[GolfSpy Matt]

RoverRick, on 19 January 2012 - 10:42 PM, said:

I think I have to disagree with this statement on 4/5 for low cappers and 3 for high cappers. Low cappers have the "feel" or "touch" to control distance much better than high handicappers plus are less likely to need them. A few years ago when I started carrying all these wedges I found it very comforting to know that if I was 40 yards out, I brought the 56 degree wedge back to belt high and swung through to belt high. 50 yards, same swing 52 degree. 30 yards, same swing 60 degree. 60 yards, same swing with a PW or 60 degree from shoulder high, and so on. I went so far as to write down the distances on a card and carried in my bag. I would get to the ball, determine the distance, look at the card and I knew exactly how to play it. It makes all the difference in the world to have no doubt in your mind how to play the next shot. The interesting thing about it is, as I got better at making contact with the center of the club face, I saw these distances grow to the point where I needed to add the 64 degree wedge.


High cappers are much more likely to miss the green or be in the 30 to 50 yards from the green range than low cappers. Having a go to shot from these distances is very important. Having a selection of wedges and know how hard to hit them makes it easier. The likelihood of hitting the green from 200 yards is slim, but the likelihood of being inside of 50 yards from there is high. More wedges give increase the chance of getting up and down.

Totally agree with you on this. I recommend that high handicap players have as many wedges as they can carry because it gives them more "full swing" yardages. While I wouldn't advise a high handicapper to try to figure out their 25%, 50%, 66.66%..... shots (I'm exaggerating, obviously), I would recommend learning a half shot with all their wedges (if not all irons). This is a shot I've had since I was trying to break 100 and it's one of my favorites. I find that even now, as a "better" player, I would rather hit that half shot hard from 60, 70, or 80 yards than try to finesse a wedge in from 30.

[Shambles]

stevenhw8, on 15 June 2011 - 07:38 PM, said:

Since I didn't find this topic in the forums, I thought we might discuss it here...

I'm currently gaming a 46* PW, 50*, 55* SW, 60*

My distance on full swing are:

PW 115-121 yards
50* 99-105 yards
SW 85-92 yards
60* 70-75 yards

First of all, I hope the gaps between the clubs are correct.

Second, I think having 4 wedges is doing more harm than good. Sometimes I sit between 2 wedges and don't know which one to hit... I'm sure some of you have a similar problem.
So my idea is to go to a 3 wedge set up.

Ideally, it should be 46* PW, 53* SW, 60*, correct?
But I don't think there are any 53* wedges out there with enough bounce to hit as a SW... most of the 14 bounce SW go from 54* to 56*
I could bend it to 53* but I have no experience with bending, so I don't know what I'm talking about here.

So if I don't want to bend it, what other options do I have? 46, 54, 60? Or 46, 52, 58? Which one would you recommend? The second option would have the gap a spread out evenly, but there is no 52* with 14 bounce.

In this case, my gap wedge and sand wedge would be the same club and I would have the freedom to choose a 58*/60* with 4 bounce or something.

I still haven't figured whether I'm a digger or a slider, so I thought having wedges with difference bounces would be a good idea.

What do you guys think?

EDIT: Went to the range again and measured the wedge distance with GPS, should be a little more accurate now.

I would recommend that you pay less attention to the labels and more attention to the lofts and how much you can do with those higher lofts rather than just what their max distance is. The higher lofted clubs are nice for overlaps and getting to know them helps you choose the one that will serve better at any given moment factored by how you feel and how good you are at that moment. The club does not dictate performance, you and how well you practiced and know that club do. When you get within short club distance, just know which clubs can comfortably get you there, use your eyes to identify the best landing and choose the most comfortable club you have for hitting that target and holding it.

Don't let the clubs tell you what you can do. Get to know what you can do with those clubs and make them do more. Clubs are just tools. You make the difference.


Shambles

[Dave]

I've got 4. A 48' PW, then 52,56,60.

I'm not really to fussy with my wedges, as long as I like the way they sit and look I'm happy. None of my 4 wedges at the moment are even the same brand, let alone model.

[Phana24JG]

My point was not a one-size-fits-all description, merely a suggestion for what a 3 versus a 20 handicapper should be looking for. The fact is that a higher percentage of a low handicapper's shots come from wedge distance, so they are the ones that need more options that a larger wedge set provide. It is not only carry distance that is the issue, but often the type of shot that is important.

[RoverRick]

True, I absolutely bombed the driver all day on the par 4's, only had 3 approach shots that was a full shot (normally have at least 8). So I had many wedge shots, however, with this thread in mind, I did not vary my wedges with distance like I normally do. What I did was think of how hard to hit the pitching wedge to achieve the desired distance. It worked out pretty well. On 15 I remember thinking, "OK hit this 40 yards." and did. We also had a high handicapper with us, and he would have been unable to do that. However, he had difficulty hitting full shots.

[Golfool7]

I also carry 4 wedges a PW-52-54-60. Bounce all depends on the kind of fairways you typically hit off. My club keeps the fairways fairly tight so on my 60 I have 4 degrees of bounce on the other 8. I think for high handicappers a 60 degree wedge can be difficult as they don't realize how hard you have to actually hit them and most of them tend to add more loft which really screws up the shot.

I would recommend to try and hit to distances where your approach shots with any of your wedges are a comfortable full swing. 3/4 and 1/2 swings are hard unless you spend a lot of time getting the feel for them. Most PGA Pros would much rather hit a full shot any day. Get really good at knowing how far you hit each wedge with a comfortable full swing and carry how many you need to cover your normal approach distances.

[jmiller065]

I play 4 wedges PW (47), GW (52), SW (56), LW (60) I have to agree with the previous posters that High handicappers need more wedges then the low one it simply makes it easy to swing them full and get a proper distance.

All of my wedges get used from anything from a 2 yard pith to a 100 yards. It really just depends on what I am trying to do with the shot, a 95 yard would easily be a good full 60* for me however if the green slopes bad from back to front it will over spin the ball, so the 56 or 52 come out depending. I have used an 8 iron from 100 before into a stiff wind to keep it low and run it up the front onto the green.

I like to carry 4 wedges for the simple fact it gives me different options in trajectory and spin control. If you are using good course management you would lay-up to a yardage you like with a given wedge try to avoid the in-between yardages. But if the need arises there is always the option to chock down 2" and swing full to knock off 5 to 10 so yard you'd have to practice to see how much it will cut the distance.

It is fun to use the 52* out of bunkers on long bunker shots, you don't have to swing as hard as you would with a 56 or 60 and it will have more room for error thanks to less spin you can hit it and it will run out for you. I have hit bunker shots in the green side bunkers with up to an 8iron before, more clubs you have for short yardages the more creativity you can have around the green to get up and down. There is a reason you will see Phil play like 5 or 6 wedges at times.

[stevenhw8]

Ah reviving my topic from last year
Now that I got the MP59 iron where the PW is 46*, I will complement it with a 50,54,58 wedge set up.

See how it goes this year. Hope the 58 is more forgiving than the 60 was.

[SeeRed]

Also play a 4 wedge set up- 46, 51, 56, 61. Though with the i20 irons, the PW is more of a 10 iron. I just find there are some shots I really like to hit with the 61. And I'm a sucker for the flop shot. I know my distances with full, 1/2 and 3/4 swings, which is important. Four wedges provide a lot of versatility.

[Addicted2Golf]

46*, 50*, 56*, and 60* for me. I used to play 54 and 58 in the sand and lob wedges but I now like the extra loft and bounce on the 56* for greenside bunker play.

[RoverRick]

I have had a copper Ping Eye 2+ wedge (53*) for many years. I have not really played it much opting new model Titleist Wedges. Plus I really did not like the offset. However, I have been able to get used to it in the last couple of weeks. My copper Scotty Cameron putter was misbehaving so I gave it a time out a couple of weeks ago and stuck it in the time out bag. When I figured out it was not the putter, but the person using it, I pulled it back out but that BeCu Ping was sitting in the bag next to it and it looked really cool. So did the oil can finish Titleist wedges. So I took out the Tour Chrome 52, 56, and 64 and opted for the BeCu 53, and Oil Can 56 and 60 and the copper putter. And they looked really cool. Which to me makes me play better.

As I said in another thread where we were talking about feel. It is not just how they club feels in your hand when you hit the ball that is important. But how the club makes you feel about yourself when you see it. For some people, they could not use a big grip on the putter or a long putter because it would make them feel like they could not putt with a normal putter so they would not do well with it. Same with blades for some people.

Well, I love to drive up to the green and pull out the copper putter and copper wedge. They look cool to me. So I started playing this wedge again. Instead of varying the club based on the distance I used the same club and hit it different ways. Some bump and runs and some hop and stop and other things. Today, I did not use any other wedge all day and I had one of the best short game days I have had. Of course it helped that 13 GIR but I did get to use it on some shorter par 4s and 5s where I had only a wedge shot in.

The reason I am posting this here is because a few years ago I could not have gotten so close to the flag using just one club. But it just felt right. I chipped in once, lipped out twice, and ended up inside of 8 feet all but 3 or 4 times I used it, and they were more than 80 yards out.