Why do we need so many wedges?

[OldFrog75]

Great golfers in the 40's, 50's, 60's, and 70's had two wedges - a PW and a SW - which they learned how to finesse as needed.

[slprince67]

because the companies have decreased the lofts of all of the clubs. A PW used to be 52 degrees in the times that you are speaking of..... now some companies PW are 43 degrees, most are around 45 degrees. It seems like King Cobra was the first to really jack with the lofts in the early 90's if I remember correctly.

[OldFrog75]

Even so, a PW @ 45*, a GW @ 50*, and a SW @ 55 is still only 3 wedges. Golfers now carry 4 or 5 rather than finesse those 3.

[brew4eagle]

I carry 46*, 52*, and 58* and don't feel I'm missing anything

[b.helts]

A big part of it is agronomy. Greens are faster so balls roll out more.

the exact same shot you hit with a 55* by opening the club face is achievable with a 60* but much more easily.

So yeah, very few golfers need a 60. But in many cases it’s easier to use.

[N0rs3man]

Well theoretically the higher lofted clubs have a higher potential for accuracy. But i think at most ppl skill level it's more of a disadvantage than advantage. I only use 2 wedges. There are times a 60 might be nice, but unless I have 8h a day for practice I'll just stick with 2

[Bgreene18]

Balls are much different as well. You could spin a Titleist or Maxfli Balata like crazy. Tucked pins weren’t an issue. Now they didn’t last long and you couldn’t hit them that far, but you could spin it with a 7 or 8 iron.

[Leftlove94]

combination of faster greens and firmer golf balls has made higher lofted wedges much more useful.

[Nessism]

It's true that players in the past didn't use 60 degree wedges. It's also true that they were not programmed to think that each club in the bag needs to be four degrees apart. Ping Eye2 as mentioned earlier used 5 degree steps between shorter clubs and that's one of the most iconic sets of all time. Many now think that 52-56-60 is proper stepping.

[cardoustie]

There are 41 degree pitching wedges now

[Nessism]

...or 38 degrees like the Titleist T400's.

[cardoustie]

I’m good with 5 wedges in my bag

[TheMagicStinger]

I carry 5. I don't need as many long irons so I want to be comfortable when it comes to shots that require more accuracy. I also have a bad habit of short siding myself on longer approaches... So I hit a 62 degree a lot.

[TheMagicStinger]

What is your stepping? I do 46, 49, 52, 56, 62.

[Roejye]

Why? Strong lofted clubs, faster greens, trying to make golf more available to more people. I don't practice my short game enough and I work 3 minutes away from a course with a chipping practice area so when I leave myself short sided I can use my 60° to help possibly alleviate some issues.

[cardoustie]

45-50-54-59-64

[elwhippy]

Because we have more choice and as already mentioned iron loft have got stupid. Our old Pro had a lofts and lie chart in his back shop. It showed the specs for Dunlop / Maxfli and Slazenger irons. PW was either 50 or 52 degrees. My current PW is 44. Hence I use a 49 bent to 49, a 54 and and 58 or 60. My course has small, well guarded greens so wedges are where I need some flexibility. I learned with 55 and 56 degree wedges but embraced the lob wedge as soon as it arrived.

[Oqvist]

I carry 43 degree pw, 45 degree pw from my old set, love recycling, 50, 56 and 60. I do find all useful so sometimes there is to much choice lol.

Of course I could do quite well with just pw, sw and lw but it´s just easier to do full swing because you then know how far they go no matter they adrenaline level. It´s hard to keep down on the course and swing calm slow partial swings. My miss is always long because when going overly silly with soft swings that often leads to a missed ball.

My lw is worn out though. Got a BeNi one really nice but get buckly now trying to figure out if I want a 58, 60 or if I can handle a 62 :)

[Ferguson]

As a WRXer, I don't miss enough greens to require 4 wedges.

I carry 4 putters instead.

 

[Itsjustagame]

Not everyone is a "great golfer".

Not everyone plays golf the same way.

"Great golfers" from 50 years ago didn't use hybrids either.

More choices on how to build a bag for your game can't possibly be a negative- except on WRX.

[kozubs]

60 degree wedges weren't that common back then. Also, people used carried 1,2 and 3 irons so the iron makeup has just shifted. I carry proper 3 iron (not a driving iron) and love it but any less loft and I'd be losing yardage just due to flight and I struggle with hooking hybrids. With room in the bag I added a 60 degree for short sided deep rough shots.

I wish an iron company like Mizuno would step up and just stamp the degrees on their players irons. This was also done but marketing killed it.

[DallasDan]

58 SM8 K grind for the bunker.

54 SW Callaway CF19

48 AW Callaway CF19

43 PW Callaway CF19

[Roody]

I carry 4 wedges. Also, I have different bounces on my 55 and 60 degree wedges, mainly for use in fluffier vs less-fluffier bunkers.

[EDT501]

I carried 4 for years (47* PW, 51*, 56*, 60*), but recently I found myself often needing a club to split the gap between my 4 iron and driving iron. Over the past few months I’ve been playing a 47*, 53*, and 59* so that I could add a 3 iron to my set. I so far haven’t missed the extra wedge. My LW has always been my go-to around the green, so the only real adjustment I’ve had to make is giving a little extra thought to leaving myself the right distance into greens. I don’t think there is one right answer and I think people too often get bogged down in how a club is labeled. If you have appropriate gaps and can hit the shots you need to, who cares if the clubs are labeled PW, GW, SW, LW or 8, 9, 10, 11 iron?

[dubbelbogey]

It's simple. The game has evolved. Technique and tools have evolved to make that having an extra wedge (or two) an advantage. If it didn't work, if there were generally no advantage, we wouldn't see this as the new norm. I think it's been this way for at least a couple of decades now, at a minimum, so this is not a fad.

But it is true, it's a different set of skills to learn. Multiple wedges with multiple lofts and bounces do things differently than finessing an old-school PW and SW combo.

 

 

[rapeck]

50, 54, 60

[2bGood]

To be clear if we are just looking at the lofts - the modern golfer typically carries only one more wedge and this is usually a 58* or 60*.

[Ger21]

I play PW - 56 - 60. It's not too hard to take a little off the PW to fill the gap to the 56°.

I used to play a low bounce 60°, and used it mostly for flop shots. But this year I got a 60-10, and find it much more usable from the fairways and bunkers, so I use it a lot more often.

[goaliedad30]

Growing up back in the late 70's and early 80's, I carried a PW & SW. The PW loft was probably 50 degrees, and the SW around 55 degrees. I had a ton of holes at the bottom of my bag, so lots of choked down shots with my PW and 9i (which was probably 45 degrees or so).

Today, I carry a 46 degree PW, along with 50/54/60. I almost NEVER hit the 60 with a full swing; it's used for greenside, short (30-50 yard) pitches, and sand shots. Distance-wise, I get:

PW / 125

50 / 105

54 / 90

So, I'm well covered for my gaps.

[llewol007]

Personal preference