A few months ago I made a big decision: my 4-iron was fired! It just wasn’t doing the job well enough for me anymore, and I know I’m not alone in wrestling with that choice. Plenty of you tell me the same thing on the lesson tee.
Today I want to share exactly how I went about filling that critical gap and what you should be looking for in your own bag.
In my setup, the 5-iron is now my longest iron. It carries the ball a solid, predictable distance. The club that follows it needs to deliver 8 to 12 yards more carry – but here’s the really important part – with the right trajectory.
I spent time testing 9-woods, 7-woods, different hybrids, and various lofts and settings. The winner for me turned out to be my new PING G440 5-hybrid set at a standard 26°. It gives me right around 10 extra yards of carry (195 total) with a beautiful, easy-to-launch flight. Getting the ball up in the air is now straightforward, something I was struggling with using the old 4-iron.
What Should You Be Looking For?
Go out to the range or the course with a specific yardage gap in mind. You’re hunting for a club that:
-
Delivers that 8–12 yard carry advantage over your longest iron
-
Produces a landing angle north of 40° (this is key for stopping power and control)
If you can check those two boxes, you’ve found a winner.
It doesn’t have to be a 5-hybrid. If your longest iron is a 6-iron, maybe a 7-wood or 9-wood is the perfect fit. The important thing is bridging that gap correctly instead of leaving a yardage hole that forces you into awkward, low-percentage shots.
Most golfers I see don’t give this enough attention. They either keep struggling with a long iron they don’t trust or jump straight into a hybrid/wood that flies too low or too far and creates overlap with the next club. Get this one right and your bag flows much more naturally from iron to hybrid/wood territory.
I’m absolutely loving my new 5-hybrid right now – it’s doing a fabulous job and has made the game more enjoyable on those longer approach shots. If you’ve been wrestling with the same decision, I hope this gives you a clear game plan.
Go test some options with your yardage and trajectory goals in mind. You’ll be glad you did.
Thanks for reading, and as always, I hope this helps you play better and enjoy the game even more.
Andrew Rice
