Wedge combinations

[mizuno]

My current wedge set is a 52*, 56* and 60* with 47* PW.  In my new irons the PW is 46* so I trying to decide do I bend the 52* 1 * strong to even the gaps a bit and keep the rest the same or invest in new wedges and go to 50*, 54* and 58* combination.  Any thoughts?  Anybody notice a difference between a 56* and 54* SW in getting out of a bunker?  Thanks!

[rollingrock]

New irons always make wedge gapping interesting an interesting decision these days with the stronger lofted irons.   I've recently been through a similar transition, and these are a few things that wound up shaping my decision:

 

* Do you play a lot of full shots with your wedges?  I really don't play a lot of full shots with my sand and lob wedges, but my gap is basically an 11 iron.  The yardage I hit a 50* is one I see a lot on the course.    I have to stand on a 52 to get it the same distance, and I don't like swinging out of control with short irons as it leads to some bad contact.

* With your two highest lofted wedges I'd pay as much attention to bounce as anything else.  I like having a sand wedge with a lot of bounce, and a lob wedge with less.

* Are you comfortable opening up the face with your higher lofted wedges, or do you play them square?  I like opening up lob wedge, so 58 worked better than 60 for me and yielded more consistent results.

 

As you can tell, I landed on 50/54/58.  I went with an S18 50 (which can be had for a song these days), and T20s in the 54 & 58.

 

 

[waltonsfinest]

My PW is 47 and I carry a 52,54,58. Yardages are 115, 85, 55. The only wedge I hit full is the 52. Love the trajectory control I get

[Myherobobhope]

5 hours ago, mizuno said:

My current wedge set is a 52*, 56* and 60* with 47* PW.  In my new irons the PW is 46* so I trying to decide do I bend the 52* 1 * strong to even the gaps a bit and keep the rest the same or invest in new wedges and go to 50*, 54* and 58* combination.  Any thoughts?  Anybody notice a difference between a 56* and 54* SW in getting out of a bunker?  Thanks!

I’d play your current set and see how it works... I play a 54 in the bunker and it’s fine. 50, 54, 58 is my current setup and I like it better than 52 56 60 for me... 

 

next set of wedges will probably be slightly tweaked with a more forgiving gap wedge and possibly sand wedge.

[Duct Tape]

I have a 52 / 58 combo with my 48 degree Apex 19 gap wedge.  Seems to work for me and bag is a little lighter to carry. 

[SEP1006]

You can easily play a 54* in the bunker instead of a 56*. That's what I have done for a few years now. It's all about getting the right bounce and opening the face ( if needed ).

 

I play 50*-12, 54*-12 and 58*- 6 in the 54* in soft sand and the 58* in firm or wet sand.

Edited October 19, 2020 by SEP1006

[dlygrisse]

It’s literally 1 degree difference.  At most 3 yards bigger gap.  I mean if having perfect Gaps is that important mentally to you bend the 52 to 51, or learn to deloft it a bit by closing it a hair.  Or probably the best option, just don’t worry about it.  The odds you get into a situation on the course where this hinders your execution are very small.  
 

play shots, not gaps, rarely do you have a perfect gap yardage, unless you are in a simulator. 

[setter02]

4 minutes ago, dlygrisse said:

It’s literally 1 degree difference.  At most 3 yards bigger gap.  I mean if having perfect Gaps is that important mentally to you bend the 52 to 51, or learn to deloft it a bit by closing it a hair.  Or probably the best option, just don’t worry about it.  The odds you get into a situation on the course where this hinders your execution are very small.  
 

play shots, not gaps, rarely do you have a perfect gap yardage, unless you are in a simulator. 

 

Not all 1*'s are equal when it comes down to spin.  His new set PW could spin less and travel further, thus creating more of a gap than already there.  

 

Personally I made the switch to 50/54/58 almost 15 years ago when I had a set of 695CBs with a 46* PW.  Have stuck with it ever since unless playing a set with a 47* or 48* PW, then I go 52/58.  Was never really comfortable with a 60* in my hands, no issues with all 58s since.  Also zero issues with a 54* out of bunkers unless really hard packed, but that is a bounce issue with that club and then I just go to my lower bounced 58*.

[jomatty]

I wouldn’t overthink it until you see if you have a yardage gapping issue.  You could also replace the 52 with a 50 but keep the 56 and 60.  That’s what I play, 50,56,60 and I like it a lot.  I had 50,54,58 before that and while I like the 54 better for full shots, I like the 56 better in sand and for chipping (usually use lob wedge from sand anyways) so it just depends on your game and what is more important.  Fairly likely you won’t have an issue with your existing wedges though...

[JDennis]

I switched this year from 52-56-60 to 50-55 (54 bent to 55)-60. Mainly did it because my 52 would leave me just < ----> that much short more than I care to admit.

[nitram]

Why not just bend your new PW to 47 and carry on?

 

 

[MPAndreassi]

Like some of the earlier posters had mentioned my pitching and gap wedges are basically just an extension of my irons, typically full or 3/4 shots only. I’ve been playing my sand wedge at 55 and lob at 60 for years. Those distances are so dialed in that I don’t want to have to readjust my whole short game. I’ve modified the loft on the gap wedge slightly as pitching wedges have gotten stronger. It started at 52 and is presently at 50. 

[Fairway14]

8 hours ago, mizuno said:

My current wedge set is a 52*, 56* and 60* with 47* PW.  In my new irons the PW is 46* so I trying to decide do I bend the 52* 1 * strong to even the gaps a bit and keep the rest the same or invest in new wedges and go to 50*, 54* and 58* combination.  Any thoughts?  Anybody notice a difference between a 56* and 54* SW in getting out of a bunker?  Thanks!

 

Go 52*, 56*, 64*.

[ChipNRun]

Before you go bending current or buying new wedges, check out the distance gap between the 46* PW and the 52* GW.

 

If the wedges have hotter faces than the new iron set 46*, the 46-52-56 might give you the best gapping.

 

Or 46 - 51 - 56 might give best gapping. You just have to hit some shots to find out, before you start bending/buying.

 

(Note: My WITB shows 48 - 54 - 58. Two years ago I had a 60*, but had distance control problems and switched to a 58*.)

[golfandtennisfan]

I would stick with what you have and play a little bit to get an idea of the gap and tweak from there. Likely nothing will need to be done and keeping lofts you know well will help you scoring as you get used to new irons. 
 

I used 46 52 56 60 for years and my theory is I want consistent gapping in the wedge part of my game in scoring clubs where partial shots will be the norm. Of course having said that this season I switched for the first time ever to 46 52 58. I gained more adding a long club (5w) than I lost with wedge versatility. You will have to figure out what is best for you and I suspect it will be leaving the wedges as is. Good luck. 

[Hobbs]

Like others have posted, I'd recommend sticking to what your typically play.  I was a 50, 54, 58 for several years.  Changed my irons for a short time and wanted consistent gapping my wedges.  I then went with a 50, 55 (56 bent to 55) and 60.  Absolutely disaster for me.  My wedge game suffered due to lack of confidence because I kept telling myself about the new lofts.  The 50 was fine, but the 55 and 60 just reacted different for me.  I'm sure it was me and not the clubs, but golf is a mental sport.

I went back to my "normal" set up 50, 54, 58 and my short game returned to normal and I wasn't having any issues with the "mental game".

The 54/10 out of the sand is great, never needed more loft.  I used the 58/6 in the green side bunker when the sand is packed or wet, but its more of a bounce issue than loft.  Good luck.

[bbfifas]

I have never found a wedges gapping and sole/bounce configuration that is set it and forget it for me.  I have taken a different approach this month after having same set up for a while.  Going with a 11 iron (aka A wedge at 50* to match the set).  I picked up some glide 2.0 wedges in 54 SS and 58 SS, because I wanted to keep it simple and cohesive.  The soles have enough bounce and playability for all types of shots so I'm going to experiment with it.  Also found a set with matching 120 modus like my irons, so again, trying to keep it cohesive for once.  

 

I'm used to a 56/60 combo but here is what I found.  When using the 56 out of the bunker I would say 9/10 times I'm coming up short.  I really think going 54 might help a tad there.  Same for the 60 degree around the green, usually coming up short causing me to play square face all the time.  I think the 58 might help a tad here in that category also.   Also think the 54/58 might gap better for full shots.   We will see experiment in progress.  

[JB_007]

I think you should do some gap testing with the 46* and see how far it goes on full swings. Once you know that number, fill in the rest of your gaps as you see fit with the clubs that you think give you the best chance to score. 

 

I personally play only a 56/60, but my PW is 49*. For me, I'm more comfortable hitting multiple shots with my 49/56 to cover the distance spread. It allows for me to have more options at the top where I struggle a bit more.  

[scooterhd2]

I have a 46* PW as well. Tried to make a 52 degree Ping Glide 3.0 GW work for the better of the year and it just didnt. Had a good 20-25 yard gap. 130-108. Always got in between clubs, and got inconsistent distances trying to step on the 52*. Especially with wind, where it was a nightmare. I'm sure others have more finesse with the PW than I, but besides choking down, opening the face, and taking a 9-3 swing, it's hard to shorten the distance to the right number. Especially when you need alot of spin on these harder Arizona greens to stick the ball on a certain tier. 

 

Picked up a 50* RTX4. Have played a view rounds and its night and day. Even though its just a few yards longer, it just a 15 yard gap now. 130-115. And a more proper gap to my SW as well. No more guessing, or long debates about what club to use. Feel like I can finally play to the number. 

Edited October 20, 2020 by scooterhd2

[LeoLeo99]

You already know your current wedge distances and how to use them.  Don't change them.  Adjust your new irons around them.  Play at least 6 rounds to decide if you really have a problem.  

[TourSpoon]

I played 48-54-60 for years and just got into the AP2s with a 46 pw. I decided to treat the pw as an iron and picked up 50-54-58. To me the 54 is the perfect utility infielder able to play any position and the 58 is more reliable distance wise and great out of the bunkers. Good luck figuring it out, that's the fun part! 

[gprubes]

My PW is at 45° and I use to play a 58° as my highest wedge but couldn't control the touch shots like I wanted to, so I wanted to get a 60° in the wedge set I bought.  I found a great deal on my wedges and could go 50°, 55°, and 60°.  The gapping is perfect degree wise and it works perfect as well in distance gapping, about 15yds between each.