My Edel Wedges (Or 'Super Bounce and Why It's Good for You' or 'The Sweet Spot Is Finally in the Right Place!

[Brian W]

On 7/16/2016 at 9:16 AM, b101 said:

I'm very close (basically only money and finding a fitter permitting) to getting a fitting organised, so long term, no real issue. However, yesterday, I realised that there's something off with one of my wedges, but not sure what... As with most golfers starting out, my wedges are off the shelf, both Clevelands (a 54* RTX 2.0 and a 58* RTX). However, I absolutely love the 58* but hate the 54* - something feels odd about it. I feel like I have to almost flip at it to not hit behind the ball and I don't get anywhere near as much check on it as with the 58 or even my Apex Pro GW. My guess is that the shaft on the 54* is a bit too stiff/heavy, but it's interesting that it's making this much difference.

Anyway, will hopefully get some Edels toward the end of the summer or at worst before Christmas. I've seen the benefit of fitting with my driver and I'm slowly going through the rest of the bag.

I just got fitted last week and hope I get them by the end of this coming week.  I had my PW and then cleveland 48,54,60.  I found the gap wedge from my 825 pros and am going to ditch the 54 and 60 for a 55 and 60.  I will say that I am the opposite of you as I love my 54 and struggle more with the 60.  I always use the 54 out of the sand and I use it for most shots around the green.  It wasn't til this year that I started using the 60 more and committed to making sure I pulled it if I was around the green. 

[wolfpack]

Are there only 3 bounces available now??

[iacas]

8 hours ago, wolfpack said:

Are there only 3 bounces available now??

I believe they're transitioning to a simpler lineup, yes.

And the one grind is only in 58-64° wedges, so it's almost more like two grinds.

Almost nobody ever fit into the nipper or picker or whatever those wedges were.

[b101]

So, I've finally found a fitter within driving distance (the second one in the UK happens to be within 10 minutes of my parents' house!) so I'm trying to book a fitting for Easter. Very excited about it as I know my wedges could help me more. Love my 58*, avoid the 54* like the plague and will still occasionally hit the GW fat... Will keep you posted!

[Golfingdad]

@iacas, is Edel's wedge system and fitting process still pretty much the same as when this thread was written?  My question is based on the fact that their putter models have changed so much and the fitting options along with it.

[iacas]

On 1/6/2017 at 11:51 AM, Golfingdad said:

@iacas, is Edel's wedge system and fitting process still pretty much the same as when this thread was written?  My question is based on the fact that their putter models have changed so much and the fitting options along with it.

Pretty much. They've changed the stock shafts, of course, and they've reduced the number of grinds by a few, but they were the grinds that almost nobody chose.

[b101]

@iacas will appreciate and in no way be surprised by this. Thank you in particular for starting this thread and keeping us all updated. Simply put, this was one of the best and most fun experiences I've had.

Finally had my fitting today and it's hands-down the best golfing experience I've had off the course (and top five including on it!). I'd read a lot about the process beforehand and went in with high expectations, expecting that they wouldn't be fulfilled. They were actually surpassed and my jaw genuinely dropped on a number of occasions. I've never had a proper eye-opening experience where something you believe is impossible is actually totally doable and even easy...

I found a fitter recently in the UK (there are only 2 wedge fitters in the UK and one is based 20 minutes away from my parents' home) - Matt Rice at Purley Downs - and booked a fitting for when I went back to them. I turned up this afternoon and was slightly concerned when I was directed into a swing studio. Matt popped in shortly, asked me a load of questions about my set make-up, yardages, gapping, what I liked and disliked and what shots I felt comfortable/less comfortable with. He quickly pointed out that the reason I despise my sand wedge (a Cleveland Rotex 2.0) but love my lob wedge (a Cleveland Rotex) is that the grinds are different - the former being more like a driver and the latter a trapper. He then watched me hit a few off the mat (no more than 5) before moving the fitting outside. That was where it got really fun.

We moved to the practice green and Matt put me on a bare-ish lie (similar to a links lie) and got me to hit a wedge to the nearest flag - about a 10 yard shot (5 yard carry onto the green), then to a flag near the back of the green - about a 20 yard carry. He made a small tweak to my technique, getting me to stand up a bit more and not raise the toe. Otherwise, I loved the extra height that the Edel gave me, and found the shots pretty easy to perform. Nothing mind-blowing yet, but still good. He then gave me a second wedge, which I found much harder to hit - it grabbed more in the turf and I just didn't find it easy to hit. Matt showed me the two and explained the first was the trapper (similar to my LW) and the second the driver (my SW). Everything else was identical.

He then dropped balls in deep rough and asked me to hit the trapper out of them to the first flag. I looked at him as if he was mad and he said just to play it as if they weren't in the rough. This was the first 'what the hell?' moment. The ball flopped up beautifully, landed and rolled about 10 feet past. A few shots later and they were all rolling neatly up to the side of the hole. I could never have managed that once with my current set. Same with the trapper in a 56 degree. We put balls in all sorts of horrendous lies and no issue whatsoever. Matt then got me to hit high and low shots; it was just so easy, with my slips coming when I tried to pick the ball rather than hitting down into the soil.

Having sorted the grind and having a good idea of lofts, we then went out on the course to check height and shafts. He put me at 100 yards and got me to hit full sand wedges - I had said at the start that I never go for a full swing with a wedge as I feel it can just flare one way or the other. With the Edel, no problem at all; I just needed to trust it and go at it. The fun part was that every time I felt the wedge should be sticking in the ground, it just went straight through with no problem. Ball flight was wonderfully high compared to what I'm used to and the spin was good when it hit the green. We then did the same with 3/4 shots, changing shafts in and out and actually hit on the right shaft on the second go.

We then moved around the green and did more situational stuff - Matt would pop a ball down in a bare lie, deep rough, a bunker or short sided (downhill and downwind) and ask: 'What would you normally do?', then 'What are you going to do now?'. Every time, the answers were totally different and it was like making the game 10x easier with the Edel - it just does what I want, how I want. We moved on to partial and full shots both uphill and downhill and with various wind directions to check that the ballflight wasn't ballooning and to fine-tune the shaft choice. In the end, I opted for the higher-launching of the two shafts it came down to; I never have problem taking the flight down, but I always need help getting it higher! We then finished off by going back, looking at the lie angles and noting all the various options down. 

Due to a new hybrid this month, I'll have to wait till next month to order the Edels. I cannot wait - it's just going to revolutionise my short game practice and the way I treat shots from 100 yards and in, especially around the green. Again, my thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread and I'll post pictures when done! 

To anyone still debating, go for a fitting; it's the best I've had by miles - and I've been to a top end driver and putter fitting. I'm slightly regretting not having got an Edel putter as well, but that can wait a while!

[b101]

So these turned up in the post today - great delivery time to the UK! Won't have a chance to hit them for another day or so, but I'm playing at the weekend so will aim to get to the course early for a long practice session. They are stunning...

[bills80]

Wedges look great!  I have my fitting at the beginning of June and really hoping I get a similar experience as you.  Definitely let us know how the wedges perform the first time out!

[GolfLug]

On 4/25/2017 at 0:55 PM, b101 said:

So these turned up in the post today - great delivery time to the UK! Won't have a chance to hit them for another day or so, but I'm playing at the weekend so will aim to get to the course early for a long practice session. They are stunning...

Outstanding look! I am inspired to get my own..

I know not really new but lately I've come to realize super bounce is the new black..

[b101]

On 28/04/2017 at 0:31 AM, bills80 said:

Wedges look great!  I have my fitting at the beginning of June and really hoping I get a similar experience as you.  Definitely let us know how the wedges perform the first time out!

 

On 28/04/2017 at 1:01 AM, GolfLug said:

Outstanding look! I am inspired to get my own..

I know not really new but lately I've come to realize super bounce is the new black..

Thank you both - @bills80, let us know how the fitting goes. I've got the first round with them tomorrow and have only been able to hit them at the range so far, so I'm going to get to the course about 2 hours beforehand to get a good hour just around the practice green. Early indications are that my gapping is slightly out a bit (I think my 3/4 LW is about 5 yards shorter than my old equivalent), but I can hit them much easier than I ever could with my previous clubs. Still not sure how often I'll hit a full wedge shot, but at least it's now an option! 

The only weird thing has been that I've hit quite a few shanks when practising a 1/4 shot, which is normally a real go-to shot for me. Not sure what that's to do with, but the only thing that has changed is the club, so I'm assuming it's a weighting change. Nothing that setting up with the ball slightly more toward the toe doesn't solve, but a strange one nonetheless.

[b101]

Foreword: One of the things I found useful about this thread was the huge amount of detailed feedback. Hence my wordy response... Skimread if you like, but I wanted to put down everything in case it does help someone 

Played a round with the clubs today and I spent a good 45 minutes on the chipping green beforehand. My feelings with them kind of went all over the place to be honest.

I started out with my 60* and a standard quarter swing, which is a go-to shot for me around the greens - I basically use that as my barometer for all pitches within 30 yards and tweak the backswing/follow-through distance based on that. With the Edels, I really struggled for the first ten minutes, fatting quite a few or hitting right off the bottom with a low, squirty shot. It got better when I went to fuller swings, but I really found it tough to shorten the distance, to the extent that I was questioning in my mind whether they were actually the right specs and what I'd been fitted for - they just felt so alien. It really took until the last ten minutes to get the feel, but I wasn't feeling massively confident, which was worrying me hugely given that I'd spent the money because I wanted the confidence! By the end, I'd worked out that I was either trying to really throw the bounce at it or really strike down hard causing me to strike behind the ball with a load of shaft lean - sadly, I don't think there's a club in the world that will save that shot! When I just pretended it was my old wedge, things got a lot better. The outstanding moment of the warm up was three shots out of the practice pot bunker, none of which were good shots and all of which would have stayed in the bunker with my old wedges. Each one made it to five feet. For that alone, they're worth the money, in my opinion!

I then had a bit more of a warm up on the range and hit some partial shots with them before the round. They definitely launch higher than I'm used to, thanks to Matt getting the shafts right and that threw some of my distances slightly out on a really windy day. Then again, I've never had consistent distances with the previous sand wedge due to me having to do all sorts of things just to hit the ball, so I'm not worried about it.

---

In terms of the round, I'm going to go through shot-by-shot, just to give a flavour of how I used them. It was a really tough day - 21mph winds coupled with very fast greens, so a lot of the shots really needed working. Each shot title is a link to the Game Golf round to put in perspective.

Hole 2 - 60*, short sided and down a run-off - Gutted to be off the back as it was death - the approach was genuinely a good shot that had just bounced off the green like concrete (downwind, mind). Tight lie, opened up the face a touch, picked a landing spot and it popped up beautifully, actually stopping it short of the hole. I could never have played this before and would have been 15 feet at best. Made the par putt.

Hole 4 - 60* from fluffy rough over the back - Again, the last place I wanted to be, but again the approach just fired off the green (210 yards with a 7 iron for crying out loud...). Sitting up a bit, but I again picked a landing point, had four or five practice swings and then hit it perfectly to a foot. The main thing to note is that there was no grab whatsoever in the rough and therefore the shot was predictable. My partner had a very similar shot from a better lie and his club grabbed massively, dunching the ball forward five yards.

Hole 5 - 60* from a run off area right - Downhill lie, up a steep run off (about 6 feet high). Hit my spot but actually stopped the ball a good 10 feet short of where I planned as I didn't anticipate the amount of spin I got. A decent shot, but didn't really see it right. Again, a very bare lie - no issue.

Hole 8 - 56* into strong wind - Pulled a 6 iron approach so I was on an elevated tee above the green, hitting into a huge wind. Put the ball back in my stance, took the 56* and tried to hit a low, grabbing shot. Worked like a charm. No divot mark whatsoever. Try doing that with another club!

Hole 9 - 60* up to elevated green - An awful tee shot left me with no shot whatsoever, tight downhill lie to an elevated green with the pin just over the bunker. I actually played this really well and the 40 feet was as close as I reckon I could have got. It sounds like a broken record, but I wouldn't have even attempted this with my previous wedge.

Hole 11 - 56* into wind from 75 yards - Wasn't really sure what to hit here as I couldn't go low due to the bunker. I was trying to hit 85 yards with the wind hopefully hurting to land it 75, seems I got my yardage wrong to the back of the green as I made 75 yards pretty much on the dot! Then had a nice up and down with the 60*, where the bounce of club really saved a poor shot which should have been very fat.

Hole 14 - 60*, short sided up a big slope - Again, not where you'd want to be - the green is about 12 feet above you. Hit this maybe a little far, but got loads of height and couldn't leave it short.

Hole 18 - 60* over bunker - one of the easier shots all day and I thinned it slightly. Worst shot I had and immediately dropped another and hit it to a foot... Typical.

---

The interesting thing about going through them was that I hadn't really realised how many bad positions I left myself in. By the end of the round, I totally trusted both wedges and they're feeling much more natural. I loved the ability to work the ball and particularly hit that low, spinning wedge shot on the 8th. More than that though, I feel comfortable hitting them off any lie. It's a links course, so there are loads of bare lies with little grass around the ball, but they perform brilliantly whether off hardpan, bunkers or in the rough. I'll do another update after a few more rounds, but for now, I'm very pleased, even if the transition wasn't as smooth as I would have hoped!

[bills80]

Thanks for the update and detail!  Definitely fun reading about your experience.  Glad you're enjoying the clubs and feeling confident with them, even if it did take a little time.

[bills80]

So I had my fitting at Forest Akers here in Lansing, MI.  Matt Jones was in town from Chicago and did the fitting for me.  I had read a lot prior to and certainly had high expectations.  I would say they were definitely met.  Similar to others on here, started out hitting 50 yard wedge shots.  After a few changed out grinds a few times.  All the while we were looking at flightscope on an ipad to see launch angle to figure out what the optimal bounce would be.  Once we figured that out we switched shafts multiple times for both a 60 and 56 degree wedge until I found the right combination for both.

Once that was done I hit a few shots from tight lies just chipping around a green.  Afterwards he stepped on some balls in some deep thick rough and I was able to slide right underneath those as well with no trouble.  While my description is light on specifics this ended up taking about 35 to 40 minutes of constantly hitting until I was comfortable.

I ended up purchasing a 60 degree wedge with the Digger grind, Nippon Modus 115 shaft, 55 degree with a driver grind, 105 shaft.  I will most definitely post pics once they come in a couple of weeks.

[brg1875]

@iacas quick question, I've had my 58* and 54* in the DVR grind for a few weeks now and I'm really struggling out of the sand which used to be a strong suit. Because of the bounce when I'm trying to hit the ball out, the club isn't getting underneath the sand to explode the ball out and I've been blading it or catching it thin with the leading edge even though I'm entering the sand well behind the ball. So much so I had to use my Gap wedge that I have with my regular iron set with less bounce. Any thoughts or suggestions out of the sand? I'll be hitting the practice range to try to get the kinks out. 

 

On a positive note, the bounce has really allowed me to hit some low 50-75 yard spinners played from the back of my stance and getting a nice clean beaver pelt divot which I've never attempted to before due to the fear of chunking it. 

[iacas]

5 minutes ago, brg1875 said:

@iacas quick question, I've had my 58* and 54* in the DVR grind for a few weeks now and I'm really struggling out of the sand which used to be a strong suit. Because of the bounce when I'm trying to hit the ball out, the club isn't getting underneath the sand to explode the ball out and I've been blading it or catching it thin with the leading edge even though I'm entering the sand well behind the ball. So much so I had to use my Gap wedge that I have with my regular iron set with less bounce. Any thoughts or suggestions out of the sand? I'll be hitting the practice range to try to get the kinks out. 

Stop entering the sand well behind the ball.

Good bunker players enter the sand only an inch or two behind the ball.

The bounce is likely doing its job… and helping your club get OUT of the sand.

[amished]

I'm going in for an Edel putter fitting (and club!) sometime in July based on what I've read here, LSW and a couple YouTube people, so that pretty much uses up my (self assigned) golf equipment budget for the year.  I've generally been happy with most of my wedges, but I noticed that my putter fitter also does wedge fitting.  

 

Do you think it'd be worth it to get fitted while I'm there, get the specs that are right for me then buy the wedges next year with my new budget?  My current 52* Ping Glide SS is my do-everything wedge right now, how big of a difference would it be between an Edel 56* -whatever spec wedge and a 56* Ping Glide 2.0 if I do like my 52?  I know it's always hard to compare two different clubs, especially when one is custom fit but I see good things about both wedges when people talk about them.

 

From this thread, I've seen that Edel has cut down on some of the grinds they offer, should I really be worried about a change to their offerings over the next year?

[iacas]

2 minutes ago, amished said:

From this thread, I've seen that Edel has cut down on some of the grinds they offer, should I really be worried about a change to their offerings over the next year?

I just fit someone from wedges two days ago and all of the choices for grinds were back.