Equipment
How do you use yours?
What’s your favourite club in the bag? The one you know you can hit no matter what?
Some golfers love to hit their driver all day long on the range and feel the most confident with the big stick in their hands. Others prefer the satisfaction of getting the pace and tempo just right in their putts. But how do you feel about those middle-of-the-range clubs that fill the gaps between the tee and the green?
While some golfers will swear by their irons, how well do you get on with your hybrid? If you don’t have one in the bag, you could be missing out on a highly beneficial club. The hybrid is perhaps the most versatile golf club and can serve multiple purposes.
Off the tee
Taking a Hybrid off the tee is always a safe bet. You have more control over them compared to longer clubs and they provide you with an iron-like accuracy to ensure you have a good chance of finding the fairway. While you won’t be breaking new distances with a hybrid, it’s the perfect tool for those holes where you’ve got a very tight fairway or multiple hazards in range and want to play smart.
From the fairway
Hybrids are naturally the ideal club to take when you’re a good distance away from the hole on a par-5 or long par-4. One of these clubs will give you the best of both worlds in wood-like power with iron-like control. If you’ve ever been caught in a tough patch of rough, you’ll appreciate how tricky the grass can be to escape from.
Hybrids have a solid head with a durable sole that makes striking through tough terrain a smooth operation. They tend to be easier to hit when compared to long irons, as well as high flying so they stop faster on the greens.
Hybrids have a larger clubhead than your typical long iron, and that makes them a lot easier to strike the ball with. These clubs will give you an excellent ball flight when hitting into the greens, allowing the ball to quickly come to rest in a nice position on the short grass.
Escaping trouble
When you’re playing off the fairway, your ball will usually be sitting in a nice patch of fluffy grass, ready for you to line up your next shot. That’s rarely the case when your tee shot veers away from the fairway into a stretch of harsh rough.
When the ball is in thick rough, that’s where the hybrid really shines as a relief club. When standing at address, it’s a good idea to approach the ball with an open clubface. This will prevent the grass from wrapping around the hosel and closing the face as you play your shot.
Hybrids are similarly an excellent club to take when you find yourself in a fairway bunker. Sand traps can be daunting, but a hybrid is the ideal solution. The hybrid’s wide sole and bigger head makes gliding the club through the sand a breeze.
Around the green
Course architects spend an awful lot of time crafting slopes and contours around greens to give us a good challenge when trying to get close to the hole. Sometimes it can be a bit too dangerous to try and land a wedge shot on an angled green, but bumping the ball onto the green with a hybrid can be an excellent tactic. The hybrid has a bigger body than a putter, and will help you breeze the ball through grass when you might have difficulty connecting your putter with the ball.
The latest hybrids from Titliest
Now that we’ve given you an idea of just how versatile hybrid clubs can be, we’d like to take a moment to look at the tech in the latest Titleist hybrids and explain how the clubs have been designed in your favour.
Titleist’s tried-and-tested TSR range offers a powerhouse performance, and if you have yet to try playing with a Titleist hybrid, you’re sorely missing out.
Titleist TSR1 hybrid
The TSR1 entry in the range is an ultra-lightweight offering that’s been engineered to aid players with slow swing speeds. Titleist has taken out all non-essential materials to keep things light and simple. A deep centre of gravity placement will give you an effortlessly high launch.
Titleist TSR2 hybrid
With a classically shaped clubhead, the TSR2 hybrid is packing both the tech and the looks. Titleist has shifted the centre of gravity deeper to create a more forgiving hybrid, and the impact centre increases flex on impact to give you more speed and forgiveness. This is an excellent club for players that tend to dig down on the ball.
Titleist TSR3 hybrid
If you’re a more adept player, you’ll get on well with the TSR3 hybrid. This club is highly workable, and features a 5-position centre of gravity Track System. The shape is tour-inspired and looks very sleek and well-proportioned. It also features a higher inertia body that helps prevent off-centre strikes.
Golf can be a confusing game, especially when you have a lot of options open as to what club you take on those in-between feeling shots. We’re here in the pro shop to help you should you want to learn more about how far you hit each club with a gapping session, or get you custom fitted with new golf gear.
