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Wedges

Den60

Den60

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OK, I carry four a PW (44), Gap Wedge (50), SW (55) and LW (60). Today a guy I know who is a scratch golfer told me that was too many, he carries just a PW and SW and has learned how to adjust distances with them. He says I am thinking too much. I really can't hit my long irons so the only penalty I get from carrying 4 wedges is whether I carry a 3 wood and 2 hybrids or 3 hybrids (right now it is the latter because my 3W hasn't been very good for me lately). I love my LW when I am around the greens because I can get it up (and I'm over 50) and it lands soft (OK I'm over 50) so when I don't have a lot of green to "work with" this club seems to fit the bill. My SW I like in the sand and rough though in compacted sand I go with the 60. I bought the 50 GW just because I had a rather large gap between my PW and my SW. I have been overly reliant on my LW around the green and I have discovered that my 50 gives me the same comfort level as my 60 but with more roll so I am now using it more when I need the ball to roll out more.

So, the first question is am I thinking too much and the second is what do y'all have in terms of wedges in your bag?
 
Yeah you're probably overthinking it, but i wouldn't worry. If all the advice we received on the course panned out we'd all be scratch. I play a PW 54 and 58, it works for me.

Also, don't use the words "I can get it up" and "I'm over 50" near each other.
 
I carry 4. set PW, 50, 54, 58. I have different shots for each and I don't think about much honestly. No idea where I would put the other 2 clubs if I didn't have the wedges though, and I don't see any benefit of taking less than 14 clubs. I focus heavily on short game though, and know and practice the shots I need with all of them.
 
I also carry 4 wedges. The PW and AW came with my set, got my SW as a "freebie" for buying my clubs and won my 60* here in a contest long ago. I think I play my 60* more than any of the others and probably to often.

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I think your set up is fine. Everyone is so different in what they want and what works for them so play what works. I do not like big gaps in my wedges but some people dont mind.

I am a big wedge guy, I like having options. Right now I have a 48, 52, 56, and 64. I know that a lot of people are against people carrying a 64 degree wedge, but I personally have always played one and am super comfortable with it. My last 64 was a vokey that I had forever and loved that thing. I bought the PM grind 64 and it is a cool club that I only use if needed.
I did have a 60 degree wedge too but I took that out of my bag because I felt like anything inside 100 yards I just wanted to use my 56 and change the length of my swing (advice from on here) depening on distance. Last week I went to the range and was working on controlling distance/flight with with my 56 so I could get used to that.
 
There is nothing wrong with carrying 4 wedges. I think at one time Phil Mickelson carried 5 wedges. I carried 4 wedges for a long time but I wanted to add a 2i to the bag for more options off of the tee so now I carry a set wedge at 47* and two Vokeys at 54* and 60*.
 
The more wedges the more chances at full swings. Cleveland had a state about hdcps and the number of wedges they carried. Iirc it was 12 or 13 hdcp had 3 or more wedges and a 18 or 19 had 2.
 
I carry 5 wedges in 46/51/56/61/64. It might be overkill for most and truly the 64 is only needed for certain shots. If a course I'm playing demands the 64, it sure is nice to have. It's about learning what club works where for your game.
 
I agree with the scratch golfer. I think too many amateurs carry too many wedges. More important, I think they carry too high lofted wedges.

Just my opinion, and people will say the opposite.
 
I play a PW, DW, and a 56*. Most of my around the green to 50/60 yard work is primarily with the 56*.

Honestly I just wanted to work on technique, and being able to play different shots with the same club. My short game is much improved this season, but I would never say there is one definitive way to do it.

I also pared down the number of wedges I was carrying so I could carry another club at the top end of the bag.... but even now I am playing with fewer clubs in the bag than I could be.
 
I'm toying with dropping my 60 out of the bag. I rarely hit it, don't pitch/chip with it much at all (once every few rounds) and don't practice with it as much as my 53 and 56. It's only still in my bag because I don't have anything I really want to replace it with. Toying with getting a 2h, but I'm not sure I'd use it much, either.
 
Smallville said:
I agree with the scratch golfer. I think too many amateurs carry too many wedges. More important, I think they carry too high lofted wedges.

Just my opinion, and people will say the opposite.
Click to expand...

there is something said for not thinking about swinging while swinging.
 
I have a 48, 54 and 58. I'm thinking of dropping my 58, because my games with it lately have not been so good. There's nothing wrong with carrying 2 or 5 wedges, it's what fits each player. In my other sets, I carry only a SW and a PW, and my games have been fine. I simply do not have the time to practice the 58 in all turf conditions, and because I play in many different courses, getting the 58 to work properly in different kinds of turf is hard for me. The nastiest is on soft, fluffy turfs, where it's a crap shoot if I'll blade or chunk. There's nothing wrong with the 58, there's something wrong with me.

Either I make time to practice the 58, or I drop it. It works fine on the driving range, with standard lie and turf, but in reality it needs a little more skill.
 
Everything is subjective. I carry 5 wedges because I have the room and it works for me. I play with scratch players that carry from 2 to 5. It all comes down to what works best for YOU!
 
I carry four wedges. The set pw and gw with a 54 and 60. I use the first two for more three quarter to full shots depending on distance, lie, and potential hazards/trees/etc. I use my 60 a lot around the green. I have really gotten used to all the different shots I can play with it.

As others had said, I'm not sure what else I would add if I didn't have four. I have two hybrids, a three wood for off the tee, and , my 5-9 irons. I guess I could through my 2h but I can't hit it really consistently.

I hit way more shots with in a 100 so shouldn't the focus of my bag be on those shots?
 
I have 4 wedges bocause I don't like to change my swing more than necessary. I'd rather just have to take 5 yards off of a swing than 10-20. Too much room for my brain to get in the way. I like to keep it simple.
 
I carry 4 and think it simplifies the game as I don't have work so hard on trying to hit so many partial shots with 2 wedges.
 
I think it comes down to personal preference but I can understand the overthinking concept. I've caught myself overthinking green side shots numerous times. I carry a driver and then the next longest club is a 5 iron, I carry 4 wedgesl, PW, 52, 56 and 60. The PW I use in the 120-110 range, the 52 I use from around 100 and its probably the most used wedge around the green for me, the 56 is more of my outlier and the 60 I use for touch shots or within 60 or so yards.
 
Ohh Jeesh, I spend more time contemplating wedges than any other aspects of my game. On one hand where wedges have the most versatility, we are encouraged by manufacturers to carry the most number of them. Personally I hit my wedges just fine at full swing 3/4 and 1/2 swings.... So I've considered just going PW, Gap, and sand. Say 46°, 52°, 56°... but I also like creativity with a lob, and wouldn't mind a 62° also. I would be content with 46°, 50°, 54°, 58°, 62°. One thing to remember taking pros into consideration is how far they hit their irons compared to the average golfer, often 2 clubs longer sometimes 3, So wedges come into play more often for them, where we would benefit from another hybrid our fairway wood instead.
 
I carry 4 wedges. PW, 52, 56 and 60. I use all of them in varying situations and value them all. Thinking of how many shots are made in close proximity of the green I think more wedges can't be a bad thing.
 
fwiw I don't really view the standard set wedges (pw,gw, sw) as extra clubs. First of all those same clubs today were originally the 9i, pw, sw. So in a sense that's only two wedges. And the sw is of course what it is and certainly no "extra" club. In fact they left it where it was as the other clubs became longer and less lofted therefore creating the gap between it and the pw which of course is now filled with the gw.

I don't think we can feel the word wedge is anything special in this sense. I mean on these clubs its just a letter vs a number. What if they keep up the longer hitting and de-lofting trend where as the gw starts to push too far back away from the sw and then they have to add another filler wedge whatever they want to call it? Will that mean we are carrying too many wedges? They could have hypothetically kept the pw where it was along with the sw and instead of adding a gw they would have added a 10iron. would have been the same thing imo. Its just numbers and letters. But really imo all part of a standard set and the only "extra" wedge you really are carrying imo is your lw. Everything else imo simply follows a steady gap pattern within a set. If this was ten or more years ago and no gw was needed to fill the gap and your set went 9i,pw,sw, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Only because a gap was created nowadays to fill between sw and newer pw do we even carry another so called wedge. Is that really an extra wedge? Not a fair statement imo.

I actually think its kind of ridiculous to tell someone carrying a lw that he has too many wedges just because the other 3 clubs carry a wedge name when they are all imo really in general just part of a standard set which follow gaps acordingly.

My lw which came at the expense of my 3iron and was the best club choice I ever made. So rare I used my 3iron when vs it against the amount of times I use my lw not to mention the percentage of poor 3iron shots even when id did use it anyway. I mean how many balls am I greening from 215ish with my 3iron anyway and if I ever want to use that distance to lay up or something I simply now just play to a different distance with a more successful club anyway. On the other hand my lw has been about the most advantageous club I ever owned and used. With that said it took me a while to understand when to use it and not to use it vs other options depending on the shot desired but that's another subject.

I'm not at all saying one must have a lw but considering your set which trends 9i,pw,gw,sw I don't think one should make a point to say that you have too many wedges at all just because you have a lw. As said, imo all you really have is one extra wedge and the others imo are simply basic clubs following gap trend within a set and one of which is sand specific. That advice imo is poor advice without any real merit to it at all because its based on nothing but the fact that your basic and suited standard set has 3 other clubs called wedges. You cant remove the pw,gw,or sw because they are in sync with gaps up to the sw. How in the world can that be too many wedges. Its only one extra and imo well thought out wedge in the lw and that is all you have. I know Im repetitive here but sometimes advice is just wrong. Perhaps he may not have a lw or one of the others and that may suit "him" but where in the world would you be over thinking anything when your clubs are pretty much just following an even gap pattern and the "only" thing extra imo is one club that you like to use around the greens and serves you a good purpose. He is wrong imo for telling you this.
 
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Den60 said:
So, the first question is am I thinking too much and the second is what do y'all have in terms of wedges in your bag?
Click to expand...

Yes you are thinking too much. Your bag set up is totally up to you, no wrong way to do it just like no right way to swing the club. Similarly some are more effective for certain players.

I have 4 wedges and a set up similar to yours, but I have honestly thought about adding in a 62 or 64* wedge as I probably don't need 2 FW in the bag. If you are comfortable with your set up, I wouldn't change a thing.
 
I want to say I read each and every post on here and appreciate every one. If I were to drop a wedge I think it would be my 50, the last one I added. But doing that, for me, I would be adding a club that I don't really need. If I wanted to bring in my 3W again then I would could easily restructure my hybrid lofts (they are adjustable) and I already think I really don't need a third hybrid anyway. I don't hit long irons well so my bag stops at the 5I. My 5I is a club that I only keep because I can hit a punch shot under trees with it. I'm not confident that I can do anymore with it on a normal shot as I get with my 6I though I do understand that can change. Right now I can justify every wedge I carry, they all do things that gives me confidence when I use them. I used to be a two wedge guy who relied on feel for anything under 100 yards. I still am more of a feel player when around the green but I like having more options. When I have one of my wedges in my hands I consider them differently than my other clubs. They look different, have a much different shaft and shape than my other clubs, and I consider them to be my "scoring" clubs. They make me think more about what I want in my shot than my other irons if that makes sense.

And I do think too much, it is in my nature. I am trying to train myself that thinking needs to stop once I start my pre-shot routine.

Thank you all for your contributions to this thread. I really do appreciate it.
 
Would have to say, just play whatever makes you enjoy the game most! I have 4 wedges, PW, 50, 54 and 58 and it works just fine. Having said that though, I tend to class my PW and 50 just as 10 and 11 irons and use them on full swings. Most of the greenside work is taken care of with the 54 and 58. Is all down to what club / shot fits your eye in each situation.
 
I have the three set wedges which are lofted at 46/50/54 and the 58* Bridgestone. I agree that people should play what works for them. I personally prefer to have a 4th wedge over an extra long club. I almost never will really need the long club (if I ever have that exact number I can choke down an inch on the next club up). On the other hand the extra wedge gives me more tighter gaps on approach shots into greens and more options around the greens.
 
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