4 wedgers

[jammydodger]

hybrids which I hate with a passion. Fugly looking things, they just dont suit my eye.

I'm with Craw on this one , hate the awful things. I have been tinkering with a 60 wedge lately but its just not consistent enough for me to put in the bag permanently. I also have a big gap from my somtimes 3 iron or 2 iron to my 3 wood. But hey i'm good enough to be able to get by without a 4th wedge or a hybrid so I dont really care. Sometimes I only have 12 clubs in the bag and feel comfortable playing any shot that comes up.

 

[Whee]

Once mine is delivered, it will be mainly for full shots into the green.

After a couple of hours practise with it, i'll be confident that I could use either my 52*, 56* or 60* chipping onto the green and putting the ball in the same place. Hopefully.

I can't remember the last time I put my 3 wood onto a green - i'm just not that accurate with it.

I'm much less bothered about the gap between 3 wood and hybrid than I am about PW to SW.

If you're happy with the club choices you have made available to yourself, then that's all that matters in my book.

 

[viscount17]

3-wood - 230+ (ish)
4-h - 200+ (ish)
4i - 180

for anything in between try not to hit as hard, which usually means nobble it

 

[Region3]

You could also look at it another way.

F/Way 230
Hybrid 200

30yd gap but only 15%

GW 115
SW 95

20yd gap but 21%

As other have said, from 200+ I'm only concerned with getting there or thereabouts without finding any trouble.
Gripping down an inch or 2 can lose you 10 yards, but inconsistencies of bounce short of the green can also vary the total distance and you have no control over that at all.

Inside wedge distance I'm looking to get as close as possible so would rather have more choice there. I can honestly say I never think about having used the wrong wedge. To me they feel like they play very differently even though they're the same brand, and I'm always confident I have the right one even if the shot doesn't come off the way I want it to.

 

[bladeplayer]

3 iron bout 210/215
3 wood bout 240

 

[Parmo]

260 driver
230 3 wood
200 Hybrid

Much prefer the options with wedges than inconsistentcy with q 5 wood

 

[EZprophet]

i carry 4 wedges purely to minimise the gaps between them for full shots. As someone who gives it a fair lick I much prefer to have these gaps as small as possible rather than the gap between 3 wood/hybrid/4 iron as they come into play multiple times a round compared to maybe once for the other end of the bag

This is exactly my view aswell.

I dont really use my 50 degree GW for anything other than full shots. I put it in purely to fill the 30 yard gap between my SW and PW. For 99% of shots under 100 yards I use my 54* SW and 60* LW.

My appox carry distances are
4 iron - 200
3 Hybrid - 220
3 Wood - 250

Obviously those large gaps in distances are not ideal at all, but even though I definitely agree with you Bob that it is much easier to take some distance off of a PW than a 3 wood, I would much prefer to have that gap at the longer distances for two main reasons.

One being that I have way more shots between 100 and 130 yards than I do between 220 and 250 (especially at my home course which is very short)

And the second reason is that I would much prefer to be more precise around the shorter yardages. To be honest from 240 yards away, Im fairly satisfied with any shot that can get within 20 yards or so and give me a chance at getting up and down, Im not exactly firing at pins from that range.

From 110-130 however, flying the green by 10 yards is not a good result, as Im obviously looking to at least be putting, and maybe even stick it close occasionally.

What I used to do when I had about 230-240 yard carry was either try to kill the hybrid or try and 3/4 hit a 3wood. Ive stopped trying the 3 wood shot as, exactly like Snelly said, I always seem to turn it over too much, often pretty much duck hooking it... Killing the hybrid actually works quite well downwind, but most of the time it just goes way too high and obviously when you try and kill it you are way more likely to complete mess it up.

Now if I need a 230-240yd carry I just have to accept that Im not going to be able to get it close and plan accordingly, whether that means laying up or just aiming for some bailout area or bunker.

Its obviously far from ideal, but I reckon its much better to have this problem, than to have the problem of having to work out 5 diiferent ways to swing a PW to get the right yardage.

 

[sev112]

i find it quite interesting that lots of you are talking about distance

one of teh key advantages of having more wedges is loft - which can be linked to teh angle that the ball will approach the green; especially since the advent of PWs moving from 52degs to 46 degs, it has become more important to give you more choice to determine how you bring tha ball into teh green, and this applie sto both fullish pitches as well as short pitches/chips.

yes , one can always open up the face to achieve that, but that brings in some variability, and that is the choice that one makes.

Interesting that whilst Pelz suggests 4 wedges, his 4th is the 64deg, not the 60 !

I am looking into 58 and splitting the difference to put the 5 wood bakc in teh bag, but at my course it doesnt matter - i switch between the string 3 and the 5 as i feel. My 2iron hybrid hits the same distance as the 5 wood, albeit it runs and runs and runs, so i use it a lot in summer

 

[kid2]

Im a bit confused with alot of replies here...
Although i do carry 3 wedges i rarely use all of them....

Bob posted a topic a while back about why people feel the need to use 3 or 4 or 5 wedges....
Lately iv been playing a little more consistant in that im not going for our par 5's and long par 4's in 2....
For me on our course there's a little too much risk around holes to go for them...

Instead iv been playing a little safer...Doing the maths i try to leave myself 100-110 mtrs out from the longer holes and take this off the length of the hole to give me what club i need off the tee or my second shot....
So far its working.Id rather be walking off with at worst a 2 putt bogie or best a par than walking off with a double or triple and a kick in the ass.

Im not sure if this is a better way of playing or not but ill try anything....
For me trying to hit a green from 180 yards and over is a very high percentage shot for a club golfer...At that yardage most of us are hitting long irons or hybrids or maybe even woods so i suppose in a way i can see the need for a wedge or 2 outside of a pitching wedge because even the pro's struggle to hold or even find greens from that distance....So whats the point of heaps of wedges unless your going for every green from long range and even then a gap or SW or even a PW will do the same job if your proficient with it.

Just my 2 cents but id rather have options at the long end of my bag for shots off the tee or onto long par 3's than having more wedges in my bag than you'd get with your pizza on a friday night

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Tried the PW, 52, 56 and 60 combo and dropped the 5 wood. Not a huge success and I probably get as much control fromthe bunkers with my 58 than with the 56 and only used my LW a couple of times and could easily have played the same shot with a different club. Not convinced and so the 5W and 58 are back in and the 56 and 60 are out

 

[G_Mulligan]

If sw full swing goes say 80/90 yards and gw/pw goes 110/120 then that is quite a gap (biggest in whole bag). The gap from 30 yards to 120 yards is covered by two clubs. That is like using your 4 & 5 iron for every shot from 190-100 yards.

The professionals are not good enough to get the long clubs within 1 putt distance on a consistant basis so I do not see the need in carrying every club for 10 yard gaps at the bottom end of my bag then leaving a massive gap at the top end when I can get the ball close enough to 1 putt if I get my distances right.

 

[Region3]

Im a bit confused with alot of replies here...
Although i do carry 3 wedges i rarely use all of them....

Bob posted a topic a while back about why people feel the need to use 3 or 4 or 5 wedges....
Lately iv been playing a little more consistant in that im not going for our par 5's and long par 4's in 2....
For me on our course there's a little too much risk around holes to go for them...

Instead iv been playing a little safer...Doing the maths i try to leave myself 100-110 mtrs out from the longer holes and take this off the length of the hole to give me what club i need off the tee or my second shot....
So far its working.Id rather be walking off with at worst a 2 putt bogie or best a par than walking off with a double or triple and a kick in the ass.

Im not sure if this is a better way of playing or not but ill try anything....
For me trying to hit a green from 180 yards and over is a very high percentage shot for a club golfer...At that yardage most of us are hitting long irons or hybrids or maybe even woods so i suppose in a way i can see the need for a wedge or 2 outside of a pitching wedge because even the pro's struggle to hold or even find greens from that distance....So whats the point of heaps of wedges unless your going for every green from long range and even then a gap or SW or even a PW will do the same job if your proficient with it.

Just my 2 cents but id rather have options at the long end of my bag for shots off the tee or onto long par 3's than having more wedges in my bag than you'd get with your pizza on a friday night

Just curious.... why would you need more options at the long end of your bag if you're laying up to 100-110m if it's low percentage going for the green

 

[kid2]

Im a bit confused with alot of replies here...
Although i do carry 3 wedges i rarely use all of them....

Bob posted a topic a while back about why people feel the need to use 3 or 4 or 5 wedges....
Lately iv been playing a little more consistant in that im not going for our par 5's and long par 4's in 2....
For me on our course there's a little too much risk around holes to go for them...

Instead iv been playing a little safer...Doing the maths i try to leave myself 100-110 mtrs out from the longer holes and take this off the length of the hole to give me what club i need off the tee or my second shot....
So far its working.Id rather be walking off with at worst a 2 putt bogie or best a par than walking off with a double or triple and a kick in the ass.

Im not sure if this is a better way of playing or not but ill try anything....
For me trying to hit a green from 180 yards and over is a very high percentage shot for a club golfer...At that yardage most of us are hitting long irons or hybrids or maybe even woods so i suppose in a way i can see the need for a wedge or 2 outside of a pitching wedge because even the pro's struggle to hold or even find greens from that distance....So whats the point of heaps of wedges unless your going for every green from long range and even then a gap or SW or even a PW will do the same job if your proficient with it.

Just my 2 cents but id rather have options at the long end of my bag for shots off the tee or onto long par 3's than having more wedges in my bag than you'd get with your pizza on a friday night

Just curious.... why would you need more options at the long end of your bag if you're laying up to 100-110m if it's low percentage going for the green

One of the main defences our course has Region is its nearly always windy....Its a parkland course but its situated in a valley and it gets its back right up at times....
Id prefer options at the long end of my bag off the tee's rather than options at the short end.I would hit 3 and 5 woods off the tee's alot as i can keep the ball under the wind with them...And more often than not have a bit more distance over a driver...
I dont care how good someone is with there long game...From 180+ yards out with a 2 or 3 club wind to battle that distance its ludicrous trying to get to a GIR let alone hit it....So i dont see any advantage in carrying 4 or 5 wedges.

But thats just me and my course.
Seems to work for me at the moment.

 

[Losttheplot]

In my opinion if you have 4 wedges in your bag you overcomplicate things by having too much choice.

I carry a PW, 54 and 58 degree and that's plenty. I have enough trouble keeping my short game tidy with them 3 never mind another one. You must have the feel for all your wedges, know what you can do with each one and 'hone' in your touch with them.

Much prefer to have longer clubs available for selection than having to ease off a 3 wood or try to hit a big 3 iron.

 

[bobmac]

I'm not saying it's wrong to carry 4 wedges, I was just interested how people cope with the in-between shots at the long end. 200-230 yds. ish
I personally enjoy mixing it up around the greens, using anything from a 6 iron up to the SW and love experimenting hitting my wedges different distances.
One thing I NEVER do is hit a full PW or SW unless I absolutely have to.

 

[Region3]

Most of the greens at our place are around 30yds deep (diff between hybrid and 4w). From 200+ I'd be very happy with the wrong part of the green, or even just off it.

 

[FourPutt]

I've managed to get rid of the gaps in my bag. (All distances are "ish")

3w - 210
3hy - 195
4hy - 180

And at the other end

PW - 105
GW - 90
SW- 75
LW - 60

If I didn't have the gap wedge in there, I'd have a massive gap between PW and SW.

I really like my 60 wedge out of bunkers on the short side too. Pop em out with plenty height and land soft.

If I could only have 13 clubs, I'd lose the 3Hy before one of the wedges.