I like to have fun with the clubs I choose for my bag. A particular makeup means that you have to play the game in a patricular way. There’s no harm in that, and it makes it more fun to mix things up every so often. It makes you create, and the rewards of doing that successfully are great.
This is my short bag: driver, 2H, 4H, 7i, PW, SW, putter. I play pretty well with just these seven clubs. If you only think before you hit, there really isn’t any shot that you can’t pull off. It’s just not automatic. Seven clubs make the bag a lot lighter to carry, too.
This is my long bag: driver, 2H, 3H, 4H, 5H, 6-9i, PW, GW, SW, LW, putter. I look at the length of the longest par 3 I will be playing today and take the 2H or 3H as appropriate, leaving the other at home. Four wedges give me lots of pitching flexibility, and make chipping formulaic.
I have felt for many years that I won’t put clubs in my bag because a manufacturer wants me to. They go in because there is a reason.