Wedge shaft questions

[Tommy63]

I am assembling a set of clubs after many years of playing very little golf. I used to play to a 7-10 handicap into my 40s, but haven’t played much and I’m now 61, retired, and ready to ramp up playing more often.

I have a relatively average swing speed, and always have played regular shafts, they fit my game well. One thing I’ve never had is “specialty” wedges. I’ve always played the set PW and SW, and had a generic lob. I just never considered the options, but now that I’ve had time to research I’m ready to give them a try. I have Callaway X2 Hot graphite regular irons 5-PW, and I’m perfectly happy playing the set wedge, and will probably find a matching gap, since I feel those will usually be full swing clubs. I’d like a SW and LW and in my research, without hitting any yet, I think the Cleveland CBX line would be a good fit, but they all seem to come with the 115g True Temper spinner shaft. My irons have the Aldila Tour Blue factory 60g shaft, so the SW and LW would have vastly different shafts. What I’ve read is kind of all over the place about this - some tour players use the same shaft through all of their irons, some use a little heavier shaft, etc. I’m not sure with my criteria what would be a starting point for me, those wedges would be used anywhere from probably 80 yards in (bunkers, pitching, flops, etc). Any thoughts would be appreciated!

 

[Neilds]

In my humble (and higher handicap) opinion, I will bet you won't notice any difference in the shafts. After all, the companies that make wedges surely know what is the best shaft for their clubs

 

[Imurg]

Being a graphite user I think you'll feel a massive difference between your iron shafts and a 115g steel..
Nigh on double the weight...I've used wedges with a similar shaft and they felt like a scaffold pole.
Most steel wedge shafts are stiff flex, which may not be a bad thing but I certainly couldn't use them.
If you don't mind 2nd hand there's usually a decent number of graphite shafts wedges in the usual used club places that weigh in around the 70-80g region..well worth a try.

 

[Tommy63]

I’m all about finding a deal and lightly used clubs don’t bother me at all, that’s pretty much what I’ve bought for the last 35 years. I found 54 and 58 Cleveland Ripcore CBXs that I’ll probably buy to try for awhile, and maybe reshaft to a lighter shaft if needed. I’ve always been able to adapt my game to my equipment pretty well, but figure I’d give the wedges a go.

 

[jim8flog]

The pros use the same shafts probably because all their clubs are stiff or extra stiff.

The common practice is to go to a stiffer (and sometime heavier shaft) in the short wedges because they are all about control of direction rather than distance.

 

[Burnsey]

I play graphite iron shafts and prefer my non-full shot wedges to have a heavier shaft.

My set irons go up to 48 degrees and currently having success with a 54 and 60 degree with wedge flex at double the weight of my iron shafts.

Tried the matching set and the wedges weren't kind to me.

 

[Tommy63]

That is good info, I really like my set PW but was never a huge fan of the SW. So my wedges will be 44, 49, 54, 58, with the last 2 having a heavier steel shaft - we’ll see how it plays out.

The Sw and LW currently have the True Temper steel 115 spinner shafts, I could do a 70-80g graphite to more closely match my irons, but regular or stiff flex? I imagine at this length and shot type, you’d maybe want a little stiffer shaft on the wedges.

 

[GreiginFife]

When I was fitted for irons and wedges I ended up with Pro Modus 3 105 Regular in my irons and 105 stiff in my wedges. 51 for anything 110 and in, 56 for 95-100 and in.

Don’t really notice the difference on full shots.