5 Wedges, Anyone?

[Mr. Desmond]

I use a 45 and 50 as full shots most of the time, and use the 55 and 60 for greenside versatility and trouble. I have a PM Grind 64 that I bought for fun - surprisingly versatile on the practice green with a KBS 610 shaft. Don't know if I'll use it until I use it on the course.

I don't let the number/name on the bottom of the club limit or confuse - it's how the club is used. I basically use 2 wedges 90% of the time.

Edited April 1, 2016 by Mr. Desmond

[onthehunt526]

13 hours ago, SavvySwede said:

Stock PW these days are basically a 10 iron though. I don't consider a club a wedge unless it has some practical greenside usability.

@SavvySwede What do you mean by greenside usability? Just because the PW is basically a "10-iron", doesn't mean it doesn't have greenside usability. I use my 45° PW for a variety of greenside shots. In fact, it was the very club I chipped in from under a tree with last July... I'm sure I'm an outlier (I don't carry 5 wedges anyway, I only carry 4), but I hit greenside shots with a variety of clubs. I have been known to hit bump and runs with a hybrid or fairway wood if need be.

[Natural Patrick]

AW

PW

SW

59*

64*

Chances are I will use them all at least once during a round of 18.

[SavvySwede]

2 hours ago, onthehunt526 said:

@SavvySwede What do you mean by greenside usability? Just because the PW is basically a "10-iron", doesn't mean it doesn't have greenside usability. I use my 45° PW for a variety of greenside shots. In fact, it was the very club I chipped in from under a tree with last July... I'm sure I'm an outlier (I don't carry 5 wedges anyway, I only carry 4), but I hit greenside shots with a variety of clubs. I have been known to hit bump and runs with a hybrid or fairway wood if need be.

I mean that a wedge needs to have the proper sole design and enough loft to hit a decent pitch shot. My pitching wedge it pretty close to a blade but it doesn't have enough bounce to hit a reliable pitch or the heel relief required to open the face on anything but a very fluffy lie.

[ppine]

I do not agree with the concept of "shorter back swing full swings."

It is important to accelerate through the ball and avoid decleration. We can agree on that.

The short swings, especially the 7:30 requires "dead hands."  If you try your regular swing there is not enough time for most players to cock and uncock the wrists consistently.  This is a revelation for me and I am now hitting short pitches around the yard to perfect this swing which has been missing for my whole career in golf.

[SavvySwede]

2 minutes ago, ppine said:

I do not agree with the concept of "shorter back swing full swings."

It is important to accelerate through the ball and avoid decleration. We can agree on that.

The short swings, especially the 7:30 requires "dead hands."  If you try your regular swing there is not enough time for most players to cock and uncock the wrists consistently.  This is a revelation for me and I am now hitting short pitches around the yard to perfect this swing which has been missing for my whole career in golf.

I would guess that your full swings are too handsy. The shorter wedge swings will magnify that flaw.

[BrofessionalGolfer]

On 5/17/2010 at 10:31 AM, etlreams said:

Does any one here carry 5 wedges?

I love my Vokey wedges and I love taking full swing shots.... so I've carried a 45* PW, 52* GW, 56* SW and 60* Lob wedges. I just recently picked up a *48 Vokey wedge. I'm thinking about taking out my 5-wood to make room to put the 48* in the bag.

Is that nuts to do? I guess I can't say I've found myself stumped in the 80-100 yard range and torn on hitting a PW or a strong GW..... but a full swing 48* would fit that situation perfectly.

I don't know....I'm torn.... I just love my full swing wedge shots and the 7* gap between my PW and GW seem inviting for the 48*

Thoughs???....

Initially, I was going to say carrying 5 wedges is a tad extreme, but being that they are Vokeys, why not carry 6? Easily the best wedges in the game. I use a stiff flex, but inherited senior flex Vokeys from my grandfather and haven't looked back since.

 

[Ks golf]

I carry a PW(45), a 50 degree and a 55 degree wedge.

These three are more than enough for me and in my experience I have found that it is better to master these clubs and be able to hit a variety of distances and trajectories with them. It's easier to hit short distances accurately if one is in-between distances. It gets much harder if distances are increases which is where I feel the distance gap must be closer between clubs.

And it kind of forces me to get good with these clubs. So it's a win win for me but golf, as always, is a game where one should carry clubs that suits their own sensibilities.

[onthehunt526]

I'm toying with the idea of playing 5 wedges. But that would require some bending of my iron lofts to make it work.

[mistermuhl]

I play the tm psi irons now. My pw is 45.5 and I carry it 150. I use a 50 (125), 54(115), and a 58(105). I hate the gap between my pw and my 50. So I went to the golf store the other day and hit the psi aw and it was 50 degrees. It carried perfectly into my gap at 135 yards. Talk about frustrating. 

[p1n9183]

I have 5 wedges on my bag.

P(43°) 130 - W(47°) 120 - G(51°) 105 - S(56°) 90 - L(60°) 80.

The problem with it is that i jump from my 4 Iron 190 to my 3 wood 230. One less wedge would allow me to fill that gap with an hibrid. 

 

[Hacker James]

For years I carried only 3-PW plus SW. Then one day I saw a 3 wedge set from Tom Watson. I have long abandoned the Lob as it saw very little use. Often times, the PW serves me well in the bunkers, but the Gap sees plenty of action.  I have been able to use a lot of different types of shots close in. To be honest, I really do not even know my distances with the wedges, I just sort of go by instinct. Not the best way for sure, but seems to work for me. 

[fr0sty]

On 5/17/2010 at 11:58 AM, fr0sty said:

I have 4 in the bag now:

PW (48)
51*
56*
60*

I am considering adding a high-bounce sand-wedge because my moe course bunkers are overly fluffy and the lower bounce 56 I like off the fairway tends to dig.

An update here:

After flirting briefly with the 5-wedge setup I'm down to three and I don't feel like I'm missing anything:

47
53
60

Part of this change may have been from reading LSW and realizing:

1. My longer clubs are my real scoring clubs.

2. I'm not doing as bad as I feel I am on my approach shots.

 

Another part was me losing my 56, replacing it with a 53 and not really minding the 60-53 gap.

[onthehunt526]

On February 18, 2017 at 10:44 AM, onthehunt526 said:

I'm toying with the idea of playing 5 wedges. But that would require some bending of my iron lofts to make it work.

I will have PW (44), AW (48), then 52, 56, 60.

[Lihu]

5 minutes ago, onthehunt526 said:

I will have PW (44), AW (48), then 52, 56, 60.

I have exactly the same lofts in my shorter clubs except that my 9i is 44 and PW is 48. I had all my clubs flattened and they ended up half to a full degree higher loft as well.

To the question in the OP, I don't hit far enough to really have 5 wedges, but I do just because it gives me more options up close. Maybe too many

 

[onthehunt526]

8 hours ago, Lihu said:

I have exactly the same lofts in my shorter clubs except that my 9i is 44 and PW is 48. I had all my clubs flattened and they ended up half to a full degree higher loft as well.

To the question in the OP, I don't hit far enough to really have 5 wedges, but I do just because it gives me more options up close. Maybe too many

 

44 degree 9-iron, God I wish my Tour Edge made a 9-iron that weak, but they don't. I guess my PW is an old school 9-iron... I had my iron lofts bent so that I have 4 degree gaps from 6-iron down through the wedges. But I still haven't figured out the top end of the bag yet but that is a different thread entirely.

[Lihu]

Just now, onthehunt526 said:

44 degree 9-iron, God I wish my Tour Edge made a 9-iron that weak, but they don't. I guess my PW is an old school 9-iron... I had my iron lofts bent so that I have 4 degree gaps from 6-iron down through the wedges. But I still haven't figured out the top end of the bag yet but that is a different thread entirely.

Yeah, my clubs are old and obsolete.

 

[Jmdmbike]

4 wedges: PW (45), GW (50), SW (54), LW (58).  That's enough for me.