I want a gap wedge

[James the Hogan Fan]

My problem is simple, and very wrx. I recently bought Wilson FG62 irons amd have taken to them well, but the PW is 1 degree stronger (47°) and a half inch longer than my previous club in that slot. 

 

I hit it too far.

 

I walloped it about 145 yards today when my old pitching wedge went 125-30. More distance! Yay! But my wedges haven't gotten any longer, and what was a manageable gap from 110/15 with 56° to 125/30 is now a rather unhappy 110/115-145.

 

In short I need a gap wedge and badly, but Wilson didn't make one for the FG 62's. I want a gap wedge that plays like an 11 iron, as an extension of the irons; not so much a specialty wedge.

 

Does anyone have a suggestion for who makes the most iron-like wedges? (And yes, I'm practicing dialing back the PW) Thanks in advance!

[getitdaily]

You really can't go wrong with the big OEMs...callaway, vokey, tm, Cleveland 

 

The biggest thing to get right for that wedge is the bounce. Can't really tell you what to get. Test if you can test and pick the wedge that does best for how you deliver the wedge into impact.

[Myherobobhope]

There are some more forgiving wedges on the market now... the new mizuno and callaway come immediately to mind... probably will have to go for 50 degrees but that should create a decent gap.

[hammergolf]

38 minutes ago, James the Hogan Fan said:

My problem is simple, and very wrx. I recently bought Wilson FG62 irons amd have taken to them well, but the PW is 1 degree stronger (47°) and a half inch longer than my previous club in that slot. 

 

I hit it too far.

 

I walloped it about 145 yards today when my old pitching wedge went 125-30. More distance! Yay! But my wedges haven't gotten any longer, and what was a manageable gap from 110/15 with 56° to 125/30 is now a rather unhappy 110/115-145.

 

In short I need a gap wedge and badly, but Wilson didn't make one for the FG 62's. I want a gap wedge that plays like an 11 iron, as an extension of the irons; not so much a specialty wedge.

 

Does anyone have a suggestion for who makes the most iron-like wedges? (And yes, I'm practicing dialing back the PW) Thanks in advance!

Bend the wedge you have 1 deg weak and cut off 1/2". Then lead tape to match swingweight of your previous wedge...

[James the Hogan Fan]

25 minutes ago, hammergolf said:

Bend the wedge you have 1 deg weak and cut off 1/2". Then lead tape to match swingweight of your previous wedge...

 

At that point I'd just bend the previous wedge (I still have it) 2° weak and play it at current length. Which come to think of it is not that bad of an idea. 

[JShaw]

For whatever reason, finding a GW that worked for me was much harder than SW or LW.  I've found 2 that perform the way I want them to, a Hogan 5208 and a Mizuno Tzoid. I will never sell either of them.  I've had countless Vokeys, Callways, Mizunos, and Clevelands.  None of those worked.  I also use the GW as another iron rather than a specialty club.

[RoyalMustang]

I am in the same boat: a forged gap wedge at 50 degrees will be OK but a cavity wedge at 50 is probably closer to that 130 distance I need.  Most of the sets I considered (Mizuno MMC, Apex Pro) didn't offer a gap wedge, which is odd, as back in the day, every set started with a 50 degree PW.

[lil'mike]

2 hours ago, James the Hogan Fan said:

 

At that point I'd just bend the previous wedge (I still have it) 2° weak and play it at current length. Which come to think of it is not that bad of an idea. 

 

This is what I was thinking!  Bend the wedge two degrees weak!

 

[JakeW13]

I play the Ping Blueprints (a very angular/sharp players iron) and I found deciding on what gap wedge to be quite a challenge. I settled on the RTX4 50* with an S400 stock shaft and haven't looked back. Bent lie angle 2 degrees flat, fits my eye perfectly, and it's a nice transition between my Blueprint PW and the Glide Forged SW/LW.

 

It's my money 115-125 yard club.

Edited September 15, 2020 by JakeW13

[cardoustie]

What SW and LW do you carry?

[llewol007]

3 hours ago, hammergolf said:

Bend the wedge you have 1 deg weak and cut off 1/2". Then lead tape to match swingweight of your previous wedge...

That is exactly what I would try first. You have a stronger lofted club and now its a half inch longer. That equates to playing a 9 iron. So adjust the loft to 49 and either choke down on the grip or get it back to standard length. FYI I have a gap wedge and for me the cleaner the look the better. I like the TM Milled grinds and the callaway jaws wedges. 

[getair23]

Have you considered using your old pitching wedge as your gap wedge.

[setter02]

I'm still wondering how 1/2" and 1* manages to create a gap of 15-20 yards.

Edited September 16, 2020 by setter02

[James the Hogan Fan]

22 minutes ago, gwelfgulfer said:

I'm still wondering how 1/2" and 1* manages to create a gap of 15-20 yards.

You and me both. I think it's possibly the ½" is a better fit and lets me get through the ball better with more sweet spot contact. Whereas before the old wedge I maybe felt I was flushing but wasn't truly getting all of it? Very strange I admit.

 

2 hours ago, getair23 said:

Have you considered using your old pitching wedge as your gap wedge.

 

Starting to, especially bent a little weaker to work the distance gap.

[James the Hogan Fan]

2 hours ago, getair23 said:

 

 

6 hours ago, cardoustie said:

What SW and LW do you carry?

The SW is a Cleveland CBX that I picked up last month. Though I like it in bunkers and around the green I'm finding it less consistent as a full-swing club than I'd like.

 

Lob wedge is an ancient Maxfli revolution from 2001 or so, but it jas a very versatile sole and I have played very well with it. (Yesterday 2 up and downs to inside 2 feet and a sandy to 6 feet with the club). I only full-swing this club from perfect lies at 80-90 yards, lacking that I'm looking at a partial swing with something else. 

Edited September 16, 2020 by James the Hogan Fan

[kmay__]

Love my mp-t5 Mizuno wedges as they are quite compact and aren't shockingly different looking from my irons. If that's what you mean, you don't want some big spoon style wedge, look at the mizuno T range of wedges. Love my 50*, go to club on a ton of short par 4 approaches or par 5s where I've layed up. 

[bnperrone]

Mizuno, Wilson, Titleist all make gap wedges designed to flow. I suspect a T100 from Titleist would be the most iron-like GW out there. Between the PW and W lofts of the T100 and T100S and bending potential there's no number you can't hit. 

[RacineBoxer]

7 hours ago, James the Hogan Fan said:

 

The SW is a Cleveland CBX that I picked up last month. Though I like it in bunkers and around the green I'm finding it less consistent as a full-swing club than I'd like.

 

Lob wedge is an ancient Maxfli revolution from 2001 or so, but it jas a very versatile sole and I have played very well with it. (Yesterday 2 up and downs to inside 2 feet and a sandy to 6 feet with the club). I only full-swing this club from perfect lies at 80-90 yards, lacking that I'm looking at a partial swing with something else. 

 

The FG62's are a blade, right? It's kind of crazy to me that someone would go from a blade iron to an oversized CBX in a wedge. Usually people go the opposite direction (cavity back irons to a blade style wedge). 

 

Have you looked at the Wilson wedges: https://www.golfgalaxy.com/f/shop-wedges?pageNumber=0&filterFacets=X_BRAND%3AWilson

 

I'm a fan of Ping's wedges. They offer just a smidge of forgiveness while still being compact.

[James the Hogan Fan]

2 hours ago, RacineBoxer said:

 

The FG62's are a blade, right? It's kind of crazy to me that someone would go from a blade iron to an oversized CBX in a wedge. Usually people go the opposite direction (cavity back irons to a blade style wedge). 

 

Have you looked at the Wilson wedges: https://www.golfgalaxy.com/f/shop-wedges?pageNumber=0&filterFacets=X_BRAND%3AWilson

 

I'm a fan of Ping's wedges. They offer just a smidge of forgiveness while still being compact.

True. I bought the CBX as an experiment to see if I'd do better with some forgiveness from the sand and if the bigger sole would help from soft ground. Results are mixed. Though I miss some aspects of a blade wedge, the point-and-shoot factor from bunkers is a big plus, and for the first time I have a confident bunker system with the 60 for short splashes and the 56 for longer shots, and I'm not leaving balls in the sand. For now the CBX is staying in the bag.

[scooterhd2]

20 hours ago, JShaw said:

For whatever reason, finding a GW that worked for me was much harder than SW or LW.  I've found 2 that perform the way I want them to, a Hogan 5208 and a Mizuno Tzoid. I will never sell either of them.  I've had countless Vokeys, Callways, Mizunos, and Clevelands.  None of those worked.  I also use the GW as another iron rather than a specialty club.

 

agreed. Mostly use a GW as a full swing shot as well, so I don't feel that I am that picky about bounce and grind. Just want something to fly my number on a predictable trajectory and spin from good lies. I am constantly 100-120 out, but I can't get a club that looks and feels right. I'm quite sensitive to the weight or something as well. The search continues. Zipcore is next. 

[Vinsanity23]

Gap wedge was the hardest club to place in my bag, because like many in this subforum, I use it like and iron rather than a specialty club. I won't hit a SW or LW out of a tee box on a short par 3, i just adjust my GW. I had tried every major OEM for various amounts of time with never above average success: Vokeys, MDs, RTXs, CBXs, MG1, MG2 etc. I actually found the one I have now in a bargain bag at the local club shop, and its perfect. The Cleveland CG16 (specialty wedge, not the iron set). It's old, looks awful from everywhere but address, and I would never brag to my partners about it. But after hitting it, I immediately found 2 more on eBay and ordered them. Never looking back.

Edited September 17, 2020 by vstensrud23

[Barfolomew]

That's why I go 46* 52* 60*and skip the 56

[James the Hogan Fan]

On 9/16/2020 at 3:07 PM, kmay__ said:

Love my mp-t5 Mizuno wedges as they are quite compact and aren't shockingly different looking from my irons. If that's what you mean, you don't want some big spoon style wedge, look at the mizuno T range of wedges. Love my 50*, go to club on a ton of short par 4 approaches or par 5s where I've layed up. 

 

My brother in law has a 52° MP-T4 and 56° MP-T5 in a backup bag he's letting me reshaft for this project. I'm going to play the 52° at the PW length less ¼" and see how it goes. 

[James the Hogan Fan]

On 9/20/2020 at 1:55 PM, James the Hogan Fan said:

 

My brother in law has a 52° MP-T4 and 56° MP-T5 in a backup bag he's letting me reshaft for this project. I'm going to play the 52° at the PW length less ¼" and see how it goes. 

 

Built it up today, will test tomorrow weather depending!

 

 

[VCGolfer79]

I have a feeling you have solved your problem. If not Mizuno 921 forged has a 50* GW at 35.25” and 7* bounce. That should get you that 125-130 full shot you are looking for. They have the forgiveness built in too. 

[SecondandGoal]

I've actually gone the other direction, and ditched my gap wedge. I very rarely hit my 54* or 58* wedges for full swing shots any more. Full swing with the PW is about 135-140. Anything below that that doesn't require extra loft, I choke down on the PW and hit a controlled swing.

I always used to carry a gap wedge, and used my 54* and 58* for full swings all the time. But while I was demoing new Sub 70 699 and 699 pro irons, I went two weeks with only the 6 and 9 irons in my bag. I hit the 9 for anything 150-155 and in, and found no problems controlling it and getting the proper distance on a less than full swing.

 

Dropping the gap wedge allowed me to add a driving iron to the bag without having to sacrifice something else at the top end, and I've been getting a lot more use out of it than I ever did my gap wedge, especially this time of year when it tends to be windy around here.

 

Obviously this won't work for everyone, but it's definitely been a positive change for me.

[golfdaddio3]

So I spent more time finding the right gap wedge than nearly club in my bag. Have had loads of clevelands, vokeys, mizunos, tried different shafts, lengthening, bending, everything. In the end I ordered one from ping that fit my iron set (old i20's til I upgrade) and have seen tons of success. I hit my cleveland sw on everything 70 and in since I hate full swings with it, will go 100 if needed. I have a swing for every 5 yards from 90-120 with the ping gap wedge and am getting it with 10 feet the vast majority. I don't hit it fat or thin the way I occasionally did with the blade style sand wedge types. Not sure if your iron set offers one but it's worth it, and get it same length as pw. I'm a 2 HC btw.