Is carrying only three "wedges" a bad idea?

[Hacker James]

or just carry the Xe1 Wedge.  Everybody knows it is THE secret weapon that will revolutionize your game. Sez so on the Golf Channel.

[mcanadiens]

Not that I'm a fine example of what to do, but here's how I go.

98% of the time, I'm using a SW on anything inside of 70 yards. I do have a 60-degree in the bag, but its strictly a trouble wedge. Most often I use it to try to get over lips of bunkers. Occasionally, it works out if I'm short sided and need to fly a bunker and still hold the green.

The PW is almost exclusively used for the 105-70 yard shots, There might be an occasion when I want a slightly lower trajectory on a pitch shot, but that's rare. 

[Hacker James]

actually, I have been working a little on this and have been able to flop both SW and GW fairly well.  I don't carry the LW any more. 

[onthehunt526]

I'm wondering if I should have titled this thread: "Do I really need a lob wedge?"

In my opinion, it's likely that I am not getting the length of swing down. My 54° has the same bounce as the 58° and I can do basically the same things with it. My 54° is usually about an 85-90 yard club, but if I practiced with it more, I could get 100 yards out of it with consistency all the way down to 30 or so yards. 

So that's why I was thinking a 56° which would be about a 95 yard club.

I have some swing and setup issues to work out. But I'll try the 45-50-56 setup and see how it works out for a bit... I will let you know how it all works out.

[Brian W]

34 minutes ago, onthehunt526 said:

I'm wondering if I should have titled this thread: "Do I really need a lob wedge?"

In my opinion, it's likely that I am not getting the length of swing down. My 54° has the same bounce as the 58° and I can do basically the same things with it. My 54° is usually about an 85-90 yard club, but if I practiced with it more, I could get 100 yards out of it with consistency all the way down to 30 or so yards. 

So that's why I was thinking a 56° which would be about a 95 yard club.

I have some swing and setup issues to work out. But I'll try the 45-50-56 setup and see how it works out for a bit... I will let you know how it all works out.

I carry the PW from my set (*45) and then 3 wedges, 50, 55, and 60

I think the point here is not how far you hit all those clubs with full shots but what you can do inside the highest lofted club full length shot.  If you are hitting that 56 at 95 yards, what are you going to do inside there.  I give up a long club for the extra wedge because I prefer to be more versatile with them inside the full shots (and even 3/4 or 1/2 shots).  I will hit the 50* as a hinge and hold or bump and run type shot.  I use the 55* for lots of different shots.  I know a lot of people struggle with the 60* but I like to use it around the greens quite a bit.  If I need to plop it up and stick it, its the perfect club.  

All that said, it would be possible to do everything you need with just 1 wedge so I think it all comes to personal preference.  I would say getting a high bounce 58 or 60 would be a good investment as they really come in handy for me

 

[onthehunt526]

32 minutes ago, Brian W said:

I carry the PW from my set (*45) and then 3 wedges, 50, 55, and 60

I think the point here is not how far you hit all those clubs with full shots but what you can do inside the highest lofted club full length shot.  If you are hitting that 56 at 95 yards, what are you going to do inside there.  I give up a long club for the extra wedge because I prefer to be more versatile with them inside the full shots (and even 3/4 or 1/2 shots).  I will hit the 50* as a hinge and hold or bump and run type shot.  I use the 55* for lots of different shots.  I know a lot of people struggle with the 60* but I like to use it around the greens quite a bit.  If I need to plop it up and stick it, its the perfect club.  

All that said, it would be possible to do everything you need with just 1 wedge so I think it all comes to personal preference.  I would say getting a high bounce 58 or 60 would be a good investment as they really come in handy for me

 

Agreed... I hit a lot of chip and run shots with 8i-PW I really only use more loft of tougher greenside shots grom crappy lies.

[arturo28mx]

I only carry a pitching wedge (46 degrees) a gap wedge (50 degrees) and a sand wedge (56 degrees)

I stopped carrying a lob wedge (58 degrees). I can pretty much do anything around the green with the 56 and it KEEPS MY LIFE SIMPLER.

[jsgolfer]

I carry a 46 Degree PW, 50 Degree GW, 54 degree SW and a 58 degree LW.  I go for having 4 degree difference in my wedges, but that is just a personal preference.  I hit the 54 and 58 frequently.   I used to carry a 62 degree too, but now I carry my mini-driver instead.

[hamishmacduff]

Hi. I'm new here, pretty new to golf, and a terrible hacker. But I actually carry five wedges -- the usual four, plus an ancient Northwestern Shot Saver that I got for $3 at Value Village. I didn't think I'd use it much, but I was wrong. My home course has horrible thick rough right up to the greens, and it's the only thing that has ever worked for me up close. It's kind of a fat-soled 60-degree anvil on a stick. I still carry another lob wedge for versatility, cause you can't close or open up the loft with the shot saver. It's got too much sole.

[newtogolf]

I just received the 2 Edel wedges I ordered, 51* and 57* to go with the 45* PW that comes with the irons.  

[Liko81]

On 9/18/2016 at 5:35 PM, onthehunt526 said:

Hello all,

@WUTiger will not shoot me dead for this because it's part of my Sweet 16.

As a lot of you know I have the following 17 clubs I typically rotate in.

Driver, Mini-Driver, 4-wood, 7-wood, 3-hybrid, 4-hybrid, 4-iron thru PW, AW, 54°, 58°, Putter. 

My EXi Gap wedge is currently in my closet in two pieces (I am in the process of sending it back to TE to get it repaired or replaced). 

This is the question, I'm thinking about getting a 56° wedge and taking out the 54° and 58° wedges. Don't know what the fourteen in the bag would look like but I suck and I mean suck with a 58° (unless I'm 30 yards or less from the hole).

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I currently play 46-52-56, mainly because I don't have a lot of money kicking around for new wedges. I recently gapped them and came up with about a 25-yard gap between PW and GW, then 15 yards between GW and SW. I'm considering picking up the matching 50* UW for my Ping G10 set off 2nd Swing to fill the gap. If I go with a standalone wedge instead, it'll likely be something closer to 48* to handle the additional distance difference inherent in extreme cavity-weighting versus more traditional cut-muscle wedges.

In any case, 3 wedges is playable (your PW should really be thought of more like a 10-iron in this day and age), but you may find yourself having to back off your full swing sooner. With four or even five wedges ending at 60*, depending on what the resulting gaps are you could be hitting full swings as close as 40 yards. With a balanced set of just three wedges, assuming they gap relatively evenly, there are two scenarios; either your full swing with your highest available loft is still a genuine "approach" shot from 100+ yards out and you're pitching from anywhere inside that, or you can swing full from 100, 80 and 60 yards but have to choke down/back off a stronger club to hit 90 or 70.

Which is the more palatable depends on what you have to do more often. My "home course" is a Par-70 with only two Par-5 holes, neither exceptionally long (for a competent player anyway), so when I'm pitching on it's because I missed my approach shot (which happens fairly often) and so I'm between 5-20 yards off. There's really nothing anyone's doing with a full swing at that range except from a bunker. If you're not hitting very often from between 40 and 100 yards, then three wedges leaving the 58* home and using the 54* for sand only will probably serve you well. If, however, your home course features a lot of shorter par-4s and 5s, where your drive and/or fairway shot isn't quite enough to roll to the green giving you a pitch-and-putt birdie chance, then you'll want as many reliable short-game weapons as your bag allows, so you can stay full and thus get more consistent results.

So, be honest with yourself. Play a round and mark each shot on the little hole diagrams of your scorecard (or even better if you can do it quickly, use a GPS app to mark each lie and record the club you hit). Figure out what shots you have to hit most often from what distances in a normal game, and what clubs you're currently using. This will tell you what clubs in your bag are expendable, whether to meet the 14-club limit or just to shed some weight.

[mvmac]

I go 45°, 50°, 55° and 60°.