Last 6 major winners used 2 wedge setups. Time for a rule change?

SuperCarl · Mar 28, 2013

Just kidding.

But it's an interesting fact. Does the streamlined training when using one GW/SW and one LW make a difference or is it just a coincidence?

I've been using a 52-56-60 setup all my life but I'm really curious about the 2 wedge setup. I don't need the extra wood but I could for sure need some help with my wedges. Maybe less tools and more familiarity with them is the way to go?

What's your thoughts about 2 or 3 wedge setups?

kiw1982 · Jan 20, 2014

You can do some experiments. It doesn't hurt you.

I did it. I tried various combinations.

Then I came back to 4 wedge setup including pw.

GolfWRX · Jan 1, 2005

mb889 · Apr 27, 2015

I feel like it has a lot to do with a pros ability to use each wedge for many different things.

Itsjustagame · Apr 6, 2013

When you practice as much as these guys do you can reliably alter distance, trajectory, spin with only 2 wedges. Doesn't work for me.

coho10 · Jun 14, 2005

Itsjustagame wrote:

When you practice as much as these guys do you can reliably alter distance, trajectory, spin with only 2 wedges. Doesn't work for me.

Exactly this....I don't have the time to practice so I need every club I can get!

BigHook25 · Oct 23, 2011

coho10 wrote:

Itsjustagame wrote:

When you practice as much as these guys do you can reliably alter distance, trajectory, spin with only 2 wedges. Doesn't work for me.

Exactly this....I don't have the time to practice so I need every club I can get!

I hardly practice, but find it easier to just use two wedges. I don't see the need for small gaps from 50-60 degrees, a 5 to 6 degree gap is fine. The less wedges the less you think about it or think about hitting shots you probably can't.

healthyscratch · Jun 30, 2008

Itsjustagame wrote:

When you practice as much as these guys do you can reliably alter distance, trajectory, spin with only 2 wedges. Doesn't work for me.

For me, it's the opposite (and I'm not at all saying you're wrong). When I replaced both my 50 and 54 with a 52, I found that my limited short game practice time was better spent with fewer clubs.

Plus, I always hated having to choose between the 50 and 54; now when I blow the shot, I don't have to blame my poor decision making, I know it's my lack of ability.

GolfWRX · Jan 1, 2005

AThompson_3 · Sep 9, 2015

I think it's more due to fact that they are playing 7400 yards courses. They would rather have that extra club up top so they can have a few eagle chances per round because they know they can cover the distances they need pretty easily with a 2 wedge set up.

Itsjustagame · Apr 6, 2013

BigHook25 wrote:

coho10 wrote:

Itsjustagame wrote:

When you practice as much as these guys do you can reliably alter distance, trajectory, spin with only 2 wedges. Doesn't work for me.

Exactly this....I don't have the time to practice so I need every club I can get!

I hardly practice, but find it easier to just use two wedges. I don't see the need for small gaps from 50-60 degrees, a 5 to 6 degree gap is fine. The less wedges the less you think about it or think about hitting shots you probably can't.

If I need the precision of 3-4 degree gaps from 150-200 yards then I certainly need it inside 100 yards where the majority of shots are hit.

gators78 · Feb 3, 2011

Kind of threw me for a loop here, I was thinking there's no way they're only using 2 wedges.

Upon inspection they are using 2 wedges in addition to the PW in their set, so they all really use 3 wedges. 3-4 is pretty much the norm.

Petunia Sprinkle · Sep 25, 2015

coho10 wrote:

Itsjustagame wrote:

When you practice as much as these guys do you can reliably alter distance, trajectory, spin with only 2 wedges. Doesn't work for me.

Exactly this....I don't have the time to practice so I need every club I can get!

With less practice, it's easier for me to know what to do with one club on partial shots than with more clubs.

travis.h · Jun 8, 2015

ive done some experimenting as well, for me a 2 wedge set up is the best. ive had 52,56,60 before and it really didn't merit me losing a slot for an additional club in the bag.

GolfWRX · Jan 1, 2005

suprfli6 · Dec 2, 2013

Whatever works for them, they know their game better than anyone. I play much shorter courses and like having 10 yard gaps for 120-110-100 since I get those yardages very often throughout a round, so I'll stick with my 50/54/58 setup.

boggyman · Feb 8, 2009

If you're not playing for a living, less is better!!

JustChill · Jul 7, 2014

AThompson_3 wrote:

I think it's more due to fact that they are playing 7400 yards courses. They would rather have that extra club up top so they can have a few eagle chances per round because they know they can cover the distances they need pretty easily with a 2 wedge set up.

I agree. For me, I have no need for an extra club at the top of the bag. I have pretty consistent gaps all the way through the bag, and go 46-50-54-58 at the bottom

Tcann32 · Oct 7, 2014

At the beginning of summer, I was determined to set things up to have a 4 wedge set up (not including PW).

As the year has progressed, I'd say one of my biggest improvements has been distance and flight control with wedges, and now I've found that honestly, I could get away with 2 wedges very easily, and honestly only hit my SW because I have it.. The more I practice, the more I have been developing the strategy of always hitting the easiest shot.. Which you would think its a bit of a "duh" statement, but it has simplified things immensely. For example, there's more room for error in a 75 yard lob wedge shot than there is in a 75 yard gap wedge-pitch shot.

There is obviously some variance to using the different shots, sometimes a 75 yard shot requires a 73 yard carry and needs to stop within a couple feet of landing in order to set up a decent scoring chance. A 75 yard pitch wouldn't be a reasonable shot to use for me since there's not room for a little roll out after the carry distance. That situation is generally going to be for tucked pin locations, etc.. but for general, straight away shots, I think most people would do themselves well to be able to use one wedge from 100 and in, and only need to use the others for situations you're forced to use them in.

Nessism · Jun 23, 2011

I've never understood why people want 4* gaps between the wedges when every shot hit inside the length of their most lofted wedge must be struck with less than a full swing anyway. For example, I use my 60* wedge for most shots between 85 to 10 yards and most of those use less than a full swing. What's the big deal with using 5* gaps between wedges and learning to take just a little off as needed? 5* gaps in the wedges helps free up one extra club in the bag so you can add a hybrid or something which is very handy.

GolfWRX · Jan 1, 2005

Bomber_11 · Feb 14, 2016

I'm actually in the process of dropping from 4 wedges to 3. My Taylormade set ends at a 47* PW, and I currently play 52/56/60. The only problem w/ that is, on essentially every shot (especially inside ~30 yards) I'm stuck thinking, "do i want to hit a 52 that bumps and releases? or a 56 that hops a couple times and checks up? or a 60 up high that will plop down by the pin and back up a few inches?" so what i end up doing is putting an abbreviated "bump and run" swing on a 60 and i flop it about 2" onto the green.

Simpler is better. I'm going 47 - 53 - 60. 47 for 110-130 yard shots, 53 for everything inside of 110, and 60 for situations like playing from behind the green, flopping over a bunker, etc.

mcs4 · Jun 28, 2016

Seems to me that folks talk about the pros and cons of carrying 3 or 4 wedges from "approach shot" and "short game" perspectives as though they are the same thing.

Pros are going to know the precise distance of full shots and a large assortment of other approach shots (knockdowns, etc.). equally well regardless of whether they use 3 or 4 wedges. My guess is that pros deciding to use 3 or 4 wedges do so mainly based on their gaps for these shots, which is no different from their decision to carry more or less clubs at the top of their bag.

The "feel" and "short game" parts of the equation come mainly into play once you get to shots that are of significantly less distance than the shortest wedge. This seems to be the part that most people here talk about, but I don't know of any reason to suggest that pros carrying 3 wedges handle those shots any differently than pros handling 4 wedges. For example, many pros have a favorite wedge (seems like increasingly the lob) that they use for most short game shots no matter how many other wedges they have.

While carry 4 wedges currently, I don't vary the club selection on my short game shots much more than I did when I carried 3, or even 2. I carry them mainly for distance gapping on full shots. For short game purposes, I play nearly everything with my 50 GW and my 54 SW. I may consider dropping to 3 wedges, but this would be solely for gapping purposes now that I have switched to an irons set that has a 47 degree PW.

alittleoverpar · Aug 8, 2008

I've tried both methods. For the past few years I've just been carrying 2 higher lofted wedges than my PW. I go with a 54* and a 58*. The truth is that I really only use the 58* when I am short sided or for some bunker shots. I use my 54* primarily for pitches, chips, and shots from the fairway. I have found that by using one club for most shots I am better able to predict and control the spin and hit shots closer to the hole. To each his own, but it works for me.

The Chicken Connoisseur · Sep 24, 2007

Not for me. I hit it as long as the pros but play courses that are much shorter and have wedges into everything. I'm not as good as or do I practice as much as pro to know how to hit one wedge different exact distances. I struggle with that even with 4 wedges, so I wouldn't want less

asw7576 · Apr 19, 2015

Nessism wrote:

I've never understood why people want 4* gaps between the wedges when every shot hit inside the length of their most lofted wedge must be struck with less than a full swing anyway. For example, I use my 60* wedge for most shots between 85 to 10 yards and most of those use less than a full swing. What's the big deal with using 5* gaps between wedges and learning to take just a little off as needed? 5* gaps in the wedges helps free up one extra club in the bag so you can add a hybrid or something which is very handy.

Like wise here ..... I prefer 6* gap for my wedges : 48 , 54, 60. Same swing for chipping and pitching, but with different wedges. In my case, using 4* gap is not obvious enough in term of distance and feeling.

GolfWRX · Jan 1, 2005

drvrwdge · Jun 12, 2011

I am a longer hitter and tend to hit an assortment of clubs off of the tee besides driver and have a lot of opportunities to reach par 5's in two. For me personally its much easier to hit a 3/4 52* GW or 3/4 46* PW than it is to try and take a liitle off of a cut (I draw the ball) 3w or 5w and I feel totally comfortable hitting a 3i from tee or fairway so I would rather have more options in the top end.

At the end of the day it will all just come down to personal preference.

Imp · Jun 5, 2011

I'm settled in with a GW (50*) and SW (55*). That's the highest I need or go to. I can't think of one time in the past 4-5 years I've had just these lofts where I lamented "I wish I had something higher". My 55* only sees sand to tight pins, and some lobs, but with the grind it has, it's like butter.

--kC

mahonie · Apr 20, 2009

In commentary on Sky last night, Butch Harmon said that Jimmy Walker was one of the only guys he knows who uses one wedge for every shot around the green from flop shots to low bump and runs, manipulating the club head with his fantastic hands.

I can remember when you had a 50* PW and 55* SW and that was it...I can't remember never having enough loft in my hand with a 55* SW. Having said that, as my PW is now 46* I usually play 52-58 but have just added an old 56* SW as it is easier to plug the distance gaps at the other end of the bag with the variety of woods, hybrids and driving irons.

katbird · Feb 1, 2006

Two philosophies:

1. Same swing with different clubs and becoming "expert" with one swing using more clubs for different types of shots...I think this is the Dave Pelz "school."

2. Varying swings with the same club for different types of shots, using one club more often to become "expert" with.

I'm a #2 guy, using my gapper for all sorts of shots around the green, with both hook and slice "english" into the green's contours to better control the roll...at least that's the theory I enjoy putting into practice with pretty good effect. I also use it for long bunker shots, either "clipping" the ball off of dense sand, or using the greater bounce of an opened face off of soft sand. The only time I add a 3rd wedge is when I'm not sure of the sand conditions and have another wedge between the other two for greenside bunker shots.

jmck · Sep 23, 2008

I've been playing 48/53/58 forever. Anything more than that and I'm just going to confuse myself. As it is, I have a set of shots I like to play with the 53 and a set of shots I like to play with the 58, and there's hardly any overlap between the two groups of shots. If I try to spread those out a little more and add a third wedge in there I end up with a bunch of overlap, and now I'm forever trying to decide between clubs. As it is, I know whether it's a shot that calls for the 53 or 58 pretty much instantly. There's nothing wrong with carrying three or four wedges, I'm just not smart enough to deal with all that. Keep it simple, stupid.

GolfWRX · Jan 1, 2005

Exactice808 · Jan 9, 2013

This is interesting..... Because, are you classifying the number under the club a Wedge or the loft.

In my mind, pro's are still playing the same Clubs.... really no difference when looking specifically @ Lofts.... They are still playing 3 wedges and sometimes 4

What do I mean?

Current Pitching Wedge Varies from 43-46* Lofts on the average (M2 irons, vs AP2), Pros PW vary most likely 46-50*

From there you can either buy a set GW that is usually around 50-52* (GW was a marketing ploy and and all depends on the Pro's Setup, as this club could be their PW)

And from their the Standards of SW 54-56* (This really hasnt changed much other than pro preference)

lastly the LW 58-60* (Same here, only Phil likes his 64*)

Looking purely at lofts, I classify this still as traditional Wedges..... but what everyone wants to call it is up to them.

My thoughts....

It just depends on YOUR personal Gap and the courses you play.

I am not a long hitter by any means, but I play shorter courses 6200-5800 on the average. This leaves me on some par 4s with wedges. Having the versatility of different shot trajectories from 130 to 10 yards PW-LW (46,50,54,58) is very helpful to me. Especially the tracks that I play. We have a lot of wind where I play, so having 1 extra wedge to allow for a lower flight or less spin or just the extra pop for distance is extremely helpful.

Secondly as someone mentioned, I dont practice enough to have my wedges exactly dialed in. So with each club I have 3 basic swings. Full, Half and Knockdown. Multiple this by 4 and that is 12 different shots with 4 clubs within 130 yards.... works well for me!

No method is wrong or right, it is purely up to the person playing

nicoy3k · Jul 7, 2012

The gap between pw and sw is huge in today's stock sets- you need a gap wedge. I prefer to carry a lob wedge rather than an extra long club- driver 4w 2iron 4 iron is all I need at the top of the bag...

matchavez · Apr 4, 2010

Nessism wrote:

I've never understood why people want 4* gaps between the wedges when every shot hit inside the length of their most lofted wedge must be struck with less than a full swing anyway. For example, I use my 60* wedge for most shots between 85 to 10 yards and most of those use less than a full swing. What's the big deal with using 5* gaps between wedges and learning to take just a little off as needed? 5* gaps in the wedges helps free up one extra club in the bag so you can add a hybrid or something which is very handy.

The answer is, for me, I use my 58 for shots from 32m and in, 43-47, 56-63, and if I'm dead middle and have something from 67-72.

From 33-37, I use my 54. From 38-42, I use my 50. And so on.

It's a method, and like everything in golf, using your method consistently is how you get better. You practice feel, I practice tempo and impact. You tweak and play creatively, I try to play robotically. You play more, I play less. Neither is wrong, but one may be better than another for certain people. I imagine this whole thing is based around personal approaches, and that as we've all discussed before, how much time pros practice.

Since few of us practice as much as pros, we have to decide which of the two methods work for us... play P+3 and be rhythmic and have options, or play P+2 and play creatively, practice more, and earn an extra stick at the top of the bag.

Many pros go P+2 with their Pitch being a more traditional 46-48, then often 52, and then 58 or 60. This gives them an option on a D/3/5 or 2/3-iron that most amateurs would rarely use. If you're playing over 7000 yards, it's worth the effort to have the longer sticks. Otherwise, it's a personal choice.

GolfWRX · Jan 1, 2005

Medic · Jul 7, 2011

I've used the 4 wedge setup for quite sometime. I won't be chasing better results by trying to copy what the best in the game are doing. What works for one won't work for others.

One of my buddies bags a 1 iron. I can't hit one. He made room by taking out a wedge. Can't even imagine taking a club out that works well for me to put an iffy club into the bag.

Last 6 major winners used 2 wedge setups. Time for a rule change?

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