Have Modern Iron Lofts Put FIVE Wedges In Your Bag?

BostonSal · October 5, 2021

2 hours ago, alfriday101 said:

I approach it this way: The clubs that came with my set are my irons. Wedges are separate, specially designed short game clubs. I don't really care that the two highest lofted clubs that came with my set are labeled PW and GW.

I am currently playing 2 "real wedges." So I go set GW, specialty SW and LW. This set up has 5 degree loft gaps.

I am transitioning to 4 "real wedges." I drop the set GW and add wedges in 4 degree loft gaps. I prefer to have tighter yardage gaps at the bottom of my bag. I bought the wedges months ago, but haven't taken the time to get them dialed in. Now that the main golf season is over (the course plugged greens yesterday and pulled tee markers) I'll quit worrying about shooting my best score and start working on my building my game for winter in Florida. I'll end up with 5 clubs labeled as wedges, but the PW doesn't occupy space in my brain as a wedge, but as my highest lofted iron.

Well put. I think that's the prevailing attitude now. Launch window theory aside, the club numbers don't mean what they used to,

and we're all used to that by now. But in different way.

To seniors, PW and GW mean "8" and "9," and the numbered irons all mean two numbers less than they're stamped.

To players under 60, club numbers mean nothing at all, because as long as they've been playing, they're accustomed to seeing the lofts continually strengthened relative to club number. It doesn't phase them in the least.

From a historical perspective, it's a changed paradigm. From a playing perspective, it means little at all other than benefiting from the new technology.

korsmot · October 6, 2021

Agree with all the comments that your current PW is just a 9I from as little as 10 years ago. I do play with 5 "wedges" 60, 56, 52, 48, PW (44). Really the only reason to have a club have 7I printed on the bottom is it is more convenient than saying "I hit the 35.5 Degree club". We could really all switch to "degrees" and your set of clubs would be the same as 20 years ago, with slightly different names.

So I am not carrying a 4 Iron. 5I goes 180, 5W goes 200-205. So a gap in there at 190 (sort of). But you really need to add up how many times a round you need to hit it 190 into a green? Bet is less than 2 times per round. So I make my compensation there (lean on the 5 or grip down on the 5W) and consequently have more options with the much shorter wedge shots by keeping the 5 wedges.

Many people space out there wedge lofts farther, 58, 54, 50, 44. or take out their LW (which is fine if you don't like it). But, I want the "scoring clubs" to be the most accurate and have slightly smaller gaps if possible (10-12 vice 15 yards). But some of this is just a comfort thing. Some people are totally comfortable to use 56 for all of their highest loft needed shots and just open it up if needed to go higher. But I hit all the wedges with a full swing with no issue and then when I go to stock short game shots (3/4 or 1/2 wedge or various pitches and chips), I have just increased my shot options by a bunch having that extra wedge.

We often make jokes that "I hit 6 wedge (meaning 6I)" since pros are hitting PW 160 (or Bryson at 200). Just getting silly. Imagine you hit LW full swing 120. Now you are having to hit half type shots from 120 in? Not saying power is bad as it is a nice problem to have, but the object to score well, not necessarily hit every club as far as humanly possible. (except driver ;))

Cheers

Tigger

alfriday101 · October 6, 2021

I have room for an additional wedge after putting a 7 wood in the bag. It replaced 2 clubs. I hit it 185 to 210 depending on how far I grip down. It took one range session and a couple of rounds to figure out how far down to grip to achieve the different distances.

Edited October 6, 2021 by alfriday101

HDTVMAN · October 6, 2021

Currently 44° (P), 49° (U), 54° (S), & 58° (L). That's enough!

Syks7 · October 6, 2021

Missed the beginning of this, but I'll chime in.

I had my irons rebuilt a few months ago and adjusted to the specs I got from a fitting, including adding 1° strong on most of the clubs. That took my 'PW' to 44°. I bought the Ksig 52,56,60 set (no joke my first purpose built wedges ever) and found that I had a massive gap, give or take about 25 yards between, my cavity back PW and the blade wedge. At the time on the top end of my bag I had a 19° hybrid that I really liked so my initial move was to ditch the 52 and get a 50 that was more forgiving (CBX2). That worked pretty well but still left me with an oddly large gap on either side of the 50.

When I realized that I was fighting those gaps multiple times a round I also realized that the hybrid wasn't doing anything for me that my 20° 4 Iron wasn't doing for me. So I dropped the hybrid, traded the 50 for a 48, and put the 52 back in the bag.

It's a little crowded at the bottom end of the bag now, but I find that even though there's some overlap it's very helpful to have a club for each small increment that I can comfortably full swing without having to really get after it. I don't have to fill a gap with a heavier or lighter swing and my dispersion has hugely benefited from it. I also have a huge variety of shots I can play inside 130 now which has helped me more than any 200 yard club ever could. Five 'wedges' will probably be part of my set for the foreseeable future given the strong lofts of the sets I'm eventually looking to upgrade into.

Coachbutt · October 6, 2021

Wedges Smedges,it's about feel ladies and gents.if you have to shoot to know its a 45 yard shot and don't realize how far you need to carry and roll.open the 52 to a 50 open the 56 to a 59 and hit the shot.too many people taking to long to play these shots.SIMPLIFY..

Michael Lubarsky · October 6, 2021

I have 2 Vokey wedges ( 54/12 & 58/8) Just bought new PXG 0211 irons and purchased PW plus 2 gap wedges. I had one of the GW bent 2* weak and one bent 2* strong. Starting with my PW I now have a 4 degree spread between each of these 5 wedges.

Yes, I carry 5 wedges and have found that at age 74 there are many more opportunities hitting shots within 120 yards then there are for hitting shots in excess of 200 yards.

Edited October 6, 2021 by Michael Lubarsky
I didn't finish my comments before they were posted.

NRJyzr · October 7, 2021

52 minutes ago, Riverboat said:

I agree that people take too long, but disagree with the feel part of it. Short game is all about knowing exactly how far you hit each wedge with each type of swing. Shooting the distance is a must and only takes a second. 48 yards=1/2 swing with a sand wedge. That'll carry exactly 45 yards for me and release another 1 to 3 yards. Eyeballing and feeling the shot is a recipe for a very mediocre shot.. at least for me. Since I took the new approach, I get up and down more than pretty much anyone I know.

"Feel" is essentially gauging the distance visually (and attempting to apply the requisite effort to the shot at hand). They're doing the same thing, just not using a device to do it.

Personally, because my depth perception is not good, and because my ability to gauge distance by eye is not good, I use essentially the same process you do on those sort of ranges. I like to think I do fairly well (and my friends tend to agree).

If I could see the difference between 70 yards and 80 yards by just looking, I wouldn't need the range finder.

Edited October 7, 2021 by NRJyzr

RickyBobby_PR · October 7, 2021

14 minutes ago, NRJyzr said:

"Feel" is essentially gauging the distance visually (and attempting to apply the requisite effort to the shot at hand). They're doing the same thing, just not using a device to do it.

Personally, because my depth perception is not good, and because my ability to gauge distance by eye is not good, I use essentially the same process you do on those sort of ranges. I like to think I do fairly well (and my friends tend to agree).

If I could see the difference between 70 yards and 80 yards by just looking, I wouldn't need the range finder.

And feel also includes the type of shot to be played. Some may prefer to go the high route and carry all the way there and some may prefer a lower flight both require different swing from length and speed and probably even club choice.

GolfSpy BOS · October 7, 2021

So you can count me in the group of having "5 wedges". Knowing the lofts were strong on the Cobra Forged Tec Irons I ordered them in 5-GW. I had the GW bent 1* from 49* to get it to 48* so now I have a comfortable loft progession of 4* through the wedges.

Here's my Arccos gaps from earlier this year:

A2097CD6-AA2A-4C8F-9CAC-94C05DF08141.png.f2ccf763a9e1354628bb59b9818018d6.png

Do I have 5 "wedges"? Yes, I do. Did I really configure my set any different than I would have if the numbers on the Cobras were 4-PW and the lofts were the same? No not really. The most surprising thing to me has been the nice gapping at the top end of the bag where I thought I would get bunched up. It seems Cobra knew what they were doing and these Forged Tecs work great for me. YMMV, but I'm cool with 5 wedges as long as my gaps look like this.

I should also add that I prefer 3 specialty wedges versus using a set GW in that spot anyway. So if the Forged Tec GW was 50 or 52* I wouldn't have selected it anyway.

The Cobra Forged Tec have really ended the notion of Loft Jacking being a problem for me. I can say with 100% confidence I hit them better, higher, and with equal or better stopping power than I did my 714 AP2s which were more traditional in loft. I pay less attention to the number on the club and more attention to the distance that it goes now.