Battle for the Bag

[GoldenEagle69]

I recently purchased a new 56 degree wedge and after the first practice session, I was left wondering if the new wedge is actually better than my gamer. The battle for the bag was pretty exciting and revealing. So, I thought how cool it would be to hear other similar stories, so please post your battle experiences in this thread. 

 

So, I grabbed them both and went to the chipping green. My gamer is a Mizuno S23 56-10 S grind. The new wedge is a tool. It's a Cobra King X 56 with a wide sole and 14 degrees of bounce and a large clubface. The Cobra is essentially a game improvement wedge and the Mizuno plays much more like a blade, despite the cavity.

 

I had two #1 balls and two #3 balls. The #1 for the new wedge and I used my gamer on the #3 balls so I could identify which clubs hit each ball. I dropped one of each ball on the fringe and tossed the other two 3 to 5 yards off the green. I randomly chose a pin and alternated between the two wedges. To start with my gamer was better on the first few targets. As I continued, it started to even out. They were both performing well.

 

Then I went back further, to a 30 yard pitch and this is where the winner became evident. We have bermuda rough here that likes to grab the clubhead on the way through. On two of the 30 yard pitches the bermuda grabbed the gamer and stopped it dead, resulting in two very bad chunky shots that ended short of the green. Meanwhile, on similar shots the Cobra got through the rough with ease and those balls were 6 to 8 feet short of the pin, but a much better result than my gamer. 

 

I bought this wedge primarily because of how bad the sand is at my home course, but I've found a secondary benefit of ease of use out of the rough. I'm curious if you have had a similar epic battle between two clubs for a spot in the bag. If so, what two clubs were they and what was the deciding factor that made you choose one over the other?

[Thrummyfox]

On 6/7/2025 at 5:01 PM, GoldenEagle69 said:

I recently purchased a new 56 degree wedge and after the first practice session, I was left wondering if the new wedge is actually better than my gamer. The battle for the bag was pretty exciting and revealing. So, I thought how cool it would be to hear other similar stories, so please post your battle experiences in this thread. 

 

So, I grabbed them both and went to the chipping green. My gamer is a Mizuno S23 56-10 S grind. The new wedge is a tool. It's a Cobra King X 56 with a wide sole and 14 degrees of bounce and a large clubface. The Cobra is essentially a game improvement wedge and the Mizuno plays much more like a blade, despite the cavity.

 

I had two #1 balls and two #3 balls. The #1 for the new wedge and I used my gamer on the #3 balls so I could identify which clubs hit each ball. I dropped one of each ball on the fringe and tossed the other two 3 to 5 yards off the green. I randomly chose a pin and alternated between the two wedges. To start with my gamer was better on the first few targets. As I continued, it started to even out. They were both performing well.

 

Then I went back further, to a 30 yard pitch and this is where the winner became evident. We have bermuda rough here that likes to grab the clubhead on the way through. On two of the 30 yard pitches the bermuda grabbed the gamer and stopped it dead, resulting in two very bad chunky shots that ended short of the green. Meanwhile, on similar shots the Cobra got through the rough with ease and those balls were 6 to 8 feet short of the pin, but a much better result than my gamer. 

 

I bought this wedge primarily because of how bad the sand is at my home course, but I've found a secondary benefit of ease of use out of the rough. I'm curious if you have had a similar epic battle between two clubs for a spot in the bag. If so, what two clubs were they and what was the deciding factor that made you choose one over the other?

I had the same between 54* Glide4 and 56* Glide 3 Eye2.

 

For a long time went 54,59 and love the 54 for 70-80 yards but just don’t see it as a sand wedge. 
 

Have also recently gone from S56 to i200 and the stronger lifts mean I’ve had to bring in a 50 degree club, went for the set U wedge and found it covers the shots I like the 54 for easy. 
Had experimented with Ping Glide  Pro forged at 50 previously without the same level of success.