What wedges should a beginner have in his bag?

[Gerald]

Some letters are used for the same .....

Quote:

Originally Posted by No1CeltsFan

None

i dont think it's the same as a Gap, because in Tiger Wood Golf 2010 it's a completely seperate club. I'm 99% sure in the game it goes AW, LW, SW, GW, PW

It is about :

• PW (43*-49* depending on brand/model)
• AW or GW (ca. 49*-52*....)
• SW (ca. 54*-56*....)
• LW (ca. 58*-60*....)
• XW (ca. 62*-64*....)

There are other things to consider aswell, bounce for instance .....

For a decent description of bounce use the search function of this forum, plenty of good info !

The amount of bounce in a set's PW is mostly around 7*-8* and most GW/AW are in the line of bounce that matches a set's PW ..... so around 8*

In a SW the bounce will prevent the club to dig into the sand too much and will help you to get the ball up by sliding under the ball, bounce in SW comes in several options, as there are several styles of bunker play and also there is a lot of difference in sand conditions in bunkers, as the might be white soft sand but it can also be hard sand ........ I would say that if you want something allround 12* bounce will be nice for a SW and if the sand is very hard it is best to use the 8* bounce AW/GW to get out of the bunker.

LW and XW are hard to control for any beginner ....... why ....... hmm hard to tell, it should not be, but in general it is, you have to hit them with some force to pop the ball up in the air and a 60* wedge might give a beginner a 40 yds shot. Chances of blading or thinning a 60* wedge are huge for a beginner, so if you have a shot of 45 yds to the hole ...... you'd think of hitting a full LW, which is a nice looking shot if you succeed, but if you thin or blade it, it will end up 40 yds beyond the hole........ better is to take out your 7 or 8 iron and hit a chip or longer chip, if you hit that a bit thin or heavy it will still end up on the putting surface........

Do you need a AW/GW ...... as a beginner ........ not really, but it is a way better investment than a LW.

In some strong lofted sets the PW is 43*-45* and then the gap to a 56* SW is really big, in which case you about have to buy the AW/GW ......

So for a beginner I would say you need the set's PW + SW (with 10*-12* bounce) and extra might be the in between AW/GW

[kurts81]

if you get used to hiiting a wedge, you will want to start using more and more of them. i took out my 3 and 4 iron cause i couldnt hit them anyway and replaced them with a 4 hybrid and an extra wedge. pitching, chipping, and all shots from 120 yards from the green have become very easy to me, because i use a 49aw, 54sw, and a 60 lob wedge and love them all...

[rowlf]

I share the same sentiments as Gerald.

Pitching Wedge - Absolutely as it is a natural progression from 9 iron.

Sand Wedge - Absolutely necessary. And for a beginner the higher the bounce the better. Oh wait, what about those flop shots?! Explained in LW.

Gap Wedge - Preferable. As Gerald has said, the gap between a Pitching Wedge 48* and Sand Wedge 56* is too wide. You need something in between as you may not be confident on a 3/4 Pitching Wedge shot and you don't want to start kicking yourself for not buying a gap wedge.

Lob Wedge - Can do without and preferably so. Lob wedge are normally 4 degrees bounce to sliding under the golf ball. That is hard to execute with very small margin for error and if not done properly, you are going to get fat or thin shots. So what do you do with 20-30 yards in? Choke down on a sand wedge and give it a full swing.

Obviously as you progress, you could start playing with LW with varying degree of bounces. LW can be extremely useful for some courses but as a beginner, it wouldn't harm to keep in simple and play percentage golf.

[Jakester23]

My old set of irons had pw only and I also owned a 56 and 60. I purchased a new set of irons with a U wedge or gap wedge (I don't know why ping calls it a U but whatever) and its my favorite club in my bag. Im deadly with it from 100 and I like chipping with it more than my pw and sw it seems to be the right amount of release and easy enough to hit. I used to use my 60 around the green but soon realized the gap or sw are much more consistent as far as less miss hits. I still carry the 60 but only use it if I need to hit over something or out of the sand if Im short sided. I think the 60 is one of those things that take a lot of work to figure out and I have to many other things I need to work on before I get to that point.

[Laws of Woo]

As a beginner, up to a PW in the standard iron set, and a 55/56* Sand wedge. Depending on the loft of the PW, maybe a GW if the gap is that large. I think more wedges at an early stage are just going to complicate things. Keep it simple and work a bit on dialing back on your swings if need be. As you develop the swing more, then add a wedge if you really want.

[Blueman]

I am a novice and carry a 60* and a 52* . The 60* only misses one way, a skull across the green.  I live on a coarse and practice the lob a ton. Still cannot hit it off of soggy ground.  Saves me 5 holes, kills me 1 . The 56 is way easier to hit. A 56 and 52 would be a great start. I probably need to go back to a 56*. But the reward of a gret 60* shot is awesome !

[jmanbooyaa]

56 sand wedge for me. Had a few 52 degree gap wedges and a 58 and 60 lob wedge. Only carry a 56 now.

[mmoan2]

Originally Posted by rowlf

I share the same sentiments as Gerald.

Pitching Wedge - Absolutely as it is a natural progression from 9 iron.

Sand Wedge - Absolutely necessary. And for a beginner the higher the bounce the better. Oh wait, what about those flop shots?! Explained in LW.

Gap Wedge - Preferable. As Gerald has said, the gap between a Pitching Wedge 48* and Sand Wedge 56* is too wide. You need something in between as you may not be confident on a 3/4 Pitching Wedge shot and you don't want to start kicking yourself for not buying a gap wedge.

Lob Wedge - Can do without and preferably so. Lob wedge are normally 4 degrees bounce to sliding under the golf ball. That is hard to execute with very small margin for error and if not done properly, you are going to get fat or thin shots. So what do you do with 20-30 yards in? Choke down on a sand wedge and give it a full swing.

Obviously as you progress, you could start playing with LW with varying degree of bounces. LW can be extremely useful for some courses but as a beginner, it wouldn't harm to keep in simple and play percentage golf.

I totally agree with this, but I would note that most new sets of clubs sold in big golf stores from major manufacturers have made a PW a 45 or 46 degree club. 48 degree are usually for players irons. Therefore, a 50 degree gap and a 55 degree sand wedge with lots of bounce might be good options. I also always liked my 60 degree out of sand when I started because it made me feel more confident when there were big lips on bunkers. I had it with 8 degrees of bounce, though. Still, I found my 60 degree more useful than my 2 or 3 iron. Usually a 2 iron shot approach meant a shot requiring a sand or lb wedge to follow!

[mmoan2]

Just noticed that Gerald had done a better job covering this than I did. I guess I didn't feel like reading such a long post first thing Sunday morning! Still, I would think about spending a little extra time early on learning a consistent LW and leave the 2 or 3 iron out of  the bag. My real opinion is to carry 15 clubs, as you're probably not playing an official event anyway and through real-game situations you'll know if you like a LW or some other club you might need to give up more.

[Mac62]

I carry the PW (45*) and UW (50*) from my set.  I also have a 54* sand wedge and 58* lob wedge.  The UW is my favorite club for most pitches/chips, and I make the most consistent/reliable contact with it.  I agree with those who have said that a beginner has no need to screw around with a lob wedge - you have to take a fairly good swing to get it to go anywhere, and if you blade it you're going to be 40 yards beyond where you intended.  The only time I really use my LW is if I'm in a bunker with a very high lip in close proximity, or a spot where I need a high pitch to get over an obstacle - shots that would be even lower percentage with any other club.

In the interest of scoring/course management, I go by the saying "putt whenever you can; chip when you can't putt, pitch when you can't chip".  I try to get the ball on the ground as soon as possible (in most conditions) - I'll often even putt/bump & run with a 3H rather than chip, if I have a clear shot to the pin.