Let me start by saying that when Golf Monthly’s commissioning editor first approached me to write an article to find out what I would score over 18 holes using just a 7-iron and putter, I initially thought, ‘what a ridiculous waste of an afternoon when I could be playing a proper round of golf with my full set of clubs’.
For that reason I kept putting it off until I was child-free when my son went away on a school trip and I had my evenings free. I asked my dad to come along to mark my card to witness my scores and take some pictures of my attempt.
I chose to tee off from my usual tee of choice, the 56, not the very front forward tees, as I felt that this would be cheating. I deliberately went out late in the day to avoid getting stuck behind a field of slow four-balls, fully expecting to only get through the first six or eight holes before the wheels came off and I got stuck in some terrible lie or situation that my 7-iron alone couldn’t deal with, forcing me to NR and give up. The reality couldn’t be more unexpectedly different from my prediction.
Hitting off from the 1st tee in front of the clubhouse at my home club, Parkstone in Dorset, I felt a bit embarrassed about what on-lookers might think if they saw me strike my 7-iron instead of a driver. But it went straight and off I went. With a spring in my step, nothing but a couple of tee pegs, a few spare golf balls, a pitch fork and ball marker in my pocket, I felt liberated - like I was just going out for a walk on a summer’s evening with a club to practice my chipping.
After two nicely struck 7-irons I was still 90 yards short of the par-4 green at the first. It’s not a distance I would ever consider taking my 7-iron from, as it flies 130-yards full out. Nevertheless it was fun to conjure up a little three-quarter swing and punch the shot up onto the green. Blow me down it nearly pitched in the hole and finished just a few feet beyond the flag. I just lipped out for my par and was weirdly disappointed to mark a bogey five down on the scorecard, considering I had come up so far short of the green in regulation.
There are five par 3s at Parkstone and three of them are set up nearly perfectly for my 7-iron, depending on the flag position. I was lucky to find, by chance, the green keepers had picked pin positions that played close to the correct distance for me on the night. What this meant was I had birdie putts at the 2nd, 7th and 14th greens, all by simply striking my 7-iron straight.
There were however, still many occasions when I had completely the wrong club in hand during the round. Thankfully iron play accuracy is one of the strengths of my game and as a result I only went in one greenside bunker, at the par-4 8th hole. I was far enough back from the lip that I was able to splash the ball out by opening the face of my 7-iron up wide, first attempt. It did cost me the only double bogey of my round though.
I rediscovered my love of playing bump and run shots from here, there and everywhere. This was a skill I learned in childhood through club and then county coaching sessions, and would often use with great success, particularly when I was playing on a links course. For whatever reason I rarely use this skill nowadays, instead resorting to using my shorter wedges to play these greenside shots, since becoming a low handicapper. I think in the belief that they’ll give me better spin and stop.
This challenge reminded me that I am really rather good at using a 7-iron to chip with. You can make a very straight-forward putting style stroke too, so it’s a very simple, yet effective shot. I’ll definitely be adding it back into my shot repertoire again.
In fact, this entire experience drew upon the creativity in my golf game that I had developed as a teenager. Those hours of hitting golf balls for fun at the driving range, low and high, half, three-quarter and full shots, stingers into the wind and more. It was how I used to make practice fun and with only a 7-iron in hand I was forced to call upon that creativity again, and once again the game was fun.
After the front nine I was 5-over par, yet had it not been for a few close shaves, birdie and par putts that narrowly missed, this could easily have been just one or two over. I set myself the goal of missing no fairways or greens on the back nine. With my accurate 7-iron I was able to put a giant tick in that box. I managed a string of consecutive pars, another birdie and a few bogeys to come home in just two over for the back nine, so an incredibly steady 7-over-par 79.
Now I must point out that the conditions for my challenge were absolutely perfect. A warm, calm summer’s evening. The fairways were closely mown, firm and running fast. This absolutely assisted in my better scoring. I’m certain there’s no way I could have achieved such a low score in the depths of winter in poor weather. The summer conditions made it easier.
What this challenge did prove to me is how fun golf can be when stripped back to its rawest form, just striking a ball with a simple 7-iron. Funnily enough, it’s the exact same club that I was first handed by a coach as a young junior to learn golf. There’s no doubt that beginners reading this will do well to heed my advice and learn the skills of the game with just one mid-iron.
After signing for a 79 my dad was shocked at how well I had played. He was impressed enough to tell a couple of members we passed in the car park about what I had just achieved. It definitely showed him (and reminded me) that a full set of clubs is not always needed. I dare you to try the same! Take on the one-club challenge and see how well you can score. I promise you that if nothing else, it will be great fun to give it a try.
