Wedge Question?

I am a beginner of seven months and need advice on which wedge to purchase first? I chip with 7-PW and only hit shots within 30-40 airborne if I absolutely must to get over an obstacle. I am pretty good at hitting less than full shots with my PW and can wary pitch shots with it from 30 to 110 yards by varying length of backswing. I practiced this religiously when I first started. My question is should I now purchase a sand wedge or a lob wedge and which could help lower my scores more?

I'd say that your next wedge purchase should be largely determined by the bunkers that you play in.

Firstly, I assume that your PW is your most lofted club.

Secondly, I assume that your set is relatively new.


Now for some questions that you need to answer for yourself:

How far do you hit your PW?
Do you want another full-swing club?
How is the sand in your bunkers?

The first two questions will determine whether or not you need to consider a gap wedge. Many players here consider a gap wedge taboo, and I'll agree that they are as long as you're playing a set that is manufactured before 1980. Loft creep has made it so that in subsequent iron sets, the loft of the PW was so low that there was a massive gap between the PW and SW. For those who dislike a GW (also known as an A wedge - Attack or Approach), they often have the same loft as a pre-80's PW. It's just stamped different.

But back to the original set of questions:

The third question helps you to determine what kind of bounce you want on your sand wedge. For coarse, hard or wet bunkers, I suggest no more than 10° of bounce. For light, fluffy, dry bunkers, I suggest no less than 14° of bounce. Loft should be somewhere around 55° (give or take a couple degrees - and also dependent on your loft gapping).

The first two questions speak to whether or not you should also consider a gap wedge. Some players don't like full swings with their SW, due to the high bounce (it makes it skull-prone from tight lies).

As a proponent of a 4 wedge setup, I readily acknowledge that some courses are not suited to this - that sometimes dropping the LW in favour of a wood is best. These courses are generally longer with less trouble around the greens. However, my stock bag has 4 wedges, and I play irons or hybrids up to 16°.

Long story short, I would buy a sand wedge first. Then a low bounce gap wedge to round out my full swing clubs and yardage gaps, then finally a lob wedge with a complementary bounce to my sand wedge.

__________________
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A new highlight: Golfing the home course on Christmas Day.

I say it too often: If it's golf club shaped, you can play with it.

For the record, I'm a club doctor, not a swing doctor.

Thanks Lowpost, I was thinking a sand wedge first. I live in Georgia so mostly the sand is light and fluffy. I hit my PW around 110-120 yards with a full shot and it is my most lofted club. The loft is 47 degrees. The sand wedge I was lookingat was 56 degrees. When I practice hitting those I hit them about 80-95 yards. So the gap wedge would cover full swing distances between my pw and sw? Also, I was reluctant to get a lw because I was told they are for more skilled players. I guess my question is are the gw and lw absolutely necessary if you can vary distances with pw?

You're discussing a 30 yard gap (on average) between your PW and SW.

Personally, I would go with a stronger SW (perhaps 55) and a GW at 51. This will give you 4° gaps from wedge to wedge - which should also give you similar distance gaps. IMO, I'd like to be able to take a full swing to fill the 30 yard gap - rather than take a smaller and/or choked down PW, or really have to rip my SW.

As to the LW question... I personally have no issue with a 60. I'll agree that if you're flippy at impact, or are prone to standing up and blading the ball, a 60 will give you fits (and a 64 even worse). But as long as you're relatively solid through impact, it's no different than any other club. In fact, I carry a 56/12 sandwedge, and a 60/6 lob wedge, and use them both out of the sand. The 60 is fantastic when I'm short sided.

Now, I mean, overall, if you're good at varying the distance with your PW, you're probably skilled enough IMO to play with a half set of irons - 4,6,8,PW,SW. You just vary the distance the same way with the other clubs as you do with your PW. To me, the point of the GW is so that I'm not playing around - I've got a (relatively) precise, repeatable distance. Also, I agree with a theory first presented to my by Kevin Downey (late of Innovex Golf fame) and further backed by short game guru Dave Pelz; that there are 2 types of club: Positioning and scoring. Longer irons/hybrids and the driver and fairway woods are positioning clubs. Scoring clubs are clubs that you use to get yourself within 10 feet of the pin. Pelz has done studies to show that at 10 feet, pro's are 50/50 at making the putt. So the closer you can get, the better your chances of one-putting. So I agree that since I'm probably not going to be in position with a 2 or 3 iron, I might as well drop them to make room for more wedges - more scoring clubs.

__________________
True Length Technology Fitter - www.truelengthtechnology.com
It's live! - www.ShipShapeClubs.com
PCS Class 'A' Clubfitter

A new highlight: Golfing the home course on Christmas Day.

I say it too often: If it's golf club shaped, you can play with it.

For the record, I'm a club doctor, not a swing doctor.

hi
i agree with lowpost and he covers most points very well, i dropped my 2 iron for a 60% wedge and its great for short shots out bunkers and even good for short chip and run shots that check quick, i dont use a g-wedge as i dont think i need it but have been thinking of droping my 3 iron for one, still not make my mind up on that yet as to if i really need it.
try and get a sand wedge you can use not just in the bunkers but fairways too and sometimes that means pushing your hands forward a little to take some of the bounce of the club and also takes a little loft off too.
s-wedge is a good club to use around the green as long as the bounce on the club is not to much, like lowpost said a 10% to 12% is a good all round choice.
bill