Free Golf Club Gapping Calculator

How to use this calculator

Pick the club whose full-swing carry you know. A 7-iron or a driver both work.
Type that carry and choose yards or meters. Switching units converts the number you already typed.
Check the clubs in your bag. Change any loft that does not match the number on the sole.
Read the chart from the longest club down. A note under a row means that gap is too big or too small.
Copy the results link if you want a fitter, a friend, or another page to open the same chart. The bag lives in the URL.

When a gap is flagged, the page links to a Birdie Report guide and, where it is relevant, an Amazon search. Those shopping links are affiliate links. The estimate does not change if you ignore them.

What good gapping looks like

A useful full-swing bag gives you a different number with every club. On this page the target is about 8 to 15 yards between neighbors. Ten to 12 yards is a comfortable middle of that range. It is a planning target, not a measured average from a study.

Under 8 yards, one of the two clubs can usually leave the bag, or a loft needs to move.
Over 15 yards, you will start guessing the in-between shot. Over 18 yards, call it a hole.
The classic scoring-zone hole is a pitching wedge and a sand wedge with nothing in between. A gap wedge, often 48 to 52 degrees, is the usual add. The wedge guide is the longer version of that shopping decision.
The classic long-iron hole is a 4-iron you do not hit, or a 4-iron that duplicates a hybrid. Swapping the 4-iron for a hybrid is the usual fix. Read how to hit hybrids off the deck and how to hit a hybrid from rough before you buy one for the wrong reason.
Irons that are already evenly lofted do not need a new set to “fix the gaps.” If the whole set is the problem, start with the iron guide.
Partial wedge shots are a different chart. This one is full-swing carry only.

How this works

The model is one line. There is no hidden ball-speed curve and no borrowed launch-monitor table.

Estimated carry = anchor carry + (anchor loft − club loft) × 3 yards.

A 7-iron at 30 degrees that carries 150 yards puts a 6-iron at 27 degrees on 159 yards, and an 8-iron at 34 degrees on 138. Four degrees of loft is 12 yards. The anchor club always comes back as the carry you typed, after rounding to the nearest yard.

Planning lofts

These are the starting lofts in the form. They are round, modern-ish numbers so a default bag is easy to read. They are not a claim about any current iron set. Type your own if the sole says something else. Stronger lofts make every club longer by 3 yards per degree you take away.

Starting lofts used by the calculator
Club	Starting loft
Driver	10.5°
3-wood	15°
5-wood	18°
7-wood	21°
3-hybrid	19°
4-hybrid	22°
5-hybrid	25°
6-hybrid	28°
4-iron	21°
5-iron	24°
6-iron	27°
7-iron	30°
8-iron	34°
9-iron	38°
Pitching wedge	43°
Gap wedge	48°
Sand wedge	54°
Lob wedge	58°

Assumptions

Same quality of strike with every club. There is no mishit penalty and no “you hit the long irons worse” adjustment.
Full swings only, on a flat lie, with no wind, temperature, or altitude term.
Woods and the driver use the same 3 yards per degree as the irons. That can make a driver look short when you anchor a 7-iron, because a driver is longer and the ball is teed up. Anchor the driver if that is the number you trust.
Gaps are the difference between rounded yard carries. Meter mode converts those yards at 0.9144 meters per yard and shows one decimal.
A gap under 8 yards is too small. A gap over 15 yards is wide. A gap over 18 yards is too big.
Nothing here is fitted to a published data set. If a fitter’s monitor disagrees, believe the monitor.

Common questions

How do I use this if I only know my driver carry?

Choose Driver as the club you know and type that carry. The chart still moves 3 yards for each degree of loft. A real driver is often longer than a chart anchored on an iron, because the shaft is longer and the ball is teed up. Starting from the driver avoids that miss. Either way, the gaps are the useful part.

What is a good gap between golf clubs?

On a full swing, about 8 to 15 yards between neighboring clubs is a useful target. Under 8 yards, two clubs are doing one job. Over 15 yards is wide. Over 18 yards is a hole you will guess at. This page uses those same bands for woods, hybrids, irons, and wedges so the rule stays obvious.

Should I swap my 4-iron for a hybrid?

Swap it when the 4-iron is piled on top of another club, or when the window around it is marked too big and a hybrid is the club that fits. Also swap it when you simply do not strike the 4-iron solidly. The chart cannot see your strike. It only sees the lofts and the one carry you typed.

Why does this not match my launch monitor?

This is not a launch monitor, and it is not launch-monitor data. It does not measure ball speed, smash, spin, or strike. It moves 3 yards of carry for each degree of loft away from the one number you typed. Use it to see holes in the bag. Use a monitor, or a flat range session with one ball, when you need your own carries.

Do partial wedge swings count?

No. Every number here is a full-swing carry. A 60-yard pitch is a different shot, not the lob wedge full carry. If your sand wedge and lob wedge land close on full swings, you can still keep both for chips and bunker shots. Just know they are not two different full-swing distances.

Golf Club Gapping Calculator

Build the chart

Estimated carries

Filling the wedge gap