Wedge advice -

[rehmwa]

So I have two wedges -

PW (46) - 120 (90 half swing)

SW (54) - 100 (70 half swing)

I like my yardages down through my PW (8i-150, 9i-135, PW-120).  So I'm definitely happy 4i through to my PW.

Now my SW....it's 20 years old (everything else in the bag is new).  And I likely hit that club more than any other as I find myself at 100 or less on most holes when I'm hitting good.  My distances are super repeatable from 7i on down.

I'm really gapped out between the two, and shorter is still a game of feel.  Lately, I've just tried to plan my prior shot to leave me a full swing distance on approach.  I'm not really that good, though, wedge options would help take up the slack.

I have some store credit and want to fit to wedges -

• Option 1 buy 2 - keep these two and get something that hits about 90 and then get a 60 degree to finalize it.   (fill in two on the short side)
• Option 2 buy 3 - ditch the SW and get the following - 105 yard, 90 yard, and a 60 degree (AW plus select three wedges with 15 yard spacing)
• Option 3 buy 2 - keep these two and get a 110 yard, and an approach (58 or 60 degree)  (AW plus select three wedges with 10 yard spacing)

goals -

• Of the 4 wedges, the PW stays - that 120 yard hit is perfect for me.  So it's about the 3 others.
• I want to maximize the ability to take a full swing (not too hard, not a partial)
• I need flexibility inside of 100 yards, I'm willing to put in the time to assess options for half and partial swings, vs full swings with various amounts of choking up, even marking the grips to get consistency.  This is really what I'm asking (how easy is it to dial in those intervals between full swings).
• I'll hit the clubs directly to get the yardages I want rather than just assume every degree is another 2.5 yard bump

so really - the third bullet happens no matter what, but the second bullet begs the question - I'll have an approach wedge no matter what, but for the three longer wedges would you recommend stay longer with the 10 yard intervals (120/110/100) that'll leave a big gap between them and the AW?  or spread it out to 15 yard intervals to get more range in the easier to hit wedges (120/105/90) - keeps all 4 spaced out decently so I'm not guessing on the span between the AW and the next one up.

Which of the three options sounds good?

Other options to think about?

[geauxforbroke]

Originally Posted by rehmwa

So I have two wedges -

PW (46) - 120 (90 half swing)

SW (54) - 100 (70 half swing)

I like my yardages down through my PW (8i-150, 9i-135, PW-120).  So I'm definitely happy 4i through to my PW.

Now my SW....it's 20 years old (everything else in the bag is new).  And I likely hit that club more than any other as I find myself at 100 or less on most holes when I'm hitting good.  My distances are super repeatable from 7i on down.

I'm really gapped out between the two, and shorter is still a game of feel.  Lately, I've just tried to plan my prior shot to leave me a full swing distance on approach.  I'm not really that good, though, wedge options would help take up the slack.

I have some store credit and want to fit to wedges -

Option 1 buy 2 - keep these two and get something that hits about 90 and then get a 60 degree to finalize it.   (fill in two on the short side)

Option 2 buy 3 - ditch the SW and get the following - 105 yard, 90 yard, and a 60 degree (AW plus select three wedges with 15 yard spacing)

Option 3 buy 2 - keep these two and get a 110 yard, and an approach (58 or 60 degree)  (AW plus select three wedges with 10 yard spacing)

goals -

Of the 4 wedges, the PW stays - that 120 yard hit is perfect for me.  So it's about the 3 others.

I want to maximize the ability to take a full swing (not too hard, not a partial)

I need flexibility inside of 100 yards, I'm willing to put in the time to assess options for half and partial swings, vs full swings with various amounts of choking up, even marking the grips to get consistency.  This is really what I'm asking (how easy is it to dial in those intervals between full swings).

I'll hit the clubs directly to get the yardages I want rather than just assume every degree is another 2.5 yard bump

so really - the third bullet happens no matter what, but the second bullet begs the question - I'll have an approach wedge no matter what, but for the three longer wedges would you recommend stay longer with the 10 yard intervals (120/110/100) that'll leave a big gap between them and the AW?  or spread it out to 15 yard intervals to get more range in the easier to hit wedges (120/105/90) - keeps all 4 spaced out decently so I'm not guessing on the span between the AW and the next one up.

Which of the three options sounds good?

Other options to think about?

I appreciate that you're putting a lot of thought into this, but you may be overthinking it. Wedge play is so much about feel. It's not like you're going to be in the fairway 53 yards out and think "I normally hit this club 75 yards, so I need to hit this with 70.667% power. It just takes a lot of practicing and experimenting.

As far as wedges go, my advice would be to get a 50-52* gap wedge, a 56* sand wedge, and a 60* lob wedge. Once you get comfortable hitting them and really find out what your distances are, you can easily have them bent if you need to tweak the lofts. But starting with a baseline 4-5* between each one is a good rule of thumb. Don't be surprised, though, if you end up with strange gaps. For instance there is a 3* gap between my PW and gap wedge, 6 between my gap and sand wedge, and 4 between my sand wedge and lob wedge. But those are the lofts that work for me.

[GaijinGolfer]

Get a 50 degree wedge.  It will be the perfect club between your PW and SW.

[Willie Malay]

Just get a 58 and be done with it. You can open it up and have a 60+. I play a 56 and wonder why anyone would need more loft than it.

[Datsyuk]

Option 4 (or is it 5 now):

- you like the 54. Get a new 54. A reliable 100.0 yard club is money.

- add a 60. Really good wedge players (like professional grade wedge players) often go PW, 54, 60 (or something very close to that).

120, 100, and ~ 60-80 (where I project a 60 would be for you) is a good mix. You can't have a wedge for every possible distance or you'd have 10 wedges.

[geauxforbroke]

Originally Posted by Willie Malay

I play a 56 and wonder why anyone would need more loft than it.

It's not a matter of need. I probably only "need" 5 or 6 clubs to be able to get around the course with a moderately respectable score. But I certainly would rather have 14 clubs at my disposal.

[Datsyuk]

Originally Posted by Willie Malay

Just get a 58 and be done with it. You can open it up and have a 60+. I play a 56 and wonder why anyone would need more loft than it.

Not every 56 can be opened up that way with a high degree of success. By that logic why would he need a 56 when a 54 could be opened up to 58+?

[WUTiger]

If the new wedges (three or four) don't match your iron set, you need to determine the yardage between the PW and the new AW. Then, fill in the specialty wedges (non-PW) for the higher lofts.

Also, be aware that many wedges only have 1/4" or sometimes 1/8" differences in shaft length as you go from GWs to SWs to LWs. Numbered irons tend to have 1/2" shaft length differences up and down the set; not so with wedges. So, if you have a 50* AW that's only 1/8" longer than a 54* SW, you're not going to get 10 yards difference in distance on full shots.

[rehmwa]

Originally Posted by WUTiger

If the new wedges (three or four) don't match your iron set, you need to determine the yardage between the PW and the new AW. Then, fill in the specialty wedges (non-PW) for the higher lofts.

Also, be aware that many wedges only have 1/4" or sometimes 1/8" differences in shaft length as you go from GWs to SWs to LWs. Numbered irons tend to have 1/2" shaft length differences up and down the set; not so with wedges. So, if you have a 50* AW that's only 1/8" longer than a 54* SW, you're not going to get 10 yards difference in distance on full shots.

Thanks all, great thoughts from all the posts - the above is really what I'm looking to do.  I jumped to a few conclusions (options), but the real answer really is the selection/fitting process, not the end point.  That happens automatically.

I'll start with the 120 yard wedge I already have.

I'll find a decent 58 or 60 AW and see how far it hits on a full swing.

and then pick the other two wedges to fill that yardage gap between the PW and AW well based on yards hit, not degrees of loft (I'll play with the half swings and a single 'fixed' amount of choke on each to see if i can ID a nicely varied range.)  If that equals one of my options, then so be it.  If not, not an issue either.  That'll give me 3 ranges for each club that would be fairly consistent.  "Feel" is nice, but a predictable hit and distance is even better.  Both would be amazing.

I'm really looking forward to playing with more than the old time 2 wedges.  My favorite shot is any approach shot that hits the green, more so even than a big drive - so this will be fun.

I don't really want a chipper, or any more long clubs or woods, so a couple wedges to fill out the 14 club count it is.

[rehmwa]

Originally Posted by Datsyuk  A reliable 100.0 yard club is money.

It's freaky how dead on it is for exactly that distance.

Crazy for a $20 club I found at Target about 15-20 yeards ago.  (the only thing I've done since, is to put matching grips on it like my new Mizunos so the feel is the same)

[rehmwa]

Sale today and a lot of store credit.

The 60 still hit 75 yards on a comfy Goldilocks full swing (not too soft, not too hard).  I thought it would be shorter......

So just ended up with the 60

and a GW (50) which gave about 110

and got to keep my 100 yd club

for almost no cost

So

PW(46) - 120

GW(50) - 110

SW(54) - 100

LW(60) - 75

Went to the range after work and they had the landscape all torn up.  I'm itching to mess with them and see what other ranges I can set up.

thanks all