Starting a new adventure . . . Minimalist Golf

[theothertwo]

On 6/28/2025 at 9:04 AM, CozBMB said:

Here is an article about a guy who played competitive golf with 9 clubs.  This is the only thing I have been able to find for modern competitive golf.  

https://www.christophersmithgolf.com/portals/chrissmith/documents/letsplay9.pdf

I have been playing 12 but I'll try 8 clubs.

 

Driver

5 Wood

23 Hybrid

6 Iron

8 Iron

PW

58 wedge

Putter

Edited June 30 by theothertwo

[Tommy56]

@theothertwo Terrific. Let us know how it goes.

Caution: it can be habit forming. 😉

[lil'mike]

2 hours ago, theothertwo said:

I have been playing 12 but I'll try 8 clubs.

 

Driver

5 Wood

23 Hybrid

6 Iron

8 Iron

PW

58 wedge

Putter

This is my bag except for the 58 wedge.  I have a 56 wedge.

 

[MorganM]

17 hours ago, theothertwo said:

I have been playing 12 but I'll try 8 clubs.

 

Driver

5 Wood

23 Hybrid

6 Iron

8 Iron

PW

58 wedge

Putter

I can’t wait to see how this goes. Have fun !

[stimpmeterp]

7 hours ago, MorganM said:

I can’t wait to see how this goes. Have fun !

That’s my setup. The art of learning to hit chippy mid irons is where scoring comes.

[54CW]

On 6/30/2025 at 11:10 AM, 54CW said:

Another update on my minimalist adventure. Been playing with a smaller set of irons for a while but I think I'm going to drift back in to a full set of irons. I've been missing out on some precision in my approach play. I am a pretty good ball striker and while I'm getting my GIR, I've been leaving putts pretty far from some easier scoring greens. I've learned a ton about my game from playing a short set. My biggest takeaways:

• Less wedges and getting many shots out of a GW and 56* inside 120yds has helped me a lot. 
• I've really developed a good knock down shot,  but I'm over using this technique and its costing me strokes. 
• I need a secondary tee club. Right now I go Driver to 5 iron and its hamstrung me on some forced carries and tight fairways.

I don't know if I will shoot much different but for the first time in a while I feel like I'm missing out on precision and options to keep the ball in a good place. I see myself ending up around 12 clubs if my estimations are correct. I will report back!

Thought about this more and it’s a me problem and not the clubs. I really like all my clubs and don’t want to add any more. I’ll just replace what breaks down the road. I’ve spent the last week making some improvements to my garage and yard and plan to focus my swing for 15 minutes a day. Found myself a practice net just need to lock down a hitting mat. Please share any suggestions. I’ve used the searches in here plenty and see there are many great options. I just think the folks in this thread have better judgment than most.  
 

@WipeyFade I can’t get enough of my persimmon man. TD knocked it out of the park!

[WipeyFade]

47 minutes ago, 54CW said:

Thought about this more and it’s a me problem and not the clubs. I really like all my clubs and don’t want to add any more. I’ll just replace what breaks down the road. I’ve spent the last week making some improvements to my garage and yard and plan to focus my swing for 15 minutes a day. Found myself a practice net just need to lock down a hitting mat. Please share any suggestions. I’ve used the searches in here plenty and see there are many great options. I just think the folks in this thread have better judgment than most.  
 

@WipeyFade I can’t get enough of my persimmon man. TD knocked it out of the park!

Yes, he does great work. I’m about to head out for a twilight 9 with the kids and I’m bringing my TD for the first time in a while. I’ve been playing my modern driver nearly all summer thinking it would help to drop my scores, but I thinking it’s actually making me lose 3-5 strokes per round. I’ll report back. 
 

As far as a hitting mat goes, check out the Country Club Elite mats. I don’t think they are the softest out there, but to me they feel pretty good. We’ve got one of the hitting strips in the simulator at the high school where I work and I bet we have hit at least 100,000 shots (I did the math and that’s not an exaggeration lol) off of the same one with very little wear. 

[54CW]

@WipeyFade finally, my chance to become a Country Club Elite.

[WipeyFade]

Well, just finished up my 9 hole round with the persimmon. Driving was at least equivalent if not slightly better than with my Ping. Less forgiveness for me means less balls lost lol. Score was slightly worse, but that is most likely attributed to the fact I forgot my 56 at home and had to play everything from 150 and in with my 8i. It was fun though to try some 60-100 yard bump and runs. It did seem fitting since The Scottish Open and The Open Championship are the next stops on Tour. 

[LeicaRedDot]

I've posted a few times in this thread, but never really got to the point where I feel I've played enough minimal setup golf, but always want to play more. There always seems to be an excuse, whether its too hot so I'm using a push cart (therefore why not have more clubs) or its a comp etc.

 

There is always the internal battle of score v fun. I love playing for just the fun of golf, match play being the purist version of the game, but then I'm always having the internal goal of getting my handicap down and scoring well. Not sure there is a balance between the two unless I create a 10 club bag which provides opportunity to score but also the fun of a minimal style bag.

 

I now have 2 dedicated bags. My 'full' setup bag with 13 clubs and then my 8 club minimalist bag. The 8 club bag is made up of the following (and distances):

1. Driver - 280 yards
2. 4 Hybrid - 225 yards
3. 5 iron - 200 yards
4. 7 iron - 175 yards
5. 9 iron - 150 yards
6. 50 wedge - 130 yards
7. 58 wedge - 105 yards
8. Blade putter

Will most likely bend the 58 degree 2 degrees stronger to get a few more yards out of a full shot, but pretty happy with the bag setup.

 

Anyone else struggling letting go off score and the want/need to reduce their handicap?

[rwc356]

58 minutes ago, LeicaRedDot said:

Anyone else struggling letting go off score and the want/need to reduce their handicap?

Yes, this is a battle I'm facing right now. When I was younger I didn't seem to have any issues with scoring virtually the same with a 7-8 club bag and a full bag. Now as I've aged more (72 years old) I do seem to have more challenges with the ability to score with the minimalist set. I've tried my hickories, vintage and old modern clubs and  my ability to manufacture shots seems to be waning. I keep telling myself I'm enjoying playing minimal sets of older clubs but in reality it's only when my scores / HCP are acceptable do I honestly enjoy it. So do we ever get to a point where score / HCP doesn't matter ...... I haven't found that spot yet. Congratulations to those of you who have reached that point!

[tatertot]

1 hour ago, LeicaRedDot said:

I've posted a few times in this thread, but never really got to the point where I feel I've played enough minimal setup golf, but always want to play more. There always seems to be an excuse, whether its too hot so I'm using a push cart (therefore why not have more clubs) or its a comp etc.

 

There is always the internal battle of score v fun. I love playing for just the fun of golf, match play being the purist version of the game, but then I'm always having the internal goal of getting my handicap down and scoring well. Not sure there is a balance between the two unless I create a 10 club bag which provides opportunity to score but also the fun of a minimal style bag.

 

I now have 2 dedicated bags. My 'full' setup bag with 13 clubs and then my 8 club minimalist bag. The 8 club bag is made up of the following (and distances):

1. Driver - 280 yards
2. 4 Hybrid - 225 yards
3. 5 iron - 200 yards
4. 7 iron - 175 yards
5. 9 iron - 150 yards
6. 50 wedge - 130 yards
7. 58 wedge - 105 yards
8. Blade putter

Will most likely bend the 58 degree 2 degrees stronger to get a few more yards out of a full shot, but pretty happy with the bag setup.

 

Anyone else struggling letting go off score and the want/need to reduce their handicap?

This is always the battle ... the "what if" syndrome.

[tatertot]

16 hours ago, 54CW said:

Thought about this more and it’s a me problem and not the clubs. I really like all my clubs and don’t want to add any more. I’ll just replace what breaks down the road. I’ve spent the last week making some improvements to my garage and yard and plan to focus my swing for 15 minutes a day. Found myself a practice net just need to lock down a hitting mat. Please share any suggestions. I’ve used the searches in here plenty and see there are many great options. I just think the folks in this thread have better judgment than most.  
 

@WipeyFade I can’t get enough of my persimmon man. TD knocked it out of the park!

I have a really nice MacGregor persimmon driver from the 50s ... that I can't get airborne.

 

Here is my latest minimal bag ... I've gone from searching for equal gapping in the irons to concentrating on the scoring clubs:

 

Driver - Adams F11

2 Iron - Ping Eye 2

5 iron - Ping Eye 2

7 iron - MacGregor Tourney Custom 985

8 iron - MacGregor Tourney Custom 985

9 iron - MacGregor Tourney Custom 985

PW - MacGregor Tourney Custom 985

SW - Ping Eye 2

Putter - Bullseye Standard

[WipeyFade]

I am in limbo currently as whether to keep a score or not. Right now, I use 18 Birdies for distances and I put in the score as I go. The birdies, pars, and even bogies I have worked for are fun to put in, but the doubles and triples bring me down slightly. I try not to keep up with it as I go, but I do look at the score at the end of the round and I’m usually disappointed 😂. My “what if” is always “What if I would have hit at different shot on this hole?” or “What if I had not been so dumb there?”

 

I can always have fun on the course, regardless of score. But what I have noticed is that I always enjoy my round way more if I’m striking it solidly regardless of what my score ends up being. 
 

I was listening to a podcast a year or so ago with the owner of Ballpark Blueprints and he plays a minimal set or persimmon woods and blade irons. He said that he doesn’t keep score, but he does carry a scorecard. Instead of writing a number down, he draws a picture in the spaces. For instance, if he saw a dog on the hole he might draw one in the space, or he might draw a smiley face or a sad face depending on how he felt the hole went. I think he may be on to something.

 

One Instagram account that really made me start to push toward a 5 club set is @drakeydistiler. He’s an older gentleman who lives somewhere in the British Isles who plays a minimal set. I remember one post where he mentioned that he doesn’t keep a score or a handicap he just plays for the feeling of a solid strike. I think this has to be the most enlightened form of the game. 
 

The last thing I will add is that if my playing partner wants to compete I will always suggest match play. 

 

Edited July 7 by WipeyFade

[lil'mike]

30 minutes ago, rwc356 said:

Yes, this is a battle I'm facing right now. When I was younger I didn't seem to have any issues with scoring virtually the same with a 7-8 club bag and a full bag. Now as I've aged more (72 years old) I do seem to have more challenges with the ability to score with the minimalist set. I've tried my hickories, vintage and old modern clubs and  my ability to manufacture shots seems to be waning. I keep telling myself I'm enjoying playing minimal sets of older clubs but in reality it's only when my scores / HCP are acceptable do I honestly enjoy it. So do we ever get to a point where score / HCP doesn't matter ...... I haven't found that spot yet. Congratulations to those of you who have reached that point!

I am 62 and since I only drive the ball around 210 ish, I shoot for a few strokes better than bogey golf.  I too have a full set and a 8 club minimalist set.  I try to stay around the 5500 yard mark but when playing something closer to 6000 yards it is hard for me to play with the 8 club set and feel like I can play the course!  Heck at that length even the full set is a challenge but not as much.  It does also make it harder to manufacture shots when the yardage is longer, the gaps are bigger.

 

I discussed on here about adding a 9th club at the top end of the bag to the minimalist set for the longer course and dang near got shunned on here!  Just kidding but I too think 8 or less is a true minimalist bag and just can't put that 9th club in the bag!  So with that said, I figure I will just have a few more strokes on the card and there will be a few holes that  the length will just get me.  I will still enjoy the round but not quite as much and the score will be higher.  I also thought about going to more current like my full bag but that changes everything since my old 6 iron is 30 deg and new 6 iron is 26 deg.  I play older irons so my setup looks like this. 

 

Driver 10.5

5wd 19 deg

4H 23 deg

6i 30 deg

8i 37 deg

PW 45 deg

SW 56 deg

Putter

 

 

 

[tatertot]

9 minutes ago, WipeyFade said:

I am in limbo currently as whether to keep a score or not. Right now, I use 18 Birdies for distances and I put in the score as I go. The birdies, pars, and even bogies I have worked for are fun to put in, but the doubles and triples bring me down slightly. I try not to keep up with it as I go, but I do look at the score at the end of the round and I’m usually disappointed 😂. My “what if” is always “What if I would have hit at different shot on this hole?” or “What if I had not been so dumb there?”

 

I can always have fun on the course, regardless of score. But what I have noticed is that I always enjoy my round way more if I’m striking it solidly regardless of what my score ends up being. 
 

I was listening to a podcast a year or so ago with the owner of Ballpark Blueprints and he plays a minimal set or persimmon woods and blade irons. He said that he doesn’t keep score, but he does carry a scorecard. Instead of writing a number down, he draws a picture in the spaces. For instance, if he saw a dog on the hole he might draw one in the space, or he might draw a smiley face or a sad face depending on how he felt the hole went. I think he may be on to something.

 

One Instagram account that really made me start to push toward a 5 club set is @drakeydistiler. He’s an older gentleman who lives somewhere in the British Isles who plays a minimal set. I remember one post where he mentioned that he doesn’t keep a score or a handicap he just plays for the feeling of a solid strike. I think this has to be the truly enlightened form of the game. 
 

The last thing I will add is that if my playing partner wants to compete I will always suggest match play. 

 

I found that, when keeping score, I was never satisfied. It was always "i could have save a stroke here and there."

 

What I started doing was creating a target score for the day. If it's a nice day and I'm feeling good, target score might be 74. If it's windy or I'm feeling old-manish, it might be a 76. It's always do-able, but a little challenging. Found it's easier to keep my head focused, and it gives me a chance to feel like I did something at the end of the day.

[LeicaRedDot]

39 minutes ago, WipeyFade said:

 

The last thing I will add is that if my playing partner wants to compete I will always suggest match play. 

 

 

The great blessing of growing up in the UK is that match play is king for all social games. Yes we have weekly stableford or medal comps, but play a social game with anyone in the UK and 95% of the time it will be match play where no one is counting your score and the focus is purely winning your match. It's the greatest way to play golf. 

[WipeyFade]

22 minutes ago, LeicaRedDot said:

 

The great blessing of growing up in the UK is that match play is king for all social games. Yes we have weekly stableford or medal comps, but play a social game with anyone in the UK and 95% of the time it will be match play where no one is counting your score and the focus is purely winning your match. It's the greatest way to play golf. 

Yep, I live in the south east part of the U.S., a land where match play is seen as an inferior way to play the game. 

[MorganM]

20 hours ago, WipeyFade said:

Yes, he does great work. I’m about to head out for a twilight 9 with the kids and I’m bringing my TD for the first time in a while. I’ve been playing my modern driver nearly all summer thinking it would help to drop my scores, but I thinking it’s actually making me lose 3-5 strokes per round. I’ll report back. 
 

As far as a hitting mat goes, check out the Country Club Elite mats. I don’t think they are the softest out there, but to me they feel pretty good. We’ve got one of the hitting strips in the simulator at the high school where I work and I bet we have hit at least 100,000 shots (I did the math and that’s not an exaggeration lol) off of the same one with very little wear. 

 Why do you think the modern driver is costing you strokes? Is it missing fairways, distance, more mis-hits, or…?

[stryper]

4 hours ago, WipeyFade said:

I am in limbo currently as whether to keep a score or not. Right now, I use 18 Birdies for distances and I put in the score as I go. The birdies, pars, and even bogies I have worked for are fun to put in, but the doubles and triples bring me down slightly. I try not to keep up with it as I go, but I do look at the score at the end of the round and I’m usually disappointed 😂. My “what if” is always “What if I would have hit at different shot on this hole?” or “What if I had not been so dumb there?”

 

I can always have fun on the course, regardless of score. But what I have noticed is that I always enjoy my round way more if I’m striking it solidly regardless of what my score ends up being. 
 

I was listening to a podcast a year or so ago with the owner of Ballpark Blueprints and he plays a minimal set or persimmon woods and blade irons. He said that he doesn’t keep score, but he does carry a scorecard. Instead of writing a number down, he draws a picture in the spaces. For instance, if he saw a dog on the hole he might draw one in the space, or he might draw a smiley face or a sad face depending on how he felt the hole went. I think he may be on to something.

 

One Instagram account that really made me start to push toward a 5 club set is @drakeydistiler. He’s an older gentleman who lives somewhere in the British Isles who plays a minimal set. I remember one post where he mentioned that he doesn’t keep a score or a handicap he just plays for the feeling of a solid strike. I think this has to be the most enlightened form of the game. 
 

The last thing I will add is that if my playing partner wants to compete I will always suggest match play. 

 

I’m basically that Instagram guy you mentioned, especially when I go out minimalist—I don’t keep score and play for the purity of my shotmaking.  And of course when you do go out with a short set, you do have to learn to make some shots. 🏌️‍

Edited July 7 by stryper

[WipeyFade]

25 minutes ago, MorganM said:

 Why do you think the modern driver is costing you strokes? Is it missing fairways, distance, more mis-hits, or…?

I think it’s because the mishits go further with a modern driver. If I toe hook my Ping it will still carry 240ish with no spin, so it will run like crazy into whatever trouble is on the course. A mishit with a persimmon, usually won’t carry as far or be as far offline. The recovery shots are usually easier. I don’t lose as many golf balls playing persimmon either.

[scruffynick]

Had a few tweaks this year but at driver end of bag.....in other got rid of my driver because I'm struggling with it. Love my 7 wood which is an old ping g2....so I've bought a 3 wood with same shaft and it's 14 degree. Soooo much easier to hit and it actually gets air bourne..always helpful. 

So im on: 

Ping g2 3 wood

Ping g2 7 wood

4 6 8 pw sw all in Ping eye 2s

Ping pal BeCu putter

All carried in light weight bag, but I need small stand legs, as you can get very wet days in the uk 

[Tommy56]

Catching up on some great posts in this thread today.  Thought I'd chime in on some of the recent themes:

• I'd also like to see match play catch on more here in the states. I find it preferable for many reasons.
• There seems to be a fairly common view that carrying more clubs is beneficial or essential on longer courses. I haven't personally found that to be case, unless playing a course length/difficulty beyond my ability (in which case I'm not sure more clubs would really help).
• I'm also at the stage in life where the reward of quality ball-striking or executing non-stock shots as planned outweighs the score on the card. It changes the whole dynamic of the game.

Love this thread and all the different ideas and approaches to this great game.

 

 

[MorganM]

If I might add another topic for consideration, read Shane Ryan’s article “I Will No Longer Be Posting 9 Hole Scores…” in the July 3rd edition of Golf Digest. My conclusion is that the current method used by GHIN is unfair but other perspectives would be helpful.

thanks, Morgan 

[lil'mike]

2 hours ago, Tommy56 said:

Catching up on some great posts in this thread today.  Thought I'd chime in on some of the recent themes:

• I'd also like to see match play catch on more here in the states. I find it preferable for many reasons.
• There seems to be a fairly common view that carrying more clubs is beneficial or essential on longer courses. I haven't personally found that to be case, unless playing a course length/difficulty beyond my ability (in which case I'm not sure more clubs would really help).
• I'm also at the stage in life where the reward of quality ball-striking or executing non-stock shots as planned outweighs the score on the card. It changes the whole dynamic of the game.

Love this thread and all the different ideas and approaches to this great game.

 

 

As I mentioned earlier, I typically play around the 5500 yard mark with 8 clubs that I picked out that can handle the courses at that yardage for me to not only enjoy the minimalist play but also have a chance to score less than bogey golf which is all I shoot for nowadays!

 

So with that said, a course that I played at 5900-6000 yards I considered adding a club that would allow me to play the numerous dog legs that the course has by putting a ball right where the dog legs starts which for me was between driver and 5 wood.  I didn't have a club in the bag that covered that exact yardage range to give me a chance to score but decided to not add a club and to choke down on the driver to see if I can hit that yardage needed.  On the straight holes if they are long, I just figured I would get one extra stroke if I cannot reach and if not that much longer, I didn't need the extra club.

 

I did not add a 9th club and have no plans too.  I will stay with 8 as I think that is the magic number for a minimalist set.  If I get an extra stroke or two on certain holes on certain courses, it is what it is and I am fine with it.  In the future I may swap out the 5 wood for a 3 wood to use on a course like that one though!

 

Edited July 7 by lil'mike

[WipeyFade]

I played again tonight, I remembered my 56* this time. I also didn’t keep score; it’s the first time in a while that I didn’t record it in 18 Birdies. It felt pretty good, and I hit some pretty decent shots. To remove the temptation to record a score I used an app called Golf4Watch on my Apple Watch. It used to be really buggy, but now it seems to be working fine. I really like it because you can turn off every feature and just have the distance to each green. 

[Tommy56]

🤔  I'll have to check out that app.  I currently use the Tag Heuer app on my Apple Watch. Love the graphics, but sometimes don't want to mess with the scoring part.

[WipeyFade]

3 minutes ago, Tommy56 said:

🤔  I'll have to check out that app.  I currently use the Tag Heuer app on my Apple Watch. Love the graphics, but sometimes don't want to mess with the scoring part.

It’s definitely bare bones. It does have a map feature but it’s not great. It’s great for the minimalistic approach though. 

[chrisosborne]

18 hours ago, WipeyFade said:

One Instagram account that really made me start to push toward a 5 club set is @drakeydistiler.

Do you have a working link?, I cant seem to find him anywhere

[horgo99]

So was just looking at my set and specs, giving this minimal set a go tomorrow: (distances are from ShotScope p-avg from last 10 rds)

 

Driver @ 6° (273m)

Hybrid @ 16° (237m)

5i @ 24° (180m)

8i @ 34° (140m)

PW @ 44° (110m)

Wedge @ 54° (75m)

Putter

 

Genuine half set of 14 clubs, might take a bit of creativity (very rarely play full wedge swings with a regular 4 wedge set, things could get dicey with our elevated greens and nasty bunkers with a full grind 54° etc) but with the lofts lining up exactly seems silly not to take a run at it.

 

played our championship course on the weekend the day after the 4 day Junior PGA event finished there with an 11 club set (thriver @ 10.5° in for D, hyb, 5-PW, 54, 58, P) for a +8 in a stroke event, interested to see how the more links style course goes tomorrow with a new configuration of minimal golf (for me anyways!)

 

random thing that I most enjoy with this is I throw my clubs in a small lightweight cobra Sunday bag and carry my sand bucket. 3-5 balls, couple of tees in my pocket with my marker and pitch repairer and walk around. Unsure what the difference is versus my full bag and push cart, but just seems more enjoyable. Have yardage on my wrist , score on phone (it’s comp and how our club scores) and away we go!