| The irons weigh from 14½ ounces for | | | | |
| the No. 2 to 16½ for the No. 9. Sand | | | | Which Clubs to Carry |
| wedges will go up to 17½. | | | | |
| | | | Since the USGA permits the carrying of |
| Shafts of clubs are graded in three types, | | | | fourteen clubs, it would be difficult to |
| flexible, medium, and stiff. Most of the | | | | persuade the average golfer that he shouldn't |
| bigger, stronger pros use the stiff shaft. | | | | take full advantage of the rule. He would not |
| The medium shaft is for the average player. | | | | be happy, indeed he would feel himself |
| The flexible is generally considered best for | | | | laboring under a handicap, carrying fewer |
| players of more advanced age and for women. | | | | than the rule allows. So, which ones should |
| It is best suited for a slow swing. The | | | | they be? |
| limber-ness of a shaft is known to the | | | | |
| manufacturers as shaft deflection. | | | | From the conventional set of three woods, |
| | | | nine irons, a sand wedge, and a putter, the |
| We have heard a great deal, for years, about | | | | average player should drop the No. 1 iron and |
| swing weight. The term is tossed about so | | | | the No. 2 wood. For these he should |
| loosely, in fact, that few players have much | | | | substitute the No. 4 wood and a pitching |
| of an idea what it is. Swing weight indicates | | | | wedge. The No. 2 wood and the No. 1 iron, |
| the distribution of the weight of a club. It | | | | with their relatively straight faces, are the |
| is the proportion of the weight in the head | | | | hardest clubs of all to use. Many pros |
| compared to the shaft and the grip. Swing | | | | dispense with the No. 2 wood, the old |
| weights are listed from C-0 to D-9. | | | | brassie, though most of them carry a No. 1 |
| | | | iron, mostly for use off a tee. If the pros |
| But a D-9, for instance, doesn't mean that 9 | | | | cannot use them effectively, what chance does |
| ounces of a club weighing 13% ounces are in | | | | a 16-handicapper have to make them behave? |
| the head. D-9 is merely one of the | | | | |
| calibrations on what is known as a lorythmic | | | | It is also a fact that most golfers find a |
| swinging weight scale. | | | | lofted wood easier to handle than a long |
| | | | iron. This seems to be specially true as the |
| A D-9 is no club for the average player to | | | | player grows older. If you are one of these, |
| use, either. It is what Arnold Palmer and | | | | and do not want to or cannot take the time to |
| many of the other pros use, and it is for a | | | | master the longer irons, then drop out the |
| strong, fast swinger. For the average player | | | | No. 2 and pick up a No. 5 wood. |
| the ideal swing weight is from D-1 to D-4. | | | | |
| For women the range is from C-4 to C-6. | | | | Generally speaking, we recommend the carrying |
| | | | of a driver, Nos. 3 and 4 woods, Nos. 2, 3, |
| In a general sense, the more you "feel" the | | | | 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 irons, a pitching wedge, |
| head of the club when you waggle it or swing | | | | a sand wedge, and a putter. |
| it, the higher the swing weight. You have | | | | |
| often heard players say, and no doubt you | | | | There are some to whom the No. 1 wood, the |
| have said it yourself, when handling a new | | | | driver, seems to be a special type of poison. |
| club, "Feels like a lot of head in this." | | | | There is no logical reason for this. Anybody |
| What you are feeling is the swing weight. | | | | who can hit a 3 wood, or any other wood, off |
| | | | the fairway has more than enough ability to |
| You could be fooled, of course, by the shaft. | | | | hit a teed-up ball with a driver. If you hook |
| A medium swing weight, for instance, in a | | | | or slice so badly with the driver that you |
| club with a flexible shaft, would feel like a | | | | are afraid to play it, something is radically |
| very high swing weight. You would "feel" an | | | | wrong with your swing. |
| inordinate amount of head when you swung it. | | | | |
| In fact, with a club like this, you would | | | | The average driver can weighs 13¼ to |
| have a very difficult time developing a | | | | 13½ ounces and is 43 inches long, |
| decent swing at all. But the manufacturers | | | | measured from the base of the heel to the tip |
| have taken care of this. They do not put out | | | | of the shaft. The other woods are shorter by |
| clubs with high swing weights on flexible | | | | about a half inch with each number. The No. 2 |
| shafts. In men's clubs the swing weights for | | | | iron is about 38% to 38⅝ inches, |
| a flexible shaft are D-0 and D-1. For medium | | | | and the others drop about 7/16 of an inch |
| shafts they are D-1 to D-4. For stiff shafts | | | | each, down to the No. 9. |
| they are D-4 to D-9. | | | | |