Is 8 degrees between PW and SW too much?

[eaglechip]

Depends. I think it is. But for you, I don't know. Why do you rarely hit your GW? Are you comfortable hitting your yardages with your PW and SW? Are the 8 degree difference measured loft? How often would you need a 3 iron off the tee?

I personally hit a lot of shots with my GW. It's my preferred club for chipping. If I had to play with a 3 wedge setup, I'd rather go 46°, 50°, 56° or 46°, 52°, 58°.

[sendtojohn1]

Nah, I used to be obsessed with gapping, etc. Just realized that I was always trading off 4H and 4iron and sometimes wanted both in the bag.

I have 5-AW in the bag that is matched, so my PW and AW are part of the same iron set. AW is 51* and my only wedge after that is a 58* wedge. What ended up happening was I learned to knock down the AW from a full swing and fill the yardage gap. i became WAY better around the greens with just the 58 (only need to practice short game with the 1 wedge) and didn't lose any ability to get the ball up quickly like I did when I carried 56 and 60.

Now I can have the 4H and the 4i (driving iron) in the bag and not worry about missing a club on particular courses with long approaches or tight tee shots.

 

 

[Stinger83]

My theory is "remove the club where you're most comfortable manipulating a shot". So if you're like me and enjoy hitting 3/4 wedges, pulling that 50* may not make a big difference to you. But if distance control isn't your thing you might want to reconsider the 3i and work on a lower 3/4 hybrid shot

[Philflop1]

8* is a 20 yard gap, which is pretty substantial, especially in the scoring clubs. Depends on how comfortable you are finessing in between yardages. You could add a gap wege by dropping a longer iron at the bottom of the bag.

[Jifmoli]

You answered yourself, didn't you? If you rarely use that club you can take it out of the bag.

Easy for me to say though, I am a half-setter. Depending on which of the 2 half sets I use there is a gap between pw and 56, or 50 and 60. I don't know the loft of the pw though but am sure the gap is 10 degrees or so.

I rarely hit the 56 and 60 with full swings but am ok to 1/2 or 3/4 hit the next club down.

[Zen_Golfer]

That I do. Its probably not a true minimalist bag in that I carry 9 clubs but its certainly less than 14.

[BenHoganSlam1953]

I believe a lot depends on one's gapping more so than any general concepts of proper loft gapping. Last season I pulled my PW (47) and put in a (50) to better match my 54/58. I played all season like this and although there is a gap now between my 9i and 50, it never came into play during my rounds. I now find myself less often in-between yardages with my 9i (43) / 50 / 54 versus my 9i (43), PW (47) and 54.

[rootaford]

if you don’t have the 3/4 pw shot in your bag then 46-52-58 is the way to go imo.

[JoseR]

OP already said he’s sticking to his original setup, which I think is a good idea. Its better to have more options closer to the green than far from the green in my opinion

[miles2go]

I’d feel naked without a 50* gap wedge in the bag. My favorite club from 80 to 110. From fairway or sand. Would rather drop something from the top end of the bag like a 3 iron. JMO.

 

[Hat Trick]

It is a comfort thing... I carried my 50 GW for 6 rounds and hit it once. I'm fine with PW at 46, 54 and 58. I just choke down half way on PW and swing full and I have my gap wedge yardage. Taking out the GW lightened my carry bag and I didn't replace it with another club. Handicap hasn't moved.

[Pepperturbo]

I wouldn't worry about it if YOU can cover the yardages between 46 & 54. But that's easy for me to say as I am not feeling cooped up and capable of covering yardages between 47* PW, 52* SW and 58* LW.

[MountainKing]

Ditch the 3iron idea, either use your 4 iron as the tee club or get a hybrid that fits you better for tee shots. The one or two holes this may apply to, it'll just mean you're hitting one more club into that green. You'll save more strokes with the wedges than you will teeing off with a 4 iron over a 3 iron. All that means is you'd be playing a 7 iron instead of an 8 into the green.

[kstrong84]

You can do this...but it seems a little much to me...I currently am rocking 5 degree gaps, which I'm enjoying...I wouldn't recommend anyone going greater than 6 degree gaps.

[Joelsim]

If I had to lose a wedge from my 44.5-50-54-58-64 set-up then it would almost certainly be the 50. It’s not too difficult to knock 15y off my 44.5 PW if necessary. It’s the most one-dimensional wedge in the set, used almost exclusively for full swings.

[kstrong84]

In short - 8 degrees is probably too much.  Even if you are intimately familiar with your wedges and a wizard with partial swing shots, you will probably find yourself lacking at some point on the course.

 

Try and keep it 4-6 degrees.  Maybe a 52/58 if you are trying to keep it to 3 wedges.