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What's Your Wedge Setup, and What's Your Thoughts on my New Setup?

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GoIrish17

GoIrish17

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I've been pretty die hard about my wedge setup for the past two seasons- almost always 50*, 54*, 58*, and depending on the course I might replace the 58* with a 60*. I also like to switch up bounce/ loft combinations based on course and condition. I am extremely prejudiced towards Vokey and Callaway wedges (namely the X Forged), and I have about 20 total to mix in different lofts, bounces, and grinds based on conditions.

This time of the year, I like to pull out my backup bag with Adams CB3s to use in place of my Apex Pros (yeah, I'm one of those idiots here in NE Ohio that will play anytime the course is dry enough and the temperature is close to 40*). The wider sole and higher bounce/ sole camber on the CB3s are much better suited to the conditions I will see on the course this time of the year, and I'd rather save the wear and tear on the Callaways from going to the covered range with mats.

On a whim, I picked up a Vokey 48* (6* bounce) wedge for a great price. Mostly just to play around with it and see what I thought. Well, one trip to the range, and I found myself trying to figure out some way to work it in the bag. After some trial and error, I ended up kicking out the sets pitching wedge and going with 48*, 54*, and 60*, and surprisingly I love the setup. I went this direction for a couple reasons- my CB3's are about a club shorter than the Apex Pros, probably a result of the shafts suiting me much better in the Apex Pros (Project X PXi 6.0 in Apex Pros, Project X Flighted 6.0 in the CB3s- CB3 7 iron is 150-155, Apex 7 iron 158-163), and I wanted to leave my Adams DHY in the bag to bridge the gap from the X2Hot Pro 18* hybrid to the CB3 4 iron (that X2Hot is LONG- it leaves a huge gap from it to the 4 iron, and man, do I wish I had gotten the 20* instead of 18* in hindsight).

Well, the new setup is working great for me. I've always been fairly adept at playing a variety of shots with my wedges and controlling distances and trajectory, I've been playing the 48* anywhere from around 120 yards in to as close as 95 yards. It is so much easier to knock down and play a low, checking shot. Plus, if I really get after one and play a high draw, I can get it out close to where I was hitting the CB3 pw (125-130). Also I've really enjoyed chipping with it around the green, the lower loft allows me to add the low runner to my shot repertoire around the green (I've never felt comfortable chipping with an iron from my set- I have some mental hurdle I can't get over that most of my shots inside of 50 yards need to be taken with a wedge). The variety of clubs really allows me to play a wide range of shots- along with the Vokey 48*-06*, I have a Callaway 54*-15* X Forged C-Grind (and the same in 54*-14* minus the C-Grind), and I go between a Vokey 60*-04* and a Mack Daddy 2 Tour Grind 60*-09* (depending on conditions). So, I have a wide variety of lofts, bounces, and grinds. I haven't encountered any lies or situations demanding a particular shot type that I don't have a club for. I know that any wedge setup can be built to achieve this diversity, but covering a range of 13* of loft with three clubs really seems to add another layer of shot selection to my game inside of 100 yards.

So, anyone else playing some setup like mine? What thoughts/ insight can you give me? Anyone have a warning message for me when the honeymoon ends? I am really curious to see how this setup performs in the spring when the weather warms up and conditions are back to more "normal". I could really see myself moving this setup to the gamer bag, if this performance continues, and maybe add something extra in the long range of the bag (5wd or driving iron?), or possibly give a 64* a spin. Any thoughts are appreciated, thanks!
 
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I always stick with a 45 degree PW, 50 degree GW, 54 degree SW and 58 degree LW and play them all with standard bounce. The course conditions of the course I play 90% of my rounds on vary from hard to soft during the same round so I stick with the mid bounce as I feel it gives me more versatility from a greater number of differing conditions.
 
Honestly I think amateurs place too much emphasis on wedges, myself included, when they should be gaming a standard PW, GW and SW. In others get a standard set of irons 4-GW and maybe a standard SW. At least that way you can add more to the top end of your bag. Wedge play is great and all but perfect a standard sand wedge before relying on 40 different wedges with grinds and bounces etc... my 2 cents anyways. Ignore it if you don't agree.
 
Yeah, my summer set is 50*, 54*, 58* SM4's all with 10*-12* of bounce, but sometimes the weather will demand that I replace one of them with something more appropriate (i.e. 60* wedge with 4* of bounce- when it's hot and dry here, trying to hit something lofted up in the air is like hitting a ball off concrete- the less bounce the better!). Here in Ohio, one course can play completely different two days in a row if it storms overnight. In August/ September, the ground can go from hardpan to swampland after an overnight storm.
 
I based my wedges off my pw. I like to keep a 4-5* gap in my wedges. I have 50/54/58 right now all std bounce. The courses I play don't require changing to a different bounce.
 
Wilson Staffer said:
Honestly I think amateurs place too much emphasis on wedges, myself included, when they should be gaming a standard PW, GW and SW. In others get a standard set of irons 4-GW and maybe a standard SW. At least that way you can add more to the top end of your bag. Wedge play is great and all but perfect a standard sand wedge before relying on 40 different wedges with grinds and bounces etc... my 2 cents anyways. Ignore it if you don't agree.
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I agree to an extent, but for me personally, I don't utilize the set's wedges in a way that would be most beneficial. I worked in the golf industry for a time, and when evaluating someone for their wedge setup, I would always ask if they used their pw as a true wedge, or as a 10 iron. In other words, did they use the set's wedge to play a variety of different shots and manipulate trajectory, or did they simply take a stock swing with it almost exclusively? I personally have always used my pw as a 10 iron and used my wedges for shot variety, and decided that the 48* experiment might be one worth trying so as to move my range for shot variety further away from the pin. I personally have never been able to play a set's gw or sw, I'd say that at least half of the shots I hit with those clubs are low checkers, a low fade, high draw, etc. The grinds on set's wedges usually don't offer enough variety to execute these shots successfully. I am somewhat backwards from what my handicap would suggest- though I hover around 8, my iron striking and wedge play are my strengths, whereas my driver probably penalizes me 2 strokes on that handicap. Driver is my number one focus this offseason, this 48* wedge experiment is just a welcome distraction from working on the driver.
 
emart2173 said:
I based my wedges off my pw. I like to keep a 4-5* gap in my wedges. I have 50/54/58 right now all std bounce. The courses I play don't require changing to a different bounce.
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Bingo. I play my sets standard PW and GW which are 45 and 50 respectively. So I have 45-50-54-58. I've practiced a lot with opening up my 58 to not really need a 60. Never found myself in a wedge situation where I would have needed anything different.
 
GoIrish17 said:
I agree to an extent, but for me personally, I don't utilize the set's wedges in a way that would be most beneficial. I worked in the golf industry for a time, and when evaluating someone for their wedge setup, I would always ask if they used their pw as a true wedge, or as a 10 iron. In other words, did they use the set's wedge to play a variety of different shots and manipulate trajectory, or did they simply take a stock swing with it almost exclusively? I personally have always used my pw as a 10 iron and used my wedges for shot variety, and decided that the 48* experiment might be one worth trying so as to move my range for shot variety further away from the pin. I personally have never been able to play a set's gw or sw, I'd say that at least half of the shots I hit with those clubs are low checkers, a low fade, high draw, etc. The grinds on set's wedges usually don't offer enough variety to execute these shots successfully. I am somewhat backwards from what my handicap would suggest- though I hover around 8, my iron striking and wedge play are my strengths, whereas my driver probably penalizes me 2 strokes on that handicap. Driver is my number one focus this offseason, this 48* wedge experiment is just a welcome distraction from working on the driver.
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I was pondering some Edel short irons and wedges but the gaps in the C100 set are pretty fricken spot on. My GW is at 48° so I simply added the 52 and 56 to compliment my short game. Anything over a 56 degree for me is asking for trouble. In other words I'm actually more comfortable with opening up the club face with my SW if I need a little more loft.
 
GoIrish17 said:
I agree to an extent, but for me personally, I don't utilize the set's wedges in a way that would be most beneficial. I worked in the golf industry for a time, and when evaluating someone for their wedge setup, I would always ask if they used their pw as a true wedge, or as a 10 iron. In other words, did they use the set's wedge to play a variety of different shots and manipulate trajectory, or did they simply take a stock swing with it almost exclusively? I personally have always used my pw as a 10 iron and used my wedges for shot variety, and decided that the 48* experiment might be one worth trying so as to move my range for shot variety further away from the pin. I personally have never been able to play a set's gw or sw, I'd say that at least half of the shots I hit with those clubs are low checkers, a low fade, high draw, etc. The grinds on set's wedges usually don't offer enough variety to execute these shots successfully. I am somewhat backwards from what my handicap would suggest- though I hover around 8, my iron striking and wedge play are my strengths, whereas my driver probably penalizes me 2 strokes on that handicap. Driver is my number one focus this offseason, this 48* wedge experiment is just a welcome distraction from working on the driver.
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I play my PW exclusively as a "10 iron" just for shorter distances than I would want to use my 9 for, or 75%/50% swing pitches. Never had a problem with it and tend to be pretty accurate. Never used to have a Gap wedge in my set before, but the 50 I have in this set is perfect for what I need. I can chip and pitch exactly how I would need to with it. So the only non set I need for me are the 54 and 58 which I work around the greens depending on distance/height required.
 
cbaker2882 said:
Bingo. I play my sets standard PW and GW which are 45 and 50 respectively. So I have 45-50-54-58. I've practiced a lot with opening up my 58 to not really need a 60. Never found myself in a wedge situation where I would have needed anything different.
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This is why I experimented with the 48-54-60 setup. The lofts in the CB3's are slightly stronger than the Apex Pros (45* pw vs. 46* in the Apex Pros- my 50-54-58 in that bag flows perfectly with the set's gapping), I was having a hard time finding a wedge set makeup that was sensible without bending wedges (which I really didn't want to do). The 48-54-60 creates a 6* gap from 9 iron to the 60* (ok, maybe not exactly 6*- I believe the CB3 9 iron is 41* of loft, so a little bigger gap there).
 
cbaker2882 said:
I play my PW exclusively as a "10 iron" just for shorter distances than I would want to use my 9 for, or 75%/50% swing pitches. Never had a problem with it and tend to be pretty accurate. Never used to have a Gap wedge in my set before, but the 50 I have in this set is perfect for what I need. I can chip and pitch exactly how I would need to with it. So the only non set I need for me are the 54 and 58 which I work around the greens depending on distance/height required.
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I certainly didn't mean to imply that there was anything "wrong" with your pw being more of a 10 iron than a wedge. I just tried (poorly, perhaps) to illustrate that I wanted to experiment (or work at improving that aspect of my game, if you will) with my pitching wedge being more of a wedge than a 10 iron, and the CB3 set's pw wasn't going to allow me to do that well, with the wide, cambered sole.
 
I used to carry 50, 55 and 60 (46°pw). Realized that there's really nothing I gain with 60 that 58 can't do so I went to 50, 54,58. Now that my pw is 48° I have 53 and 58
 
GoIrish17 said:
I certainly didn't mean to imply that there was anything "wrong" with your pw being more of a 10 iron than a wedge. I just tried (poorly, perhaps) to illustrate that I wanted to experiment (or work at improving that aspect of my game, if you will) with my pitching wedge being more of a wedge than a 10 iron, and the CB3 set's pw wasn't going to allow me to do that well, with the wide, cambered sole.
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I was saying that in agreement with what you were saying actually. I just meant that I wouldn't need anything off the standard set because I just play it as a 10 iron. If you can hit a Vokey 48* wedge with the right gapping for your set and for how you want to play them, then that's perfect.
 
jlukes said:
Quite a good thread with lots of info here

http://www.thehackersparadise.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6494
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I found that thread in doing some searches, but it wasn't really the conversation I was looking for. It seemed that it had evolved from the OP 5 years ago into just a thread for everyone to blurb what their wedge setup was. Plus, the posts had slowed to a couple posts every few months- it seems like it has gotten buried and I wanted to have some conversation, not just post something there for the sake of posting, that very few would see versus creating my own thread to discuss specifically what I was looking to discuss. I was more looking to have some conversation with different viewpoints as to the makeup of my bag and what cons to the setup I may not be noticing yet. It is a slightly different setup that the more normal 52-56-60/ 50-54-58/ 52-58 etc., and I was curious the pros and cons others who have tried this setup may have encountered that I have yet to.

I appreciate the help in steering me to what you thought was a more appropriate forum, though. Thank you for your help!
 
I think part of the wedge set-up decision may be based on the distance that one hits their PW and SW. For example, say you hit your PW 140 yds, then it might be beneficial to play more wedges, to keep the shorter distances in full swings. Alternatively, if your PW goes 100 yds, then maybe the gap and sand wedge will suffice for distance.
I attended a short game clinic at a high end course near me, where the head pro said that, in the desert in the summer, everyone could benefit from a 60* wedge, because of how tight the lies are and how fast the greens can become.
 
Spivey said:
I think part of the wedge set-up decision may be based on the distance that one hits their PW and SW. For example, say you hit your PW 140 yds, then it might be beneficial to play more wedges, to keep the shorter distances in full swings. Alternatively, if your PW goes 100 yds, then maybe the gap and sand wedge will suffice for distance.
I attended a short game clinic at a high end course near me, where the head pro said that, in the desert in the summer, everyone could benefit from a 60* wedge, because of how tight the lies are and how fast the greens can become.
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This is exactly the reason I decided to start this "experiment". My CB3's are right around a club shorter than my Apex Pros (CB3 pw- 120-125, Apex Pro pw 125-130). I began the fall season with this bag set up with 52-56-60 to compensate for the shorter distances from the Apex Pros, and found myself never pulling the 52* wedge. I considered a 52-58 or 54-60 setup, but when I came across the Vokey 48* for a steal, I figured "what the hell, I'll give it a try". So far I'm really liking it, but curious to hear some other's failed similar experiments, and what it was that they didn't like about it. Because, so far, I really like it. I feel like I'm playing a slightly weaker pw with two other wedge options for inside of 100 yards.
 
I have tinkered with other loft combinations, but have always gone bad to PW, 54 & 60. I have always felt comfortable hitting partial we dg e shots to control spin, so I have found that this set up gives me the most versatility.
 
lmh3 said:
I have tinkered with other loft combinations, but have always gone bad to PW, 54 & 60. I have always felt comfortable hitting partial we dg e shots to control spin, so I have found that this set up gives me the most versatility.
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My setup isn't far off from what you play, I've just replaced the 45* CB3 pw (I think in the Apex MB the pw is 47*?) with the 48* Vokey. And, I agree, this setup does allow for a wider variety of shots to be played. I doubt I would like this setup nearly as much in my Apex Pro irons, I find it much easier to control trajectory with the Apex than the CB3's. The CB3 are designed to hit the ball high and straight, I feel like I'm fighting the club when I try to flight one down or work a ball left or right. The icing on the cake is how much better the 48* is around the green on chips vs. the CB3 pw. The Vokey interacts much better with the turf on delicate shots from tight lies, and is much more predictable when it lands on the surface. Basically, I feel like all I'm giving up moving from the CB3 pw to the Vokey 48* is a small amount of forgiveness and distance on full shots. But, so far, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. There aren't many shots I can play with the CB3 that I can't with the Vokey, besides maybe a full swing from 125 yards. And, when this shot comes up, I just choke down on the 9 iron and take a controlled 3/4 swing to get desired results.
 
I find that distance with my short irons is a bit overrated, I would much rather hit one more club and use trajectory and partial swings to take some off. I find more accuracy and control employing this method versus trying to hit a shorter club harder.
 
GoIrish17 said:
This is exactly the reason I decided to start this "experiment". My CB3's are right around a club shorter than my Apex Pros (CB3 pw- 120-125, Apex Pro pw 125-130). I began the fall season with this bag set up with 52-56-60 to compensate for the shorter distances from the Apex Pros, and found myself never pulling the 52* wedge. I considered a 52-58 or 54-60 setup, but when I came across the Vokey 48* for a steal, I figured "what the hell, I'll give it a try". So far I'm really liking it, but curious to hear some other's failed similar experiments, and what it was that they didn't like about it. Because, so far, I really like it. I feel like I'm playing a slightly weaker pw with two other wedge options for inside of 100 yards.
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OK.
I play PW (46), 50, 54 and 59 in one set, and PW (46), 51, 56, 60 in another set. I hit the PW about 128 yds (give or take), 100 yds is the 54, and I use the 56 and 58 around the greens, primarily. 60 is out of the sand and for tight pin positions.
 
lmh3 said:
I find that distance with my short irons is a bit overrated, I would much rather hit one more club and use trajectory and partial swings to take some off. I find more accuracy and control employing this method versus trying to hit a shorter club harder.
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I agree 100%. This is the thought that convinced me to try this setup. I have found myself almost always grabbing one club more than the yardage reads and hitting a controlled shot lately. I certainly won't be bragging about hitting any 155 yard 8 irons, but when I steer my 7 iron inside of my playing partners, they can call me a short hitter all they want. I have really shortened up my swing since about the middle of the summer, partly to improve accuracy, and partly to take some pressure off a bum left elbow. I guess I could still go after that 8 iron on a 155 yard par 3, but why when a nice smooth 7 iron can get me there with half the effort?
 
Spivey said:
OK.
I play PW (46), 50, 54 and 59 in one set, and PW (46), 51, 56, 60 in another set. I hit the PW about 128 yds (give or take), 100 yds is the 54, and I use the 56 and 58 around the greens, primarily. 60 is out of the sand and for tight pin positions.
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Sounds about similar to my distances, but I was really looking for a way to keep the DHY in the bag to bridge the gap between 4 iron and hybrid, and still have all the shots covered in the short game. So, I dropped the gap wedge (50*-52*) which I was rarely using, and modified my gaps accordingly. I do agree with you, though, I find that with this setup I'm only pulling the 60* 2-4 times a round. Basically, if I short side myself, or some other situation near the green where I need to get it up and down quickly. I am thinking that a 58* might get a little more use with more full-swing shots, and may be something I visit later on down the line.
 
I play mp53 set pw then go atv 50 with matching shaft to the mps (hit full shots) and 54 with a softer shaft! (Rarely full shots)

At the moment in the il the course date soft and playing long so I take out my 588 58 and put a hybrid in the top of the bag!

In summer I add the 58 and take out either my 5 wood or hybrid depending on the course and wind conditions!




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47* pw 54* wedge and 60* lob for flops and sand
 
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