Difference between Standard SW/PW and Wedges?

Just a queries that puzzled me for as long as i started playing golf. In a standard sets of Irons, there usually have PW, SW and even AW. But some people including me still went out to get Wedges, Titlelist, Cleveland CGx.

I have a 60* Cleveland wedge, the reason i choose 60* is because i tot i already have a SW so 60 just nice.

But in actual facts what are the difference?

If i would like to buy a new sets of iron, take for example PING, should i leave out the PW and SW and get myself some wedges instead?

Personal Preference.

I agree.. personal preference. But there's also something to be said about good wedges like Vokeys and the CGs which make them appealing and possibly better than your standard P, A, S wedges which came with your irons.

well for me, I prefer a blade looking wedge especially around the green...and such, the std SW or PW, don really suit me....ok ok, I should say, my std is not up there yet to use them (more appropriate la)......................................and tats why I change.

Why blade looking, I felt that I can take it cleaner and more control........(I always ask myself if this is just an imaginary thing...)

nice............now i can skip the Wedges liao buy after market wedges, save some mola

hoppie wrote:

Just a queries that puzzled me for as long as i started playing golf. In a standard sets of Irons, there usually have PW, SW and even AW. But some people including me still went out to get Wedges, Titlelist, Cleveland CGx.

I have a 60* Cleveland wedge, the reason i choose 60* is because i tot i already have a SW so 60 just nice.

But in actual facts what are the difference?

If i would like to buy a new sets of iron, take for example PING, should i leave out the PW and SW and get myself some wedges instead?

Usually the recommendation is to carry 4 wedges. Approach, Pitching, Sand and Gap.
As the usual "A" "P" and "S" on some irons may help, changing the dynamics and buying all wedges adds a "fun" element to the game in varying situation.

I carry a 60Degree, 56Degree and 52Degree. All of these are < 75 to the green. Easy full swing.
I am practicing really hard now, on my Pitching Iron to avoid any of the above wedges where possible, unless a crocodile walks pass and I shanked the pitching shot.

my obervation:

some iron sets include PW and SW, some iron sets only have PW, no SW.

Main considering factor for wedges are lofts and bounce.

Loft for PW is about 48 deg, AW is about 52 deg, SW is about 56 deg , LW is about 60 deg
(all +/- 1 deg)

For bounce, it really depend on individual swing and how you wanted to use these wedges, some prefer less bounce, some wanted more bounce.

I also notice some like to get iron set that just include PW, no SW, then they can get the other few wedges of a same brand/model, like vokey, Eidolon etc

Oh. like to add one more thing.
If you have trouble on sand bunker a 60Degree or 64Degree is very easy to hit.
Hence depending on your lie and sand sentiments, useful wedge to have, if you grapple with too many patterns in mastering sand shots. like me ^^

smallhorse wrote:

Oh. like to add one more thing.
If you have trouble on sand bunker a 60Degree or 64Degree is very easy to hit.
Hence depending on your lie and sand sentiments, useful wedge to have, if you grapple with too many patterns in mastering sand shots. like me ^^

I too use a 60 deg lob out of the sand, I find I get more height out of the sand with it than with a sand wedge for less roll out and a quicker stop.

There is a caveat here though. Whether to use a 60 deg depends on how you swing the club in the bunker smallhorse. A steeper swing may not work so well since the lob wedge has less bounce than a sand wedge, about 6 deg versus 8 to 10 deg in the sand wedge. Less bounce means the club will dig in deeper into the sand with a steeper backswing (V shaped backswing). A shallower swing (U shaped backswing) pairs better with a 60 deg lob wedge for most of us.

A foot note here:

Coarse, firm, or wet sand, better to play a wedge with less bounce to dig in just a little bit more.

Powdery soft sand, a wedge with more bounce works better, helping the sole to glide through.

Or you can use the same wedge with whatever bounce you have and learn to execute a steeper or shallower swing for the different bunker conditions. Much harder to do of course since how many of us actually have the time nor inclination to spend hours in the bunker to develop the skills.

There are also V sole wedges by Eidolon to consider...

Technospaz wrote:

I agree.. personal preference. But there's also something to be said about good wedges like Vokeys and the CGs which make them appealing and possibly better than your standard P, A, S wedges which came with your irons.

My Personal preference is : No such thing as good wedges or bad wedges, only got golfers with good skills and golfers with not so good skills.

Ssquirrel wrote:

Technospaz wrote:

I agree.. personal preference. But there's also something to be said about good wedges like Vokeys the CGs which make them appealing and possibly better than your standard P, A, S wedges which came with your irons.

My Personal preference is : No such thing as good wedges or bad wedges, only got golfers with good skills and golfers with not so good skills.

My personal preference is : Hit hard, look up! Get on the fairway and on the green pin high, go to bunker ff??? An idol of many here told me "you should not be in the bunker in the first place!". If want to play sand go to the beach, not the golf course.

Ssquirrel wrote:

Technospaz wrote:

I agree.. personal preference. But there's also something to be said about good wedges like Vokeys and the CGs which make them appealing and possibly better than your standard P, A, S wedges which came with your irons.

My Personal preference is : No such thing as good wedges or bad wedges, only got golfers with good skills and golfers with not so good skills.

Sigh... the unfortunate truth.

hoppie wrote:

If i would like to buy a new sets of iron, take for example PING, should i leave out the PW and SW and get myself some wedges instead?

golf_snowman wrote:

my obervation:
Main considering factor for wedges are lofts and bounce.

Loft for PW is about 48 deg, AW is about 52 deg, SW is about 56 deg , LW is about 60 deg
(all +/- 1 deg)

For bounce, it really depend on individual swing and how you wanted to use these wedges, some prefer less bounce, some wanted more bounce.

I share the same view as golf_snowman above.

The most important determinant affecting irons distance is loft. Generally, there is about 4* difference in loft for mid & short irons and about 3* between long irons. A 4* loft usually means a difference of about 10m between clubs.

In the quest to be known as the "magic irons that hit the ball the longest", most manufacturers (Taylormade, Callaway, etc) have been reducing loft on their irons from early to mid-2000s. This strategy also help to boost sales of their wedges to bridge gaps between PW & SW. To put it simply, the PW (45*loft) today is the 9-iron (45*loft) a decade ago.

And by now, PW lofts between iron sets from different manufacturers and from different generations can vary between 44* to 50*. That's about 15m difference! The latest Ping K15 irons have 45* loft on their PW whereas the latest Taylormade TP MB irons have a 48* PW.

So, if you leave out the PW, you must be careful to match the loft differences. Or you may end up with a huge distance gap. Alternatively, you can buy an iron set with weak lofts (ie PW 48*).

If you observe most tour pros' irons specs, many still prefer weak lofts (ie 48-49* PW). Have you wondered why?

To add on for the confused who are worried about what lofts their PW is, there is a general gauge.

The less forgiving blade like sets for better players will mostly stick with the more traditional PW lofts of 48 to 49 degrees.

The game improvement sets and irons that promise longer distance will generally have a PW loft of 45 degrees.

Cobra's S3 irons are the exception with the strongest PW loft to date, 43 degrees.

Of course for the anal who want to be absolutely sure what their iron lofts are, you can log on to the manufacturers websites for the specs.

wah lau...PW at 43 deg...sounds like play cheat to me leh....haha !!!

i think my 9iron distance also cannot match up with this 43deg PW...haha !!

Long yes, but ball can't stop on the green, loft too low already.

PW is control club, what for want to hit long?

Want more distance, take more club lor... don't understand this obsession with longer distance with shorter clubs. Just macho man bravado.

Birdman wrote:

Long yes, but ball can't stop on the green, loft too low already.

But how come my 9 degree driver's ball mark is always in front of the ball?

Quote :

b.b.carabanesis wrote:

Birdman wrote:

Long yes, but ball can't stop on the green, loft too low already.

But how come my 9 degree driver's ball mark is always in front of the ball?

wah .....that is like saying you can backspin with your driver......clap x 10.

Duval_S wrote:

Quote :

b.b.carabanesis wrote:

Birdman wrote:

Long yes, but ball can't stop on the green, loft too low already.

But how come my 9 degree driver's ball mark is always in front of the ball?

wah .....that is like saying you can backspin with your driver......clap x 10.

Actually that is quite common with the driver.

Chances are that you are hitting an out-to-in "casting" downswing with a very steep AOA (angle of attack) into the ball.

On your missed drives, some would look like a topped shot, where you can see the ballmark just a few inches in front of your tee (and slightly left) while the ball rolls about 20-40m forward.

At other times, what would feel like a perfectly struck tee shot would actually go straight left (no hook), sometimes with a little fade. Both are tell tales signs of "pulling from the top."

If you check your stats on a trackman, your driver backspin would be very high. Perhaps even reaching 4000-5000rpm or more. And that's where a lot of the power in your drive was wasted - excessive spin.

Going down in loft and using a tip stiff shaft does not help as much as a swing change.

Lest we threadjack, it's better to start a new topic if you wish to discuss more....

wedges wedges....we are talking wedges here...potatos wedges also can...haha !!

reason why people get wedges is cause it's probably the most frequently used club after putter, so you want to get the most comfortable club available.
As some also noted out, some set of iron does not come with AW and SW. I"m using Mizuno MP 68 and it stopped at PW.

At the moment I add 60 and 54 to fill in the gap.
Just to note it's easy to launch high and stop the ball with these wedges some even able to do a back spin, which is all critical when approaching the green.