6 degree gap between 9 iron and PW?

[skyline90482]

I'm looking to upgrade my wedges this spring and was wondering what you all think about playing a 6 degree gap between the 9 iron and pitching wedge. I play Mizuno MP 64s, which as you may or may not know, has a 46 degree PW. I've been thinking of going to 42-48-54-60 from the 42-46-52-58 I play in my current set up.

 

My reasoning is that I play a variety of courses where the bunker conditions can be either fluffy or packed sand, and I like having a grind with heel relief on my lob wedge. This is fine out of the bunkers with packed sand, but when I need something with more bounce, the 52 is too difficult to play delicate bunker shots with.

 

Thoughts?

[Golfrnut]

As long as your playing ability can make up for the gap....you're fine.

 

Don't get caught up on maintaining a certain loft gap. Play with what's going to work for you. Same reason you see 3 wedge players, 4 wedge players, etc. Some play 5 degree loft gaps in irons, some may have 3 in places.

[Seaze21]

Always remember, measure gaps in distances, not in degrees. As long as you have the distances covered it doesn't matter what # is written on the clubs.

[MelloYello]

Did someone say something about MP-64s?! :)

 

Haha…I’m in the same position. I’ve got the 64s paired with 52^o, 56^o and 60^o wedges (MP-T4). I would say that your idea is fine. Firstly, the lofts you suggested are totally ordinary. I bet you’ll find plenty of Pros with similar setups. There’s nothing wrong with those lofts at all.

 

Furthermore, I’ve not found the shorter irons in the 64 set to be particularly long. Maybe it’s the S300 shafts? Maybe it’s the standard Mizuno lengths which can be fractionally shorter than other brands? Maybe it’s the slight heft of the short iron club-heads themselves?

 

Whatever the reason, I’ve often felt the shorter irons in the 64 set were maybe 3-4 yards short versus some alternatives. They’re also slightly blocky compared to some more blade-esque clubs. On that basis, if the 64s do have a drawback, it’d be the short irons not quite being perfect. They could be a touch more elegant IMO. It’s not a harsh critique. I’ve heard others say the same.

 

With that in mind, your 46^o PW may already be fractionally under-powered. You may find an aftermarket 48^o goes about the same distance?

 

In terms of having a high-bounce SW and a lower bounce LW, I couldn’t agree more. Most people need multiple bounce options more than they do multiple lofts.

 

 

Always remember, measure gaps in distances, not in degrees. As long as you have the distances covered it doesn't matter what # is written on the clubs.

 

A great piece of advice!

[seus777]

Always remember, measure gaps in distances, not in degrees. As long as you have the distances covered it doesn't matter what # is written on the clubs.

 

+1 to this.

 

I experimented with a PW that matched my other wedges and found the gap in distance to be too great.

[Altiman94]

Chances are you won't notice a 6* gap. Unless you are scratch or better and in that case you will be able to deloft as needed

I play 48/54/60

[Cwebb]

Could bump your 9i to 43 as well

[skyline90482]

Thank you everyone for your replies. Living in NYC makes it difficult to test out these things, but I think I'll bite the bullet and take the plunge on bumping my wedge lofts.

[setter02]

If this is your train of thought I can only ask why you have too many clubs at the top end of your bag.

[fairwaysRoverated]

Wedges are really something you have to play with to find what you really like. It took me some time to figure out if I wanted my highest lofted wedge to be 60 or higher, or 58. After allot of play with various set up I settled on the 58. I found it gave me the best for full shots and did what I needed around the greens. Test them out and see what fits you best.