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The Wide Sole

SuperStroke
Big thing for me with a wide sole is what is the bounce on the sole. In 58* and up, I find a wide sole to be versatile so long as the bounce is low. The wider sole helps with confidence on full swings while the lower bounce helps ensure the leading edge doesnt get too raised when on tighter turf. Out of the rough and sand there is a wider sole to help splash out and from the fairway the lower bounce helps get the club underneath the ball.

The high bounce wide sole is used by a lot of players on tour. The f grind sand wedge is the most popular sand wedge for vokey. May not be as wide as the k grind, but still shows that players are looking at it. The k grind has quite a bit of play as well, a lot though have a bounce grind applied to them or use the open version. Adam scott historically has used a wide sole in his lob wedge. Phil has used a mixture of high bounce c grinds, eye2/dual bounce grinds, and wide sole his unique wedge setup.

My favorite wedge I've used is a 60* vokey low bounce K. Other ones I've enjoyed are the cobra widelows. I just received the jaws low bounce w in 58* and have the high bounce w grind in a 52*.
 
This thread is timely as I was thinking about going with a wide sole lob wedge. I'm in Arizona where you dont get much tighter lies or firm (concrete) bunkers. I've had success in past as long as technique is good. Looking at bigfoot lob or cbx2.
 
PM Grind and 54W Jaws here. The PM grind give me some challenges with taking a substantial beaver pelt on full swings. The 54 has been great on full swings. Zero turf interaction issues. I was a bit worried about the W on anything other than our normally wet fairways. A weekend on a links like layout proved me wrong - the club was great from tight lies. Both clubs are really great out of the bunker. So in total, I'm a big fan of them.
 
OITW said:
Absolutely adore my WL in 60*

Such a great greenside and short distance wedge club.

I've had it in two iterations from Cobra both the Black and PUR also was a fan of the Callaway W grind in my MD3 54*
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You turned me on to the 60 WL and you are dead right. Great from the bunker and good from the fairway
 
JB said:
Wide sole in many cases is a blade. See Cobra Wide Low. Callaway W Grind. Etc.
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I guess it’s a matter of semantics, but I certainly wouldn’t consider either of those to have a wide sole. When you say “wide sole” I think of the Cleveland Smart Sole, Callaway Sure Out, or my Tour Edge One Out.

For what it’s worth the One Out is the only wedge I carry (aside from my set PW, which is really just another iron). I have zero ability to hit any wedge that is remotely blade like.
 
I have a md3 W grind 58 wedge from 2016 that I struggled to hit well. Full shots to chips, I did not hit it well enough to game it. I hit my S grind 50 and 54 much better. And to my surprise I ended up with a PM 60 wedge that worked well for me. I even hit pretty good full swing shots with it. I loved the versatility. Based on that experience, I decided wide soles aren’t for me. Over the last 16 months I put in a significant effort to improve my wedge play and chipping. The results have gone beyond my expectations. Wedges have become my number 1 strength. The PM 60 is wearing out. So I pulled out the W grind 58 and find that I now hit it well and see times where it can be a useful lob wedge for me. It isn’t as versatile but when used more with a square face, I like what it can do. I feel like my experience is reversed from what is widely recommended. As always just one more lonely data point perspective on the web.
 
Long time user of 60* K Grind. As someone who hits all short games shots with the 60*. I have yet to encounter a lie or situation where I felt the K grind was a liability. Additionally found very easy to hit full shots with this grind.
 
I am very interested in the bounce W from Callaway for my lob wedge. Anyone have any feedback?

Maybe staying in S grind for gap and sand wedge.

Thoughts?
 
wide sole and bounce all depend on your swing type. I'm a steep swing angle digger and have tendency to hit my wedges fat. I played a Nick Price Ram for 15 years. It had a thin sole and probably negative bounce. Sadly I was clueless about bounce when I first started playing. I never knew how many strokes it was costing me. it was my around the green and from the fairway club. I have switched to a cleveland regular sole 14* bounce 56, a ping glide 2 eye sole 56* and wide sole 14* bounce 60. Depending on my lie and sand consistency is how I choose what club to pull. I hit all my flops with the 60 wide sole and have no problem opening it up
 
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I think the stigma around wide sole wedges is that you thin everything because the leading edge sits too high off the ground. IMO I think it’s a swing flaw rather than a club issue cause if you’re hitting down on the ball and keeping the hands in front of the clubhead, the miss should be hitting ground first/hitting it fat...and that miss is helped by having a wider sole (and more bounce) so it glides through the turf and helps with better ball contact.

Im in the camp that says wider sole = better and more consistent wedge game.
 
zbeekner4 said:
I think the stigma around wide sole wedges is that you thin everything because the leading edge sits too high off the ground. IMO I think it’s a swing flaw rather than a club issue cause if you’re hitting down on the ball and keeping the hands in front of the clubhead, the miss should be hitting ground first/hitting it fat...and that miss is helped by having a wider sole (and more bounce) so it glides through the turf and helps with better ball contact.

Im in the camp that says wider sole = better and more consistent wedge game.
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I think this could help me tremendously. My biggest miss on half wedges to pitch shots is the fat/chunk/stub shot. This is further exacerbated by the fact that I play on bermuda often and pitching into the grain is a nightmare.

Don’t get me wrong, I do occasionally skull one but I think that is more a reaction/overcompensation/fear of the chunk!
 
zbeekner4 said:
I think the stigma around wide sole wedges is that you thin everything because the leading edge sits too high off the ground. IMO I think it’s a swing flaw rather than a club issue cause if you’re hitting down on the ball and keeping the hands in front of the clubhead, the miss should be hitting ground first/hitting it fat...and that miss is helped by having a wider sole (and more bounce) so it glides through the turf and helps with better ball contact.

Im in the camp that says wider sole = better and more consistent wedge game.
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Exactly! Love my wide sole wedges!
 
Depends on the wedge. For PW and GW, I am down. But for SW and LW, I prefer less sole, so I can dig in to the sand easier when I need to.
 
I have 2 56* wedges. One is an ancient Hogan Sure-out wide sole 6* bounce. Perfect in compacted or wet sand or for chipping, but not good off turf from 20+ yds. Other is Vokey which is great in fluffier sand and full swing from 80-90yd. Can't seem to find a single wedge that blends the best of both.
 
Mike H. said:
I have 2 56* wedges. One is an ancient Hogan Sure-out wide sole 6* bounce. Perfect in compacted or wet sand or for chipping, but not good off turf from 20+ yds. Other is Vokey which is great in fluffier sand and full swing from 80-90yd. Can't seem to find a single wedge that blends the best of both.
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I have an old Walter Hagen sand wedge that sits in my garage unless it’s wet out. I can’t find another sand wedge better out of wet sand. It’s awesome in regular sand too, but total crap on the fairway. The sole on it is like a credit card
 
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I currently have a 54* MD4-W, and just added a TM HiToe Bigfoot to the bag. Love them both.

A couple things to note....
One, I tend to get steep. That's a more common miss for me than coming in too shallow. So extra bounce can help with that on full shots.

Two, off a tight-ish lie, I'm never trying to flop it anyway. Nor am I opening up the face at all -- 60* is plenty of loft, in my mind. If I have to float one and land it soft, I play it about the middle of my stance, and hit it with, essentially, a putting stroke. If I'm trying to spin it, I put it close to my back foot, with a fair amount of shaft lean, and pinch it off the turf. And for that shot, I'm taking a ton of bounce off the club, by nature of my setup. So starting with a high bounce is helpful. If I tried that with a low bounce wedge, with all that shaft lean, I'd have basically no effective bounce left.
 
j_sizzle9 said:
I am very interested in the bounce W from Callaway for my lob wedge. Anyone have any feedback?

Maybe staying in S grind for gap and sand wedge.

Thoughts?
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I've got the W and S but reversed from what you are looking at - 54W and 58S. The W has been surprisingly good off of tight lies, no issues at all. The wide sole (?) has made it super easy to get out of bunkers. Last round I had a down hill like near a lip...no problems at all.

I wanted the extra versatility in the 58* so I could open it up, if necessary. 54* is W because I'll hit full and sand shots with it. I'm not any kind of expert on this stuff but I'm not sure about W for the lob wedge because it might be harder to open up for flop shots.
 
I have a 54* Cleveland CBX wedge that has a wider sole and honestly it has surprised the heck out of me. I was very skeptical at first, but I haven't found that I've lost any versatility when it comes to bunker shots or opening it up slightly on a tight lie. I'll admit that I was hesitant attempt these at first due to my preconceived notions on what a wider sole SHOULD be be used for.

Grain of salt moment: I still game a 58* RTX with a versatile grind

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
tequila4kapp said:
I've got the W and S but reversed from what you are looking at - 54W and 58S. The W has been surprisingly good off of tight lies, no issues at all. The wide sole (?) has made it super easy to get out of bunkers. Last round I had a down hill like near a lip...no problems at all.

I wanted the extra versatility in the 58* so I could open it up, if necessary. 54* is W because I'll hit full and sand shots with it. I'm not any kind of expert on this stuff but I'm not sure about W for the lob wedge because it might be harder to open up for flop shots.
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Thanks for the feedback. Your thought process makes a lot of sense. I was actually thinking of the new low bounce W for the lob wedge. Apparently ot has some heel relief which makes it easier to open.
 
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