Hybrids—since their inception they’ve been a club some players have loved, as they make coming into greens easier given they offer a higher trajectory than most golfers can achieve with a long iron. On the other hand, there are a group of players that find other options for hybrids, as they find them to easy to hook and to hard to control in the wind.

Pros

Hybrids may not be top choice for a lot of players, but they are tough to get out of the bags of the golfers who love them, according to Ryan Andrews, Product and Marketing Manager for Titleist in Canada.

“I think a lot of players really like their hybrids because they are comfortable with them,” says Andrews. “It is not a sexy club for them, and they might not replace them often, but they know exactly what the club does for them.”

That said, Titleist now connects its hybrid line to its iron launches, moving it away from the fairway woods category, and Andrews says the company’s new TS2 and TS3 lines are seeing more demand for higher lofted fairways like a 5 and 7-wood, bringing into question where a hybrid might fit into a player’s bag.

Cons

For Tomo Bystedt, TaylorMade’s Senior Director of Metalwoods, the need for hybrids is diminishing as the latest irons launch the ball higher, helping them land softer. Bystedt was moved from TaylorMade’s iron division to the metalwoods area, and was the force behind the creation of GAPR, the company’s hybrid replacement. GAPR clubs are designed to be the bridge between the iron and the hybrid.

“There really hasn’t been a lot of excitement in the hybrid category and a lot of players don’t really replace their hybrids until they really see a need,” Bystedt said.

“But increasingly tour players were moving away because they wanted a more controllable shot than what a hybrid produced. Some amateurs still struggled with hooks from hybrids, and at the same time were seeing benefits from new longer irons.”

Consensus?

Neither Titleist’s Andrews, nor TaylorMade’s Bystedt felt the hybrid would disappear; the clubs are likely here for the long haul, even as new options and technologies come to the ever changing golf market. However, increasingly most companies—from Mizuno to PING—are offering a driving iron or hybrid alternative. Two years ago, PING introduced its Crossover, which has the look of an iron, but the flight of a hybrid. Other companies have followed suit, with TaylorMade’s GAPR series being the most recent example.

The Scorecard:

For the player who struggles to get their long irons into the air—even with the new game improvement models designed to create high-flying shots—hybrids remain an important tool. But for the better golfer, who wants to flight the ball lower, and have more control in the wind, a hybrid replacement, whether it is a 7-wood or crossover, might be the right fit.