Would Another Wedge Be Useful for Me?

[barooo]

I'm currently playing with my Mizuno MP-25 PW which I don't hit much unless I need a full swing around 110 yards or have a really specific short chip.  It's got a decent amount of wear on the face and I don't hit it consistently with partial swings so I usually reach for my 52° Vokey SM7 instead.  I also have a repeatable 50-60 yard shot with it.  My other wedge is a 56° cleveland tour something-or-other from about 2001 that I love.  I'm eying a 50° to somewhat replace the PW and also be more consistent with partial swings and more useful for chipping, but I'm also wondering how much difference there really is in a 48° PW and a 50°.   If there's some sort of article/guide that can help me, that would also be appreciated.

[roejye]

The main issue I'm seeing is gapping. The 50° and 52° would be very close, with probably too much overlap, especially on full swings. It seems to me like the 52° is doing a pretty good job for you already for what you want the 50° for. I would recommend looking for another 48° to have consistent gapping. Unfortunately I don't have ready access to any guides or anything, but I'm sure if you search for wedge buying guide something will pop up. 

[barooo]

2 hours ago, roejye said:

The main issue I'm seeing is gapping. The 50° and 52° would be very close, with probably too much overlap, especially on full swings. It seems to me like the 52° is doing a pretty good job for you already for what you want the 50° for. I would recommend looking for another 48° to have consistent gapping. Unfortunately I don't have ready access to any guides or anything, but I'm sure if you search for wedge buying guide something will pop up. 

That's a good point, I should just replace the pitching wedge, I treat it like an extra-short iron, not a wedge and I feel like I could use something longer than the 52° that I'm confident playing with a wedge swing.  I don't think I have the attack for a 60° which would be the other way I could go.

Also "wedge" no longer looks like a real word after all this repetition.

Edited August 24, 2022 by barooo

[Shindig]

As said, knowing your gaps is important.  I use my PW and GW primarily as if they are #10 and #11 irons, but I also know a quarter shot (sort of, I'm really not doing a lot of full swing stuff when I make a "quarter shot" with these) distance ranges from my 58 through my 8-iron.  

[Denny Bang Bang]

@barooo I have a set of MP25s.  Unless you’ve had the lofts adjusted, the PW loft is 46 degrees.  If you do have the standard 46 degree loft, I’d recommend a 50 degree GW.  When I was playing them, my 50 degree Vokey gapped perfectly with the PW.  From there, you can dump the 52.

The other option could be to bend your 52 to 51, then you’d have a 5 degree gapping between PW, GW, SW

Edited August 24, 2022 by Denny Bang Bang
Bend 52 to 51

[ChetlovesMer]

6 hours ago, Denny Bang Bang said:

The other option could be to bend your 52 to 51, then you’d have a 5 degree gapping between PW, GW, SW

Hey Denny, as I'm sure you know, "gapping" your set doesn't just mean choosing equal steps in the loft of the clubs. Gapping is referring to the distance gaps. Gapping is getting the correct gaps in how far you hit said clubs. It's not uncommon that many people will have a greater difference in distance between how far they hit a 56 and how far they hit a 54 than the difference in distance gap between how far they hit their 45 and their 50 degree clubs. 

This kind of thing may also occur at the top of the bag as well. 

When "gapping" your set, go off of the DISTANCE you hit your clubs not off what is stamped on them. Then if you are constantly coming up with a distance you cannot hit or perhaps cannot comfortably hit, you may need to find a club for that distance as well. 

I also know many golfers who carry two wedges of similar (not the same but within 2 degrees) lofts, but have different bounces. Therefore they do different jobs. But that might be outside the scope of what the OP is asking. 

But in general @barooo you want to seek nice consistent "distance" gaps, don't worry as much about consistent "loft" gaps. (Although, obviously loft plays a role in distance.) ... See, this is why golf and club selection discussions are so much fun. 👍😁👍

[barooo]

2 hours ago, ChetlovesMer said:

But in general @barooo you want to seek nice consistent "distance" gaps, don't worry as much about consistent "loft" gaps. (Although, obviously loft plays a role in distance.) ... See, this is why golf and club selection discussions are so much fun. 

I think the main "gap" in my clubs I'm feeling is something I'm confident doing wedge things with (half shots, chips, etc.) that has a consistent half-shot distance over about 50-55.  Inside about 55 or so I feel pretty confident and 90-115 I feel pretty confident.  I could also work on a second partial swing that's a little more than arms to parallel so I have 3 stock shots (including full-ish swing) instead of just two.  I'm not sure if my PW is 46° or 48°, I just googled the specs for MP-25 PW.  Maybe my issue more with the grind/bounce aspect.  Or maybe it just has really dull grooves, the face isn't in great shape (got the set used a few years ago and that was the only club with any real wear when I got them).

Also I'm in no real rush here I'm just sort of thinking about what I should get next.

[Denny Bang Bang]

@ChetlovesMer yea, I agree with you that I used “gapping” two different ways, so it may have been confusing.  But the intention was distance gapping.  Having played the MP25 personally, the 50 degree Vokey fits right in with the 46 degree MP25 from a distance gapping perspective.  With that, I’m sure bending the 52 to 51 will work out reasonably well.  Maybe some people do, but I’ve never met anyone who carries a GW in anything other than a typical fairway grind.

Folks can certainly get as extreme as they want on all of this.  Shafts of course make a difference as well.

First thing first, the best advice is probably to work on flighted shots before even worrying about gapping from a club perspective.

[barooo]

Lol guess what I did when I played about a month ago...  I left my 56° at the course.  Just noticed today when packing up for a lesson, the first since playing...  So I guess my more immediate problem is getting another 56° to replace the missing one.  The really funny part is the last time I played this course (Harborside near Chicago) I left the same club behind, but realized it and went back the next day.  Extra mad because it was the first club I bought (my initial set was a gift) myself.