Players that use one primary wedge - What's your frequency of replacement?

[bazinky]

I've always replaced my wedges on a roughly 2-year cycle, which translated to about somewhere between 60-70 rounds of golf and practice. Started this when I used a 54, 60 pretty equally for most of my short game shots and kept this up even after I transitioned to using a 58 for almost of all of wedge play.  

 

Picked up new wedges at the end of this past season mainly to clear out my shop credit and was shocked at how much more spin I was generating despite only having about 40 rounds of play on my primary wedge. I'm suddenly able to back the ball up again, and most importantly, my distance control is vastly improved.   

 

I'm thinking I'm going to need to bite the bullet and start replacing my primary wedge on a yearly basis now, or after about 30 rounds of golf and associated practice. 

 

Anybody else replacing their primary wedges this frequently, or am I just imagining things? FYI, I'm a short-hitting 4 handicap that relies on a putting and wedge play to keep up.

 

[HGLucky13]

I use my 58 for everything inside 80 yds. I probably use that club on every hole because my GIR suck. I also use it to start my warm up and have a dedicated practice once a week with just that club. So I likely hit a couple hundred balls a week outside of play. I replace that wedge every year. But I will hold out replacing my 54 every 2 yrs. It is mainly a full swing club, but it also plays between 80-115. I pull it out 3-4 times a round. I played 70+ rounds last year. I clean my clubs after every shot with a towel so I think that helps a bit.

[BlkNGld]

I think it depends on play and practice as you mention, but also what kind.   The more sand involved, the faster the wear.

 

So everything stays consistent, some pros I've read about are replacing theirs every few weeks.   Of course they're not paying for them and aren't practicing with range balls, either.

 

I've read one rule of thumb that suggests that if a wedges' grip needs replacing, so does the wedge.

[HGLucky13]

1 hour ago, BlkNGld said:

 

I've read one rule of thumb that suggests that if a wedges' grip needs replacing, so does the wedge.

That's interesting. I have never heard that before but it is almost time to replace my 58 and I noticed the last couple of times I've used it it left like the grip was getting slippery. I was thinking it needed changed.

[mat562]

I use a 60 degree wedge for 95% of my greenside shots, the majority of sand shots excpepted. For me they last several years. In the past when I played and practiced a lot, maybe three or four years. My longest stint was with a beryllium Eye 2 L wedge in my teens and early twenties which lasted about 11 years. The bottom three or four grooves were gone by that point though, which is probably way past the point when I should have changed it for a new one. It was a good club though, and the sole grind on it was exactly how I liked it.

 

Sand wedges (my 56 degree club) which I use for most greenside bunker play, as well as pitching? Maybe 18 months to two years, and that was with a lot of balls and almost daily play when I was younger. I used to happily hit bunker shots for three or four hours in my teens, so they had a hard life. The sole wear was probably as significant in affecting the clubs' performance as the face wear was by the time I retired them. A couple of my old ones have the sole stamps completely gone, the bottom few grooves smoothed out and the sweet spot shallowed out. Nowadays they last two or three times as long, as I don't play and practice nearly as much.

 

I've generally played raw 8620 stuff over the years, mainly because I like the look of it as it wears in. Chromed sand wedges looked trashed after a few months of using them as a junior and were laughed at by the time they were a year old with a lot of bunker practice under their belt. The grooves dull a bit quicker on a raw club than they do on a chrome finished wedge, but once a plated wedge is getting a decent bit of face wear the groove edges - and then the sole and lower part of the face - are exposed anyway.

 

I play my wedges for significantly longer than anyone I know though, to the point where I start to see a significant drop off in spin from semi rough and in wet conditions before I replace it. Once I get a nice patina on it and have some confidence when I look down at it it's simply tough to change it for a new one, though, even if it no longer spins like it once did in certain scenarios. The sand wedge, for me, is mainly used for greenside bunker play, some chipping, and pitching once I'm out beyond 40 to 50 yards. Consequently it's only from conditions like semi-rough and/or in wet conditions that I really notice the difference, particularly on partial shots. A 50 yard pitch from wet semi-rough? It's noticeable. 100 yards from dry turf, or pretty much anywhere around the green? Not so much.

 

I know people who will ditch a wedge pretty much once the sand blasting has worn off, which I think is crazy. I've long been told about how much performance I give up by using a really worn wedge, but it used to be the norm among good players and pros when I started playing. Also, there's this wedge of Lee Trevino's, who was a pretty handy short game practitioner, that I snapped a photo of a few years ago...

 

Edited January 16 by mat562

[Phabs]

I'm on year three with my T22 54 and it's about time.  

 

Hit balls twice a week and hit about 200 chips/short wedge shots a week at the practice area. 

[lefthack]

I change mostly out of boredom. I've got at least 200 rounds on my Haywood wedges and my 52 still looks great. I've got about 50 rounds on my PXG's, then I got the Miura wedges a few weeks back. 

 

I'm only playing the Miura's because the black matches my irons. 🤣

[dubbelbogey]

On 1/16/2025 at 1:46 PM, mat562 said:

I know people who will ditch a wedge pretty much once the sand blasting has worn off, which I think is crazy. I've long been told about how much performance I give up by using a really worn wedge, but it used to be the norm among good players and pros when I started playing.

I'm in your camp. Sure, the very best spin for standard, dry conditions comes from that sand-blasted (or equivalent) finish, not the grooves. (I believe Tom Wishon long ago said as much on this very forum.) But that finish goes away very quickly and then the wedge settles into a mode where its spin is relatively consistent for a pretty long time. Sure, not as optimal as that wedge just out of the plastic, but very playable, predictable and able to give reasonable spin in most conditions.

 

[Yuck]

I tend to be steep / spinny so my 52 stays in the bag a long time.  If fact I like it better after a 100 rounds or so.  My 58 I do replace once or twice a year.

Edited January 19 by Yuck

[bazinky]

I think the main issue is that my highest loft wedge (58) is now both my primary approach club inside 90 yards AND my primary bunker club. I'm going to use the older wedge for any sustained bunker practice, since I think that has the most impact on decreasing performance. 

 

My home course has is short, tree-lined, and tight with small, firm greens, so even when playing well you end with a lot of partial shots out of semi-rough. Probably why I am noticing such a profound difference.

[stratgolf]

It's jarring how much your wedges spin when new compared to 20 rounds in. I'm working on annual replacements for my 56 and 60 every year.

[GatorNate11]

I changed wedges pretty often when I was playing regularly and trying to really play well, then as the frequency and desire lessened, so too did the changing. I just started using a new 58° after playing the same 60° since 2017. I tend to keep wedges for probably 5 or more years at this point, I’m sure I’m losing spin but it’s happening slow enough that all I really notice is the wedge does what I expect it to do. Maybe when it was new that was backing up 3’ and now it’s releasing 3’ instead, but as long as it does that consistently, I don’t really care that much. 

[MountainKing]

58 is yearly, in a few instances if I really iiked a certain model I'll buy a new version of the same club the next year on sale.  - with how much it gets used and abused there's a pretty noticeable drop off in spin from early in the season to the end of the season.