What to look for in used wedges?

[Eric267]

Had good luck buying wedges in value condition from Global golf. Put together a set of Cleveland cg15 52/56/60 for around

$20-25 each. Buddy just got a TM 56° in value condition for $22 that was in really good condition

https://www.globalgolf.com/golf-clubs/used/wedge/

 

Alternatively most munis (at least around here) have a trash can filled with old wedges people left behind and never came back for. Usually you can grab one for $5-10 if your looking for something on the cheap

[fiftynine]

On the question of worn out grooves in your wedges has anyone tried those groove sharpening tools? Do they improve the performance of the wedge or iron? Or is it just a gimmick.

[jimb6golf]

Almost new or why bother. The whole point is to get clean, sharp grooves after all. I've had good luck buying used Vokey wedges in the past and saved a few dollars over new ones.

[Night Putter]

Groove sharpening tools are useful for some temp cleaning (the metal edge ones for a few bucks on eba)

[steeletaylor]

Ben Hogan has some reasonably priced wedges. Besides their current equalizer wedges going for $100/ea., they have a sale section where they are offering their older TK wedges (still new) for $50/ea. There aren't as many loft options available, but you might find something that works. New grooves are hard to beat.

[Golfjack]

19 handicap is doable without wedges but why? You are not developing a crucial skill. Opening pw or irons still pretty hard to hit a wedge shot. Bump and run doesn’t work when you are short sided with bunker.

 

Anyway yeah new and cheap (can be older model) works just as good. Wedges haven’t changed much really just different bounces and grinds.

[Nessism]

When judging a used wedge look at the face milling. Most better wedges made in the last 5 years or so use some sort of milling pattern on the face to add roughness. This is far more important to spin than the groove edge sharpness, but truth be, if you have some milling left the grooves will be fine as well.

 

One other critical thing when picking wedges is to make sure you have good loft spacing between clubs. For example, if your PW is 45 degrees you would do well to pick a gap wedge in the 50 degree range and also a sand wedge at 55/56. Don't skip from 45 to 56 because that's too much of a jump. Any decent shop can bend a wedge to your exact loft needs so don't worry about a degree here or there.

 

Lastly, unless you have specific reason not to, look for bounce numbers at 10 degrees or more for your wedges. Low bounce wedges are fine for guys with the skill to play them but most higher handicap guys will find higher bounce wedges more fault tolerant.

[Chuck905]

Get the lofts and lie measured

[Joelsim]

What I would be looking for in used wedges is to move them on and buy some new ones.

 

If money is an issue, buy one, a 54* or a 56* for instance. There’s no reason why you can’t get hold of last year’s model for a great price, for instance a Cleveland RTX3.

[drjacko]

Wear: Look at the space between grooves.

1. If it is a nick or two- it should be ok. especially forged wedges are soft and prone to this.

2. If the wear is to the extent where there is a marked impact spot, then I would look elsewhere, unless you are looking for a club to practice technique/ off season play. I mean, you don't want to wear out a brand new club on bunker practice right?

3. If it is (2) but you can get some play out of it, then it becomes a price point issue.

 

Grind: If you are starting out, bounce is a good thing to have in your higher lofted wedge. However, for some this will affect some other shots like your chipping, pitches and lobs. Bring your 9i if you are physically trying out wedges and hit the same variety of shots you have mastered with your candidate wedges. You sound as if you got some versatality with that 9i.

 

Loft: In your case, if you are actually using your 9i out of bunkers, then you might want to work on matching your wedges to your set in terms of gapping and feel. For this particular scenario, it might be worth looking at matching set. If you are truly getting only PW SW (most folks don't) then I would recommend your higher lofted SW ie 58/60 and get the PW loft to fill the gap. I have seen folks getting by with 50PW and 60S/LW.

 

I bought my first set of wedges as a cheap buy, then worked with them to hone technique. During that time, I was open to the fact that there would be other wedges that would do certain things better (easiest example: just open face up and does it "look" right). Then I learnt many more variables (don't you go there, yet).

 

It was the start of my journey to be a WRXer! Good luck on yours

 

[CJPenny]

Depending on how strict you want to be for waiting for a single-digit handicap, you can find new wedges from one or two generations ago at huge discounts. I’ve been able to pick up Cleveland RTX3s for ~$50 new and got a Vokey SM5 on the BST here for ~$60 new