P-wedge matching irons or wedges

[Robert L.]

I've searched for this topic in the Equipment section, to no avail, so I'll post it as an inquiry. Which is better, a pitching wedge as part of a set of irons, or as part of a set of wedges? the reason I'm asking is that I recently bought a 52° and 56° Vokey SM6 wedges, and I'm thinking of adding a 48° wedge to go along with my set, and removing the Equalizer wedge from my Hogan irons. Also my Hogan Equalizer has a nice spot of rust right on the sweet spot! Yeah, it's definitely OCD, but I'm always looking to improve my playing set within my budget, so for me it's eBay.

[Maine Golfer]

It deepens on what you like. I do NOT want a hot face player improvement P wedge , I dont like the feel of them I can't take anything off it well. I love my T22 45/05, fits my set well. 

Edited September 18, 2023 by Maine Golfer
typo, of

[bluedot]

I think the answer depends on two variables specific to you.

 

1. Can you maintain gapping at that of the set?  In my experience, specialty wedges are a bit shorter than set wedges; I actually replaced the 48* gap wedge in my T200’s with a Vokey 50* because of a too big yardage gap between the GW and my 54* for full swings.  My concern with taking the PW out would be the opposite; creating a gap between the 9 and that new wedge.  Fwiw, I had a sort of similar conversation with a Titleist fitter just this past Saturday; I wondered if I might benefit from replacing my T200 PW with a T100 or T150; he didn’t like the idea because of gapping on full shots, which brings me to…

 

2. What do you mostly use the PW for?  If it’s strictly a full swing club, like it is for me, then it might be best to say with the set PW?  But if you already use it a lot around the green, then a specialty wedge with particular bounce and grind that you like becomes a more attractive option.

[MelloYello]

I think the "wedge-type" Pw came about because a certain type of (Tour-level) player was looking for the smallest, most precision-oriented club they could find to ensure that they could control distance as accurately as possible.  

 

Rory had blades which would normally be great for optimizing around distance control and workability but I think he was just that good a ball-striker (and that powerful a player) that he wanted to up the ante and maximize spin on top of that. 

 

OTOH, players like Spieth went with the 46^o Vokey to provide themselves with a more precision-oriented Pw compared with their larger CB irons (Spieth being a T100 player). 

 

The problem with a lot of Player's CBs is that when you get down to the 9i-Pw you really don't want the cavity-type design. Instead, you want a blade (which is basically what a Vokey is). No matter how good someone is, a blade-type design is always going to provide better distance control and feedback.

 

My take: 

 

I would look at a Vokey Pw only if I were really long and needed a Pw built to maximize spin (a la Rory) or if I had a set of CBs that gave me a Pw I thought was too chunky and imprecise when it came to distance control (a la Spieth). 

 

 

.

Edited September 18, 2023 by MelloYello

[jas904]

I went for a fitting at Titleist TPI last year and was fit into a Vokey 46° wedge. This is something that I would have never considered. I questioned  the fitter as to why and he said to maintain spin out of the rough. I was worried that it would not be forgiving enough and I would not hit it as far as a set PW.  Neither has been the case. I have also found it easier to take yardage off for in between shots. Discovering this was the highlight of my fitting. 

[ApostateDrive]

Currently, I have my PW and GW as part of my iron set. Granted, my irons are player's CB style, so a bit more workable than most GI designs. I then use 52°/56° wedges for less than full swings. 

[Ajota]

I play P790s and the PW is 45, however I play bent 1* so really a 44. I recently redid my wedge gapping and added a 48(mg4). Very pleased with it. 

[drvrwdge]

So I think an argument can be made for both sides. I was always a pitching wedge, matches your irons guy, but was lucky enough to win a fitting trip to the kingdom and got fit into the MG3 pitching wedge, and can say I absolutely loved it. I do feel it was much better to look at, the turf interaction was significantly better, and it was more precise. However, I eventually moved away from it for probably a silly reason, but I could not get over the fact that my pitching wedge did not match my irons. I also feel that over the course of a year the amount of strokes that either cost or saved me between the two was probably pretty insignificant.

[Jeri6gt]

Use the set wedge if you are just going to play a full shot.

Use the Vokey if you are going to use it for other things.

Also commit to one, I have both options and I move back and forth...not recommended.

[Chief Penguin]

I was in a Vokey SM7 @ 46-47* for a couple of years and I liked it. I got a set of ZX7 mk ii with z-forged in the short irons and I had so much confidence in those clubs, I wanted to extend that to the PW. 
 

I think it’s a little easier to hit the number with the z-forged PW. With the vokey i sometimes get a super high spinner when trying to hit the full number.

[Sean124]

I played a Vokey PW for a long time just because I hate the look of most set wedges. That changed with the ‘21 T100. I like it so much I’m even playing the gap wedge. 
 

I don’t notice any real difference in spin or carry distance in the real world. 

[TLUBulldogGolf]

I went to a PW matching my wedges with my current set after playing the set PW for a long time and I won't go back. I feel like I have better control on partial shots and trajectory. 

[HGLucky13]

I use PW that matches my set it is used only for full shots. I also use a GW that matches since I use it full swing alot, and I only really use it as a bump and run type wedge on shorter shots. I am not trying to shape my shots with it. Very happy with straight where I am aiming...Any shot that needs to be trickier than that I use my 54 Vokey 

[jarediogolf]

To really take advantage of a Vokey PW, you need to be able to very consistently find the sweet spot all the time.
I’m I bit too inconsistent for that. 

 

I use a 44* CBX Zipcore. 
I like hitting 100 yard partial Pitching wedges. (My only birdie today was after a soft 100 yard pitching wedge). 
I also like it for chips that run out (set PWs tend to jump off the face too fast). 
It’s also very forgiving on full shots.
Distance control is gooood. 

[ChipNRun]

Big question: How do you use your P-wedge.

 

If you use it primarily as a 10i - lots of full shots - keep PW that matches your iron set.

 

If you use it mainly for partial shots, consider having it match your specialty wedges. (Hint: You can probably learn to hit the PW for partials with some practice. But in your case, it appears you may have used up the Equalizer grooves.)

[CTG77]

I am doing neither...I bought a 45* Edison 1.0 wedge head on clearance and paired it with a Nippon 130X (normal shafts are all Nippon 1150gh stiff) and it has closed the gapping between my Mizuno 9 iron and my Vokey 50*.  I also have 55 (56 bent 1*) and 60* Vokey SM9s, but bought the Edison on a whim and so far I love it.

[RacineBoxer]

I like to switch to a specialty wedge where I start hitting partial shots. Historically it was always SW (i.e. my gap wedge would be my 120 yard full swing only club, then SW was 100 & in). The last 2-3 years I've really worked on hitting partial shots with my gap wedge so I've switched that to a specialty wedge. I started finding that I needed to swing my SW really hard to get 100 yards out of it and that's a recipe for disaster. Now my 100 yard club of choice is a gap wedge with a 3/4 swing and it's massively more consistent for me. I also have a little chip/pitch shot that goes 30-40-50 with my LW-SW-GW, so I use it for 50-60 yard low flighted approaches too.     

 

That would be my recommendation. Stick with the set wedge if you really just want it for full shots and to hit a specific yardage that gaps with your irons. 

[LeoLeo99]

I use GI set wedges down to SW and a cavity back 58°.  Works great for me.  My strikes are not always on the sweet spot so the extra forgiveness helps me.  Going to a blade wedges hurts me more when I slightly miss the sweet spot than they help me to hit finesse shots.  

[sshadow2]

I experimented with the GW. Tried Vokeys vs the GW of the iron set. Stuck with the latter due to its use: full shots and BnRs. Having a similar footprint as the rest of my full swing clubs turned out to be important for me.

 

I am uncomfortable using partial, pitch, and chip shots with it though. That's where the Vokeys shine for me.

[karstens_ghost]

Given the set you have, the Vokey might be more forgiving...

[Pilk]

Currently making the same decision although its set GW vs specialty wedge.  New irons have a 44* PW and there's an available 48* GW.  Deciding whether to get the set GW (which is really an old school PW by loft) vs. a RTX6 48*.  Will got 54/60 to fill the bottom end.  

[Ben B]

With my current setup, I play both. My Bridgestone J15df PW is 46* and with my 3/4 wedge swing it goes 130 yards, but I can hit it 145 yards with my full iron swing. Like mentioned before, it is too "hot" for chipping around the green for how I chip. I carry a Mizuno T22 48* which goes 120 yards with my 3/4 wedge swing and I won't hit it any further than that. It's great around the greens and what I am use to from my previous irons which I may go back to (KZG ZO). I round out my wedges with a 52 and 56. 

[rsballer10]

On 9/17/2023 at 1:09 PM, Robert L. said:

I've searched for this topic in the Equipment section, to no avail, so I'll post it as an inquiry. Which is better, a pitching wedge as part of a set of irons, or as part of a set of wedges? the reason I'm asking is that I recently bought a 52° and 56° Vokey SM6 wedges, and I'm thinking of adding a 48° wedge to go along with my set, and removing the Equalizer wedge from my Hogan irons. Also my Hogan Equalizer has a nice spot of rust right on the sweet spot! Yeah, it's definitely OCD, but I'm always looking to improve my playing set within my budget, so for me it's eBay.

You'll be fine with a 48 degree specialty wedge, that's a gap wedge by modern standards. More versatility around the green.

[thedunedain]

For some reason I get super flippy with my wedges but not with my short irons so I stick to my iron set PW.  As others have said above though, since you play more of a GI iron it may be a benefit to have the distance control accuracy of a wedge

[hook_or_slice]

These days a PW is what an 8 or 9 iron loft used to be, so it should match your irons.