I tinkered a little bit early, but since I settled in I’ve left it alone in my wedges. Irons I‘ve adjusted some as my swing ebbs and flows.
Edel SMS Wedges Review
Makes sense. Probably more changes in the full swings as the season progresses. Which other wedges did you hit alongside the SMS?
Rtx 6, CBX 4, T24, s159, and MG4
Settling in with the 54T & 58P nicely. I have thrown a few darts with these and man that is fun. In today’s round I thought I left one short but I was tucked in tight for a nice birdie! The heavier weight will be staying in the center spot no need to change a thing on these!
Had my wedge fitting at Golftec this evening. Worked with Jack at the Fairfax, VA location and he was great throughout the process. We talked for a bit about how I use my wedges:
I rarely full swing my 58˚ unless it's right at 75-80 yards and I have to fly it all the way. We talked about how the lower bounce Z grind I've been playing with the Callaway wedges for the last season plus. It has been working well for some of the tight lies and the lies where the ball settles down in between the grass on the ground here. The shots where you have to go down after the ball. I told him I usually don't use it in traps unless they're pretty firm.
The 54˚ for me is more for straight forward shots that don't require me to open the face much. I also like some more bounce here because some of the traps on the courses I play are softer, and having two bounce options gives me options there (I seem to always find a trap or two). I also use the higher bounce 54 for softer lies, like we get in the spring and fall. Finally we talked about how historically the 54˚ has been my 100 yard club, and how that was my stock layup distance forever. I've really struggled getting any consistency with the 54W I've been playing from that distance so I've adapted a bit and just try to hit the ball as close to the hole as possible. While this isn't a huge deal, standing over that 100 yard shot not knowing you've got can be daunting. And there's more than one hole locally with forced layups in that general range that I play regularly.
At this point he threw me a bone and said that he agreed with my general logic, but let's hit some and see what's what. We started with my Callaway wedges. I hit a few partial shots to warm up and he set me up at 75 yards with my lob wedge just to see what I could do there. I did decent distance wise, but was kind of spraying them all around the target green. We then moved out to 95 yards with the 54 and repeated. Less decent, and my shots became far more varied distance wise. None made it past the hole and some were short of the green. The spread was about the same but the distance issues made it look way worse. With both wedges I was missing predominantly left.
I didn't take any pictures of the numbers but my launch and spin were high for his liking on the longer shots. He went out and grabbed a couple of other brand wedges while he looked at the options for the SMS. We tried Steelfibers and a 105g steel shaft. We then started moving up in weight. There was a DG shaft in there somewhere. I was consciously trying not to look at everything before I hit it. As we upped the weight I started bringing the ball back towards the pin a bit. Once we got into the 120 range he asked me to take some swings with the Edel 54 I already had, with a Tour-V 125. I proceeded to hit a handful of shots right over the pin landing at 100 and basically stopping where they landed. They weren't all perfect but the results between those swings and the ones with my gamers were pretty striking.
He asked if I'd been looking at any of the grinds and if there was anything I was favoring. I told him that I thought the P grind would be a good fit for my 58 based on how I play my current LW around the green. He agreed pretty quickly on that one. I said I had no idea on the 54. He said based on the swings he's seen and how I was swinging down on the ball, he thought a V grind would work well there. Both for my approach shots and the way I play around the greens.
So we settled on 54V/58P with the Tour-V 125s. Half inch long and 1˚ flat. I was a little surprised that he wanted me to bend them flat, but it's been a while since an iron or wedge fitting so I'm going to trust the professional. The Tour-Vs were less of a surprise since I've played them before, but the difference in the quality of the shots I saw was eye opening.
Definitely felt a little silly that I was fit into something I already had sitting in my basement. I already put my SMS back in the bag, and the fitting results cemented that decision. Good news is I'll have some wedges to practice with before the Quest Cup! I know that there's only so much that you can do for wedges indoors, but talking to the fitter who also plays locally and him seeing some of my struggles on longer approaches was definitely worth the trip to make sure I've got the best options possible. Happy to answer any questions I can about the process. Overall it was a great experience and I'm looking forward to going back for the putter later this week.
I rarely full swing my 58˚ unless it's right at 75-80 yards and I have to fly it all the way. We talked about how the lower bounce Z grind I've been playing with the Callaway wedges for the last season plus. It has been working well for some of the tight lies and the lies where the ball settles down in between the grass on the ground here. The shots where you have to go down after the ball. I told him I usually don't use it in traps unless they're pretty firm.
The 54˚ for me is more for straight forward shots that don't require me to open the face much. I also like some more bounce here because some of the traps on the courses I play are softer, and having two bounce options gives me options there (I seem to always find a trap or two). I also use the higher bounce 54 for softer lies, like we get in the spring and fall. Finally we talked about how historically the 54˚ has been my 100 yard club, and how that was my stock layup distance forever. I've really struggled getting any consistency with the 54W I've been playing from that distance so I've adapted a bit and just try to hit the ball as close to the hole as possible. While this isn't a huge deal, standing over that 100 yard shot not knowing you've got can be daunting. And there's more than one hole locally with forced layups in that general range that I play regularly.
At this point he threw me a bone and said that he agreed with my general logic, but let's hit some and see what's what. We started with my Callaway wedges. I hit a few partial shots to warm up and he set me up at 75 yards with my lob wedge just to see what I could do there. I did decent distance wise, but was kind of spraying them all around the target green. We then moved out to 95 yards with the 54 and repeated. Less decent, and my shots became far more varied distance wise. None made it past the hole and some were short of the green. The spread was about the same but the distance issues made it look way worse. With both wedges I was missing predominantly left.
I didn't take any pictures of the numbers but my launch and spin were high for his liking on the longer shots. He went out and grabbed a couple of other brand wedges while he looked at the options for the SMS. We tried Steelfibers and a 105g steel shaft. We then started moving up in weight. There was a DG shaft in there somewhere. I was consciously trying not to look at everything before I hit it. As we upped the weight I started bringing the ball back towards the pin a bit. Once we got into the 120 range he asked me to take some swings with the Edel 54 I already had, with a Tour-V 125. I proceeded to hit a handful of shots right over the pin landing at 100 and basically stopping where they landed. They weren't all perfect but the results between those swings and the ones with my gamers were pretty striking.
He asked if I'd been looking at any of the grinds and if there was anything I was favoring. I told him that I thought the P grind would be a good fit for my 58 based on how I play my current LW around the green. He agreed pretty quickly on that one. I said I had no idea on the 54. He said based on the swings he's seen and how I was swinging down on the ball, he thought a V grind would work well there. Both for my approach shots and the way I play around the greens.
So we settled on 54V/58P with the Tour-V 125s. Half inch long and 1˚ flat. I was a little surprised that he wanted me to bend them flat, but it's been a while since an iron or wedge fitting so I'm going to trust the professional. The Tour-Vs were less of a surprise since I've played them before, but the difference in the quality of the shots I saw was eye opening.
Definitely felt a little silly that I was fit into something I already had sitting in my basement. I already put my SMS back in the bag, and the fitting results cemented that decision. Good news is I'll have some wedges to practice with before the Quest Cup! I know that there's only so much that you can do for wedges indoors, but talking to the fitter who also plays locally and him seeing some of my struggles on longer approaches was definitely worth the trip to make sure I've got the best options possible. Happy to answer any questions I can about the process. Overall it was a great experience and I'm looking forward to going back for the putter later this week.
Sounds like a pretty good experience!
How long was the fitting?
Did you hit the Ballistic wedge shaft?
It was a lot of fun. Total time was about an hour. I didn't hit the Ballistic at all. I would have, but we moved away from the 95g weight range pretty quickly once he saw me swinging a bit.
I should add that I've historically played heavier shafts. KBS Tours, Modus 120s, etc. so getting back into the Tour V makes sense from that standpoint.
MMT 95 in your Apex irons still?
Yep. Topic for another thread but definitely something I'm going to look at as we move into this year.
Seems like excellent results for you! Going to fittings and seeing something work so well is fun. You are going to be ready for Ballyhack!
It really is. I'm excited about the trip but know that wedge play is a huge premium there. I'm looking forward to getting back out on the course and working on my approach shots with these. Having some more confidence coming into the green is never a bad thing!
I was at the range today and my wedges were leaking right a bit pretty consistently, which is pretty typical. Got me pretty excited for the SMS wedges so I can dial in the weights to help sort this out.
I has this issue with the 54° and moved the weight to the heel. I’ve pretty much settled on the heel for both right now. May move the 58 if I feel like it feels better somewhere else but need some more outside short game practice before changing anything.
I feel like heel is going to be the move for me, but it’ll be fun to play around with it and see.
Excellent wedge session today. The feel on the Edel wedges is really good. Love the high ball flight i am getting. First full swing of the day had some nice face contact happening! I think i am going to stick with the 54T for all chips to see how it works. The 58P will be pulled out if i need a higher shot over something.
Went out to work on some bump and runs and shorter chips. I have not practiced this as much as i should be. It is pretty rare i get the chipping green completely empty so i was able to work on the longer shots keeping them low. I was trying out the 54T and my set G wedge for this and the G wedge is what i will use for those longer distances. I do like the 54T as it is easy to keep low or get the ball high if needed. I finished up using the 58P from about 10 yards off of the green trying to get them tight into the pin. Not a bad grouping at all.
I put the 54T & 58P to the test in the bunkers today. I had some longer into the wind shots so i grabbed the 54T and it was flawless out of the sand. I had no issues at all getting out of the bunkers with either club today. Those shots gave me some par save looks for sure. I hot one of the best wedge shots i have ever hit today form 77 yards. I got the ball past the hole and spun it back about 10 feet to make a nice par putt save. I did manage to blade one but we wont talk about that 
Had these in the bag for my round this weekend. Was super rusty and I definitely struggled on touch shots around the green. It was super wet and I just never got comfortable. I'll be working on that a bit as I get ready for the season. Didn't have a ton of long shots in with wedges, but the few I did take with either wedge from a ways out went pretty well.
I almost forgot that I had the 60/P in the bag for my round on Sunday. I primarily use my LW out of greenside bunkers and I hit into a couple. Coming from the Full Face RTX I didn't know what to expect and was pleasantly surprised. I was able to use the bounce, get through the sand with ease and provided enough stopping power. I had a couple of short sided bunker shots and the ball ran out a little, but it performed as well as I could have expected.
I even used it from off the green on a tight lie and the leading edge did not dig in and was able to easily deliver the club through the zone.
I will get more short game time with this club, but the first time out I am impressed with it and the versatility it offers.
I even used it from off the green on a tight lie and the leading edge did not dig in and was able to easily deliver the club through the zone.
I will get more short game time with this club, but the first time out I am impressed with it and the versatility it offers.
The P grind is so good. Out of the bunkers it is just amazing to use.
I’ve been thinking about the P grind. I wish it came in 56 as well.
I have the 58 and would not change it for anything.
I know the P grind has all the glam and gets all the love, and deservedly so, but the 58 D grind simply doesn‘t care. It takes its lunch pail to the course and goes to work.
It doesn’t care if the ball is sitting up on a tuft of grass. It doesn’t care if the ball is sitting on bare dirt. It doesn’t care if the ball is sitting in soggy turf. It just goes about its business getting to the ball regardless of conditions.
It doesn’t care if the ball is sitting up on a tuft of grass. It doesn’t care if the ball is sitting on bare dirt. It doesn’t care if the ball is sitting in soggy turf. It just goes about its business getting to the ball regardless of conditions.
D grind was high on my list of ponders for the 54. Heck it may just get appropriated one day out of curiosity.I know the P grind has all the glam and gets all the love, and deservedly so, but the 58 D grind simply doesn‘t care. It takes its lunch pail to the course and goes to work.
It doesn’t care if the ball is sitting up on a tuft of grass. It doesn’t care if the ball is sitting on bare dirt. It doesn’t care if the ball is sitting in soggy turf. It just goes about its business getting to the ball regardless of conditions.