1 wedge around the green

[tshapiro]

I had always carried 4 wedges, but, in an attempt to mix things up I vowed only to use my 56 from 60 yards in for a few months. At first I was desparately missing my lob wedge and short irons. My attempts to carry out a variety of shots with the 56 were not the best. But, several months into this experiement I have found I have developed a much better feel and speed control that I never had with the touch shots. I can understand the recommendations to get proficient with multiple clubs around the green, but, I think I'm going to stick with the 56 for a while and see just how good I can get with it.

[lumpuckeroo]

I have only been using one club around to green for a long time, I use a 52 degree GW.  I found that for short chips and pitches, the ball flight that I see in my minds eye matches the ball flight from the GW.  I envision tossing the ball underhand, where do I need to land the ball to get it to run to the hole, that ball toss and the ball flight from my GW tend to match, so that is the main reason I use one club for all my work around the green.

My GW also seems to fit my set up more than a higher lofted wedge, I can still open the face and "pop" a ball in the air if needed, but I'm a believer in one club to do it all.  One of the beauties of golf, no one way to do anything.

[CoryMartin]

I have used only a 56 wedge for the past 4 to 5 months and love the feel and ability to do many shots.

Around the greens lately I have also used an 8 iron on "long" chips and a pitching wedge when a little too much ground for my 56.

I totally prefer using one wedge vs. three or more.

[LuciusWooding]

I'm in the process of deciding between 3 wedges around the green. I have a cavity 51* GW, a blade 56 and a blade 62.

The 51 is probably best for full shots, it doesn't do a great job on partial shots. It's forgiving and hits pretty high, but I don't see myself using it unless I want to hit a pitch shot, and can't afford a mishit.

The 56 I feel extremely confident with, and I feel it has the best trajectory and control due to the bounce and the weight. I will probably end up using it to hit 90% of my shots around the green, and can control a bump and run better than the cavity style wedge. It's a small headed blade, so full shots might be a bit tougher, but i get the best spin and the most feel.

The 62 is a bit up in the air. I haven't had much of a chance to use it, but I mainly envision it for use in very tricky situations. I can hit a higher and softer shot at short range, so hitting shots with little green to work with is a plus, and I could hit a very spinny shot from about 70 yards, though it's risky. It has very low bounce, and doesn't work well opened up unless it's on a fluffy lie. I could hit a nice flop with this, though I would need an appropriate lie. Having this in the bag might help on one or two shots per round, probably counts for one or two strokes against using a different club. The full shot is hard to hit, but certain partial shots are exclusive to this club.

I plan on adding a long club to the bag for longer courses, and either the pitching wedge or 62* would be the first to go. My PW is too close to the 9i, and i never hit either very much.

I could do 2 things:

go 44* for 9i,

50

56

62

or stick with my 43*

46

51

56

And take out the 62 in favor of a 2i or 5w. I could take out the PW instead and live with the slight gap, since I can step on the GW or choke up the 9i and get somewhat close to the correct distance. Obviously a 47* wedge would be nice, but I can handle some shotmaking. Gaps in the short clubs for me are easier to work around than gaps in the long part.

Personally I'm rather fond of the first setup, but my 56 is such a workhorse anyway, so as long as I have that in the bag I'm all right. Generally I'm a long enough hitter that I don't have 5 wood distance of 230-240, almost ever. It might help me attack a par 5, but a lot of local courses are par 71 or 70, so the lob wedge will be useful for those more than the longer clubs. That said, I probably won't be able to hit a hard 3 hybrid to 240 yards, and I won't be able to get my 3w in the air off the deck unless I swing hard, which is likely to carry at least that far and then roll considerably. If you have a money club like the 56 for me, however, build your set around it and don't be afraid to have a funny setup.

I really do use my 56 a lot, I putt from off the green a good bit, and about twice a round I have some sort of shot that I need the LW to pull off well. I generally like to play short pitches and higher chip shots, some prefer to use different clubs and keep it on the ground. If I want to keep the ball on the ground most of the way, I'll usually putt it, sometimes even out of light rough.

If you have a money club like the 56 for me, however, build your set around it and don't be afraid to have a funny setup. You can learn certain shots to make up for missing or substituted clubs; I might have to learn to hit a nice flop with my sand wedge when I leave out the 62, and I devote time learning partial shots to avoid hitting full lob wedges. If that 2i slot is more important for my score on certain courses, I'll have to get more creative around the greens without the 62.

If you got down to a 10, you can figure out what works best for you.

[inthehole]

I'm in the same boat - was using the 56 for all the short range chipping, but switched to the 48 & seem to have a better feel - easier to control the runout.   If you can really spin the ball, I could see the 56 being a better club, but for me, I can get a better result judging runout.

[Tifosinumerouno]

I use my 60* wedge almost exclusively around the green. I tinker around the house and around the yard with is whenever I get fidgetty (pretty much all the time), and I am confident that from 30 yards and in, I can chip within gimme range. I don't always get quite that close, but closer than if I take, say, a 9 iron and try to chip it along the ground. If I find that I'm leaving chips a bit short, sometimes on longer pitches with alot of green, I'll switch to a 56 or 52 to be sure I get back to the hole. Other than that, it's 60 or bust.

[mdl]

For a long time after I got my 60˚ it was the only club I used inside of 60 yards.  I totally subscribed to the idea of just using one wedge and taking the time to get good with it.  Now that I've gotten comfortable with a lots of different types of shots with that club, I've recently started to branch out again and use my 54˚ on some shots, with great results.  On shots where I'm very close to the green and it's not short sided super steep down hill to the pin, I hit a little closed stance, closed face chip with the 54˚, and when not short sided from 25-50 yards I'll often pitch with the 54˚ now since I like not having to swing very hard to get it there.  When I want to be able to stop the ball on a dime I still use my 60˚.

[mymizunosrock]

I will use anything from my 9i to my 58 when Im within 30m of the green. The 9i-GW get the most use if I can hit the ball with more pitch and run. Its only if I need to go over something (bunker, heavy rough to a tight pin) that I will use the 58. For me the club selection comes down to one thing and that is where I need land the ball and how much it will run out. For those of you using a 56 (traditional sand iron), how much bounce do they have?? If they have 12 or more, I can see problems from tightish lies. I think its ok to use one club to develop a technique and pass that on to your other wedges, but if Im on a fringe with plenty of green to work with, its much easier to use a club with less loft to get the ball to roll out rather than try pin point the landing spot and then guess how much the spin will effect the roll out. As I said, using one club is a good idea to develop the technique, but its not going to get you out of the shyte every time..

[sk golf]

Utley uses 58 degree from everywhere...

[clubchamp]

I use a chip and run anytime I can since I'm of the belief that you should get the ball rolling ASAP so with that said I use a lot of clubs. I will use a 7i to a 56* and if I need to air one out I typically use a 52* 56* or 60* depending on the shot. However I do like the idea of practicing one club to give yourself confidence the downside is you may limit yourself around the green. I was never the longest hitter so I practiced my short game like crazy and it took awhile before I got confident in all my shots.

[westcyderydin]

I only use my 56* around the green.  I can hit it high, low, regular, spin it, bump and run it, flop it, you name it.  Its just what i am comfortable with.  I wouldn't like the change in feel with using different clubs around the green.  Some people are though, so whatever your comfortable with is good.

[GaijinGolfer]

The only problem with using 1 club for all shots around the green is that you have to be really precise and its difficult to be consistent that way.  By using the same swing with many different clubs you can much more easily fine-tune your shots around the green.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by TitleistWI

The only problem with using 1 club for all shots around the green is that you have to be really precise and its difficult to be consistent that way.  By using the same swing with many different clubs you can much more easily fine-tune your shots around the green.

In the light grip thread you said a lighter grip promotes touch (posted about the same time as this comment). Maybe you're gripping your wedge too tightly. Personally I could hit every shot around the green with a 54 degree but prefer to mix it up. And I suppose really high cut lobs are best served with a LW.

[westcyderydin]

I see short game as more of an art.  However you see it in your head...do it that way.

[jamo]

The only problem with using 1 club for all shots around the green is that you have to be really precise and its difficult to be consistent that way.  By using the same swing with many different clubs you can much more easily fine-tune your shots around the green.

It's really pick your poison. With one club you can be dialed in to the exact loft all of the time, and learn to manipulate it, but it can be hard to hit every distance with one club and you need more variation of swing length. On the other side, if you use multiple clubs you can have a certain club and swing for every distance, but IMO you lose a little something when you have to practice with all of your clubs. Just an opinion, and out of personals preferenceI liked to use my 60 degree for all short game shots (including sand shots). It's got 9 degrees of bounce though, so I suppose you could say it's not a normal 60 degree (based solely on the stuff I see in stock online and in stores, most 60 degree wedges seem to have 4 degrees of loft, I prefer the 9 or 10).

[Ben]

I use two wedges. My lose rule of thumb , PW for low shots and 58* for higher shots. I like to keep things simple. My 58* is pretty versatile and what I use for most. The PW I use for the straight-forward, uphill, bump and run. Getting into more than two clubs, and I find I confuse my sense of touch.

[bunkerputt]

For short-game shots, not including weird things like a 5-iron chip from 90 feet, I use two wedges, 56 and 60.  I found that I really liked the 56 more and thought it was the loft, but it was actually the swingweight.  The 56 has more bounce, so it's a touch heavier head at the same length than the 60.  I just added some lead tape to the back of the 60 and with pretty much the same technique, can't tell the difference between the two, but switch based on lie and trajectory.  Just keep it simple.  It's better to pick a less optimal shot for the situation with a club that you have more confidence in than vice versa.  Fix confidence issues with any of your short game clubs first.  Have you ever heard a tour player, equipment sponsorship issues aside, say that they have anything but love for their equipment in the WITB check videos?  That's not just contractual.

[HeadGolfool]

I carry 4 wedges but mainly for different approach shots, but around the greens I use my 60 degree most of the time.  I have just good at hitting different shots with it, I can hit it high, spin it and hood it and makes it run.  I do use a 54 degree wedge sometime on longer running shots.

I know a lot of really good players that use one main wedge for most of their chipping so it's not unusual.