Which Wedge Route to Take?

[afromua5]

Hi All,

I'm relatively new to the game, started in April this year. I've broken the 100 once (98) and regularly getting between 100-109ish at the moment.

I'm using a set of Wilson Staff Di11 irons which have strong lofts - PW is 43 degree.

Above this I have a bit of a mix - Titleist DCI PW (48), Cleveland CG16 (52), Cleveland CBX2 (56), Cleveland CG16 (58) - I only really use a 58 in the bunker or for a lob shot and find 58 easier to hit than a 60 and guess there isnt much difference.

Now the Titleist 48 is old I want to replace so whilst im at it, im not sure if I change the others too so i'm considering a few options.

Option 1

Just get a different 48 and keep all other wedges the same.

Option 2

Go down the route of 46, 50, 54, 58 - Ideally get them all as a CBX2

Option 3

Remove a wedge and go 46, 52, 58 (or 48, 54, 58)

Edited September 28, 2021 by afromua5
formatting

[boogielicious]

2 hours ago, afromua5 said:

Hi All,

I'm relatively new to the game, started in April this year. I've broken the 100 once (98) and regularly getting between 100-109ish at the moment.

I'm using a set of Wilson Staff Di11 irons which have strong lofts - PW is 43 degree.

Above this I have a bit of a mix - Titleist DCI PW (48), Cleveland CG16 (52), Cleveland CBX2 (56), Cleveland CG16 (58) - I only really use a 58 in the bunker or for a lob shot and find 58 easier to hit than a 60 and guess there isnt much difference.

Now the Titleist 48 is old I want to replace so whilst im at it, im not sure if I change the others too so i'm considering a few options.

Option 1

Just get a different 48 and keep all other wedges the same.

Option 2

Go down the route of 46, 50, 54, 58 - Ideally get them all as a CBX2

Option 3

Remove a wedge and go 46, 52, 58 (or 48, 54, 58)

Welcome to The Sand Trap. If you are new to the game, how would you rate your ball striking in terms of solid contact? The reason I ask is because it may be better for you to work with less wedges and learn to hit partial wedge shots to cover your gaps. Club setup is really all about distance gaps. 

Example: Let’s say you hit your 43 degree PW 120 yards with a full swing. You could then hit it 100 yards with a 3/4 swing, 80 with 1/2 swing. If you got a 50, 54, 58 setup, then you could cover the gaps with partial wedge shots. I almost never hit a full SW or LW shot. This would leave room in your bag for a long hybrid or another fairway.

Check this thread out.

 

 

[afromua5]

4 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

Welcome to The Sand Trap. If you are new to the game, how would you rate your ball striking in terms of solid contact? The reason I ask is because it may be better for you to work with less wedges and learn to hit partial wedge shots to cover your gaps. Club setup is really all about distance gaps. 

Example: Let’s say you hit your 43 degree PW 120 yards with a full swing. You could then hit it 100 yards with a 3/4 swing, 80 with 1/2 swing. If you got a 50, 54, 58 setup, then you could cover the gaps with partial wedge shots. I almost never hit a full SW or LW shot. This would leave room in your bag for a long hybrid or another fairway.

 

Ball striking has improved recently but still plenty of room for improvement I would say.

I get what you're saying, it makes sense. So is your suggestion in the example to go 43, 50, 54, 58 with nothing in between the 43 and 50?

[boogielicious]

52 minutes ago, afromua5 said:

Ball striking has improved recently but still plenty of room for improvement I would say.

I get what you're saying, it makes sense. So is your suggestion in the example to go 43, 50, 54, 58 with nothing in between the 43 and 50?

Yes. Also, try to get your partial wedge distances down for your current wedges.

[onthehunt526]

20 hours ago, afromua5 said:

Hi All,

I'm relatively new to the game, started in April this year. I've broken the 100 once (98) and regularly getting between 100-109ish at the moment.

I'm using a set of Wilson Staff Di11 irons which have strong lofts - PW is 43 degree.

Above this I have a bit of a mix - Titleist DCI PW (48), Cleveland CG16 (52), Cleveland CBX2 (56), Cleveland CG16 (58) - I only really use a 58 in the bunker or for a lob shot and find 58 easier to hit than a 60 and guess there isnt much difference.

Now the Titleist 48 is old I want to replace so whilst im at it, im not sure if I change the others too so i'm considering a few options.

Option 1

Just get a different 48 and keep all other wedges the same.

Option 2

Go down the route of 46, 50, 54, 58 - Ideally get them all as a CBX2

Option 3

Remove a wedge and go 46, 52, 58 (or 48, 54, 58)

Option 4: Save your money and get some lessons, then revisit this when you consistently in the 90s. Hard pill to swallow, but the clubs in the bottom of the bag are the least of your concern when you're scoring over 100.

[afromua5]

2 hours ago, onthehunt526 said:

Option 4: Save your money and get some lessons, then revisit this when you consistently in the 90s. Hard pill to swallow, but the clubs in the bottom of the bag are the least of your concern when you're scoring over 100.

Thanks for the reply, but sorry even as a relative beginner I have to disagree on your generic statement.

I am taking lessons at the moment and it was after my recent short game lesson where I broke my 100.

I would say it is my short game that is costing me shots so I would prefer to practice with the clubs im going to keep rather than make do with what ive got and change in the future

 

[pganapathy]

On 9/28/2021 at 6:09 AM, afromua5 said:

Above this I have a bit of a mix - Titleist DCI PW (48), Cleveland CG16 (52), Cleveland CBX2 (56), Cleveland CG16 (58) - I only really use a 58 in the bunker or for a lob shot and find 58 easier to hit than a 60 and guess there isnt much difference.

Now the Titleist 48 is old I want to replace so whilst im at it, im not sure if I change the others too so i'm considering a few options.

Option 1

Just get a different 48 and keep all other wedges the same.

Option 2

Go down the route of 46, 50, 54, 58 - Ideally get them all as a CBX2

Option 3

Remove a wedge and go 46, 52, 58 (or 48, 54, 58)

The first question is do your existing wedges work properly and are you able to hit the necessary shots with them.  If so, why are you changing.  If it ain't broke don't fix it.

Secondly, wedges should be changed if the grooves are worn out and not gripping the ball to give you check on a green.  Depending on the golf ball you use it may not necessarily be the club.

Thirdly, do you use all the wedges, from 43* PW to the 58* LW.  For example, I have a 45* PW, 55* SW and 60* LW.  The bulk of my shots around the green are with the PW and the SW/LW are for bunker or flop shots mostly.

Finally, do you need to make space in your bag for other clubs, especially at the top end of the bag.  Hitting good long shots will help reduce your score more than you can imagine.  Get it close or onto the green from 100 to 200 yards and you can score much better

[Vinsk]

2 hours ago, afromua5 said:

would say it is my short game that is costing me shots

Very unlikely. The short game can help lower scores in the beginning. That’s because you’re getting better at getting up and down since you’re missing greens, and maybe cutting down on three putts. But long term it’s your ball striking that’s gonna help your score. 

[afromua5]

1 hour ago, pganapathy said:

The first question is do your existing wedges work properly and are you able to hit the necessary shots with them.  If so, why are you changing.  If it ain't broke don't fix it.

Secondly, wedges should be changed if the grooves are worn out and not gripping the ball to give you check on a green.  Depending on the golf ball you use it may not necessarily be the club.

Thirdly, do you use all the wedges, from 43* PW to the 58* LW.  For example, I have a 45* PW, 55* SW and 60* LW.  The bulk of my shots around the green are with the PW and the SW/LW are for bunker or flop shots mostly.

Finally, do you need to make space in your bag for other clubs, especially at the top end of the bag.  Hitting good long shots will help reduce your score more than you can imagine.  Get it close or onto the green from 100 to 200 yards and you can score much better

The wedges are ok, but do find that the 48 can be a bit temperamental and the grooves arent great. Its a very old club and could do with being taken out of the bag (whether to be replaced or not)

This is where I thought about the gapping too so I can get it right first time and practice using clubs that I intend to keep rather than change again in a year or 2.

So the suggestion of leaving out the 48 and lowering the higher lofts down to 50 and 54 does appeal to me and gives me something to work with whilst also leaving a space in the bag.

I currently have a driver, 3 wood, 4 hybrid and then 5 iron so i could look at maybe adding a 4 iron and swapping the hybrid to a 3?

10 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

Very unlikely. The short game can help lower scores in the beginning. That’s because you’re getting better at getting up and down since you’re missing greens, and maybe cutting down on three putts. But long term it’s your ball striking that’s gonna help your score. 

Very true, but im not at 'long term' just yet. Im very much in the space of cutting out the wedge shots that go flying past the other side of the green and that is noe saving me shots and as said above, it makes sense to me to keep practicing in this area with the wedges/lofts that I intend to use for a long time coming. Hopefully that makes sense.

[Vinsk]

21 minutes ago, afromua5 said:

The wedges are ok, but do find that the 48 can be a bit temperamental and the grooves arent great. Its a very old club and could do with being taken out of the bag (whether to be replaced or not)

This is where I thought about the gapping too so I can get it right first time and practice using clubs that I intend to keep rather than change again in a year or 2.

So the suggestion of leaving out the 48 and lowering the higher lofts down to 50 and 54 does appeal to me and gives me something to work with whilst also leaving a space in the bag.

I currently have a driver, 3 wood, 4 hybrid and then 5 iron so i could look at maybe adding a 4 iron and swapping the hybrid to a 3?

Very true, but im not at 'long term' just yet. Im very much in the space of cutting out the wedge shots that go flying past the other side of the green and that is noe saving me shots and as said above, it makes sense to me to keep practicing in this area with the wedges/lofts that I intend to use for a long time coming. Hopefully that makes sense.

Well what I’m saying is if you really analyze your game it’s probably unlikely that your short game is where most your strokes are costing you. It’s not very common to see a high handicap golfer hit drives in the fairway then their approach shots just off the green then blunder the short game for a double bogey.

More often it’s a poor drive followed by a poor approach. Then they hit their third shot to 7’, miss the putt and think if they had a better short game they’d be so much better. Tour players only average 50% from seven feet.

Or they’ll drive OB, hit their third really nice. Then actually hit a nice approach just off the green laying four. They hit a bad chip and make a triple then claim their short game killed them.

This isn’t an opinion btw. This has been statistically proven quite thoroughly over the past several years. You would really enjoy reading Lowest Score Wins which was co-written by the site owner Erik Barzeski. 

[Zippo]

I'm of a different opinion (completely unbacked by any evidence or science whatsoever). I say go try some out. If you can afford it and want to change a club or four then by all means go ahead and do so. Maybe it won't help the short game or your scoring as well as you think it will or as well as more lessons but new clubs just plain feel good. Life's too short to play with clubs you're not enjoying as much as you think you should.

[gbogey]

Little bit of a different take:

• If you are regularly shooting over 100, IMO, focus on full swing improvement. You've likely got plenty of strokes to gain and you'll enjoy playing more. It will also help your wedge game.
• If you are shooting in the 90's, IMO, focus on your short game. It's likely that's where the fastest and easiest stroke improvement exists.
• Spend plenty of time practicing your wedges - go to a range for a big bucket of balls and do nothing but full and partial shots, never the same shot more than 2 times in a row, shots between 50-125 yards. You'll get better quickly after just a few buckets and you'll be surprised how it helps to be better from those distances.

All that said, at some point you need/want to have matching wedges that are well gapped. Both options 2 and 3 work depending on the rest of your bag. Why wait if you are ready.

[boogielicious]

8 hours ago, afromua5 said:

Very true, but im not at 'long term' just yet. Im very much in the space of cutting out the wedge shots that go flying past the other side of the green and that is noe saving me shots and as said above, it makes sense to me to keep practicing in this area with the wedges/lofts that I intend to use for a long time coming. Hopefully that makes sense.

As @Zippo said above, go out a try some different brands and see/feel what you like the best. If you have golf buddies with different brands, see if you can borrow them and try them out at a practice range or even on the course.

Remember for wedges, bounce is your friend. Avoid low bounce lob wedges if you can. Bounce helps heavy shots glide through the turf and sand better. Toe and heel relief on wedges also helps with shots that you open the face up on.

I’m partial to Edel wedges. If there is a fitter near you (other than Club Champion. I don’t recommend them), then check them out too.