Thinking About Dropping 2 Most Lofted Wedges for Just 1, Thoughts?

[baseballbbcor]

will like this one. I can hit my 54° around the greens well alright. My 58° is comparably valuable as a container of steam, besides out of shelters. My AW is right now 51° (will be 50° when my ZX5 irons come in Mid-May). I've been playing with just playing with my 45° PW, 50° AW and a 56° SW... is this a smart thought?

Or on the other hand am I missing something not having a more hurled sand wedge?

[boogielicious]

Welcome to The Sand Trap. Wedges have two functions for me, short game and approach shots. I almost never do a full swing with a wedges. So my wedge set is selected for gapping distance. My 3/4 PW is around 100 yards, Gap wedge 90, SW 80, LW 70 or there about. I use each one for chipping and pitching depending on the circumstance. I use the LW for sand most of the time. 

So what you need to think about is distance gapping and use to pick the set you want.

[TourSpoon]

  On 3/17/2022 at 4:07 AM, baseballbbcor said:

Or on the other hand am I missing something not having a more hurled sand wedge?

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I have seen plenty of sand wedges hurled.  I think the hurling process in invaluable in breaking in a proper wedge as they tend to behave for a period of time. 

Welcome to the forums. 

[ZenShot]

For me, It’s important to have at least one wedge with low bounce and one with high bounce.  The lofts are of secondary importance as long as it’s in the 50s

[Typhoon92]

Don’t know what your level of golf is but the 58 or 60 can be tough to use for higher handicappers.  Nothing wrong with what you are doing now with the 50 and 56… it’s all we had before 60’s we’re ever dreamed up and we managed.

[Denny Bang Bang]

  On 3/17/2022 at 4:07 AM, baseballbbcor said:

I've been playing with just playing with my 45° PW, 50° AW and a 56° SW... is this a smart thought?

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I don’t think there are any problems with that.  If that’s what works, go with it.  I do agree with @boogielicious that gapping is important to consider for approach and pitch shots with your short irons and wedges.  From there, you’ll find your favorite club around the green.  My friend’s father who was an elite level amateur back in the day (during the 50’s through 70’s) used a PW around the green for everything (baring sand).

For me personally, I use my 58 (6 bounce) for almost every shot around the green.  That’s what works for me.  I will use my 54 (14 bounce) in thick rough and sand.  For me personally, I agree with @ZenShot having a high bounce and low bounce wedge in the bag.  But I don’t think a low bounce option is necessary for everyone.

[Quack]

Other than a PW of course I use only a 55.  It helped me get consistent with the various shots as I only had one wedge to learn.  One of the things that helped me break into the single digits some years back. 
 

im pretty old school though.  I carry 1,3,5 wood and 2-sw. 

[pganapathy]

I have 3 wedges in my bag. 45* PW, high bounce 55* SW and low bounce 60* LW.  The bulk of my shots from 100 yards in are played with my PW.  The SW and LW are specialty clubs for me.  High loft, bunker, deep rough kind of clubs.  The only reason I keep both of them in the bag is different lofts, which come into play depending on the hitting surface.  Both of them perform the same role though in different conditions

[NoLHere]

I dropped my 60 degree for a srixon zx hybrid 19 loft my 48, 52, and 56 will work fine. Thinking of yanking my 4 iron for a strong 3 wood also.

[starrman77]

I carry a UW, PW and a 54* sand wedge. If I need a high soft SW shot I just open the blade and swing slow and full. The pros have been doing that shot since before the dinosaurs walked the earth. I have a 60* and a 56* but found I really didn't need them. When carrying the 60* wedge, I found I used it maybe once in 4 rounds of golf. The extra space in my bag is taken up by a 3 wood, 3 hybrid and a 5 wood that use all the time.

[Piz]

I used to carry a 58-60 but found I can do just fine with my 50, and 54.  I use the 50 for lobs as it has just 6 degrees of bounce and will fit under anything.  Fully laid off it launches the ball nearly vertical.

[tehuti]

  On 3/17/2022 at 4:07 AM, baseballbbcor said:

will like this one. I can hit my 54° around the greens well alright. My 58° is comparably valuable as a container of steam, besides out of shelters. My AW is right now 51° (will be 50° when my ZX5 irons come in Mid-May). I've been playing with just playing with my 45° PW, 50° AW and a 56° SW... is this a smart thought?

Or on the other hand am I missing something not having a more hurled sand wedge?

Expand  

I only carry  45°, 50° and 56° and it works fine for me.

[jmanbooyaa]

I carry a pw, gw and 54 sand. I find this works best for me. Every so often I wish I had the 58 in the bag. Problem I am too inconsistent with the 58 and it ends up costing me more shots than helping. I like to keep stupid out of the equation. 

[Carl3]

I used to play a 56* from 80 yards and in. Did good out of the sand. I got to about a 10 index that way. At some point I found that this left too much of a gap between my gap wedge (25 yards). 

I wanted to squeeze some more strokes out of my game. A club that could be more of a full shot for me at 70 to 60 yards or so. I ended up going with a 54* and 58*.

I keep mixing things up and refining things. I have a 3i, 4i, 3h and 4h, and move these in and out depending on the course and how I feel. 

Through a fitting I found that different models of wedges can impart different spin numbers and can really impact how far a ball will go. I imagine playing different balls can also impact wedge distance based on spin. A Cleveland, Ping, and a Vokey 58’s may have different distances with the same stroke? Maybe someone here will tell me I am nutz 😀

[Robert1948]

  On 3/17/2022 at 11:13 AM, boogielicious said:

Welcome to The Sand Trap. Wedges have two functions for me, short game and approach shots. I almost never do a full swing with a wedges. So my wedge set is selected for gapping distance. My 3/4 PW is around 100 yards, Gap wedge 90, SW 80, LW 70 or there about. I use each one for chipping and pitching depending on the circumstance. I use the LW for sand most of the time. 

So what you need to think about is distance gapping and use to pick the set you want.

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I use a 60 degree from the sand and a Cleveland 52 degree from everywhere else. Just adjust you swing from knee to shoulder height to create distance. Trying to learn to many wedges create too many problems. Don’t try to buy a game..learn the game.

[starrman77]

Unless you're a fairly skilled player. The 60* wedge is a skull machine, especially if it has any significant bounce and the lie is tight.

Edited March 28, 2022 by starrman77