Starting a new adventure . . . Minimalist Golf

[WipeyFade]

1 hour ago, doubleeagle said:

I went extreme minimalist once last year and played 9 holes with only my 6 iron. I saw Bryson do it so I was like WTH let's go for it. Obviously putting on fast greens with slope was the toughest part but I was proud to have kept it respectable at 46 which I've done with a full bag 😏

 

My normal half bag goes, 4w 7w 6 8 PW 54 PT and swapping 4w with DR depending on the course 

Great set up! Ya the wipey fade happens enough on the course that I figured it would be a good handle.

[tatertot]

On 2/19/2025 at 12:53 PM, azgreg said:

 

Nice. I hate shrugging in and out of the double straps.

 

Me too. Got a single strap for mine, and love it.

[subrew]

On 2/19/2025 at 3:59 AM, aiyyer said:

Pretty sure I’ve posted this photo here.

Dusting off this iron half set I specifically put together about 7/8 years ago for this weekend. Adams MB2s. Took about 2 years to find the  heads on eBay. 

 

I just built up a set:

 

 

 

 

[Ivyguy]

2 hours ago, subrew said:

I just built up a set:

 

 

 

 

Whoa!  Gotta be a top 3 iron of all time right?

[aiyyer]

That’s awesome you got matching heads with the same plugs!! 

[gvogel]

Titleist TSR2 11* driver.

Ping G25 5-wood

Titleist TSR1 6-hybrid

Titleist T350 7 and 9-iron

AP2 714 PW

Vokey SM9 55* SW

Odyssey No 7 putter

 

Been that way for quite a while.

[scruffynick]

Played yesterday with a change as I bought a 7 wood last year and it's become my favourite club....so I was pondering about a really lofted 9 wood....boom bought a yonex 9 wood with lots of loft, it's basically cheating 😀

So I'm on driver 7 wood 9 wood 7 9 pw sw & putter 

Had 36 points yesterday which is solid enough in winter golf...and its was freezing cold 

[rkillian]

Back to a half set for me. Haven’t played much at all in the last 3 and a half months. I’ve found there’s no better way to get back into a groove than with a half set for a while. 

[aiyyer]

Pinehurst trip 6 rounds and hit the 4 wood once!

May need to lose it! 

[WipeyFade]

2 minutes ago, aiyyer said:

Pinehurst trip 6 rounds and hit the 4 wood once!

May need to lose it! 

I was thinking the same thing about my 5 wood after yesterday’s round, but then I thought about all the times I used it for bump and runs around the green. Also, I bet the dormant Bermuda was awesome to play on at Pinehurst. 

Edited March 3 by WipeyFade

[Tommy56]

6 hours ago, rkillian said:

Back to a half set for me. Haven’t played much at all in the last 3 and a half months. I’ve found there’s no better way to get back into a groove than with a half set for a while. 

Or all the time ...  😉

[Skeez]

I decided to commit to a minimalist set. What do you guys do with your extra irons? Do you keep them, in case you go back to a full set or decide to switch between odd and even irons? Is there any kind of market for half a set of irons, if I try to sell my odd irons? 

[Ivyguy]

18 minutes ago, Skeez said:

I decided to commit to a minimalist set. What do you guys do with your extra irons? Do you keep them, in case you go back to a full set or decide to switch between odd and even irons? Is there any kind of market for half a set of irons, if I try to sell my odd irons? 

KEEP THEM!

 

Unless you wanna go “Burn the Ships” style. Which is gutsy and I like it. 
 

But, you aren’t going to get anything for a skip set of half irons and you always have the opportunity to throw them back in. 
 

Re: I played an 8 club bag for a long time. S59’s were my sticks (they are a top 10 iron… can’t tell me otherwise). I got invited to play in my brother in laws scramble company shindig. He wanted to win, so he called his brother in laws (I was a 10-ish, other guy was a touch lower).  He said that I need to play “real” golf though… He wanted the trophy. 
 

Sidebar, this guy really needed it. He’s never won anything… Like I don’t think he knows that Rock beats Scissors. 
 

Anyhow, I just threw in my other irons. I still played my normal shots (scrambles are driving and putting), no one knew the difference. 
 

Keep them, who knows…. You may want to do a custom build and you could sell you current full set to get something you really want. 
 

Play good. Or good-ish. 
 

Or at least drink beer. That’ll help too. 

[Skeez]

Great advice. Thanks. 

[Tommy56]

After you’re a committed minimalist and decide to get new irons at some point, then you can order just the individual ones you want. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at being able to sell a short set. 

[9ClubberLang]

I’ve sold half sets easily, either odds or evens. They’ve normally gone to a parent buying for their teenager who is just starting out, or someone looking for a winter set.

 

If you feel you will end up selling them all and replace with a dedicated minimalist bag, then you may as well wait and sell together in one go.

[lil'mike]

Personally I would like to see more half sets come up for sale as I want to upgrade my even irons in graphite to something newer but I only see older sets offered and that isn't very often.

[WipeyFade]

Honestly, with the cost of clubs skyrocketing, companies may do well marketing half sets. I think they could potentially get new customers they normally wouldn’t get. It would be interesting to see how well the half set that Adams released last year is doing. 

[Poor Mans Ty Webb]

8 hours ago, Skeez said:

I decided to commit to a minimalist set. What do you guys do with your extra irons? Do you keep them, in case you go back to a full set or decide to switch between odd and even irons? Is there any kind of market for half a set of irons, if I try to sell my odd irons? 

 

This could be a great opportunity to buy new clubs!  Some companies will let you purchase individual irons new (Miura, perhaps?); you could also assemble a half set via eBay by buying irons individually...I'd say keep the old full set and build a new half set - what an adventure.

 

You could really seize the moment - buying individual irons frees you up to do some fun stuff like combo from different sets that is more difficult to do when you're full-set shopping.  My ideal half set very likely includes GI long irons, CB mid irons and bladed short irons/more wedges.  I wouldn't necessarily buy a specialty wedge to replace the PW in a full set, for example, but I might just buy a crisp 46-50* specialty wedge to fill out a half set of clubs, because who the heck cares.

[rkillian]

On 3/3/2025 at 8:31 PM, Tommy56 said:

Or all the time ...  😉

Very likely. I played my best golf ever last year playing no more than 10 clubs at any given time, getting into single digits. When rounds slowed down I got bored and went back up to 13 clubs. 
 

I coach High School golf (luckily a better coach than a player haha) and carrying a half set for one course practice is both a great way to demonstrate things when needed but keep things light when hitting a few shots for myself. 
 

I also really prefer to carry my jones bag over my stand bag. It’s probably time to sell things off and fully commit!

[Oh Hi Carl]

Here's my minimalist WITB.

 

Driver

3H

5H

7i

9i

Gap

56

Putter

 

[MackyN]

Played my first 18 holes for the year today with my 8 club bag (39+37).

This is the bag I will  probably play 90+% of my rounds this year with.

 

Driver:              GT4 @ 44”

4 UT:                Apex 24 

6, 8, 10 irons:   Apex 24 mb

52, 58:              SM10

P:                      Jailbird S2S

 

Very happy with this setup, even though I’m thinking about switching the 4 UT to a GT3 hybrid, or maybe switching in and out depending on course and weather..

Edited March 8 by MackyN

[djrock89]

Ive just started playing minimalist myself last weekend and shot my best ever of 42 on 9 holes really enjoyed the simplicity of it ive decided im using.

 

Callaway Ai smoke max °12

Mizuno hi fly 4 hybrid °19

Mizuno jpx 921 6 iron °25

Mizuno jpx 921 8 iron °34

Mizuno jpx 921 PW °44

Mizuno t22 SW °54

Taylor made spider gt putter

 

Just had a ping moonlite delivered yesterday aswell seems like a great bag was using the Mizuno bdr2 before that.

[Tommy56]

@djrock89  Welcome to the minimalist club ... nice setup. 

Edited March 14 by Tommy56

[djrock89]

@Tommy56 cheers mate really enjoyed reading about it all in here im hooked now will never go back to a full set again made the game even more enjoyable 

[djrock89]

Random one but is there anything on here to meet people and play in ur local area? Ive had afew mates quit playing in the last few months and need to find new people to play with?

[azgreg]

Driver: Adams 9088 UL
Fairway: Taylormade V-Steel  5w
Irons: Maltby TE Forged 4, 6, 8, pw, gw
Wedge: GigaGolf SGS 56
Putter: GigaGolf Center Cut
Bag: Ping Moonlander

 

[g_nw]

nice setups, boys 😮‍💨

[54CW]

14 hours ago, djrock89 said:

Random one but is there anything on here to meet people and play in ur local area? Ive had afew mates quit playing in the last few months and need to find new people to play with?

I’ve tried this and it’s tough. We’re all pretty scattered lol. Would be great to put on a short-set tournament somewhere for solstice one. Minimum clubs, maximum daylight. 

[spud3]

17 hours ago, djrock89 said:

Random one but is there anything on here to meet people and play in ur local area? Ive had afew mates quit playing in the last few months and need to find new people to play with?

Go to the Courses, Memberships and Travel forum here:

https://forums.golfwrx.com/forum/144-courses-memberships-and-travel/

 

Then click on the sub-forum for your region and post something there.  Unlikely you'll get a minimalist player, but you may get some responses from people in your area.  I've met some now great friends through WRX.  Good luck!