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Information/Opinions on Wedges for a High Capper

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JonMA1

JonMA1

Well-known member
Albatross 2024 Club
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Location
Northern Michigan
Handicap
High
I'm looking at filling out both the bottom and top of my bag before the season starts and I could use some basic information.

Wedges...

I currently carry a Maltby 49° GW, a Hogan 56/10 SW, and a cheap 60° LW. I'm definitely keeping the GW as it's part of a set of matching shafts. The 56/10 has become my go-to wedge around the green and is by far the best club I've ever used in getting out of sand. The 60° is a wedge I need to learn how to use and gain confidence with. I rarely take full swings with any of these wedges but 'd like to try matching shafts throughout the bag.

My short game really needs improvement and as is usually the case, the reason is due much more to a lack of knowledge and skill than it is equipment. Still, I'm not opposed to buying new heads for the 56 and 60 since I'm getting new shafts anyway. But I look at the different sole options and I'm lost. This is where I need help.

I believe the reason why the SW works so well is because of the 10° of bounce??? But for all I know, 12° of bounce would be even better (that's what Maltby offers)? I don't know what the hell a "tour" grind is compared to a "mid" or a "wide" or even what a "glider" wedge is all about. I'm not even sure a 60°LW is preferable over a 58 or 62°.

Any general information or opinions about wedges would be greatly appreciated.

As far as the top of the bag...

I currently carry a 10.5° driver and a 19° 3h. I'm considering a club to fill the gap between those 2 clubs. There is not a tremendous need to do this, but it would be nice on occasions. I suppose the choice would be between a 3w, 4w and a 2h. I've carried a 3w and was able to hit it... ok. I've never hit a 2h so I have no idea how difficult they are to use. Does anyone prefer the 2h over a 3w or 4w?

Thank you.
 
JonMA1 said:
My short game really needs improvement and as is usually the case, the reason is due much more to a lack of knowledge and skill than it is equipment.

Thank you.
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My recommendation is to play more of your greenside shots with a 48* to 52* club. If your current 49* G wedge is one you don't like to play chip shots with then replace it with one of that loft that you do like for chipping.
If you are playing smart strategy golf when you miss a green you should leave yourself a chip shot rather than a pitch or lob shot. So I believe a 48* to 52* club should be the one which gets most of your greenside play.
For bunker shots and fuller shots from outside 70 yards a 56* is great. For greenside lob shots I prefer a 62* or 64* more so than a 60*.
 
I replaced a Maltby 49° set wedge with a Cleveland CBX2 50° and the difference is night and day. The CBX 2 is my chipping and pitching club. Way easier to hit.


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3W at 15* would fill in nicely between that gap. If I were you, I would take out the 60* & concentrate on the gaps between the 49* (if indeed it's 49*) if not get it bent to 48* & acquire a 52*. That way you have 4* gaps between the wedges … 48*, 52*, 56*
The bounce would depend on your swing/strike (digger vs sweeper) and the type of sand you regularly play in & softer turf conditions. Both the sweeper, soft sand & soft turf would benefit from the higher bounce 12* - 14*.
Just my .02 ;)
 
I put in the CBX2’s as well. Not much better in my opinion. As far as a 2HY, I like to hit one, but they can be a little dicey to launch. I finally found a 3W that I can hit off the deck on a regular basis.
 
tehuti said:
I replaced a Maltby 49° set wedge with a Cleveland CBX2 50° and the difference is night and day. The CBX 2 is my chipping and pitching club. Way easier to hit.
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DG_1234 said:
My recommendation is to play more of your greenside shots with a 48* to 52* club. If your current 49* G wedge is one you don't like to play chip shots with then replace it with one of that loft that you do like for chipping.
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I personally agree with both of these sentiments.

When it comes to chipping, especially when technique isn't a strength, keeping the ball low and getting it to roll early just simplifies things. I'll often employ the toe down technique and stroke the chip much like a putt.

As to wedges, although I'm a lower handicap player, I've long preferred the larger and more forgiving options out there.

When the Callaway PM Grind came to market I jumped on them and played both versions. Then in maybe August of last year, I revisited a wedge that I'd had for a while but never gave an honest look, the CBX2.

What was funny to me was that prior, I'd been reading all the great reviews here and elsewhere about the CBX2 and its forgiving v-sole.

I thought, I gotta try this thing!

Then I thought, wait a minute...

Went to my closet and right there sitting in the backup bag to my surprise and amusement was an essentially new CBX2 52° wedge.

Put it into play right away and was immediately impressed. Very quickly purchased the 48°, 56° and 60° since and love them all too.

Very forgiving and while no club renders it impossible, they're not prone to chunking the ball, especially on short pitches and chips.

First time I've matched wedges in at least 5 years and I've honestly no urge to move on from them.
 
I've read so many good things about the V-sole design. Maybe I'll look for a used CBX2 on Ebay.

Man, I must be doing a lot of things wrong. While I can thin and chunk wedges with the best of them, contact is less of an issue than the inability to control runout when I've hit a chip exactly as I intended. As @lil'mike has pointed out on occasions, the 2pc balls I play don't help. The GW used to be my favorite around the green, but I found the SW ran out less. When I have a lot of green to work with or an uphill chip, going with the GW or even lower lofted clubs work pretty well. My thoughts on a higher lofted wedge is that I'll get less roll.

I've talked about it a lot lately, but I really need to consider a few short game lessons.

tehuti said:
I replaced a Maltby 49° set wedge with a Cleveland CBX2 50° and the difference is night and day. The CBX 2 is my chipping and pitching club. Way easier to hit.
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You play the same iron set as I do @tehuti. You have my attention.

DG_1234 said:
If you are playing smart strategy golf when you miss a green you should leave yourself a chip shot rather than a pitch or lob shot. So I believe a 48* to 52* club should be the one which gets most of your greenside play.
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It's less of a strategy flaw and more one of execution of approach shots. I'm not crazy about missing on the short side because of the weakness described above. Sadly, that just seems to happen despite my intent.

golfinnut said:
The bounce would depend on your swing/strike (digger vs sweeper) and the type of sand you regularly play in & softer turf conditions. Both the sweeper, soft sand & soft turf would benefit from the higher bounce 12* - 14*.
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This is really good information. I am more of a sweeper. The sand at my courses can vary tremendously. I'm not at the level where I can control where the ball lands from the bunker as I can from other lies around the green, but getting out of the sand and on the green has become a lot easier since switching to a higher bounce. I'll go with the 12° if I opt for a new 56.
 
JonMA1 said:
It's less of a strategy flaw and more one of execution of approach shots. I'm not crazy about missing on the short side because of the weakness described above. Sadly, that just seems to happen despite my intent.
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If you do often leave your ball on the short side then I encourage you to try a 64* wedge. My wedge technique is not exceptionally good and I struggled trying to play short lob shots with a 58*or 60*. But I found that with my Cleveland 64* I can line the club head up square, no "opening the face" or other manipulation needed, and the 64* has enough loft that it just pops the ball up for an on the green soft landing.
 
@JonMA1 I'm late to the party but here are my suggestions.

Wedges: Cleveland CBX 2. Great feeling, great performing wedges. These wedges have really helped boost my confidence and allowed me to exorcise my short game demons.

Fairways: Tour Edge HL E521. I've been on the Exotics side of their product line for years. After reading about the Hot Launch E521 here on THP, I decided to demo the 3W.

It's super easy to hit. Is it magical? No. I managed to top one about 75 yards. With that said, a reasonable swing is rewarded. I've gamed the E521 for 2 rounds and it's bumped my TEE EX9 Tour from the bag.
 
Another vote for the Cleveland CBX2 wedges, they are really good, and not just for high cappers.

I carried a 4 fairway (16.5* - 17*) as my one club between driver and 20* hybrid for years. These were pretty much always a Tour Edge Exotics of one vintage or another, but lately I've been experimenting with a 2 hybrid (16* Tour Edge Exotics) in that spot. The jury is still out on if it will be a full time change, they are pretty equal for filling that gap, but I haven't decided which I'm more consistent with. Right now I am leaning towards the 2 hybrid, but time will tell.
 
DufferToo said:
@JonMA1 I'm late to the party but here are my suggestions.

Wedges: Cleveland CBX 2. Great feeling, great performing wedges. These wedges have really helped boost my confidence and allowed me to exorcise my short game demons.

Fairways: Tour Edge HL E521. I've been on the Exotics side of their product line for years. After reading about the Hot Launch E521 here on THP, I decided to demo the 3W.

It's super easy to hit. Is it magical? No. I managed to top one about 75 yards. With that said, a reasonable swing is rewarded. I've gamed the E521 for 2 rounds and it's bumped my TEE EX9 Tour from the bag.
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Thanks for the suggestions. I'm pretty happy with the Maltby hybrid I have in the 19° so I'm going to stay with that same design and shaft for the 21° 4h.

As for the wedges, I ordered Maltby wedges but just received an email saying they're on backorder. Guess I have a decision to make. I can't afford a new set of Cleveland wedges but everyone has been suggesting the CBX2's so there must be something about them.
 
You just got tapped. One of the perks of the Albatross Club.

Send @GolferGal a PM with your full name and shipping address and we are going to send you a CBX2 wedge to test out and review in the CBX2 thread. Yours to keep.

A293D417-10EC-418C-B37E-3A1176EFE205.jpeg
 
A 60* wedge can be asking for trouble and probably should not even be in most high cappers bags.. focus on getting really good with the gap and 56*
 
@JonMA1 congrats on being tapped.

Any thoughts of going 54°, 58°, and 62°?

If going all CBX 2, maybe a 54 and 60. The CBX should give you plenty of bounce between the 54 and 60 to have versatility.
 
JB said:
You just got tapped. One of the perks of the Albatross Club.

Send @GolferGal a PM with your full name and shipping address and we are going to send you a CBX2 wedge to test out and review in the CBX2 thread. Yours to keep.

View attachment 8995904
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Incredibly generous of you folks! I'm happy to review the club.
 
THP awesomeness!! Congratulations @JonMA1 !
 
JB said:
You just got tapped. One of the perks of the Albatross Club.

Send @GolferGal a PM with your full name and shipping address and we are going to send you a CBX2 wedge to test out and review in the CBX2 thread. Yours to keep.

View attachment 8995904
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What is this new awesomeoness????
 
JB said:
We have been doing this for years
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How in hell have I missed this happening? I know you do giveaways all the time, but I’ve never seen this before.

Cool. Thanks.
 
Great gesture! Read the title and was going to highly reccomend the CBX 2 wedges! Well forget reccomendations THP gives you the clubs!

You going 52/56/60?
 
Gman79 said:
Great gesture! Read the title and was going to highly reccomend the CBX 2 wedges! Well forget reccomendations THP gives you the clubs!

You going 52/56/60?
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I've seen others receive gifts on the site and I now understand how humbling it is. As for the CBX 2, I was looking at used and new ones when the post came in. Nearly everyone who has responded to my original post suggested this wedge.

I'm not sure what I'll end up with. I know this is a part of the game that I have to improve upon. I have the gap wedge from my iron set that is 49°, I'll build from there. I think @greekelite is right about the 60 being a tough wedge for high cappers to hit. But I also think it's worth working on because of the reduced run out. I've been reading up on bounce and grinds and may come down to using the right wedge/bounce for the right lie???? For example, a lob wedge may less risky when the ball is sitting up in the rough than from a hard pan lie.

All I know is that I've been practicing with my existing lob wedge for a few days straight. While it's so much easier to blade and chunk than any of my other wedges, decent contact produces results I can't get with those others.
 
JonMA1 said:
I've seen others receive gifts on the site and I now understand how humbling it is. As for the CBX 2, I was looking at used and new ones when the post came in. Nearly everyone who has responded to my original post suggested this wedge.

I'm not sure what I'll end up with. I know this is a part of the game that I have to improve upon. I have the gap wedge from my iron set that is 49°, I'll build from there. I think @greekelite is right about the 60 being a tough wedge for high cappers to hit. But I also think it's worth working on because of the reduced run out. I've been reading up on bounce and grinds and may come down to using the right wedge/bounce for the right lie???? For example, a lob wedge may less risky when the ball is sitting up in the rough than from a hard pan lie.

All I know is that I've been practicing with my existing lob wedge for a few days straight. While it's so much easier to blade and chunk than any of my other wedges, decent contact produces results I can't get with those others.
Click to expand...
Really good explanation of what bounce and sole grinds are.

 
Congrats on being tapped! I was coming in here to suggest either the Callaway Mack Daddy CB or the CBX2 but a lot of people beat me to it.
 
Taking me a long time but wedge control for me is large muscles, soft hands. I struggle to turn through the ball going forward, so my runout is usually short if I don't turn. So then I take a longer swing, turn, and it goes too far. I think it's why you read about Pros spending a couple hours a day on their short game.
 
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