The golf club is made up by the shaft and the head. The shaft is a tube made of metal or graphite fiber, roughly 1/2 inch in diameter and between 35 to 45 inches long. The end of the shaft opposite the head is covered with a rubber or leather grip for the player to hold. The head is the part that hits the ball. Each head has a face which contacts the ball during the stroke, but in the case of a putter, the head may have two faces.
A player may carry and use up to fourteen clubs during a round. This set of 14 clubs is divided into two large groups: the woods and the irons.
The woods have large heads and bear this name because for a long time they had been made precisely of wood, but at present they are almost exclusively made of metal. These are long clubs -they are between 40 and 45 inches long- and are used to make long shots. The wood one is generally known as a driver.
The irons have heads made of forged irons and sometimes chrome. They are used for shorter shots. They measure between 36 and 46 inches of length. Iron heads are typically solid with a flat clubface with a typical loft ranging between 16 and 60 degrees.
Formerly, each club was known by a distinctive name, but today most are designated by numbers. The woods are customarily numbered 1 through 7 and the irons 1 through 9. Some kinds of clubs have retained their distinct name, like the putter, for example. The putters are the most personal clubs. They come in a variety of head shapes and have a very low loft and often a short shaft. They are used to play the ball on the green, but may occasionally be useful for playing from bunkers or for some approach shots.
Other clubs that have kept their name are the wedges, which include the pitching wedge, the sand wedge, and the lob wedge, which are used for short-range shots in an attempt to place the ball on the green.
The choice of the clubs depends on the stroke to be made. The face loft is one of the factors to be taken into account in such selection, as it will determine the trajectory of the ball. A typical set of clubs may consist of irons 3 to 9, three wedges, woods 1, 3, and 5, and a putter.
A long shot from the tee onto the fairway, before reaching the green. There are several clubs to play this shot: the drive, with which great strength is managed and therefore is used in the tees for long shots; the woods 3, 4, 5, 7, 9 and 11, which play strong shots in the fairway or bunkers located far from the hole; and irons, useful to strike in the fairway and from bunkers and roughs.
Short shot used to hit the ball onto the green. It is played with two special clubs: the SW, which manages the a less strong stroke (it is used in bunkers near a green) or the PW, which prints more strength on the ball.
This is played in the green. Unlike the rest, the ball does not leave the ground. This stroke is highly accurate, as this is the stroke that takes the ball to the hole. To play this stroke, the strength and direction of the shot is to be calculated. The stroke and the club used are called the same name.
