Pondering what wedges to use..

Hi everyone, I had recently moved from Callaway graphite irons (which has PW & SW) to TM R9 with NSPRO 950GH shafts (4-PW).

Did some reading online and I must confess that I'm lost with all the available options. From LW to GW and other variables such as loft and bounce. If I were to go for a golf game now, I only know I lack a SW.

So my question is, how should I start in selecting wedges? If I were to purchase a SW, what are the main selection criteria? And will I require any other wedges?

Thanks in advance.

R9 specs are as follows:
http://www.taylormadegolf.com/products/irons/r9-irons/product-detail-specifications

Your PW has a loft of 46 deg ... Therefore 2 options come to mind immediately ...

1) 46, 52, 58
2) 46, 50/52, 56, 60

More importantly hit them against a launch monitor, and have them bent/ adjusted so that you have consistant distance gaps

A good clubfitter like BFG can help you with this

Good luck!

Use to have 2 SW in bag 56/11 & 56/14 & Gap Wedge 52/08 . For the 56 it depend on the condition that u play that day & becos after all the wedges I only have 14club so no problem

acidic88 wrote:

Hi everyone, I had recently moved from Callaway graphite irons (which has PW & SW) to TM R9 with NSPRO 950GH shafts (4-PW).

Did some reading online and I must confess that I'm lost with all the available options. From LW to GW and other variables such as loft and bounce. If I were to go for a golf game now, I only know I lack a SW.

So my question is, how should I start in selecting wedges? If I were to purchase a SW, what are the main selection criteria? And will I require any other wedges?

Thanks in advance.

Standard Sand Iron has 56 degree loft. So you need some thing around that.

What you need to be aware of is the bounce angle. The more bounce the easier out of sand but more care must be taken when chipping.

8-10 degress of bounce is good enough.

All good wedges have both the loft and bounce numbers stamped on them.

Vokey, Cleveland, Callaway all good, depends as usual with golf equipment, on your budget.

I have my theory about the number of wedges.

I do think that the advice of getting wedges to have consistent distance gaps is good, but it'll depend on the distance you are hitting with your current clubs. For example, if you are somewhat long hitter, you maybe getting 120m with your PW (loft=46 deg), so you might consider getting 52 deg (prob 100m), 56 deg (80m-90m) and 60 deg (60m-70m).

If you are like me, shorter hitter, PW goes 90m-100m, I use 52 deg (70m-80m) and 58 deg (50m-60m). For the short chips, depending on amount of green to work with, alternate between 52 deg and 58 deg. I find that I can work well with the wedges if I use them enough, and not have too many to play around, but that's just my opinion.

look up for the lie:
-for soft and fluffy sand, use higher bounce sw, hit 1' behind ball.
-for wet and firm sand, use the opposite, hit <1' behind ball.
-for thick rough ard green, use higher bounce lw for chipping and lob shoot.
-for firm rough ard green, use the opposite.

all shot done with open stance or again depending on the lie.

hope that helps.

http://www.titleist.com/vokey_wedge_guide/

cwpei8888 wrote:

look up for the lie:
-for soft and fluffy sand, use higher bounce sw, hit 1' behind ball.
-for wet and firm sand, use the opposite, hit <1' behind ball.
-for thick rough ard green, use higher bounce lw for chipping and lob shoot.
-for firm rough ard green, use the opposite.

all shot done with open stance or again depending on the lie.

hope that helps.

Wow, how many wedges do you carry?

depends, 6 at the first 9 then 3 at the back 9.

lost or sold the other 3 along the way.

joking aside, it's always good to check the green, weather, wind, and rough condition before tee-off to decide what to carry.

i am a one wedge person...anything tht is not in the bunker...fm 80-0 m fm green....I use my 51deg wedge.....I don even know what one will call such wedge...whether its AW, GW, LW...etc etc....

I call it my ' Utility Wedge '

golf is such an unfair games. only allowing 14 clubs per round.

I wish to use all 5 -sets per round. darn...

but it will be called football then.

Thanks to all who answered my queries. Another question would be, is the amount of backspin important?

ummm ... although the type of wedge is a factor ... i think for most of us beginners and not so skillful amatuers, how u strike the ball is more critical to whether you can impart spin on the ball or not ...

also, it depends on whether you are talking about a full swing, pitch shot, punch, low running shot ... etc

SW is the most important iron in my bag. Use it for all purposes for distance below 90m.

cwpei8888 wrote:

depends, 6 at the first 9 then 3 at the back 9.

lost or sold the other 3 along the way.

joking aside, it's always good to check the green, weather, wind, and rough condition before tee-off to decide what to carry.

Does that mean that in the booth of your car, there are a lot of extra wedges with different lofts and different bounces? So when you reached the car park of the golf club, then you decide which wedge to select after judging the weather at that moment?

Hey,

just my 5 cent idea....

If you do a lot of reading, most Golf Pros carry 3 to 4 wedges in their bag.

That's why it's called "your Scoring club"

Most off the rack PW, are either 45/ 46*
and most often intermediate and advanced Golfers would either
buy a 52 or 54* wedge....your AW / or GW

and for SW, its either you get a 56 or 58*

In my case, I often bring a 52* and 58*

with 52* wedge, I can "adjust my loft" between 51* if I want to "bump" it or adjust the lie to 54* ....depending on what shot I want to make.

With my 58* wedge, I can adjust the loft between 56* , 58* and 60*...making it more flexible and versatile. For Bunker/ sand shots...I can open the 58* to 60* and making my sand shot easier to make.

hope this helps

lastly, some wedge combination goes like this....

54 and 60*....just like TW
52 , 60 and 64* by Phil Mickleson

Happy Golfing

Well, I bought a TM Rac 56* for now. Felt really good so far. Will like get another 52* after I finish my shaft and putter journey.