for us amateurs as they are for the pros. The 7-wood normally comes in with around 21° in loft and it is especially useful off the fairway on long par 5s and off the tee on short par 4s. By its very nature it pops the ball up in the air very easily from multiple lies and having that centre of gravity further back arguably makes it easier to hit than even the best hybrid clubs. If you find yourself approaching greens from a long way out and need some extra stopping power, definitely consider adding a 7-wood to your bag. 

If you're already carrying 14 clubs and want to make some extra room, why not consider splitting the 3-wood and 5-wood in your bag and add just the single 4-wood. It'll make decision making on course a lot simpler and free up some space for an extra wedge or iron.

4. Driving irons

While you quite rightly might have been scared of adding a 2-iron or 3-iron to the bag a few years ago, modern driving irons are much more forgiving and provide a unique ball flight and shot shape not many other clubs in the bag can attain. The value of a driving iron obviously comes from off the tee, but also from off the fairway or rough if you're looking to chase a ball low below some trees or along a dry fairway. We think these clubs are especially effective in the summer, as the low ball flight and minimal spin allows the golf ball to run even further down a dry fairway. 

5. Adding another hybrid

A lot of golfers will only carry one or two hybrids in the bag and we think there's scope to add a third if you've got a space to fill. One of the most common gear changes golfers are making is removing their 5-iron from the bag and adding a 5-hybrid instead. These clubs are much more forgiving and will still provide the same sort of distance, launch and stopping power that a conventional 5-iron will achieve. 

At the other end of the spectrum, if you don't get on with fairway woods, try adding a 2-hybrid or adjustable 3-hybrid to the bag to give you that extra distance from the longest clubs in your bag.

6. Chippers

While you ego might have to take a bit of a hit to put a chipper in the bag, there's no doubting how useful these clubs are around the green. If you find yourself regularly fatting or thinning chips, a chipper is a great solution to help you make more up and downs. We reviewed the Mazel Chipper last year and were impressed with how it performed on scrappy lies in and around the green and, with a decent putting stroke, can warrant taking a wedge out for. 

7. Add a club of opposite dexterity 

Now, we acknowledge that this might be a bit of a niche one, but if none of the above suggestions have taken your fancy, why not add a club of opposite dexterity in the bag. This will be useful on the very rare occasion that you're stuck behind a tree and your normal club can be used. As we said, this will be very rare, but who knows when it might come in handy and save you a few strokes during an important round of golf!