Let's talk wedges for juniors at various stages in their development

[MB19]

This is a broad subject, which is meant to be such.  Why, you ask?  Because I love wedges, and really--who doesn't?

 

My two juniors, now 8 and nearly 10, have been through a pile of wedges but have recently settled in with what they will play with for the next couple of years (yeah, yeah...).  Full disclosure--I have been all over the map with this in trying wedges.  Sometimes do to the advice of forum members, but usually because I'm maybe a little too willing to try new things in my kids' bags.

 

If you had to do it, or do it all over again, what wedges do you get for the following groups of juniors (and state reasons)?

 

6-8yo beginners and intermediates

 

8-12yo beginners, intermediates and advanced

 

13-15 beginners, intermediates and advanced

 

Feel free to include preferred shafting, grips, grinds, and lofts.

 

When is the right time to take kids out of their set wedges?

 

When is the right time to go to adult wedges?

 

At what point, if any, do you ditch a set PW or GW/AW for a Vokey, Mack Daddy, Glide, etc...?

 

 

 

 

[Golfingdawg19]

My daughter is 13 and she has played the Cleveland ladies wedge for 2-3 years now. It is more of a cavity back than the US kids wedges so IMO it’s more forgiving. It has a lightweight ladies flex shaft so that helps. She has a lesson next week and we will discuss moving away from those wedges and doing a true wedge fitting. When I spoke with the fitter before he said that we could put her in more of a traditional blade style wedge and it would help with short game shots around the green but she would lose forgiveness on the wedge shots into the green. He didn’t see the benefit of doing it and that was about a year ago. 

[jj9000]

There's no right answer here b/c each player will appreciate the short game (the game within the game) differently.

 

Some don't really give a crap what wedges they play.  Others would be browsing eBay and WRX, searching for sharp grooves every day if they could.

 

That said...mine have been in Miura Milled Tour Wedges since around 5-6 YO.  They really needed to experience that forged butter feel of placing it back in their stance...and zipping a spinner up for a one hop and stop.  It's really the only way they could manage to 1-putt for Double Bogey.

 

In all seriousness...Cleveland CBX have been great...and so have Flynn Alto. 

 

 

 

 

[wildcatden]

My junior has only played the USKG TS and TS3 series wedges (GW, SW, LW).  His next set of wedges will be OEM and most likely a set of these beauties....

 

[Kcct82]

So far, TS3-51 wedges seem perfectly fine around the greens for my 8 year old. 1st shot in the video is your typical short of the green slight uphill chip (18 yard or so from flag). It checks plenty with a medium low flight. 2nd shot is coming back from behind the green. Again, it checks and then slowly releases downhill to a stop. 3rd shot is a little over 20 yards without much green to work with. He throws his hands at the bottom of the arc for a little extra height and spin to get it to stop quicker. I don’t know anything about golf beyond his age so YMMV with older kids playing at harder courses. 

[heavy_hitter]

Won’t be the popular opinion, but there is no reason for a kid to be in adult wedges until they are ready for adult clubs.  Most juniors and amateur adults have no idea how to use wedges properly.  USKG are good wedges.

[MB19]

9 hours ago, wildcatden said:

My junior has only played the USKG TS and TS3 series wedges (GW, SW, LW).  His next set of wedges will be OEM and most likely a set of these beauties....

 

Those are pretty nice looking wedges.

[Medson]

9 hours ago, Kcct82 said:

So far, TS3-51 wedges seem perfectly fine around the greens for my 8 year old. 1st shot in the video is your typical short of the green slight uphill chip (18 yard or so from flag). It checks plenty with a medium low flight. 2nd shot is coming back from behind the green. Again, it checks and then slowly releases downhill to a stop. 3rd shot is a little over 20 yards without much green to work with. He throws his hands at the bottom of the arc for a little extra height and spin to get it to stop quicker. I don’t know anything about golf beyond his age so YMMV with older kids playing at harder courses. 

The concept of spin is very foreign to my 8 yo. Kudos to your kid. 👍

[cwilk]

My son started out at 6 years old with a cheap Wilson set that I think had a club labeled “wedge”. 
 

Within a year he was playing 9 hole tournaments so we moved him into a full set of wedges to match new irons from US Kids. 
 

Maybe by the time he was 9-10 we moved him to Flynn Golf irons and Vokey wedges. 
 

He’s gone through 4 sets of irons since then. He’s used traditional shaped wedges the entire time and is now 14 and currently has W/S Staff Model wedges in 50/54/58 with the 58 in the tour grind version. 
 

I would say he played like a beginner for 2 years, intermediate for 4, and is pretty advanced the last two years. He shot 74 in his tournament last week (~6000 yards).

[MB19]

25 minutes ago, cwilk said:

My son started out at 6 years old with a cheap Wilson set that I think had a club labeled “wedge”. 
 

Within a year he was playing 9 hole tournaments so we moved him into a full set of wedges to match new irons from US Kids. 
 

Maybe by the time he was 9-10 we moved him to Flynn Golf irons and Vokey wedges. 
 

He’s gone through 4 sets of irons since then. He’s used traditional shaped wedges the entire time and is now 14 and currently has W/S Staff Model wedges in 50/54/58 with the 58 in the tour grind version. 
 

I would say he played like a beginner for 2 years, intermediate for 4, and is pretty advanced the last two years. He shot 74 in his tournament last week (~6000 yards).

Thank you for the detailed response, walking us through your son’s progression with wedges.

 

Very interesting he is in Wilson Wedges after being in Vokey wedges. Those Staff clubs are stunning .

[cwilk]

20 minutes ago, MB19 said:

Thank you for the detailed response, walking us through your son’s progression with wedges.

 

Very interesting he is in Wilson Wedges after being in Vokey wedges. Those Staff clubs are stunning .

I love Vokey wedges, but he doesn’t care about brands. Either it works or it doesn’t. Also, a bladed wedge is bladed wedge as long as you get along with the grind. In other words, their is little to no performance difference between brands (keeping the grind in mind). 
 

He primarily uses 1 club around the greens and it’s his lob wedge.  His last wedges lasted 6 months or so and he really struggled around the greens with them (Cleveland RTX-4). Their v-shaped grinds are not good for him around the greens. 
 

We looked at W/S first this time because he’s in DG120 shafts in his irons. He was about 2 club’s gapping between the RTX-4/S400 gap wedge and his 902 Forged/Dg120 Pw. Since the W/S come stock with the 120’s we looked their first and they offer a discount I have access to. The tour grind immediately worked better for him.
 

However, the shafts didn’t close the gap to 1 club like we hoped. We thought it was the weight of the S400 shaft, but it looks like it’s the spin in the wedges and lack of spin (comparatively) in the 902 irons. So either he tolerates the gap or maybe we bend the irons a degree weak to close the gap some that way. He has had that gap come up often in tournaments that has caused some extra thinking. But we are about to move him back a set of tees to 6500 or so and need to see how things play out there for him before making any changes. 

[tiger1873]

A lot girls can”t hit out the sand.  My guess is there using cavity back wedges.  My daughter only used us kids and mens wedges and is awesome out of the sand.

 

however it has taken her years to master the wedges that has resulting in higher scores over the years. However as suspected it is starting to pay off.

[darter79]

Well I will start off by saying kids wedges are junk at any age. USKG is the top of that list especially on full shots, they ride up the face. Issue is of course weight so at a younger age not really a better option than USKG/Flynn wedge due to its weight. Ping ProdiG was around when mine was first starting I would have more than likely done that. I do think Flynn might be the better of the kid line of wedges at least the current line. 

 

I will say that I wish I would have gone to adult wedges a year sooner than I did but I have always been afraid to go to heavy too soon. The changes in her short game since going to vokeys have been night and day, spin factor you name it, huge difference. I think the heavier head can help some kids feel it better that way. But each one will be different.

 

I am one who is not a fan of cavity back in wedges, maybe on a GW (say its part of a set) but definably not in a SW LW. I think it can limit you on the type of shots you need sure it will give you the distance jump you need on forgiveness but if you can't hit the middle of the face on the wedge you have bigger issues. 😂 In terms of going Vokey in a GW/PW that depends on the player and getting the right loft gapping based on the set you use. Its a lot harder to get a GW from say vokey when your set GW is 48, or even a vokey PW when most are now 44 range. I say stick with the set unless they use more of a players type of club with lofts that will match up more. 

[leezer99]

Added a new 58 Vokey to the bag today where he normally had TM. Holed out a chip on 3, splashed a bunker shot on 4 to a foot and threw a dart in on 5 from 80 yards. Needless to say it’s staying in the bag. No wonder they had to make a custom set of wedges from TM for Tiger because their regular wedges are awful. Very inconsistent speeds across the face. 

[tiger1873]

On 7/7/2021 at 10:54 PM, leezer99 said:

Added a new 58 Vokey to the bag today where he normally had TM. Holed out a chip on 3, splashed a bunker shot on 4 to a foot and threw a dart in on 5 from 80 yards. Needless to say it’s staying in the bag. No wonder they had to make a custom set of wedges from TM for Tiger because their regular wedges are awful. Very inconsistent speeds across the face. 

 

 

The best wedge is really dependent on the player and where they are playing.  The best things about Vokey is you can have different Ginds and bounce where it can help you when you travel and play different course. It's also the issue with them because if you have wrong grind or bounce they will not be that great.

 

At $200 or so a wedge i really have to find my kid a wedge that will work in the widest range or course conditions they play in.  If I wanted the perfect wedge for all conditions I would have to buy 2 or 3 sets.  Since i have to buy wedges compromises has to be made.   At the end of the day all the decent wedges with generic grinds are very similar.

 

 

Over the years I brought all kinds of wedges TM wedges are ok they have a grind that works in a lot places same thing with Cleveland.  Those wedges just seem to work better for all kinds of conditions  and will overall work as good as anything out there.  Could a custom grind or bounce work better I would almost certainly agree but if most decent wedge players can get the ball within 6 feet with you wedge you going to do ok.

 

Edited July 9, 2021 by tiger1873

[ShortGolfer]

I bought wedges on Ebay.  They needed new grips so I got them at a great price!  It was time for me to learn how to install new grips. 

Clubs can be cut down or lengthened when re-gripped.  I bought a chop saw to properly cut graphite shafts. 

Buying them one at a time would save money compared to buying two or three sets.  Ebay allows you to set a persistent search and email you when it finds a match to make a quick deal on a newly posted item.  Alternately, you can put an item on  your Watch List and see if the seller offers you a discount.

Edited July 9, 2021 by ShortGolfer

[tiger1873]

15 minutes ago, ShortGolfer said:

I bought wedges on Ebay.  They needed new grips so I got them at a great price!  It was time for me to learn how to install new grips. 

Clubs can be cut down or lengthened when re-gripped.  I bought a chop saw to properly cut graphite shafts. 

Buying them one at a time would save money compared to buying two or three sets.  Ebay allows you to set a persistent search and email you when it finds a match to make a quick deal on a newly posted item.  Alternately, you can put an item on  your Watch List and see if the seller offers you a discount.

 

Wedges are the one thing I do not buy used.  If your kid is playing a lot golf they really should be replaced every 2-3 months.  Most pro's replace them every 30 days.  But that would be a crazy amount of money so usually I replace them somewhere between 7-12 months when sign of wear start to show. I trade them in for credit online which in returns sells them on eBay,

 

You don't want those wedges there well used and worn. To save money buy wedges near the end of the year they usually go on sale and just replace shafts as needed.

Edited July 9, 2021 by tiger1873

[ShortGolfer]

I see plenty of spin on the launch monitor.  It may be that clubs with ladies flex shafts don't wear down as fast as clubs with stiffer shafts.

 

Callaway Pre Owned seems to have plenty of sales on ladies clubs so I've already taken advantage of sales to upgrade my driver, hybrid, and fairway wood to clubs with a higher loft that are more appropriate to my swing.

Edited July 9, 2021 by ShortGolfer

[leezer99]

12 minutes ago, ShortGolfer said:

I see plenty of spin on the launch monitor.  It may be that clubs with ladies flex shafts don't wear down as fast as clubs with stiffer shafts.

 

You can get more spin with a wedge that has no grooves whatsoever.  It's the same reasoning behind why drag cars have 'slicks' instead of grooved tires... more contact surface with the ground / ball.  The reason wedges have grooves is to displace water and debris, just like your car tires would in the rain... as wedge grooves wear out they displace less of the elements.  

[heavy_hitter]

31 minutes ago, ShortGolfer said:

I see plenty of spin on the launch monitor.  It may be that clubs with ladies flex shafts don't wear down as fast as clubs with stiffer shafts.

I agree with Tiger.  I would never buy a used wedge.

[MB19]

I guess I’m like the Sir-Mix-a-Lot of used wedges, because “I pull up quick to retrieve it.”

 

Buying a wedge with VG or like-new grooves on eBay at 30-40% of the cost of retail has allowed me to experiment a little and learn.  In one instance, I bought an SM7 in VG condition which had been ported for weight reduction/reshafted with a Tensei Red ladies/regripped with a Dry-Tac junior grip for about $60 just over a year ago.  All-in, there had to be $250 invested into this wedge for a junior who eventually didn’t get on with it.

 

I pulled up quick to retrieve it, and that club has been a staple in both kids (8 and 9) bags ever since.  It likely only has until the end of the year until it is replaced due to wear, but that’s still great.

 

There will be a point in time when I do spend for new wedges, but it won’t happen before my kids’ 10th birthdays.

 

 

Edited July 9, 2021 by MB19

[MikekiM]

I'm probably in the small minority here, but we've used USK and Flynn wedges for a few years with good results.  We've since switched to Maltby golfworks wedges.  They're cheap enough that I drill out some weight from them, usually around 10-15g to get them around the 280-285g headweight, so they're just a touch heavier than USK/Flynn, but not so heavy as an adult club.  Paired with a Flynn Alto shaft, or Recoil, and it works great for us.

 

[wildcatden]

Since my kid is 10, we are just going to pickup a set of OEM adult wedges when the time comes (likely when he is 11.5-12 YO) and play them until I think they are worn.   The "junior golf arms race" has no limits if you want to join in.

 

As an example not related to equipment, there have been several juniors in my kid's age group down in San Diego for the IMG Worlds practicing for the last 2 weeks. And the course is private so they either know someone or bartered a deal with ClubCorp to get access for a couple weeks (money talks).

Edited July 9, 2021 by wildcatden

[heavy_hitter]

1 hour ago, MikekiM said:

I'm probably in the small minority here, but we've used USK and Flynn wedges for a few years with good results.  We've since switched to Maltby golfworks wedges.  They're cheap enough that I drill out some weight from them, usually around 10-15g to get them around the 280-285g headweight, so they're just a touch heavier than USK/Flynn, but not so heavy as an adult club.  Paired with a Flynn Alto shaft, or Recoil, and it works great for us.

 

 

There is nothing wrong with USKG or Flynn.  My son preferred the USKG over the Flynn.  USKG Quality is garbage in wedges.  They rust very easily and look like crap after a couple of months, but they do the job.

 

He didn't use adult wedges until he was 11, almost 12.

[tiger1873]

1 hour ago, wildcatden said:

Since my kid is 10, we are just going to pickup a set of OEM adult wedges when the time comes (likely when he is 11.5-12 YO) and play them until I think they are worn.   The "junior golf arms race" has no limits if you want to join in.

 

As an example not related to equipment, there have been several juniors in my kid's age group down in San Diego for the IMG Worlds practicing for the last 2 weeks. And the course is private so they either know someone or bartered a deal with ClubCorp to get access for a couple weeks (money talks).

 

just and FYI on access via clubcorp anyone can join them as a social member and you get  access to play clubs more then 50 miles from home. 
 

but it isn't just kids tournaments some kids are play 6-10 practice rounds prior to playing in AJGA tournaments. 
 

More power to them but really 6 rounds??? They rehearse every shot talk  practice to different pin locations and anything else you can do. I would never have believed it if i didn’t see it talk about taking the fun out of golf.  Just go out and play.

[Golfingdawg19]

My daughter is 13 and plays the Cleveland RTX-3 wedge. She has gone through a couple sets of those. I took her to a fitter last summer and asked about switching wedges. He said that she should stay with her current wedges. Even though she would gain more flexibility in her shot making around the greens with a forged style wedge she would lose forgiveness when it came to her wedge shots from the fairway. He didn’t think the trade off was worth it last summer. We will revisit that next week when I see him. My daughter is pretty good around the greens and I haven’t seen the cavity back style wedge hurting her so far with her shot making ability. The fitter did tell me that Vokey and Cleveland were the best wedges by far.

[Medson]

8 hours ago, wildcatden said:

Since my kid is 10, we are just going to pickup a set of OEM adult wedges when the time comes (likely when he is 11.5-12 YO) and play them until I think they are worn.   The "junior golf arms race" has no limits if you want to join in.

 

As an example not related to equipment, there have been several juniors in my kid's age group down in San Diego for the IMG Worlds practicing for the last 2 weeks. And the course is private so they either know someone or bartered a deal with ClubCorp to get access for a couple weeks (money talks).

Amen brother. 

[kekoa]

On 7/3/2021 at 7:26 AM, heavy_hitter said:

Won’t be the popular opinion, but there is no reason for a kid to be in adult wedges until they are ready for adult clubs.  Most juniors and amateur adults have no idea how to use wedges properly.  USKG are good wedges.

I'd have to agree with this.  Wedge play from about 80 yards and in has become very inconsistent for my son.  Distance is all over the place and I think his current set up is just too heavy for him.  Currently playing TM mg2's with recoil shafts.  He's had to learn to just hit knockdown or choked pw instead of long wedges.   We played with another kid over the weekend and he was sticking every wedge shot.  Guess what he was using?  3 year old uskids stuff that were all beat up.  lol  

[prinsloopower]

Background: My son has been playing competitively since he was 5. He is now 11. He has won 45+ tournaments, mostly USKG, the majority when he was 6-8, when it was easy and there weren't as much competition, especially from kids who have hit their growth spurt already (he hasn't). His short game has always been the strongest part of his game and is much better than most mid-handicap adults, even some lower handicappers I have seen.

 

He played USKG clubs only as a 5-7 year old, and then switched to VT Max/Flynn. The VT Max irons were a small step up from the USKG Tour Series, but the wedges were phenomenal. Milled face much better than the USKG wedges, although I will admit that the latter look good.

 

What I like about VT Max/Flynn is that it is the perfect step between USKG kiddie and adult wedges, with 3 different weight options. The big difference between the USKG clubs (including wedges) and VT Max is the quality of the shafts. VT Max uses UST Mamiya shafts made specifically for Mike Flynn. The USKG shafts are like noodles, with questionable quality control and dispersion all over. All you have to do is put an accomplished junior with USKG clubs on a Trackman session.

 

While the USKG shafts won't affect chipping, full shots or even half-wedge shots will always have worse dispersion than the VT Maxes or adult wedges. That aspect is not even close between the two. I am not trying to beat USKG down. We love the tour and what they do for junior golf, but the quality of their equipment simply does not hold up to VT Max or Ping Prodi G. It is produced cheaply to keep cost down for parents trying to introduce their kids. A new adult iron or wedge runs $130 and up, while USKG clubs sell for $40-60. How much do you think USKG is spending on R & D and new tech vs. the major adult brands when only a small percentage of their customers are good enough to break par?

 

Speaking of the Prodi Gs, my son switched to the Prodi G sand and gap wedge for a while, but sadly, the wedges just are not as good as the rest of the irons or hybrid, or the FW which my son loves. He has been in the Prodi G irons now for 2 years, since age 9.

 

He switched to Cleveland CBX gap and RTX ZipCore sand wedges about 3 months ago. Both have KBS 560 70 gram steel shafts which are geared towards juniors and slow adult swingers. I was hesitant at first because of the weight, but I felt that the VT Maxes were simply getting too light for him. He was getting very handsy with them.

 

The Clevelands have been very forgiving. Besides adjusting to new distances (he hits the heavier wedges farther than the lighter VT Maxes), we don't regret the early switch to adult heads. Much more bite from the Cleveland faces than any junior wedge before this. So much more consistent. Other kids in my son's age group and skill level have already switched to adult wedges with similar results. But I would trust what your kid's teacher says.

[MB19]

22 hours ago, prinsloopower said:

Background: My son has been playing competitively since he was 5. He is now 11. He has won 45+ tournaments, mostly USKG, the majority when he was 6-8, when it was easy and there weren't as much competition, especially from kids who have hit their growth spurt already (he hasn't). His short game has always been the strongest part of his game and is much better than most mid-handicap adults, even some lower handicappers I have seen.

 

He played USKG clubs only as a 5-7 year old, and then switched to VT Max/Flynn. The VT Max irons were a small step up from the USKG Tour Series, but the wedges were phenomenal. Milled face much better than the USKG wedges, although I will admit that the latter look good.

 

What I like about VT Max/Flynn is that it is the perfect step between USKG kiddie and adult wedges, with 3 different weight options. The big difference between the USKG clubs (including wedges) and VT Max is the quality of the shafts. VT Max uses UST Mamiya shafts made specifically for Mike Flynn. The USKG shafts are like noodles, with questionable quality control and dispersion all over. All you have to do is put an accomplished junior with USKG clubs on a Trackman session.

 

While the USKG shafts won't affect chipping, full shots or even half-wedge shots will always have worse dispersion than the VT Maxes or adult wedges. That aspect is not even close between the two. I am not trying to beat USKG down. We love the tour and what they do for junior golf, but the quality of their equipment simply does not hold up to VT Max or Ping Prodi G. It is produced cheaply to keep cost down for parents trying to introduce their kids. A new adult iron or wedge runs $130 and up, while USKG clubs sell for $40-60. How much do you think USKG is spending on R & D and new tech vs. the major adult brands when only a small percentage of their customers are good enough to break par?

 

Speaking of the Prodi Gs, my son switched to the Prodi G sand and gap wedge for a while, but sadly, the wedges just are not as good as the rest of the irons or hybrid, or the FW which my son loves. He has been in the Prodi G irons now for 2 years, since age 9.

 

He switched to Cleveland CBX gap and RTX ZipCore sand wedges about 3 months ago. Both have KBS 560 70 gram steel shafts which are geared towards juniors and slow adult swingers. I was hesitant at first because of the weight, but I felt that the VT Maxes were simply getting too light for him. He was getting very handsy with them.

 

The Clevelands have been very forgiving. Besides adjusting to new distances (he hits the heavier wedges farther than the lighter VT Maxes), we don't regret the early switch to adult heads. Much more bite from the Cleveland faces than any junior wedge before this. So much more consistent. Other kids in my son's age group and skill level have already switched to adult wedges with similar results. But I would trust what your kid's teacher says.

Thank you for this insight, as this should be pinned somewhere for all beginner junior dads to see (along with many other great posts in here by various regulars of this forum, you know who you are).

 

Regarding the USKG shafts, my daughter has had a 7i and an 8i TS3-60" graphite shaft fail on her over the past few months.  The Flynn Velocity irons and wedges, bought used played by us for about 22 months and is on child #2, have had zero shaft issues.  The Iomic grips have bee outstanding, to boot.  Even the Advantage 7i and 51*, which I bought two of each on clearance for the youngest, have held up quite nicely over that same period of time.

 

Both of my kids (8 and 10) have had good luck with Prodi G wedges, hybrid and FW as well.  My son will move up to a nice like-new USKG TS3-57 (steel) set of irons and wedges at Christmas, and I don't anticipate any problems with the wedges.  Although I am considering holding onto those Prodi G wedges--PW, 52, 56--I'll probably resell or trade them.