Which Wedges Would Be Appropriate?

[NativeTxn]

I am more or less a beginner - dabbled over the years, but finally committing to improving. I have a set of Callaway X-22s on the way. I've started taking lessons.

Anyway, my current wedge setup is:

52* Slazenger Onyx (8* bounce - I believe that's right; don't have it in front of me right now)

56* Zevo Chrome (I think it's a 12 or 14* bounce and I use it predominately as my sand wedge)

60* Titleist Vokey (12* bounce)

I got the 52 and the 56 because they were inexpensive new wedges, and I figured that with me being a beginner, I didn't need the top of the line, but there would at least be something in my bag so I wasn't trying to hit a shot from 10 yards off the green with my PW.

I picked up the Titleist used at Golfsmith for about $25 or $30, but it is still in good shape for the most part - a few nicks on the bottom, but that is about it. . . nothing major on the face that is wrong with it.

Anyway, I play mainly in Dallas, so the courses are usually very firm and the sand is often packed very firm as well - especially in the late spring, and summer months.

I've been reading more about the bounce, etc. on wedges and it sounds like for the firm courses I typically play, a lower bounce might be a better option.

In your opinion(s), would the current make-up I have suffice for the time being? Should I look at picking up a 58* or replacing my current 60* with a different 60* with a lower bounce?

I usually take a look through the used clubs at Golfsmith once a week or so, just to see what they have, and it seems like there are some clubs in pretty good shape at the one by my house usually for a decent amount less than a new wedge.

However, I believe they also have the Cleveland CG14s priced at about $90 right now for new wedges, they have the Nike VRs for about $70 new, and a few other various types in the $70-$90 range, new.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[Power_fade]

The ones you have should suffice if you aren't having problems with them. However, if you're chunking shots (taking huge divots and losing both accuracy and power) then I would definitely get a set of low bounce wedges. I would shoot for about 10* on the sand wedge and as little as 4 on the lob wedge. Gap wedge should be fine. Also Cleveland is re-issuing the 588 series for as little as $40-60 some places. Definitely something to check into!

[NativeTxn]

I was in my local Golfsmith and saw some that said 588. How do you tell what their bounce is? I couldn't seem to figure it out.

[tricky]

The more bounce a club has, the more forgiving it is about where you hit (behind) the ball. In wet, fluffy, or soft sand conditions it helps the club head skid over the surface and contact the back of the ball rather than digging into the ground. A lower bounce helps you nip the back of the ball from a tight lie without the club "bouncing" on the ground.

So why do you need a different bounce? You either need a bigger bounce because you are thinning the ball out of fluffy, wet, or soft, lies.....or because you have a tendency to dig in (is this "chunk" - if so you need more bounce to counteract this, not less) to the turf - catching it "fat". You might need less bounce to be able to lay the clubhead back, to create an artificially more lofted club, and still get it contacting the back of the ball - or for difficult hanging lies around the green where you still want to get under the ball and flop it on - you shouldn't need it for ordinary chip shots using the natural loft of the club because if you are accurate with your shot you should be able to pick any ball on a natural shot up clean. As an example I recently played a full shot with my ball nestling in a recess in the middle of a tree root - if you're not that accurate at hitting the back of the ball then you want to err towards more bounce, not less bounce.

I have wedges from 50° every few degrees through to 60°. The 50° is 12° bounce, all the rest are 10° bounce, except for the 60° which is 8°. This means the 60° is a bit more versatile, but a bit harder to hit. The 10° bounce wedges require pretty accurate hitting to get consistent results, and the 50° is a bit more forgiving. I only take it out on the course if the course is wet.

If it were me, I'd want the highest bounce on a sand wedge (although I find that I'm fine with 10° bounce), a low bounce high loft (58°, or 60°), and a high bounce gap wedge for long shots from soft, fluffy, or wet lies. It would be unfortunate, for me, that your set seems to be setup the other way around.

[Zeph]

52* Slazenger Onyx (8* bounce - I believe that's right; don't have it in front of me right now)

Your current setup is solid. 52.08 is great, the club is not that much affected by bounce anyways due to its loft. You may well use it out of bunkers when you need some distance.

56.12/14 is perfect, a good wedge for sand shots, deep rough and chipping. 60.12, could maybe be a little less bounce, but it's a club you usually don't want to use that much. If you find yourself often in a situation where you need it, try the 56º instead and see how it works out. If the course almost demand one, see if you can use another club from the tee to a position where you can use the 56 or 52. I play on a course with very hard turf, and use my 58.12 from it when needed. I use my 52.08 for most of the chipping, but find the 58 useful when I need more loft. I use both from bunkers, which have fairly hard and packed sand by the way, no problem there either. I do not see a reason to change anything here. I don't know when you use which club or how you use them, but experimenting is always a good idea. Try using the 52º as much as you can around the green, or the 56º if you need loft. Try pitching and chipping them both. You will realize that you very rarely need the 60º. It's way more important to have the right technique than to have a lot of wedges. With the proper chipping technique, it doesn't matter if your wedge has 20º bounce or 2º since it doesn't come into play anyways. It should only come into play from the sand and when you need to get out of some deep rough or other problems where you really want speed and to hit the ball hard, but not have it fly 100 yards.

[EGS]

If you are hitting fat/thin shots with a wedge from the fairway, the problem is not with the bounce of the club. It means you need to work on your ball striking and timing. If you are a good ball striker and still find that your are catching it fat/thin, then you can think about a change. If your handicap listing of 30 is accurate, I would suspect this is the problem, not the club.