52-08 gap wedge; Get a sand wedge or just open the gap?

[Foot Wedge]

Check out Cleveland wedges on second swing or eBay.  From what I’m seeing they do list bounce angle in the description.  And if they don’t look at the picture, if there’s one dot it’s low bounce, two dots is medium bounce and three is high bounce.  I also have the 50, 54, 58 setup, but only the 54 and 58 are Clevelands, the 50 is the U wedge that came with my irons.  However, this setup gave me nice yardage gaps with the U being 110-120 yds, 54 is 100-110, and 58 is 85-95.  As far as getting in trouble within 80 yds, just stay away from that to be honest.  I try to leave a 120 yard approach because then I can use a full swing with the more forgiving U wedge.  Be honest with yourself in knowing where your clubs will leave you distance-wise.

Now for the short game issues, I can tell you these 2 cleveland wedges really helped my game.  Your post of skulled chips sent shivers down my spine as I recalled the various worm-burners from my hand-me-down 52* wedge from before I decided to invest a bit in my golf equipment.  The low bounce (1 dot) 58* is great off tight lies, and can be opened up easily to allow a high handicapper to pull off lifesaving flop shots.  Higher loft gets the ball up in a hurry and works great for chips.  The 54 2-dot is my sand wedge and 100-110 yd club which I use a lot less because the 58 is my go to when I miss greens. But it’s a nice club and works well in the sand and for chips with fluffy lies.  I bought both in great condition off eBay for a total of about $110, if that's something you'll consider.

[Dave2512]

When I went to "traditional" lofts changing irons earlier this year it meant bringing a 3 iron in so I dropped the 58 and 54 is my most lofted wedge. I don't miss the 58 and I really only used it because it was that or pare down to 13 clubs, which I did when I walked. I am not often looking at full swing shots with wedges so their gap is meaningless to me. From 100 in it's anything from 8 iron to most lofted wedge. From 50 in it's typically some variation of a flighted pitch to a specific area of the green, rare to fly it to a flag. In the sand I've never had one club to get out. Anything longer than 5-10 yards usually means opening up a 50 or more and hitting it hard to get it to the green

[WUTiger]

2 hours ago, Dave2512 said:

... In the sand I've never had one club to get out. Anything longer than 5-10 yards usually means opening up a 50 or more and hitting it hard to get it to the green

To get the handle on sand options, go out to a sandy hole on a slow day and try different clubs from the different bunkers: fairway and greenside and near-greenside (60-yard blast really tough). In an hour you'll learn a lot. As @Dave2512 suggests, find out what works for you.