Happy Accident Wedge Discovery

[J5hort]

Hi All, Recently rejoined the sport after long hiatus and am part of a regular Monday night golf league. Dusted off some old clubs and shot prety much the same after league handicap period. Old clubs were Spaulding Executives (told you it has been a while). 3-9 irons, PW and Sandwedge. About 1/2 way thru the season, my brother gave me some clubs from my Dad's garage (recenty passed) to try (not much newer). Titleist DCI with graphite shafts. I swapped clubs before a match (pulling my sandwedge from the old set) and did not realize that the DCI set only had 3-9 and no pitching wedge. I decided to use my sandwedge (56 degrees) from about 75 yards in and found my short game improved tremendously. I stopped using my PW all together. I will be looking to upgrade clubs further (and get into this decade). Just wondering if there are any recommendations for what degree wedges to experiment with first. I'm at about 125 with a full 9 iron and need to consider a club(s) for 80-120 yards out.

 

 

[GolfSpy MPR]

Welcome back to the game! And, for better and worse, welcome to the deep rabbit hole of gear discussion

There's a lot to unpack here, but I'll start with this: in the past couple of decades, lofts on irons have gotten stronger and stronger. Not sure exactly what model iron you're using, but pulling up the specs for the Titleist DCI-962 irons, the 9 iron is 44°. As a point of comparison, I play a pretty modest cavity back set of irons, the Sub70 639CBs. In that set, my PW is 44°.

There is no right or wrong answer about what loft a specific club should be. The number on the bottom of the club (or, in the case of a PW, the letters) don't matter. What's going to matter is whether the different clubs in your bag properly cover reasonable increments of yardages.

With wedges, things can get a little interesting, because (for many of us), different wedges aren't just about hitting certain yardage gaps, but about hitting different kinds of shots. For instance, for me, my LW is almost exclusively used when I need to hit a very short, very lofted shot around the green. While I could use it for a full swing to hit a number under my SW, I instead tend to hit my SW for everything from a chip on the fringe out to 100 yards, unless the shot demands something unique.

So, quick recap: you have a good sense for how far your 9 iron goes. Know that if you walked into a golf store today to buy a PW off the rack, you would very likely be buying a club that goes exactly the same distance as your 9 iron. So pay attention to the actual lofts of your current set. A general rule of thumb: start buying wedges in increments of 4° down from your 9 iron. So you might want to consider wedges at 48°, 52°, 56°, and 60°.

[BreakfastBall15]

Prior to getting my new clubs last year the set I was playing was missing the PW (well I broke it and never reshafted it). I found that my game did improve with my 9 iron and gap wedge as far as controlling distances. It did get me in some tricky situations where I wish I had the PW but still figured it out. @GolfSpy MPR makes a good point about lofts and them being different from OEM to OEM and even within model lines. Bob Vokey recommends a 4° to 6° gap between wedges so a 48° would be a good start at filling that gap or potentially a 50°

[Josh Parker]

I agree that the degree gaps should be 4* - 6* between clubs. 

Plenty of great options out there depending on what you want to spend. You could go new or used.  Right now alot of the big box stores are trying to clear our last years models and have some good pricing going on. The DTC brands are good as well. 

[Triple_Putt]

As others have said a 4* gap is good, I have a GW in my bag that’s 48, and then carry a 52,56, and a 60. It’s probably overkill especially for my skill level, but it’s good to have options and you can find some Vokey SM7 wedges at your local shop for very cheap. I have different grinds on each for different shots. Glad you’re back out on the course! 

[jbern]

Seems like a 50* would be a solid starting point for you, right in between the 44* 9i and 56* SW. If you SW goes 75yds and 9i goes 125yds, the 50* might be your perfect 100yds option.

Edison wedges got pretty rave reviews from most forum members and they offer a no ask trial period. I play Sub 70 286 wedges and like them a lot. They also have a no questions return policy. Callaway pre-owned and Sub70 pre-owned sites are a good way to get a deal, if you don't want to buy new.

Good luck and welcome to the forum and welcome back to golf!

[J5hort]

Excellent advice and much appreciated. I am partial to the Calloway brand. Might be my weekly trips to TopGolf and effective advertising. My golf partner has a nice 56 I have been trying and am comfortable with. It will be an open book for me with driver, fairway woods and irons, but figured I would start and tailor the short game.