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Wedge gapping


revkev

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Im not really a believer that you need even gapping between your wedges and the rest of the clubs in your bag because the way you use wedges is different from how you use the other clubs in your bag.

For a long time, I carried a 50 or 52 degree wedge but almost never used the darned thing.  For me, those clubs are about a 100 yard club and I simply never really find myself hitting from that yardage very often.  I would usually either use my 9-iron (120 yards) or my 54/56 degree (90 yards).

"I suppose its better to be a master of 7 than to be vaguely familiar with 14." - Chick Evans

Whats in my Sun Mountain 2.5+ stand bag?

Woods: Tommy Armour Atomic 10.5* 

Hybrid: Mizuno MP Fli-Hi 3H

Irons: Mizuno T-Zoid True 5, 7 and 9-irons

Wedge: Mizuno S18 54* and Top Flite chipper

Putter: Mizuno Bettinardi A-02

Ball: Maxfli Tour X

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13 hours ago, romeopapazulu said:

 

Thanks very much 🙂

Callaway Big Bertha Fusion Heavy 10.5 closed face setting

Callaway Razor Fit 3 wood

Nickent 3 Hybrid

XR-OS 4i - 9i factory steel stiff 2 up +1

Ben Hogan 44,48,52,56

Nickent PP-01

Maxfli Tour Center of Gravity model

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Glad to see this thread still has legs.

I would remind that I’m not saying that everyone should switch to fewer wedges, I’m saying everyone should analyze his game to check on club usage and effectiveness of that usage.

Don’t just use 4 evenly gapped wedges because Dave Pelz says you should. What if you have pulled your 185 yard club for that extra wedge and you never use the thing but you have 10 185 yard shots a season and when you look at that distance you’re taking over 4 shots to get it in the hole from there?

At our level it’s about making pars and bogeys, not birdies. Even though my mind says birdie with a wedge in my hand I don’t often make one. I don’t have enough practice time for that.

Fully agree with Chisag about flighting it down - I like piercing, spinning wedges, much easier to control.


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Taylor Made Stealth 2 10.5 Diamana S plus 60  Aldila  R flex   - 42.25 inches 

SMT 4 wood bassara R flex, four wood head, 3 wood shaft

Ping G410 7, 9 wood  Alta 65 R flex

Srixon ZX5 MK II  5-GW - UST recoil Dart 65 R flex

India 52,56 (60 pending)  UST recoil 75's R flex  

Evon roll ER 5 32 inches

It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD   

 

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Glad I found this thread as I’ve been tinkering with my wedge game a bit recently. I carry 5 wedges, which I thought was unusual, but I have a method to my madness.

I have a pitching wedge(44°) and gap wedge(49°) in my iron set. Then I have a 52°, 56° and 60°. I use them all for full shots but only use the 56 and 60 for chipping.

Weather I use the 56 or 60 is completely lie dictated. The 60 is lower bounce (9°) and the 56 is high bounce (12°). So the 56 is good for bunkers, fluffy/rough lies and the 60 is good for tight/hard fairway lies.

2 thoughts I have about this topic in general:

1: As a mid/high handicap, I feel like tighter gapping in my wedges simplifies everything. I’ve never liked the Pelz clock method. I hit full shots most of the time, and spend a lot of time chipping with my 56 and 60 to get a good feel for them.

2: Wedge gapping and set makeup is becoming even more crucial with iron lofts getting stronger. My gap wedge at 49° was a pitching wedge not long ago. I see more benefits in having extra wedges than long irons and hybrids. I’m not hitting greens from 200 yards, I’m chipping from short distances a lot. Maybe a sign I need to work on my approach shots, but that’s another topic.


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  • 2 weeks later...
Glad I found this thread as I’ve been tinkering with my wedge game a bit recently. I carry 5 wedges, which I thought was unusual, but I have a method to my madness.

I have a pitching wedge(44°) and gap wedge(49°) in my iron set. Then I have a 52°, 56° and 60°. I use them all for full shots but only use the 56 and 60 for chipping.

Weather I use the 56 or 60 is completely lie dictated. The 60 is lower bounce (9°) and the 56 is high bounce (12°). So the 56 is good for bunkers, fluffy/rough lies and the 60 is good for tight/hard fairway lies.

2 thoughts I have about this topic in general:

1: As a mid/high handicap, I feel like tighter gapping in my wedges simplifies everything. I’ve never liked the Pelz clock method. I hit full shots most of the time, and spend a lot of time chipping with my 56 and 60 to get a good feel for them.

2: Wedge gapping and set makeup is becoming even more crucial with iron lofts getting stronger. My gap wedge at 49° was a pitching wedge not long ago. I see more benefits in having extra wedges than long irons and hybrids. I’m not hitting greens from 200 yards, I’m chipping from short distances a lot. Maybe a sign I need to work on my approach shots, but that’s another topic.


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Well thought out - the goal of my thread was to encourage us to think through what works best for our games and not assume that some sort of prevailing thought is right for everyone.

Dave Pelz doesn’t necessarily play a course that requires 4 or 5 195-210 yard tee shots nor does he hit 3 wood that distance nor does he have a job and family make up that limits practice time as I do.

In the same way as a life long lower handicapper I lm fortunate enough to be able to control my wedges a bit and handle a 6 degree gap for the sake of fewer choices to make and longer clubs that more comfortably cover a gap that I regularly face in real rounds.

I’m heading to the range. I have little doubt that I can dial my 58 in to whatever yardage I want - I could easily not face that yardage until sometime next spring. I know that I’m going to hit driver and three wood and 7 iron and full wedge, chip and putt when I play next week.

Guess what Im practicing and what clubs will be in the bag. :)


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Taylor Made Stealth 2 10.5 Diamana S plus 60  Aldila  R flex   - 42.25 inches 

SMT 4 wood bassara R flex, four wood head, 3 wood shaft

Ping G410 7, 9 wood  Alta 65 R flex

Srixon ZX5 MK II  5-GW - UST recoil Dart 65 R flex

India 52,56 (60 pending)  UST recoil 75's R flex  

Evon roll ER 5 32 inches

It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD   

 

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5 hours ago, revkev said:

 


Well thought out - the goal of my thread was to encourage us to think through what works best for our games and not assume that some sort of prevailing thought is right for everyone.

Dave Pelz doesn’t necessarily play a course that requires 4 or 5 195-210 yard tee shots nor does he hit 3 wood that distance nor does he have a job and family make up that limits practice time as I do.

In the same way as a life long lower handicapper I lm fortunate enough to be able to control my wedges a bit and handle a 6 degree gap for the sake of fewer choices to make and longer clubs that more comfortably cover a gap that I regularly face in real rounds.

I’m heading to the range. I have little doubt that I can dial my 58 in to whatever yardage I want - I could easily not face that yardage until sometime next spring. I know that I’m going to hit driver and three wood and 7 iron and full wedge, chip and putt when I play next week.

Guess what Im practicing and what clubs will be in the bag. 🙂
 

 

I am not a life long lower handicapper.  I struggled for years getting to low teens and even longer to get to single digit.  Now I just hope I can stay there for a few more years.

I am also not a fan of the Pelz method of wedge play.  I'm a feel player for hitting wedges.  Maybe that's not the most sensible method, and I'm always ready to try new methods, but it works for me.  However, it does require a lot of practice to maintain my feel for shot distance.

As I've mentioned before I will only make full shots with my PW, never with my other wedges, and I don't use the clock drill approach.  Depending on conditions and the shot I want to execute, I can hit any wedge from 60 yards and in.  My SW is for shots from 80 yards and in.  My PW is 105 yards and in.  I play the shot I have in my mind with the wedge I think will get me closest to the hole.  It's actually very much like I putt looking at the hole or when shooting baskets.  I feel the distance.

Shots under 100 yards and putting are the reasons I am still a single digit.  I have days when I don't execute very well and those are the days I shoot mid to high 80's, so when that happens, it's back to the practice area.

We don’t stop playing the game because we get old; we get old because we stop playing the game.”

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1 hour ago, Kenny B said:

I am not a life long lower handicapper.  I struggled for years getting to low teens and even longer to get to single digit.  Now I just hope I can stay there for a few more years.

I am also not a fan of the Pelz method of wedge play.  I'm a feel player for hitting wedges.  Maybe that's not the most sensible method, and I'm always ready to try new methods, but it works for me.  However, it does require a lot of practice to maintain my feel for shot distance.

Shots under 100 yards and putting are the reasons I am still a single digit.  I have days when I don't execute very well and those are the days I shoot mid to high 80's, so when that happens, it's back to the practice area.

 

... Don't sell yourself short Kenny! All sports are best when played by feel. But plenty of people just don't have a lot of feel or they are not consistent enough to rely on feel, so any kind of mechanical system can be very beneficial. 

... I am playing in Hilton Head and the conditions are radically different than the Chicago suburbs. Bermuda around the greens is like velcro, so a shot I hit at home say a 15yd pitch to a front pin where I bounce off the fairway in front of the green once, then hop on and roll to the hole just isn't a shot I can play here. Almost any 58* pitch that lands short of the green stops immediately and even hops an inch or two backwards so I have to take a lower lofted club or open the face and land the ball on the green with a higher trajectory. Both of those shots, which are almost opposite in technique, depend purely on feel. A mechanical system of taking the club back to 7 or 8 would be useless because the ball refuses to roll. And of course feel helps tremendously when playing several different courses on a trip. First course I played the greens were very fast, second day very slow and the third day a medium pace, and without feel I think I would have struggled every singe day trying to adjust to radically different speeds. 

Edited by chisag

Driver:     :taylormade-small:  Qi10 10.5* ... Ventus Red Velocore 5R
Fairway:  :cobra-small: Aerojet 3/5 ... Kai'li Blue 60R
Hybrids:  :ping-small:      430 Hybrid 22*... Steelfiber 780Hy 
                  :taylormade-small:  DHy #4 ... Diamana LTD 65r 
Irons:       :titleist-small:         '23 T200 5-Pw ... Steelfiber i95r
Wedges:  :taylormade-small: Vokey 50*/54*/58* ... Steelfiber i95r
Putter:     :cobra-small:  Sport-60 33" 
Ball:           Maxfli     Maxfli Tour

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I am strictly feel on the wedges. I honestly can not tell you how far back I pull it.

Chisag--- The little shot you described from the dormant gnarly Bermuda there is a shot for it. It is called a chop pop. Depending on the distance of what the shot requires I do it with either my 56* or 60*. You deloft it a little bit chop down on it and stop the club there. Trust me it will pop up and do a one hopper check up. One Mr Lee Trevino showed me that shot at a clinic when I was a kid. It takes practice though. I saw Paul Goydos teaching it one year on TV at the US Open to one of the rookies. I do remember Brendell had some smart snide remark about it. 

Driver ---- Callaway Big Bertha Alpha  Speeder 565 R flex- 5W TM V-Steel Fubuki 60r--- 7W TM V-Steel UST Pro Force Gold 65R----- 9 W TM V Steel TM MAS stiff---- Irons 2015 TM TP CB Steel Fiber 95 R--- GW Callaway Mack Daddy 2 52* shaft unknown junk pile refugee. SW Callaway PM Grind 56*  Modified sole grind--- KBS Tour Wedge-- LW Vokey 58* SM5 L grind--- Putter Ping B90I Broom Stick 

 

 

 G

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1 hour ago, chisag said:

 

... Don't sell yourself short Kenny! All sports are best when played by feel. But plenty of people just don't have a lot of feel or they are not consistent enough to rely on feel, so any kind of mechanical system can be very beneficial. 

... I am playing in Hilton Head and the conditions are radically different than the Chicago suburbs. Bermuda around the greens is like velcro, so a shot I hit at home say a 15yd pitch to a front pin where I bounce off the fairway in front of the green once, then hop on and roll to the hole just isn't a shot I can play here. Almost any 58* pitch that lands short of the green stops immediately and even hops an inch or two backwards so I have to take a lower lofted club or open the face and land the ball on the green with a higher trajectory. Both of those shots, which are almost opposite in technique, depend purely on feel. A mechanical system of taking the club back to 7 or 8 would be useless because the ball refuses to roll. And of course feel helps tremendously when playing several different courses on a trip. First course I played the greens were very fast, second day very slow and the third day a medium pace, and without feel I think I would have struggled every singe day trying to adjust to radically different speeds. 

I found out the same thing when I went to AZ a few years ago.  I was pretty good at the bump into the upslope around the green until I had the same shot there.  That Bermuda just kills the ball.  We experienced the same variable conditions in Phoenix last year.  Tough to get into any rhythm on a course when every one is different.  We only go on golf vacations for 2 weeks so by the time I figure out the grass and greens, it's time to go home.  We are headed to Palm Springs this January.

BTW, I'm seeing your face in a LOT of Humana commercials these days.  Do you get paid for every airing, or was it a one-time payment??

We don’t stop playing the game because we get old; we get old because we stop playing the game.”

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I remember playing that gnarly bermuda pop shot all too well when I lived in Charleston.  It's a totally different shot required than any other greenside shot, indeed.

I tend to play wedges more by feel, as well.  I play a lot of 1/2 and 3/4 wedge shots, but it's more feel than relying on "known" distances.  

Driver: :callaway-small: Rogue ST Max (10.5* set at -1 and neutral) -- Mitsubishi Tensai Blue 55g R shaft

Fairway: :callaway-small: Rogue ST Max 3 wood (16.5*) and Heaven Wood (20*)-- Tensai Blue 55g R shaft

Hybrids: :callaway-small: Rogue ST Max 5H (23*)--Tensai Blue 55g R shaft

Irons:  :callaway-small: Apex CF19 6-9, PW, AW -- KBS Tour Graphite  TGI 70 shafts R +1/2 inch 3* upright

Wedges: Edison 53* and  57* KBS PGI 80 Graphite +1/2 inch 2* upright

Putter: L.A.B. DF 2.1 -- BGT Stability shaft

Ball:  Maxfli TourX...Golf Bag: :ping-small: Pioneer...Shoes: :footjoy-small: Hyperflex... Glove: Red Rooster Feather

 

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Great Topic. After reading Dave Peltz's book some years back I tried his system, never felt comfortable with all those wedges in the bag, too many choices. Last year I simplified things and drop to only one wedge (aside form the PW and GW) and work one that one from a full swing ( 70 yards) in, letting my eyes tell my hands how hard to hit the shot. I'm getting better, (not quite ready for the tour just yet!!) but my scoring is improving. Every now and then I take a 58 out with me, but use in only once or twice, in my opinion it's not worth carrying that club for one or two shots that I could easily accomplish with my 54.

But like revkev, if I cant reach the green I aim for a layup at 100 yards. I am really consistent with the GW at 100 yards so there's no reason to try to hit it to say 40 yards then guess at the stroke I would need with the 54. I get a lot of funny looks when stepping up to a long par 4 and I pull a short iron for the second shot ,because while the others are knocking it inside 100 yards, I'm aiming for the 100 yard marker. It works out most all the time because while I can put my 3nd shot on the green the others are either short or over the green because they have shots of around 60 yards and they don't have that distance  in the bag.

Now I just have to land it closer to the pin!!!!!

Chris

Edited by LeftyHawk

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  • 4 years later...

I also go with 44, 48, 52, 56 & 60. I am a short game player, low handicap. Although, I don't usually hit my 56/60 with full shots. Mainly for greenside bunker/flop shots etc. I do use my 44, 48, & 52 for full shots. 

44- 126 yds

48- 114 yds

52- 102 yds

All average distances verified on Trackman

I would rather have an extra wedge than a hybrid or fairway wood. I carry a Driver and 3 Wood for long game, and my irons are 4-9.

4- 198 yds

5- 186 yds

6- 174 yds

7- 162 yds

8- 150 yds

9- 138 yds

Everything is gapped to 12 yards, had to bend a few clubs to get those averages, but it was well worth it. No guessing game.

Driver Callaway BB B21 (256 yds)

3 wood Callaway BB B21 (210 yds)

Irons are Sub 70 659 CB Forged

Wedges are Sub 70 JB Forged Raw

Putter Odyssey #1 Toe Up Japanese Model

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On 10/22/2019 at 2:57 PM, Kenny B said:

I found out the same thing when I went to AZ a few years ago.  I was pretty good at the bump into the upslope around the green until I had the same shot there.  That Bermuda just kills the ball.  We experienced the same variable conditions in Phoenix last year.  Tough to get into any rhythm on a course when every one is different.  We only go on golf vacations for 2 weeks so by the time I figure out the grass and greens, it's time to go home.  We are headed to Palm Springs this January.

BTW, I'm seeing your face in a LOT of Humana commercials these days.  Do you get paid for every airing, or was it a one-time payment??

 

... After over seeding the Bermuda around the greens is particularly difficult. One will hop and stop dead and the next hop and run, especially areas where the water runs off the green after a good soaking from sprinklers it hasn't rained since March. 

... The infomercial and some of the commercials running on cable pay a flat fee for a 13 week schedule and are renewed every 13 weeks. Others are paid for every time they run. Health care been Betty Betty good to me. 👍

Driver:     :taylormade-small:  Qi10 10.5* ... Ventus Red Velocore 5R
Fairway:  :cobra-small: Aerojet 3/5 ... Kai'li Blue 60R
Hybrids:  :ping-small:      430 Hybrid 22*... Steelfiber 780Hy 
                  :taylormade-small:  DHy #4 ... Diamana LTD 65r 
Irons:       :titleist-small:         '23 T200 5-Pw ... Steelfiber i95r
Wedges:  :taylormade-small: Vokey 50*/54*/58* ... Steelfiber i95r
Putter:     :cobra-small:  Sport-60 33" 
Ball:           Maxfli     Maxfli Tour

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