Jump to content
IGNORED

Wedges: Bounce, Grooves, and Brand


RobertJason
Note: This thread is 1384 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

Recommended Posts

I’m new to this, still playing about 110 (not great). I have recently learned that wedges can be complicated. I play on mostly hard soil (central Cali) so I was thinking I need a gap and lob with low bounce and sand wedge with medium bounce. How do I evaluate a wege? Is Cleveland (CG12, CG10) necessarily better than Adams Tom Watson wedges? As a high handicapper would I even notice? 
 

attached are photos of a 60-4 Cleveland CG12 and a 58-11 Adams. In these photos I don’t really see where the 4-degree and 11-degree bounce are... the angles look similar to my eyes. I do see that the Cleveland seeks to have deeper grooves, but not necessarily wider.

Id love to know from those more experienced than me what to expect from the profiles of these two lobs. I’m assuming for approach shots (not bunker) the 4-degree is the way to go?

 

Thanks for the advice. Hopefully, this thread can help others down the line.

9BFABDC6-2FC0-44CC-9CA1-623D2D18DF83.jpeg

23216041-D204-4B9A-B4BA-7A80F7121BED.jpeg

CF1D18FD-2934-4EA1-B4D2-880ACBBB47E5.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites


When I was learning to play (a long time ago) there was no such thing as bounce and degrees on wedges. Well, there was, but no one knew what they were. All it said on the club was "PW" and "SW" and that was it. For the first few years I played, starting when I was 14, I used a half set - 3, 5, 7, 9,Driver, 3W, putter. The 9 iron served as my PW & SW and that was enough to get me shooting into the mid 80's. I learned to manipulate the 9 iron by opening/closing the face to get different lofts and yes, I could get out of the sand with it without a problem. Eventually I added a PW and a SW and it wasn't until I got to high school and made it onto the golf team that my Dad bought me a full set. But still, that set only went up to PW. The sand wedge I bought separately. Again no bounce/loft. It just had "SW" on it.

I'm firmly convinced the club manufacturers want everyone to have a collection of many different wedges with different lofts and bounces so that on any given day and depending on the conditions you will be playing in you can grab the two out of your collection you would think you might need. After all, why sell a person one club when you can sell him 5 or 6?

The point I'm trying to make is if you're shooting in the 110's you have a long way to go before you would need to get into the intricacies of all the wedges. Learn to play first. Worry about the wedges later.

Edited by xrayvizhen
  • Like 1
  • Thumbs Up 1

Driver, 3W & 4 Hybrid: 2023 :titleist: TSR3 
Irons: 2020 :titleist: T300
Wedges: 2012 :callaway: XTour 56o & 2021 Jaws 60o

Putter: :odyssey: Marxman (Mallet) / :tmade: Juno (Blade) plus 7 or 8 others in a barrel in my basement

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • boogielicious changed the title to Wedges: Bounce, Grooves, and Brand
  • Moderator
19 hours ago, RobertJason said:

I’m new to this, still playing about 110 (not great). I have recently learned that wedges can be complicated. I play on mostly hard soil (central Cali) so I was thinking I need a gap and lob with low bounce and sand wedge with medium bounce. How do I evaluate a wege? Is Cleveland (CG12, CG10) necessarily better than Adams Tom Watson wedges? As a high handicapper would I even notice? 
 

attached are photos of a 60-4 Cleveland CG12 and a 58-11 Adams. In these photos I don’t really see where the 4-degree and 11-degree bounce are... the angles look similar to my eyes. I do see that the Cleveland seeks to have deeper grooves, but not necessarily wider.

Id love to know from those more experienced than me what to expect from the profiles of these two lobs. I’m assuming for approach shots (not bunker) the 4-degree is the way to go?

 

Thanks for the advice. Hopefully, this thread can help others down the line.

9BFABDC6-2FC0-44CC-9CA1-623D2D18DF83.jpeg

23216041-D204-4B9A-B4BA-7A80F7121BED.jpeg

CF1D18FD-2934-4EA1-B4D2-880ACBBB47E5.jpeg

Bounce can be complicated, but it is your friend because it gives you margin of error. It is the initial angle from the leading edge on the wedge sole. What you are showing there also includes the whole sole width. This width can be relieved with grinding away the back part of the sole. So you can have a high bounce leading edge and lower the leading edge toward the ground. The two sites below discuss this.

Basically, you need to figure out if you have a steep angle of attack and make big divotS or just brush the ground. I have the Edel driver grind on my wedges. With Vokey, I had the highest bounce I could get with the S or D grinds.
 

checkout_logo_7.png?height=628&pad_color

Edel Wedges are designed & manufactured from the ground up. Proper bounce & sole design make our hand-ground wedges perform where it matters most; at impact.

What is wedge bounce? As Bob Vokey says, "bounce is your friend." Learn the difference between low bounce wedges and high bounce wedges in this guide.

Maltby also describes it.

 

Scott

Titleist, Edel, Scotty Cameron Putter, Snell - AimPoint - Evolvr - MirrorVision

My Swing Thread

boogielicious - Adjective describing the perfect surf wave

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Administrator
  • Thumbs Up 1

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I’m definitely a sweeper style. I rarely divot. I use wedge more 20-50 yds from the green in fairway or rough than in sand. I have found bounce to sometimes throw me off when it hits the ground (Got rid of a 52-11 for this reason). I think I’m still treating wedges like high loft irons, not like wedges. Gotta figure out how to “use” the bounce instead of “avoid” it getting in the way. I think I’ll stick to this setup: 52-7, 56-12, 60-4 ... and save the 56 mostly for sand. Maybe sweeper swing style needs low bounce. 
 

Any grind shape recommendations for sweepers chipping out of rough more than sand? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Moderator
5 hours ago, RobertJason said:

I’m definitely a sweeper style. I rarely divot. I use wedge more 20-50 yds from the green in fairway or rough than in sand. I have found bounce to sometimes throw me off when it hits the ground (Got rid of a 52-11 for this reason). I think I’m still treating wedges like high loft irons, not like wedges. Gotta figure out how to “use” the bounce instead of “avoid” it getting in the way. I think I’ll stick to this setup: 52-7, 56-12, 60-4 ... and save the 56 mostly for sand. Maybe sweeper swing style needs low bounce. 
 

Any grind shape recommendations for sweepers chipping out of rough more than sand? 

I don’t take much of a divot even with partial wedge shots. But I still use a driver grind, high bounce Edel wedge. 

Scott

Titleist, Edel, Scotty Cameron Putter, Snell - AimPoint - Evolvr - MirrorVision

My Swing Thread

boogielicious - Adjective describing the perfect surf wave

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Note: This thread is 1384 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Want to join this community?

    We'd love to have you!

    Sign Up
  • TST Partners

    TourStriker PlaneMate
    Golfer's Journal
    ShotScope
    The Stack System
    FlightScope Mevo
    Direct: Mevo, Mevo+, and Pro Package.

    Coupon Codes (save 10-15%): "IACAS" for Mevo/Stack, "IACASPLUS" for Mevo+/Pro Package, and "THESANDTRAP" for ShotScope.
  • Posts

    • Thanks for the feedback. @StuM, we are a "club without real estate" so no facilities or pro. We have a membership of around 185 players and we only play together as a group at our tournaments, which are held at public access courses. A group of us setup the tournaments, collect the money and dole out the prizes.
    • In general, granting free relief anywhere on the course isn't recommended.  Similarly, when marking GUR, the VSGA and MAPGA generally don't mark areas that are well away from the intended playing lines, no matter how poor the conditions.  If you hit it far enough offline, you don't necessarily deserve free relief.  And you don't have to damage clubs, take unplayable relief, take the stroke, and drop the ball in a better spot.
    • If it's not broken don't fix it. If you want to add grooves to it just because of looks that's your choice of course. Grooves are cut into putter faces to reduce skid, the roll faced putter is designed to do the same thing. I'm no expert but it seems counter productive to add grooves to the roll face. Maybe you can have it sand-blasted or something to clean up the face. Take a look at Tigers putter, its beat to hell but he still uses it.     
    • I get trying to limit relief to the fairway, but how many roots do you typically find in the fairway? Our local rule allows for relief from roots & rocks anywhere on the course (that is in play). My home course has quite a few 100 year old oaks that separate the fairways. Lift and move the ball no closer to the hole. None of us want to damage clubs.
    • Hello, I've been playing a Teardrop td17 F.C. putter for many years and love it. It still putts and feels as good or  better than any of the new putters I've tried and it's in excellent condition except the face has dings in it ever since I bought it used that kind of bother me. I was just wondering if it's possible to have some really shallow horizontal grooves milled into the face on a "roll face" putter. I think I would rather spend some money on it instead of trying to get used to a new putter.  Thanks
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Welcome to TST! Signing up is free, and you'll see fewer ads and can talk with fellow golf enthusiasts! By using TST, you agree to our Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy, and our Guidelines.

The popup will be closed in 10 seconds...