Why 4?

[ScienceBoy]

Wedges?

do you know differently?

plain and simple bob...

i encounter more varied lies, obsticles, situations from within 100 yards than I do at 200 yards.

from far out I aim to get safe and as close as possible. when that fails I can end up in many places!

I will soon be loosing the 3i for a 22 hybrid. My course has no need for a 3 wood at any point for all but the longest and straightest of hitters

 

[viscount17]

I'm more likely to miss hit opening up a wedge than when playing it 'pure'

 

[GB72]

Surely you need 4 wedges now with stronger lofts. If my PW now has the loft of a 9i then I need a gap wedge to cover the distance of a traditional PW. I then have a sand wedge a lob wedge which I use for a few specific circumstances.

At the other end of the bag I carry a 15 degree 3 wood, a 19 degree 5 wood and a 21 degree 4i hybrid so I cannot see an obvious gap there. On the assumption that the lofts on woods have stayed relatively the same (and I am not sure of that) and iron lofts have increased, there should not be a distance gap at that end of the bag.

 

[Screwback]

Wedges?

If you carry 4 wedges you have to have a gap somewhere in the bag.

Say for example driver, 3 wood, 3-pw.

How do you fill the gap between 3w and 3 iron?
You need to either force the 3 iron or manipulate the 3 wood by choking down on the grip, shortening the swing or swinging it softer. Not easy.

If you only have 3 wedges (say 46, 52 and 58) then you could fill that gap with a 2 hybrid/5 wood.

The reason I ask the question is I see so many people with 4 wedges who cant even hit one properly and certainly cannot manipulate a 3 wood.

I say bring back the 4/5 wood and forget this nonsense about carrying 4 wedges, just because the pros do.
Carry 3 maximum and learn your distances.

Or do you know differently?

Sorry Bob but i think IMHO that is a load of old bull.

Carrying four wedges for me is far more important than having more longer clubs.

If you can grasp the technique of all four wedges you have a host of different options to use round the green where it is all about saving shots, from 100 yards in you will have a club you can hit however you want giving you the best chance of getting it close.

To swap that for having a club that really you are not going to need to use every hole is stupidity.

If the club to reach the green is not long enough you will be able to lay up to your chosen perfect wedge distance and from that kind of range regardless of the club most amatuers will miss the green.

 

[FourPutt]

I haven't really got a big gap in my yardages at the long end. My 3W goes about 200 yards, 5W goes about 190ish and 4 hybrid goes about 180, so I don't really need anything in between. I could maybe replace my 5W with a 3 hybrid to hit it better from the rough, but I don't see nay need for both.

At the other end I have a PW (45 deg) 50, 56 and 60. I have my 14 clubs and have 4 wedges, but don't feel like I'm having to sacrifice at one end to gain at the other.

I don't know what everyone else hits their clubs, and I don't wish to start a pissing match, or start getting ridiculed, but my yardages are (very roughly):

Driver - 230 on a GOOD drive, more like about 200 average.
3W - 200
5W - 190
4Hy - 180
5i - 170
6i - 160
7i - 150
8i - 135
9i - 120
PW - 105
50* - 90
56* - 75
60* - 50 (though from 50 yards, I'd probably use a PW or 56)

So if anything, I have bigger gaps at the short end of the clubs. I actually always seem to find myself between 9i and PW, wish there was another club in there!

 

[fundy]

how do you hit a 5 iron 170 yet a 3 wood 200 - those yardages seem far too close?

 

[FourPutt]

I have no idea? I don't know what's "standard" distance wise. To be honest, I'm not that consistant with my 5 iron and it only goes 170 when I don't fat it to death!

 

[fundy]

just would expect someone who hits their 5 iron 170 to hit a 3 wood 220+

 

[Lawrence22]

how do you hit a 5 iron 170 yet a 3 wood 200 - those yardages seem far too close?

Fourputts yardages are incredibly similar to my own, thought I was looking at my own. Although I have a 5iron I rarely hit it as I am much better with the 5hybrid which I hit about 170 and 3 wood 200. In the long run I'll probably ditch the 5 iron in favour of a 4h

 

[FourPutt]

Nah, I only get 220+ on a good driving day!

To be honest, I tend to use my hybrid for 170 anyway and choke down an inch or so. As I said, I don't consistently hit the 5 iron well enough to claim an 'average' of 170 but that is what it goes when I don't hit it fat/thin.

Seriously considering replacing the 5 iron with another hybrid, but not sure thats not as bad as having a chipper!

 

[feary]

I have 46, 50, 54 and 58 and i honestly don't fell the need for a longer club. I no longer carry a 3 iron but a 2 iron. They carry the same distance the 2 iron just rolls out more. I am quite confident in hitting a cut with a 3 wood to satisfy a yardage inbetween. But that's just me and for a lot of people a 3 wedge set up would be better.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

My set up is per my signature with three wedges. Last summer I experimented with dropping the 58 for a 56 and 60 and leaving out the 3 wood instead. Mixed results really. On my course the 5 wood was good enough off the tees I needed to use it and the extra 20-30 yards a 3 wood would have given me were negated by the hard fairways and roll. The 60 degree though was pretty hit and miss and I can't honestly say it saved me that many more shots than my 58 opened up and hit properly would have done. Not going to repeat it this year

 

[shagster]

i use 4 wedges, not well, but
pw=120-135
50=100max
56=80 ish
60= silly shots or bare lies or bad/hard bunkers it has 4* bounce
todays pw are more like an old 8/9
i use R7xd
like a few others have said, i need more options close in
do not carry 3 wood, just 5 wood and 3 and 4 rescues.
wind plays a large part where i am,. down wind i can hit my pw 150, we get 30-40 winds some days, once just hacked out of some rough, uphill, but down wind and almost carried to the green, which was 180, freak shot, must have delofted, but 120 out, take pw
shagster

 

[kid2]

At the moment i have 3.. My i10 PW and a 52 and 56 WS TW9....
Im dropping my 52 and 56 as i got a 54 deg with the i10's and iv sourced a UW i10 at 50 degrees so i have 4 degrees between my wedges now...
I carry a 3W and a 5W as well as 20 deg i15 hybrid....
This club is as long as my 5 wood so i think i may opt for a 17 degree hybrid also at that end of the bag... my longest iron is a 4 iron which i use mainly off the tee's
On my course i can have some long approaches on our par 4's especially if the wind is up....So the extra hybrid might come in handy there

I cant understand why club golfers want/use speciality wedges....Makes no sense to me.

 

[bobmac]

Many interesting replies so thank you for that.
It seems the reason why people carry the 4th wedge is to give them more options around the greens.
Would that be a fair comment?

 

[feary]

Around the greens, 100 yards in, bunkers, bump and runs, high ones.

I just prefer 4 in my opinion.

 

[Mongoose]

I prefer to use just a single wedge (SW). I found my pitching and short game improved just using one and getting used to hitting it differing yardages, and learning to play differing shots with it. That doesnt stop me buying loads of other wedges to gather dust in the garage

 

[MashieNiblick]

Many interesting replies so thank you for that.
It seems the reason why people carry the 4th wedge is to give them more options around the greens.
Would that be a fair comment?

Yep, that's a fair assessment. I think the bounce factor is sometimes overlooked. It's not just about loft. Plus that with stronger lofts in irons and more options at the top end (7 woods, hybrids) you can drop a club at that end of the bag without having too big a gap.

 

[Robobum]

Sorry Bob but i think IMHO that is a load of old bull.

Carrying four wedges for me is far more important than having more longer clubs.

If you can grasp the technique of all four wedges you have a host of different options to use round the green where it is all about saving shots, from 100 yards in you will have a club you can hit however you want giving you the best chance of getting it close.

To swap that for having a club that really you are not going to need to use every hole is stupidity.

If the club to reach the green is not long enough you will be able to lay up to your chosen perfect wedge distance and from that kind of range regardless of the club most amatuers will miss the green.

I'd go along with this.

Also, i think that if you are looking to hit a shot from 200yds+ what would be a good result?? Near the green? On the green? 30feet?...........I'm definitely not expecting to regularly hit a club that long inside 10feet that's for sure.

However from about 125yds (PW) and in, I am looking to be 10feet and in on a regular basis.

I feel as though I have good control of flight and spin on full and 3/4 shots inside that fugure. That gives me 8 different shots (from 125 down to about 60 yards) that I am pretty confident of having a good look at getting down in 2 shots.

 

[StrangelyBrown]

It seems the reason why people carry the 4th wedge is to give them more options around the greens.
Would that be a fair comment?

Yep, the different lofts and bounce angles give me the choice of fatting it or thinning it into the bunker infront of me

However, as has been mentioned previously, the lofts on my irons are so strong it could be said that my irons are actually 3 - 9 iron and I carry 3 wedges.