The middle bag
Hybrids are not a participation trophy
Zero, one, or two. A third hybrid on a Norfolk ticket is almost always an echo of a wood or a confession that the long irons were never going to work and nobody wanted the funeral.
Counted against the 5-wood
If the 4-hybrid and the 5-wood fly the same hole in river air, one of them is a passenger. We do not care which brand won the catalog photo. We care which one you will pull under Freemason oak.
Counted against the first iron you trust
A 5-hybrid that duplicates a 5-iron is a security blanket. Security blankets occupy berths. They do not occupy them for free. Either the iron goes or the hybrid goes. Both staying is how bags grow to sixteen names.
Zero hybrids is a real ticket
Players who still compress a 4-iron and like a 7-wood for the high berth do not owe the industry a hybrid. We will write that roster. We will not invent a rescue club so the wall looks modern.
The wood that often replaces them · The iron they often replace