What All The Different Clubs Do

A full golf bag can look like it’s carrying everything but the kitchen sink—especially if you fill up the pockets with things like range finders, rain gear, divot tools, tees and extra balls. But the main tools—your 14 clubs—have pretty straightforward jobs. Understanding those jobs will help you pick the best one for the task at hand.

What You Need To Know

• A standard set of clubs is made up of a driver, putter, two or three fairway woods, two hybrids and seven or eight irons.

• The longer the club, the longer the shot it’s used to hit.

• Fairway woods and hybrids are designed to play long shots from the fairway and rough. Irons are designed to hit shots from specific distances.

• The shortest clubs—your putter and wedges—are generally the easiest to hit, so if you’re facing a low-confidence situation, get one of those in your hands.