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Wedge Setup and Why?

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JB

JB

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This one is not about brands really, but in recent surveying, we noticed something. Most golfers are going with a 52, 56, and 60 degree wedge. Those that carry 3 wedges anyway. However most of the newer sets are seeing PW's more strong lofted.

I have been noticing a gap between my 52* and my PW, so I am thinking of changing up to a 50*, 54*, and 58* to lessen the gap being that my PW is 46*.

What is your wedge setup and do you fill all the gaps that you need to?
 
Great question JB! That is something we are addressing at work in October. I went through the short game challange and wedge fitting as a trial run. I couldn't believe what I found out. My current PW is 47* and I play a 52* 56* and 60* thinking that I had the gaps pretty well covered. Here are the results from my fitting:
9 iron at 43*
PW at 48*
GW at 53*
LW at 58*

With this make up I have for some reason perfect 10 yard gaps between the wedges. With this make up I have added room for 1 more club to add to the bag. Just don't know what it is yet.
 
I currently have my pitching wedge which is 47°, then I have a 54° and a 58°. I used to have a 56° and a 60°, but I found that the 60 went nowhere, so was a waste of a club and the 47-56 was too big of a gap. With the 54° I have a much better gap between pitching wedge and sand wedge (and i'm happy using the pw to make up what's left) and the 58° is much more versatile than the 60 was. I like carrying only two "extra" wedges because it frees me up to carry my 2 and 3 iron. I feel like I save more shots from having the longer iron options than I do from what an additional wedge might give me.
 
I'm currently just using a 3 wedge setup (if you count a PW) - 45*, 54* and 60*. I want to add in a 49-50* as well to fill the gap between the PW and the 54* I have now.
 
I use a PW, 52 and 58. 52 for anything between 90-130 and 58 for the rest. 58 has a really versatile grind (extra heel and toe relief with moderate bounce) for anything around the green and sand.
 
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It was quite amazing in our surveying at just how few people knew the loft of their PW and had no idea what gaps they were missing. Most thought their PW was around 48* and some were shocked to find out they were only 45-46
 
I carry 4 wedges. Those being 60*, 56*, 52*, and 48*. My 9i is 44*. The only gap issue I "might" have in my set, is probably around my 4i, since I do not carry that club. I say "might" because I have never noticed any yardage issues where I thought I needed a 4i. I carry 14 clubs, but the funny thing is I can't remember a round of golf where I actually used all 14 clubs. Or, all 4 of my wedges for that matter.
 
The loft on my Nickent is 46°. The PW from my Goldwin set that the Nickents replaced is 50° so I still use it. My Adams wedges are 56° and 60°. I think my wedges are set just fine for me, in fact I have been using the 56 more often and with more confidence than when I used the Nickent or Goldwin as my "around or near the green" club. I usually only use the 60 when I am on the down side of a mound around the greens, which, on my course happens several times a round. I haven't used it enough on a normal lie to feel comfortable hitting it during a round. I'm actually thinking about dropping the 50 so I can add the 5 wood back in, since I'm really liking the 56, at least on my normal course.

I still like the fact that the Goldwin set, with a 50° PW had a 46° 10-iron in the set.
 
My wedges and carry yardages:
PW - 46* - 145 yds
GW - 50* - 130 yds
SW - 56* - 110 yds
LW - 60* - 90 yds

I used to just hit a half PW for that 115 -130 yd shot and now that I have a GW it's so much easier and I'm a lot more accurate. I didn't change my 56 to a 54 because a smooth 56 goes 100 yds for me. I kept the 60 because I wanted the extra loft. I really only use it 65 yds and in, unless there's a tight pin where I need a little more height and/or spin.
 
My PW is 45*, the gap wedge from my set is 50*. Currently, my only other wedge is my Cleveland 56*. I hit my PW 115, my GW 105, and my 56 about 85. I use my 56 for about everything inside of 60 yards. I've considered dropping the 56 and adding a 54 and 58, but I'm focusing on learning the 56 as well as I can for now.
 
I don't consider my PW from the MP32 set a wedge really, I know it is but I think of it as a 10 iron.

I carry 4 counting the PW if you want to :

1. MP 32 PW - 47* loft 6* bounce. I have never had this checked it but it seems right to me and it has no discernible marks on the hosel that would lead me to believe it has ever been bent strong or weak, either way. I hit it full swing from 120 to about 150 depending on ball position and how hard I swing

2. Mizuno MP-R 54* loft - 10* bounce SW which has a dual grind sole, less bounce if you set up square and more if you lay it open. It works great on these hard pan fairways in the summer time down here in Texas. I hit this from 90 to 120 out. If I choke down an inch and hit it full but not hard it will go 100 yards plus or minus a yard or two. I use it out of the sand for longer bunker shots around the green. I also use it for probably 90% ofd the chipping I do from less than about 60 feet out. Longer than that and I will drop down to a PW or even as much as a 7i depending on conditions, slope, distance, etc.

3. Cleveland 588 60* loft 8* bounce LW that is a club I cherish, especially lately when I have dropped several 30-60 yard half shots to within 3 feet or less several times in the past month or so. I can hit this from 70 - 110 yards depending again on ball position and what shot I need. I also use this club for shots out of greenside bunkers when I want to hit that explosion floater that stops real fast, for chipping around the green when I want more carry and for hitting lob type shots off wet or really firm sand.

4. Carbite cheap-o 64* loft 4* bounce FW (Flop Wedge) I use this club for full shots from about 50 yards to 80 yards out, and use it a lot around the green on short pitches and ships that I need to stop fast.

I have been working with these wedges for at least an hour nearly every day for the past 2 or 3 months hitting all kinds of chips, flops and lobs, explosions out of the rough, 20 and 30 yard pitches, hop and stops, drop and pops, splashes out of wet mucky lies lately with all this rain we are having, you name it I have done it. I have not had a situation on the golf course in the last 6 months, since I switched from a 52- 56-60 to this current 54-60-64 wedge set, that has caused me to think twice about which club to hit or which wedges to carry. It is solid. The only change I might make would be to maybe bend my 54 to 53 and my 60 to 59 so I have roughly 6* between each club but it is only a thought at this point. Also I will need to replace the cheap-o 64 wedge with a better one at some point in the near future.
 
My PW is 47°, then I have a 52°, 56°, 60°

Through my whole set, my clubs pretty well progress in 4° increments. I planned carefully before buying to achieve this, and I am very happy with my setup.
 
I have a 45* PW, 52* GW and a 60* LW. I like it and for the most part it works well for me.
When I wear out the wedges I currently have, I will most likely look into switch to a 50*/58* setup so that I have a more even spacing between my wedges.
 
PW (part of iron set): 46*
PW ("wedge-style" wedge): 50* (acting as gap wedge)
SW: 56*
LW: 60*

I rarely use my SW or LW for a short approach. I hit an abbreviated PW (either one), or even an abbreviated 9-iron instead.

I use SW out of the sand mostly, and sometimes for shots around the green.

My LW gets less use than any of my other clubs. It will be the first to go if I want to move something else in.
 
I carry a 46.5* PW, a 52* AW and a 56* SW. Even though my wedges are the same "line" as my irons, they perform well and I really like them a lot.
 
I just use three wedges: a PW (46 deg.); a GW (51 deg.) and a SW (55 deg.).

I don't have a gap (distance) problem because my "4 deg. separation" extends up to my 7-iron and since I don't generally use my SW for anything other than sand shots, my "progression", if you will, essentially stops at my 51. For flop shots or any other high flight/short distance shots, I just use my 51 with a variety of open faces and open stances.

I suppose that I could set myself up with a 56 deg. SW with a lower bounce and then use a 60 deg. LW, but I've become so accustomed, over the years, to just opening the face and stance for delicate shots, that a 60 would be pointless. Since that's the case, I keep my 55 (with an 11 deg. bounce) for use exclusively as a SW and not as an "approach" wedge - mainly because this particular wedge feels great from the sand so the loft was never an issue anyway.

The only time that changes is if I'm hitting from wet sand, in which case I'll use my 51 or even the PW, 9 or even 8-iron.


-JP
 
JB said:
This one is not about brands really, but in recent surveying, we noticed something. Most golfers are going with a 52, 56, and 60 degree wedge. Those that carry 3 wedges anyway. However most of the newer sets are seeing PW's more strong lofted.

I have been noticing a gap between my 52* and my PW, so I am thinking of changing up to a 50*, 54*, and 58* to lessen the gap being that my PW is 46*.

What is your wedge setup and do you fill all the gaps that you need to?
Click to expand...

I have a different setup from most players. I carry 4 wedges (counting the PW), but I still only consider it a 3 wedge set. My sand wedge (54°) is almost exclusively used for bunker play. So my utility wedges are PW (47°), GW (52°), and LW (58°). Even the LW gets only occasional play... the 52° is my go-to short game wedge.
 
46* PW
50* GW
54* SW
58* LW
My 14th club was always a choice between a 2H, 5W or LW....After about 15 rounds of switching back and forth, I decided to go with the LW as I used it more often to shave points moreefficiently than the other 2....
 
PW - 46 = 120 -125 yds
GW - 50 = 100 -105 yds
SW - 56 = 85 - 90 yds
 
My TM PW is 46*, yet I carry SM Vokey's in 48*, 52*, and 58*. Anything inside of 110 down to 80, I decide between the 48* or the 52*. I generally hit knock downs with the 48*. They come in low, skip, and stop. I like to take the 52* in slightly higher from that distance over bunkers and mounds, though over 100* reduces accuracy because I have to hit it too hard. 30 to 80 yards is the 52* and that I knock down, too. I chip with either the 48* or 52* depending on the slope of the green. I rarely hit the 58* from the fairway, but it is a great flop shot club, and I like that loft out of bunkers.

Overall, I love hitting wedges lower than most people do, and the 48* and 52*SM Titleists are great for that. When they come in low they don't back up, yet still stop within 5' or 6'. I don't like to back the ball up much if I can help it. Too hard to control and I don't like taking the ball in past the pin. Over the green is almost always bad.

Kevin
 
My pitching wedge is a 47* then I use a 51*, 55* and a 60*. I had my 50* bent to the 51* and a 54* to a 55*. I wanted 4* of separation between my irons so I accomplished that except for my gap between my 55* and my 60*. I think I can deal with the 5* separation as opposed to the 4*.
It took a lot of tinkering and a ton of experimentation to get a set up that helped my game and appeased my ocd's.
 
I twitted back, not sure it worked from my berry on the road. I have a 56 CG14 Swedge and a Lynx Parallax pitcher, no idea what degree. All feel at this point. Bought enough sticks this year, will wait till spring for a new 60 Cleveland or the new TM.
 
Great place for my first post as this is something I've been toying with for a couple weeks.

Currently I have a 45* PW, 55* SW and 60* LW... But this will be changed pretty soon. I'm going to a 50* GW (Vokey SM) and will probably swap the 60* (Cleveland 588) for a 56* Vokey.

I've finally come to the realization that the 10* gap between my PW and SW is WAY too much. I'm also struggling with the 60* LW. Just never had a good feel for it.
 
Welcome IceMan
 
48* PW
53* GW
58* LW
Is what's in my current line up.

I had a 48,52,56 and 60 set up for a while,but decided my current set up would be better.It allowed me to add a 17* hybrid to help narrow the gap between the 22* hybrid and 14.5* 3 Wood.
 
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