Whether it's Taylor Made, Titleist, or Cleveland, hybrids aren't always the answer

It is impossible not to notice that over the past few years more long irons have been ending up in second-hand stores while more golf bags have been filling up with hybrids. In almost every issue of the major golf publications there is a story about how amateur players can’t live without a hybrid, and that most golfers should carry at least two. The clubs are also making more appearances in PGA events, most notably in helping Todd Hamilton win the 2004 British Open. Ironically, Hamilton used his hybrid to take the place of a pitch shot rather than a long iron, but it certainly raised the golfing public’s awareness of the strange looking clubs.

As a student of the latest golf technology and equipment available, I obviously had to try one for myself, so I bought the Hogan CFT Hybrid last fall. I couldn’t hit it at first, so I gave it some time. After using the club for a few months, I could only describe the results as disappointing. So, I took that club out of my bag and bought what appeared to me to be a can’t-miss Cleveland Hybrid (that favored a driving iron more than a wood) and the results were similar. In fact, I traded that club in for $10 in store credit toward a 60-degree wedge.

In the meantime I have sampled a number of these “revolutionary” clubs, including the Cleveland Halo, the Taylomade Rescue, and the Nike CPR3 Ironwood; none of these has impressed me enough to earn a spot in my bag, and I’m only carrying twelve clubs as of right now.

These are my findings on hybrids. While they might offer more forgiveness than some long irons, they have a lot of shortcomings. They don’t appeal to my eye as much as a sleek looking 3-iron, the trajectory is more difficult to control than it is with an iron, they don’t give as much feedback due to a lack of feel, and it is very difficult to control the distance with these clubs, as I commonly experienced a range of 25 yards between certain shots even when everything felt solid. A 25 yard variation, regardless of how forgiving these clubs are, is just not good enough.

So, like every other bit of golf advice, take the hybrid craze with a grain of salt. They might be great for some players, but they certainly don’t work for everyone. I still feel far more comfortable with a 2-iron in my hand off of the tee or in the fairway, and I don’t think that will change anytime soon.

A major problem with the hybrid in the hands of an amateur is that, in my experience as a caddie, a player with a hybrid will automatically pull the club out of his or her bag from any distance that exceeds the length his or longest iron will carry, regardless of lie, conditions, or ball flight tendencies. Obviously this is more of a course management issue than a hybrid issue, but the hybrid often instills a false confidence because it is marketed as a club that is easy to hit from anywhere on the course. A hybrid might help the ego of a person who can’t get certain long irons in the air, but the fact is that in most cases a person who can’t get a long iron in the air is better off hitting two wedges from 200 yards and trying to make a putt than hitting a hybrid or anything else.

Moral of the story, as always- one club isn’t going to make that much of a difference. Save your money and practice your short game if you are more interested in improving your scores than you are in boosting your ego.