David Owen: hybrid clubs can change the world

MY FRIEND RUDY BROKE his elbow six years ago. He underwent a series of painful, semi-unsuccessful operations, which left his right arm two inches shorter than his left arm and created the possibility that his forearm would break off if you shook his hand too hard. naturally, he decided to keep playing golf. To reduce the stress on his remanufactured elbow, he switched to some peculiar-looking, old-guy clubs, called iron-woods. They look like fairway woods, but they come in every loft.

"I can't hit down on the ball anymore," he said. "i have to sweep everything, and these clubs let me do that."

Rudy's iron-woods don't look as peculiar to me as they used to, because I now carry three of my own--although I call mine "hybrid clubs." in fact, almost all my friends (and many tour pros) now have at least one hybrid in their bag. Mine have taken the place of my high-lofted utility woods, which had previously taken the place of my long irons, which I, like most ordinary players, was never able to hit. The only guy i know who still uses long irons is my friend Tim, who plays hockey. Tim loves his 2-iron because, he says, of all the clubs in his bag, it looks the most like a hockey stick.

The popularity of hybrid clubs makes sense: Players at all levels, even pros, find them easier to hit. I can produce high draws with my hybrids--something I was never able to do with long irons--and I am less likely to slide them under a ball in fluffy rough, the way i sometimes did with my 9-wood. I even chip with a hybrid, a shot i learned by watching too much television.

Hybrid clubs also point the way toward a solution to golf's distance dilemma. A century ago, par-4 holes sometimes measured less than 200 yards; today, par-4s in professional tournaments occasionally exceed 500 yards. because golf (unlike, say, track and field) is a game of relative rather than absolute advantage, the sport itself gains nothing from this progress. The only lasting consequence of added distance is increased expense. Lengthening a course by 5 percent means enlarging its playing area by seven or eight acres--land that must be acquired, prepared, and then maintained in perpetuity.

Equipment manufacturers support longer courses because they worry that without the promise of added distance, they won't have anything to sell. but the success of hybrid clubs suggests that golfers are at least as interested in accuracy and ease of use as they are in length. They would still spend too much money on golf clubs if 350-yard drives became extinct. With distance off the table, manufacturers of drivers, irons and balls could focus their innovation on accuracy, forgiveness, feel and other desirable qualities--which, unlike increased distance, don't raise the cost of the game. Hybrids pave the way.