There’s a saying in golf that “Not even God can hit a 1-Iron”. If He has an issue hitting it what chance do us mere mortals have with the Long Irons?
Manufacturers realized this in the mid 1990’s, and in 1998, Cobra released the first Hybrid to hit the market – the Baffler which was a spinoff their Baffler Fairway Woods. In 2003, TaylorMade released probably the best known Hybrid – The Rescue. The emergence of Hybrids for the general consumer changed the game for a lot of people. Scrapping the 1-4 irons from a traditional set and replacing them with two or three Hybrid Clubs allowed golfers to cover longer distances easier.

The popularity of Hybrids can clearly be seen through a survey conducted by The Darrell Survey Company in 2007, which reported that over 30% of consumer golfers had at least one Hybrid club in their bag, which is up from about 7% in 2004. Hybrids are an extremely useful club to have in the bag. They allow golfers to cover the 200-250 yd distances easier, they are versatile making them easier to use in the rough than the Fairway Woods or Long Irons, and in certain cases, a Hybrid covers the role of two other clubs in the bag (e.g. 5-wood and 3-Iron can be replaced by one Hybrid club) creating space for an extra club in the bag.

The downside to Hybrids is really only one – They are not the best looking club in the bag. For a lot of golfers, me included, the look of a golf club at address is key. I’ve always regarded myself as a traditional golfer, I like to hit my Long Irons but when I decided to borrow a Hybrid from a friend for a round (he was bragging “It’s as close to
cheating as you can get”).Through the round I surprisingly found myself choosing it over the 3-Iron or my 5-Wood. The performance outweighed the look of the club at address. I was sold!

In closing, my advice to all golfers out there – Go and try a Hybrid, it will change your game!

Inside Scoop – 2018’s best Hybrids (as reported):
#1 – Bridgestone TourB XD-H
#2 – XXIO X
#3 – Callaway Rogue
#4 – Callaway Big Bertha OS
#5 – Cobra F8

Anokh Jai,  AT.C
Lv. IV Master Teaching Pro
Total Golf Solutionz Ltd.
Head Teaching Professional
Total Golf Solutionz