Wedges that complete full iron sets

[White Rhino]

I have been looking at new iron sets and I see some manufacturers produce wedges to "match" the set. I am sure like most everything golf related choosing wedgs is a personal choice and what works for onepersn might not work for another. For those of you who are using a GW,SW, or LW that matches your current set of irons, are you happy with the results? did you try and "stand alone wedges" before you purchased (or since for that matter)? Love to hear some thoughts.

 

[Hanks]

I'm in this conundrum myself right now. I'm debating whether to add the OEM AW or whether to go with a stand alone wedge. As for the SW and LW I think stand alones can be more versatile than the OEM wedges and I've always gone that route.

 

[Hawk]

I have the PW and GW in my Ci7's. I loved the GW and even kept it in my bag after I bought the Adams irons. I ended up replacing it with a seperate wedge and I'm really happy I did. The new one is much more versatile for me.

 

[golf4life]

I think going with the OEM gap wedge (or AW as they are often called now) is often a good option, considering how delofted the new pitching wedges are these days. The X-24 PW is 44 degrees for crying out loud. That's a 9 iron from 10 years ago. As Thanks said, I'd stick with the "standalone" options for sand wedges and lob wedges as the blade style head is much easier to hit good sand shots and other greenside specialty shots.

 

[TC]

i have the gap wedge that matches my set, and like golf4life, i like the versatility i can get with my cg14 56* wedge.

 

[Hawk]

I also think it depends on how much you use it and what you use it for most. I don't really use my GW (52°) for full shots that often. I use it most for pitches and chips that I want to get a little bit of roll with. The forgiveness and distance of the Ci7 GW came in handy with full shots, but it didn't perform as well (for me) on chips/pitches.

 

[TC]

I also think it depends on how much you use it and what you use it for most. I don't really use my GW (52°) for full shots that often. I use it most for pitches and chips that I want to get a little bit of roll with. The forgiveness and distance of the Ci7 GW came in handy with full shots, but it didn't perform as well (for me) on chips/pitches.

great point hawk. my x22 gap wedge is much more consistent for me with full shots than say a cg14 52* (again, just for me) but i much prefer the cg around the greens, i can do more with it than i can the 22.

 

[Hawk]

On full shots, my 52° is about 5-10 yards shorter than my Ci7 GW (50°), but it is much spinnier. That has been very useful a couple times. It actually leaves me about a 5 yard gap that I have to fill, but I have compensated by choking down on my PW, which has worked fine.

 

[One-T]

I have been trying to find an AW for my black pearls, I havent been successful yet.

 

[White Rhino]

I am confused, what do you guys mean when you say the stand alone wedges are more versitle? What makes this so?

 

[MudFlap]

I play wedges that match my set...AW, SW and LW. When I bought my clubs at the end of last year, being a new golfer, I was looking for forgiveness, consistency and easy to get the ball up. Plus, I like having 45, 50, 55 and 60...even gaps without bending any club and they are big enough to be shovels haha. I can stop the ball on just about any green with them, I really don't play the spin back type of game anyway so they have worked out great. When the arms better and I upgrade to the x24s, I'll probably do the same thing.

 

[solidkjames]

I am confused, what do you guys mean when you say the stand alone wedges are more versitle? What makes this so?

The soles and bounce are designed for more uses around the greens than a club that comes with a set. They can be opened more easily and the soles are usually designed with better bounce options. You can fit the wedge to the course you play or your swing type. I prefer most of my finesse shots be played with a wedge that meets my short game criteria but my AW is a very useful club from 80 yards and in. I don't like taking a full swing with it as much as I like 3/4 shots and bump and runs.

 

[White Rhino]

Thanks solid....


So what I am hearing is PW & AW is ok to go with the set but SW and LW look towards stand alone.

 

[Hanks]

ding ding ding

Thanks solid....


So what I am hearing is PW & AW is ok to go with the set but SW and LW look towards stand alone.

 

[One-T]

I love my SW that came with my set!

 

[Hawk]

Thanks solid....


So what I am hearing is PW & AW is ok to go with the set but SW and LW look towards stand alone.

That's a pretty common set-up. I think you should swing some lower lofted wedges to compare them against the GW or AW. It will really just come down to what you are comfortable with.

 

[SamYYZ]

I have been trying to find an AW for my black pearls, I havent been successful yet.

I think Cleveland actually calls it a DW (dual wedge). Might help with the search.

 

[Adam0304]

I prefer my 52, 56, and 60 to all be seperate from my irons. I sold my mizzy gap wedge, I hate wedges with a thick topline and although the mizzy's wasn't thick it was more wide than tand alone wedges IMO.

 

[Adam0304]

That's a pretty common set-up. I think you should swing some lower lofted wedges to compare them against the GW or AW. It will really just come down to what you are comfortable with.

I agree with this 100%, it's all about what's comfortable for the swinger.

 

[andimetrum]

I prefer my 52, 56, and 60 to all be seperate from my irons. I sold my mizzy gap wedge, I hate wedges with a thick topline and although the mizzy's wasn't thick it was more wide than tand alone wedges IMO.

+1

When I upgraded to the X22's, I left out the SW for the forged blade. I can't get the set wedges to do anything but standard shots for me... can't floppy-doppy, can't chip with 'em, nothin!

 

[weezy109]

Its been my experience that if your course has greens with thick rough, then a bigger club like a g.i. set wedge or maybe ping i wedges, etc, are much better than the thinner blade like wedges. A thicker hosel and bigger blade is better out of thick rough for me.

 

[White Rhino]

Thanks solid....


So what I am hearing is PW & AW is ok to go with the set but SW and LW look towards stand alone.

ding ding ding

Ok if that gets a "ding ding ding" then why dont you follow the "logic" you have a PW but the other 3 wedges are "stand alone" type. Just trying to understand.

 

[Dirt_Guy]

I think Cleveland actually calls it a DW (dual wedge). Might help with the search.

I have been trying to find an AW for my black pearls, I havent been successful yet.

Yup, it's the DW. They are hard to find because they severely underestimated the popularity and can't keep up with demand. I had to wait around 2 months or more till I got mine.

 

[adwillingham]

great point hawk. my x22 gap wedge is much more consistent for me with full shots than say a cg14 52* (again, just for me) but i much prefer the cg around the greens, i can do more with it than i can the 22.

I have the exact same setup (just on the right side of the ball). I had a CG14 52, but for full shots the X22 AW was much easier for me to hit. I much prefer that setup and have done much better with 80-90 yard shots this year because of it.

 

[jmingt]

Ok if that gets a "ding ding ding" then why dont you follow the "logic" you have a PW but the other 3 wedges are "stand alone" type. Just trying to understand.

The way to look at it is people generally have "forgiving" 3-PW (or 4-AW) sets. (That is, unless you're using blades) I believe you can think of the stand-alone wedges to be blades and generally are not the most forgiving clubs.

That's why you'll see a lot of people say that they hit their their set AW better than a stand-alone 52 degree.

As for the question of why, it's just a matter of what you use for your short game. One example would be a flop shot. I pretty much only will flop it with a 56 or a 60 degree so having a AW or a PW that allows me to open the face completely isn't quite as important. (however, this is YMMV....there's another thread somewhere about 70yrd shots where some people play a variety of shots with their wedges....many of which are harder with a "set-wedge")

Your question is also why you'll see some manufacturers have a "hybrid" set of irons. Basically cavity backs for 4-6 irons and more blade-like for 7-PW.

For me, my full swing 60 degree is about 75 yards and between opening my face, half swings, flops, pitches and what not, I can manipulate my 56/60 for all my needs from there in so I use my set AW. (I do have a Vokey 52........but I don't do special things with it so I'll live with the forgiveness I get from my R9-AW)