If you have ever thought about ditching your drivers and woods, you are not alone. Many golfers who struggle with their driver and woods contemplate the idea of only playing golf with only their irons.
Typically, those who consider this idea are inconsistent and sporadic with their driver and woods, which add more strokes to their overall score. By making the switch to only using irons, they should have more consistent shots, thus reducing the overall strokes they make per round.
While the idea of “irons-only” golf is a bit uncommon, it is not unheard of, nor impossible. Many golfers have questions about only using their irons, so I decided to do a little bit of digging to find out everything there was to know about “irons-only” golf.
Can You Golf With Only Irons?
The first and most important question that most golfers ask is, “Can I golf with only irons?”. In other words, is it even legal to golf without a driver and woods? According to the USGA, it is totally legal to only use irons when playing.
More specifically, in the USGA’s rules and interpretations on player’s equipment, a player can have whatever combination of clubs in their bag as they’d like. The only restriction that they have is that the total number of clubs must not exceed 14. So, you can even have 14 irons in your bag if you’d like (although that may not be too great for your score).
Simply put, you can legally play with only irons in your bag. You are not breaking any USGA or R&A rules by doing so. If you are competing in any casual, amateur, high-level amateur, or professional tournament, using just your irons is allowed.
Pros & Cons Of Irons Only Golf
Just using your irons in golf presents some advantages and disadvantages. It mainly depends on how you hit each type of iron, but below are some general pros and cons of each.
| Pros | Cons |
| More control More consistency | Less Distance |
More Control & Consistency
The two clear benefits of switching over to your irons is that you will be able to have more control over the ball, thus allowing you to hit more consistent shots (given that your long irons are your strength).
Through hitting better controlled shots, more consistently you will be able to hit the fairway and green more so than you previously could when using drivers and woods.
Less Distance
The main drawback of only using your irons is that you will likely lose distance on your tee shots and subsequent long distance shots. This issue is not as present on Par 3 holes, but becomes a greater issue on Par 4 and Par 5 holes, especially if you are someone with a slower club head speed.
While golfers can compensate for the lack of distance with a low iron, it still is important to know that other golfers may lose distance when switching to just irons. So, it is important to assess your game beforehand and understand the best way to optimize your distance when just using your irons.
What Should You Use Instead Of A Driver?
If you do decide to go the route of only using irons, then the best club to use off of the tee is a driving iron. They hit similar distances to a regular driver, but they have the feel of a regular iron. Generally speaking, a driving iron has a very low loft, which means that the ball will have lower height and more distance off of the tees.
Something to note is that most driving irons do have a bit more loft than an actual driver. So, you still may not see as much distance when hitting a driving iron, but if you feel more comfortable using it, then that is significantly more important than a few degrees of loft.
Final Thoughts: Irons Only Golf
So, now that you know that it is totally legal just to use your irons when you golf, give it a shot. It can’t hurt to test it out for a round or two. Plus, if you do realize that it is benefitting you, you can begin to strategize and practice consistently, bringing down your score even more.
Without a driver or a wood to throw off your game, you might come to find that irons-only golf is the best way for you to play. However, it may be good to still practice with your driver and wood at the range, see if you can work out the kinks and slowly include them back into your game.
There are a few online golf forum users that claim that they have been able to consistently decrease their score by only using their irons. All things considered, even if you decided to never touch a driver or wood again, you are still likely to progress in your game just as easily.