Your wedge setup: why?

44*, 49*, 54* and 58*

The 44* and 49* are set wedges from my Ping G710s, while the 54* and 58* are New Level M-type forged wedges with 12* of bounce. I switched to the New Levels in August after playing most of the season with Cleveland CBX2s with the same lofts. I have found the New Levels to be more consistent generally and better out of the bunkers at my home course, which tend to be hard packed.

The "how I use them" requires some explanation. I am a short hitter and have approach "distance" or "approach" wedge shots by adding my 8 and 9-irons to the mix. For virtually all shots with these clubs and all shots from 100 yards and in, I never use a full swing, but rather use a "9 to 3" swing (full swing motion). For my stock shot, the ball position is in the middle my stance, which is slightly closed for all full swing motion shots. Yardages from 8-iron to 58* wedge are about 95-85-75-65-55-45, respectively. I can reduce the distance of each club by gripping down to either the middle or the bottom of the grip and have begun to experiment more with ball position.

After more play with this setup, I'm in a transition mode again. During a recent round I came to the conclusion that the New Level 58* wedge was not as good out of our hard packed bunkers as I had originally hoped, so I decided to try various clubs which I already own and came to the conclusion that a Ping Eye-2 XG sand wedge (bought earlier this year and re-shafted with a Recoil 80 to match my set) checked all of the boxes. It is really good out of our bunkers (I replayed some shots from a prior round which didn't work well with the New Level to test this), good with "use the bounce" motion greenside shots and good with full swing motion partial wedge shots. It is back in the bag effective immediately. Interestingly, my club fitter had measured it at 57* loft so I'm now looking for a 53* strong sand wedge. Toward that aim, I am now auditioning a Sub70 286 54* bent 1* strong.
 
For a very long time I’ve gone pitching wedge, 52, 60. I have no problem checking up or down on a 60 and playing half or three quarter shots on a 52 so I never found a 56 useful.
 
I have a 45 degree P wedge as part of my GI set then have specialty wedges in 50, 54, and 60.

These gap pretty well for me with 10-15 yards each between each club. I hit tons of wedges on the range so I know the distances pretty well. The only gap I’m not thrilled with is the 20 yard gap from lob to sand wedge. It’s not a huge issue since I have really been trying to not full swing those wedges lately and am getting pretty good at weighting my sand wedge anywhere from 50 to a full 115 yard swing.

I think I prefer the 52,56,60 gapping and when I get a new set of clubs I’ll prob look to switch to a GI gap wedge at around 48 and go with 52,56,60 in my wedges. If i fit into irons that gap better with the current set up I have no issues with my current lofts but ideally would like to close to 4 degree gaps and really like playing a 60.
 
I've always played a 47* PW, 54/58. I find the gaps work out with my game.

The 54 ends up getting the most usage, but more just to the courses I play. The 58 is rarely a full shot, mostly touch shots where I need height to stop.

With 3 wedges, I also find myself not overthinking. I can see what the yardage is to the flag, and decided quickly which club/shot is best.
 
You can talk brand here if you want as well, but mainly I want to talk your overall setup in wedge selection for your gaps.

Do you just pick even gaps loft wise and hope it works?

Do you actually go out and test to see what lofts create consistent gaps for your distances, not for what they look like in the bag?

What lofts are you playing?
I only play a 54 degree because its all that you need. I can hit a 100-yard approach shot with it and I can open up the face and hit a high, soft shot around the green.
Back in the old days, before people carried 10 wedges, there was this thing in golf called, "shot making", where you would manipulate the face or play the ball forward or back in your stance to change the loft and hit all kinds of different shots.
 
I only play a 54 degree because its all that you need. I can hit a 100-yard approach shot with it and I can open up the face and hit a high, soft shot around the green.
Back in the old days, before people carried 10 wedges, there was this thing in golf called, "shot making", where you would manipulate the face or play the ball forward or back in your stance to change the loft and hit all kinds of different shots.

I play with a guy that plays the same way. He can take a 52* wedge that he ground himself and do things that I can’t with my 58*
 
I only play a 54 degree because its all that you need. I can hit a 100-yard approach shot with it and I can open up the face and hit a high, soft shot around the green.
Back in the old days, before people carried 10 wedges, there was this thing in golf called, "shot making", where you would manipulate the face or play the ball forward or back in your stance to change the loft and hit all kinds of different shots.
You know you can do “shot making” with ALL lofts, even high ones, right? :LOL:;)
 
After more play with this setup, I'm in a transition mode again. During a recent round I came to the conclusion that the New Level 58* wedge was not as good out of our hard packed bunkers as I had originally hoped, so I decided to try various clubs which I already own and came to the conclusion that a Ping Eye-2 XG sand wedge (bought earlier this year and re-shafted with a Recoil 80 to match my set) checked all of the boxes. It is really good out of our bunkers (I replayed some shots from a prior round which didn't work well with the New Level to test this), good with "use the bounce" motion greenside shots and good with full swing motion partial wedge shots. It is back in the bag effective immediately. Interestingly, my club fitter had measured it at 57* loft so I'm now looking for a 53* strong sand wedge. Toward that aim, I am now auditioning a Sub70 286 54* bent 1* strong.

I recently acquired two Ping wedges: (i) Eye 2 "Gorge" sand wedge with a back grind and (ii) a Glide 3.0 54* (bent 1* strong to 53*). Ping's Club Repair shop confirmed that they originally did the back grind on the Gorge and I have sent them the club to reshaft with a Recoil Smacwrap ES 780 F3 and bend to 58*. The Glide 3.0 is already shafted with this shaft.

I plan to make use of an indoor simulator during the off season getting to know the Eye 2 Gorge and auditioning the Glide 3.0, but it strikes me that they should be a really good combination.
 
At the bottom end I'm currently 46° set AW, 54° Jaws MD5, 58° PM Grind. I'm comfortable with partial swings with the AW, only occasionally full swing the 54, and very rarely full swing the 58 - it's pretty much exclusively a greenside club. I'm considering going to a 52° Mack Daddy CB and trying a 58° Jaws Full Toe. It would give me uniform 6 degree gaps instead of my current 8 degree and 4 degree gaps.
Update - I'm liking the 46/52/58 setup a lot (have stuck with the PM Grind in the 58° slot, though). The 52° MD CB is a much more reliable full swing club for me than the 54° MD5 was, and it also works better for pitches and longer chips. I do most of the pitching and chipping with the MD CB with a 'standard' clubface position - if the shot requires getting cute and opening the face up, the PM Grind is made for that kind of stuff.

I'm still not 100% sold on the Jaws Full Toe vs. the PM Grind, and it's a 4-6 week wait for one from Callaway anyways. Nobody local has them for demos and I'm not convinced enough to buy one without trying it first, so that idea is on the shelf for now.
 
Im still trying to figure mine out.
 
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