What Number Golf Club to Use?

Walking up to your golf ball, seeing the flag in the distance, and then facing the paralyzing question - What number golf club do I use? can turn a fun walk into a stressful ordeal. The uncertainty leads to tentative swings and, often, disappointing results. This guide will give you a clear, simple process for choosing the right club with confidence, turning that moment of doubt into a moment of decision.

Understanding the Golf Club Numbers

Before you can choose the right club, you need to know what your options are. Think of your golf clubs as a toolkit, with each tool designed for a specific job. The number on the bottom of the club tells you its primary function: how far and how high it’s designed to hit the ball.

The "job" of a golf club is defined by its loft, which is the angle of the clubface relative to a vertical line. Here’s the simple rule:

• Lower Number = Lower Loft = Goes Farther and Lower. A 3-iron has very little loft, so it sends the ball on a low, penetrating flight that travels a long way.
• Higher Number = Higher Loft = Goes Shorter and Higher. A 9-iron or a pitching wedge has a lot of loft, which sends the ball high into the air so it lands softly and doesn't travel as far.

Your golf clubs are typically grouped into these categories:

• Woods (and Driver): The longest clubs in your bag, used for hitting off the tee or for very long shots from the fairway. The driver (1-wood) has the least amount of loft, and a 3-wood or 5-wood has progressively more.
• Hybrids: A blend of a wood and an iron, these are designed to be easier to hit than long irons (like a 3, 4, or 5-iron). They’re great from the fairway or even from light rough.
• Irons: The workhorses of your set, typically ranging from a 4-iron to a 9-iron. These are used for most approach shots into the green.
• Wedges: Your highest-lofted clubs (Pitching Wedge, Gap Wedge, Sand Wedge, Lob Wedge). These are your scoring tools, used for short approach shots, chips, and pitches around the green, and for getting out of sand bunkers.
• Putter: The flat-faced club used exclusively on the green.

Knowing this basic family tree is the first step. The next, and most important, is finding out exactly how far you hit each one.

Your First Priority: Know Your Stock Yardages

If there’s one non-negotiable step to improving your club selection, it’s this: you must know how far you hit each club on a normal, flat, calm day. This is what's called your "stock" yardage - your reliable, average distance.

Guessing your distances is a recipe for frustration. Saying "I think my 7-iron goes about 150 yards" isn't good enough. You need to know. Here’s a simple, step-by-step process to chart your own distances.

How to Chart Your Personal Club Distances

1. Head to the Driving Range (or use a simulator): A range with accurate yardage markers is perfect. If you have access to a personal launch monitor or a simulator, that’s even better, as they give precise "carry" a distance (how far the ball flies in the air before it hits the ground).
2. Start in the Middle: Grab your 7-iron. It's a great club to warm up with and provides a good baseline for your set. After a few warm-up swings, start hitting shots with a purpose.
3. Hit a Group of Shots: Hit about 10-15 balls with your 7-iron. Your goal isn't to hit one perfect shot. You’re looking for a reliable average. Try to make your normal, comfortable swing every time.
4. Find Your Average Carry: After you've hit your group of shots, forget about the one you absolutely crushed and ignore the one you badly mishit. Look at the cluster of balls in the middle. Where did most of them land? That’s your stock carry distance for that club. Let’s say for your 7-iron, it's 145 yards.
5. Build Your Chart: Work your way through your entire set, from your shortest wedge up to your longest iron, hybrid, and fairway wood. For each club, repeat the process of hitting a group of balls and identifying your stock carry distance.
6. Record Everything: Write it down! Use the notes app on your phone, a small notebook you keep in your bag, or create a simple chart. It might look something like this:


Club | Carry Distance
------------------------------
Pitching Wedge | 115 yards
9 Iron | 125 yards
8 Iron | 135 yards
7 Iron | 145 yards
6 Iron | 155 yards
etc...


Having this information is game-changing. You've just replaced a wild guess with an informed decision. Now, when the rangefinder says 135 yards, you don't have to wonder. You can confidently pull your 8-iron because you know it's the right club for the number.

Beyond the Yardage: Factors That Change Everything

Now that you have your baseline yardages, it’s time to learn how to adjust them. A 150-yard shot is rarely just 150 yards. The real art of club selection is understanding how the environment affects your ball. This is what separates a good shot from a great one.

The Lie Dictates the Shot

Where your ball is sitting has a huge influence on what happens to it. Always check your lie before you even think about grabbing a club.

• Ball Above Your Feet: The slope will cause you to stand more upright, promoting a flatter swing. For a right-handed golfer, this will naturally tend to make the ball fly to the left. Adjustment: Aim a little to the right of your target to compensate. The flatter swing can also sometimes add a little distance, so be mindful of that.
• Ball Below Your Feet: This forces you to bend over more, creating a steeper swing plane. This will naturally cause the ball to fly to the right (for a righty). Adjustment: Aim to the left of your target. This lie often robs you of a little distance, so consider taking one extra club.
• Uphill Lie: When hitting up a slope, the slope effectively adds loft to your club. A 7-iron might fly as high as an 8- or 9-iron. Adjustment: Take more club (i.e., a lower number) to get the required distance. If it’s a steep slope, you might need two extra clubs.
• Downhill Lie: Conversely, a downhill slope de-lofts your club. Your 7-iron will fly lower, more like a 6-iron. Adjustment: Take less club (a higher number) to prevent the ball from flying over the green. It’s also harder to get the ball in the air from this lie.
• The Rough: A "flyer lie," where the ball is sitting up nicely on top of the grass, can reduce spin significantly. This causes the ball to fly farther and lower than normal. From deep, heavy rough, your only goal is to get it out. The grass will grab the clubhead, slow it down, and often close the face. Take a higher-lofted club, like a wedge, and make a steeper swing to pop the ball up and out.

Adjusting for Wind and Elevation

The two invisible forces in golf are wind and elevation. Once you learn to account for them, you will make smarter decisions.

Wind

• Into the wind: This is the most common adjustment. A reasonable rule of thumb is to take one extra club for every 10 mph of headwind. So in a 10 mph wind, your 150-yard 7-iron shot now requires a 6-iron. In a 20 mph wind, you might need a 5-iron. Another great play is to take that extra club and make a smoother, three-quarter swing to hit a lower, more piercing shot that's less affected by the wind.
• Downwind: The wind at your back will help the ball travel farther. You can take one less club, but be aware that a helping wind also reduces backspin, meaning the ball will not stop as quickly when it lands. It will hit and roll out more.
• Crosswind: A crosswind requires you to adjust your aim. You must start the ball into the wind and let it drift back towards your target. The stronger the wind, the more you have to aim away from the flag.

Elevation

• Uphill Shots: When the green is higher than where you're standing, you must add yardage. Gravity will be fighting your ball for its entire flight. A good rule is to add one yard of distance for every foot of elevation gain. If your target is 150 yards away but 10 feet uphill, play it as a 160-yard shot.
• Downhill Shots: When hitting down to a green, gravity will help. The ball will be in the air longer and travel farther than its normal distance. You’ll want to subtract yardage. Using a similar rule, if a target is 150 yards away but 10 feet downhill, play it like it's 140 yards.

Your Simple Club Selection Routine

This might seem like a lot to process, but you can distill it into a simple, repeatable routine. Go through these steps for every shot to build confidence and consistency.

1. Get the "Real" Yardage: Use a rangefinder or GPS device to get the precise number to your target. Don't pace it off or guess.
2. Determine the "Plays Like" Distance: This is where you become your own caddie. Start with the real yardage (e.g., 160 yards). Now, adjust. Is it 15 feet uphill? Add 15 yards. Is there a 10 mph headwind? Add another 10 yards. Your 160-yard shot now "plays like" 185 yards.
3. Check Your Lie: How will the ball's position on the ground affect things? Will it fly left or right? Will it come out hot or dead? Make a final mental adjustment.
4. Select Your Club and Target: Based on your "plays like" distance and lie, select the club from your chart that most closely matches. It's also smart to consider the miss. If there's water short of the green, choose the club that will definitely carry it, even on a slight mishit. Safety to the middle of the green is almost always a better play than firing directly at a tucked flag.
5. Commit to the Shot: You've gathered all the information and made a thoughtful decision. Trust it. Stand over the ball, visualize the shot you want to hit, and make a confident swing without a hint of second-guessing.

Final Thoughts

Choosing the right golf club moves from being a random guess to a calculated decision once you follow a process. By knowing your true distances and learning to read how the environment will affect your ball, you remove uncertainty and replace it with confidence, allowing you to focus completely on making a good swing.

We know that managing all these factors on the fly can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re under pressure. That’s why we built our app, Caddie AI, to be your personal on-course expert. It helps you think through these situations, from analyzing a tricky lie with a photo to giving a straightforward club recommendation based on wind and elevation. The goal is to take the guesswork out of the equation so you can play smarter, more confidently, and ultimately have more fun on the course.