How many wedges do you carry?

[PJVicary]

The night before the morning round I am usually facing the question of what wedges to put in the bag. It used to be easy. You had a PW and a SW and go get em! Now you also must decide between adding a 50, 52, 54, 56, 60 or some model bent in between . Are we making a game that used to be fun more complicated than it should be? Before this posting I went out in the shop (aka garage) and counted. 22 wedges! I have never attempted to do a study whereby I correlate scores to which wedges I chose. Did it really make a difference? II know different types of sand may require different types of bounce or different leading edges. Having said that, given that most of our rounds are played on the same two or three courses and the days of shooting under par have left the building, I thing it’s time to go back to the basics. One pitching wedge, one sand wedge and get out and have fun. What say you? 

[Brooky03]

I own 3 wedges and carry 3 wedges; 50, 54, 58.  So, I don't have to worry about moving wedges in/out of the bag but I don't think it would be something I'd worry much about if I did have more wedges to choose from.  The 50 and 54 are almost exclusively full swing clubs.  The 58 is my 'do everything' around the green club.  It's simple enough for me.  A little more complexity probably wouldn't hurt my enjoyment and a little more simplicity (like a 52 and 56 instead of all 3) probably wouldn't hurt either.

 

This might all come down to the variety and types of courses people play.  The courses that I play don't have a ton of sand and from course-to-course it's pretty much the same (the brown stuff, not the nice fluffy white stuff), so bounce is much less of a concern.

[Mr Orange]

My bag I based on gapping. Have pw (42.5), gw (48), and then a 52/56/60. Closer gapping at the end of the bag. Allows me a wider variety of choice depending on the shot when I’m closer to the green.

[Rosey31]

I remember the days before a 60 wedge was popular and you had Pw and Sw. That was also when most PW were 47,48 deg to. With the way clubs are lofted today it does present a larger gap at the lower end of the bag.

I keep a PW, 50, 56 and 60 in my bag. For me, this fits 90% of the courses I play. The only real change I will make is maybe move to a higher bounce for my 56 and 60 if we've gotten a ton of rain down here. 

Everyone's game is different. I play with guys who carry 5-6 wedges cause they do not like hitting half swings. They want to have a full swing on everything. Find your combo that fits you and go with that. 

Edited August 11, 2023 by Rosey31

[4putt4me]

My pw is 44. And I carry a 48,52,56. Only use 48 and 52 for full shots and do everything else with the 56. 56 has been the best club in my bag for several years now. 

[Bossfan]

 I have 4

PW-45, 50, 54 and 58

 

[TG8]

48/52/56 is my personal preference with the 56 being versatile to be able to lay open or closed.  
This may be an unpopular opinion but I think the majority of mid to high handicap players should not use a 60. Ive played with too many people losing unnecessary strokes around the green by sliding a 60 right under that ball. 

[GaDawg]

For me it’s a PW @ 44, 50, 56 & 60.

[Kenny B]

10 hours ago, Rosey31 said:

I remember the days before a 60 wedge was popular and you had Pw and Sw. That was also when most PW were 47,48 deg to. With the way clubs are lofted today it does present a larger gap at the lower end of the bag.

I keep a PW, 50, 56 and 60 in my bag. For me, this fits 90% of the courses I play. The only real change I will make is maybe move to a higher bounce for my 56 and 60 if we've gotten a ton of rain down here. 

Everyone's game is different. I play with guys who carry 5-6 wedges cause they do not like hitting half swings. They want to have a full swing on everything. Find your combo that fits you and go with that. 

I’ve gone back to my old set.  PW is 48º then 54º SW and 60º LW.  I can do everything I need to do with these 3 wedges.

[JimMLINY]

3

P - 48*

A - 52*

S/L - 56*

[MNUte]

48, 52 and 58. I'm comfortable with partial wedge shots (yay clock system!) so I try to keep myself from over thinking by having fewer clubs. 

[tony@CIC]

Currently have a GP 49*, 52*, 56* and 60*. Based on my Shotscope data, there's only about a 10 yd. difference between my 56 and 60. In talking to the INDI Wedge guys, I decided to change it up and while I'm keeping my GP, the new INDI wedges are 54* and 60*.  So that's one less wedge in the bad. 

[aguybadatgolf]

I got a new set of irons about a month ago now and have some new gapping issues. My old PW was a my 130-140 club, 50 was 120-130, 54 for 110-120, and 58 for anything 100 and in. My new PW goes 150-160. So I have a decent gap which has me considering adding a 48 degree just to get a club back in the 130-140 range.  
 

I think it really depends on how you like your gapping and how good you are with feel shots. I am a higher handicap so just being able to full swing is worth an extra wedge so I don’t have to try to get to fancy with it. 

Edited August 14, 2023 by aguybadatgolf

[LinksgolfFever]

I have been gaming Edison wedges for the past year and I really enjoy them.  Three wedges (49º,53ºand 57º), the gap between my PW and 49 is a little larger than i'd prefer ~15-18yds., but with that I've forced myself to practice partial shots and it has been worth it.  Between the 3 wedges I have about 8-10yd. gaps.  Depending on lie weather conditions I can shrink that some if I need something a little higher, a little longer, etc..

[JerryB]

I carry a set PW and GW, and also a 52 and 58.  These replaced my old wedges which were 50 54 and 60.  I think the chase for more distance at the top of the bag has lead to the desire for more wedge coverage at the bottom, and I've kinda fallen for that myself.  I'm pretty happy with my bag setup right now, but in the future I'd like to try to think more in terms of hitting certain distances and filling in the gaps, rather than just trying to go as far as possible at all times.

[Paul Hedrick]

I carry three wedges.  My pitching wedge which is 44 degrees, and a 54 and 60 degree wedge.  For my level of play, that is enough for now.

[DiscipleofPenick]

Of course I have the PW from my set, but I've been a 50-54-58 player for over 15 years and I'm not changing. All my wedges are Vokey. 

Though in the near future, I am going to have to figure something out because Titleist no longer offers my L grind 58/4 wedge any longer. 

[Wilsonplaysgolf]

I carry a 50, 54, 58. The 58 pretty much only gets used in bunkers and I’ll chop and change between 50 & 54 around the green depending on roll out. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

Pretty sure I am like many and use 4. PW, GW and then 54 58. It is a combo I have felt at home with and one that would be tough to go away from at this point...however you never know!

[Leonvdwesthuizen]

 

I think I agree with your statement @PJVicary

 I remember the days when if you bought a set of irons you would get a (sometimes 2 iron)3 - PW, SW, and that left you with only enough room in the bag for either 2/3 x wedges, depending if you had a FW or not... nowadays you only get a 5 - 9, PW.. so possibly more room for wedges.

I only have a 52deg & 60deg wedge in my set of clubs, my irons consist of 4 - SW irons, so nothing left there to add and I make do..

I can use a hybrid or my 9iron around the green.. it's also about being creative and use what works for you, but I agree that having too many wedges complicates the game of golf..

[CrazyGolfNut]

I have a PW and GW from my iron set with are basicly 10 & 11 irons.  My true wedges are 52 & 56. 

Edited August 16, 2023 by CrazyGolfNut

[tsheaffer23]

Have carried four wedges for a number of years. PW-46*, AW-50*, SW-54* & LW 58*. I prefer having more options nearer the hole and have found overall that carrying more wedges has helped my overall score.

[King Cobra]

I used to carry 5 wedges

PW -45* , AW -49* , 52* , 56* 60*

When I got my new Irons I now only carry 4 as it allows me to carry a 5 wood, 

PW - 46* , AW -50* , 54* mid bounce and 58* low bounce

PW & AW used pretty much for full shots the other 2 for everything else .

 

[ChiefMikeOfficer]

Historically carried the PW from the stock set, along with 52/56/60 - in high school, that's what our local pro recommended, and I had that setup for almost 20 years. Started tweaking lofts a bit (like 50/54/60), and also long clubs, and just this year changed it up - now that I have both a 3w and driving iron in the bag, the new wedge setup is:

46 (replaces the PW from my irons), 54, 58. Haven't found myself in any positions where I miss the extra wedge, and my handicap is now the lowest it's ever been. Only issue is the bigger gap between 9i and PW, but that's manageable. 

[paul6057]

I have a pitching wedge from my iron set which is a 46 degree, and then I have a 52 and 58 degree wedge separately from that.

For me the critical question is how strong your iron lofts are and what the loft of your pitching wedge or 9 iron is. On a T300 set with a 43 degree pitching, I would add three wedges on top of that to give me a 4-6 degree gap depending on preference.

I used to have a 52, 56 and 60 degree wedge set before that and I found that I never used the 56, other than for bunker shots, which I can play well enough with the 58 if it's a short bunker shot. It seemed a waste carrying an additional club for that and I saw more benefit in being able to add an extra hybrid at the top end of my bag.

Edited August 16, 2023 by paul6057

[fossil]

I have been playing the same basic wedges for 20 years, 60, 54, gap and pitching. I will buy new clubs but I use the same mizuno wedges.

[GolfSpy_KFT]

I may be a bit of an anomaly when it comes to wedges as I have PW, GW, 52/56/60.  However, the loft on my Aerojet set PW is 41.5° and GW is 47.5°, so without the GW or 52°, I’d have a huge gap in the bottom end of my bag. I also really like wedge play, so having multiple is quite fun for me. 

[Kevin Kelley]

I carry 4. 
a 48, 52, 56 and 60 degree lob wedge. Sometimes I find myself between the 52 and 56 and find that chocking down on the 52 isn’t consistently effective.

[Up and Down]

Stick with the wedges that you have the most confidence in....I'm a firm believer that I can do just about anything with my Vokey M Grind 60 from 85 yards in and around the green - Versatile grind that allows me to open, close, skip, lob and I have confidence in it....Playing the same course conditions in central TX pretty much everywhere allows same wedges...Don't over-complicate it :-).

[Old Joe]

Because of wet conditions and heavy bermuda rough this time of year in coastal South Carolina, will sometimes have to add a low bounce 60 for wet sand or deep rough to more bounce 57. As i age, sometimes choose between old school lofted 47 degree PW and 52 Gap W.