How many wedges do you really need?

To the OP, I agree there seems to be no point in your GW, unless you like playing little chips and pitches with it around the green.

I hit my PW around the same distance as you, but there's no way my 56° is going 110 so my GW is useful.
 
I have never understood this facination for distance with scoring clubs. The ONLY club where distance matters is the driver.I have a 60 degree, it only goes 60 yards max and my 53 degree goes 85-90. I really don't understand how people can hit a SW 125+ yards.
 
drive4show said:
I have never understood this facination for distance with scoring clubs. The ONLY club where distance matters is the driver.I have a 60 degree, it only goes 60 yards max and my 53 degree goes 85-90. I really don't understand how people can hit a SW 125+ yards.
Click to expand...
I`m not trying to rip the SW,its just that when I close the face a tad I can hit it 110 yds.I dont know anybody who can hit a SW 125+ yds :eek: .
 
I often use my 50* gap wedge around the green as I do my 9,8,7,6 iron as it feels like the club for the job. I also use it for half shots that would be full shots with the 56* as it will fly lower.
 
I would usually carry 4 wedges, have carried 5 before (suited a certain course) and have provision for 3 should I choose. I basically use the 4 wedge option I have. To do this I have a squad of clubs which I select based on the course and conditions. The squad includes driver, 3 wood, 4 wood, 2 hybrids, 2-pw, 52, 56, 58, 60, 64. The 3 or 4 wood are usually an either or. I usually take a hybrid over the 2 iron and drop my 3 iron, though I may go 3 iron 5 iron and drop the 4 iron. I dropped the 3/4 wood when I took 5 wedges as I didn't need it for any second shots or tee shots.

It's probably not for everyone but, I buy into Pelz's ideas for carrying wedges and leave a gap at the longer end of the clubs which I feel I can cover well enough with swing or set up changes. Consequently I use a 3 x 4 x 2 system and feel I can cover a variety of different distances, some ovelap but with different trajectories still offer different options to me. He also talks of bounce, flex (softer if you're not using for full length shots and length (of shaft) variations to provide options and appropriate distance gaps.

If you hit clubs a long way there's usually a bigger gap between clubs and since most shots are played within 100 yards I prefer to have more options here and would recommend trying it. I see no downside in carrying more wedges if you know far you carry each club with each swing and know the distance on the course I find it helps to commit. If you don't hit it so far, don't have a gap or are used to hitting different shots with a lesser choice of clubs then there may be less need for extra wedges. Occasionally lob wedges can misunderstood, misused and not practiced, if you're going for the extra wedges I'd practice with them to get the full benefit.

For the op that isn't a lot of difference between pw and sw, have you had their lofts checked? Clubs deloft over time with impact and the softer wedges in particular often move more especially since they can also be used more frequently than other irons in the bag.
 
All depends on what type of course your playing. Links-hard dry fairways hardly and room for error, parkland-nice fluffy lies. Personally i think you need more wedges for links than parkland as you have far more varied lies. Mostly on parkland courses you can get under the ball so a 58 would cover what your 60 and 56 do...i also believe you shouldnt be hitting these clubs full out...
 
Carry 3 wedges myself. Standard PW at 45*, gap at 52* and sand at 56*. Hit the PW 110, GW 90-95 and SW 75-80. Im quite happy with my spread and feel I do need the gap wedge as 75-110 yards is a fair bit without it.
 
Of all the club threads, the wedge is the one that I find most mystifying, if I am close to the green I will pitch and run with anything from a 5 to an 8 iron, if further away or over an obstacle its my PW, the distance governs how hard I hit it. I think having several wedges would just confuse me.
 
46 PW, 52 and 58 wedges. I did go through a pahse of 52, 56 and 60 (for bunkers) but the 60 was used too much around the green too and was costing me shots and really didn't do too much more than the 58 was doing out of sand so that idea was binned
 
We almost all carry one less wedge than we think we do.
If your PW is around 45 degrees it's really a 9 iron.
So your gap wedge is actually your PW .
Your SW stays the same as does your LW.
So you have 2 or 3 wedges - you also have 2x9 irons....

To my mind it has to be easier making fullish swings than having to judge a part swing.
 
Until recently I only used a pw and sw. Then a friend offered me his callaway x series wedges at 52/56/60. So while trying them I dropped my old sw and carried 4 wedges, my short game has improved as im between clubs fewer times and takes more guess work out of the equation. I use more clubs for different shots around the green. The argument could be made that I'm less creative further out but more around the green. Use whatever works for yourself, some use more some less.
 
This time of year I can't hit my 47' PW 110yds let alone a 56' SW. I carry 3 wedges, PW @ 47', 52 & 58. My 52 & 58 cover anything from 45 to just over 90 with different swings, PW is about 106.

I used to carry a 60' wedge but hardly ever used it, I've hit my 58 more times int he last 2 monthsvthan I did my 60' in the whole of last year.

The thing with wedges is not how many it's how. With your wedges you want to be consistent, better carrying 2 wedges you can consistently hit 6 different distances consistently by adjusting the swing than 4 wedges you can't control
 
Carry 50, 54 & 58 because the man from Titleist told me too, and as he made them it would have been rude to not take them :D
 
My dodgy short game over the last 24 months proves that it isn't how many but how well you use them. Hopefully I can get out and work in the chipping soon and make some strides forward and utilise the 3 wedges I have
 
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