Question: Other than loft, obviously, should all my wedges be the same model?
Answer: There is a simple answer to this question: “No.”
But we don’t like simple answers to these questions because every player’s equipment journey is unique, and every potential answer inspires more questions. Again, this is why a relationship with a quality fitter is so important for your game.
Wedges are very much the pinnacle of nightmare scenarios in the equipment world. Why? A few reasons: First, the answers about loft gapping, bounce angles, sole grinds, even shaft preferences are not immediately intuitive. For example, nearly every major company with a wedge line is offering between four and seven distinct sole grinds throughout its loft range. A decoder ring does not exist yet and likely never will. Second, while many companies offer tips and descriptions or even a wedge selection process (notably Cleveland and Titleist), the only real way to get the right wedges dialed in is through a trial process on the range and short-game area. And we realize that’s not a viable option in many cases. Third, unlike driver or iron fitting, your typical course style or conditions (bunker sand, green runoffs, etc.) may or may not impact the ideal wedge for you for a particular situation.
All that said, here’s why the answer is a firm “No.” First, when we talk about wedges we’re considering every loft above today’s typical 9-iron. Some 9-irons today have lofts as low as 37 degrees, some are in the low 40s. In either case, though, we believe your pitching wedge and gap wedge should match up with the full swing clubs in your bag, particularly your short irons. Unless you’re an extremely elite player, you don’t need essentially a muscle back blade as a full swing club. If you are a better player, you could make the case that a gap wedge (48-52 degrees in loft) from a specialty wedge set (Titleist Vokey Design SM10, Cleveland RTX6, Callaway Opus, TaylorMade Milled Grind 4, Ping S159, for example), gives you more effective grooves and could provide a bit more precision and benefit out of the rough. For the majority of golfers, we’re still not sure such a specialty club will be as easy to hit as a gap wedge (often labeled AW or UW or sometimes with the actual loft on the sole) that matches your regular irons.
If you look at the last six entries from tour players in our What’s In My Bag feature, only one is playing all the same model wedges from 48 to 60 degrees, while none are playing a gap wedge that matches their irons. Maybe there’s a lesson there. In short, we think the best way to think about your wedges is to consider them first with respect to your irons (we’d highly recommend getting fit for wedges with your next iron fitting). We’ll agree that it can be tedious to consider separate brands for each of your wedge lofts (we don’t know how Angel Yin came to have three different manufacturers for her four wedges, for example, but good on her for getting it right [https://www.golfdigest.com/story/whats-in-my-bag-angel-yin]). What we would say is you should think about the main jobs of each of your wedges, and with your two highest lofted wedges, you should think of how they might be best utilized to perform different kinds of shots. For instance, maybe your 54-degree uses more bounce for bunker shots or, conversely, less loft for lower-running chips that are hit with a more shallow swing. Meanwhile, maybe your higher lofted wedge uses a sole grind that makes it easier to play open-face shots.
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Can all those wedges come from the same manufacturer and be options within the same model family? No question about it. One other thing: Rethink your shafts on some of your higher lofted wedges. You might have more control with a shaft that’s a bit softer or slightly more flexible than a typical specialty wedge shaft. But you also might benefit from a shaft that’s just a click heavier than your irons shaft, especially if you are playing lighter graphite shafts in your irons.
In the end, the answer to whether all your wedges should be the same model is a guarded “No.” What’s definitely true, though, is that each wedge in your bag should be a separate discussion. Don’t think about “getting new wedges” as some kind of package deal. Each club in your bag should have a job, and that is most especially true with each wedge.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
