Wedge question

[EnglishGolfer]

Am I the only person on here that doesn't even know what the lofts of his wedges are?

I've always been quite happy at being able to play any shot I want with the PW & SW that came with my set of Mizunos. I'll be honest I just don't understand the obsession with carrying a bag load of wedges when most players don't even know how to use them properly anyway???

What is wrong with just opening and closing the club face? I don't think I'm being particularly old fashioned, just practical as you can have more essential clubs in your bag instead.

[Pa Jayhawk]

In the past I always preferred to have clubs that simply matched my set for sake of consistent feel and predictability.

Then I realized there was a little more to it than loft, which did not change with my wedges. Actually loft played no part in changing wedges.. As far as getting more custom wedges, for me it was more a matter of weight, bounce considerations and even lie than that of loft. Since moving up here the bunkers and conditions seemed more conducive having little bounce on my 56* for most of the bunkers, where I usually played my low bounce 60* out of firm or wet bunkers, and my 56* out of the rare fluffy bunkers. Tended to come up just a little short on both. I likely could have done without switching my 52* wedge, although in using my 56* and 60* I have found that I really prefer the considerably heavier weight in my wedges. Gives me more control and a better feel for the club. The final consideration is that I play a 1* upright iron lie. Because the wedge is a shorter club and you are more over the ball, it leads to a more outside~in over the top swing, even though my iron swing is inside~out. So my normal wedge shot is a slight pull. So by going with a standard lie on my wedge it gives me a straighter, more predictable, and less apparent pull to account for without manipulating the clubface.

Granted, I could have had the lie bent, added weight, and taken a grinder to the bounce, but I tried that on my old LW and the club came out out my bag within a round of doing so. It just did not feel nearly the same and I had zero confidence in the club afterwards.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by EnglishGolfer

Am I the only person on here that doesn't even know what the lofts of his wedges are?

I've always been quite happy at being able to play any shot I want with the PW & SW that came with my set of Mizunos. I'll be honest I just don't understand the obsession with carrying a bag load of wedges when most players don't even know how to use them properly anyway???

What is wrong with just opening and closing the club face? I don't think I'm being particularly old fashioned, just practical as you can have more essential clubs in your bag instead.

I never knew the lofts on my clubs until I started visiting these discussion boards. I still don't particularly care, but they are sometimes needed to participate in some of the discussions. I'm like you in that I mostly just practice to learn what they do, and take that with me out on the course. I have a gap wedge mostly because it came with my set of King Cobras, but I had to look up the lofts online about a month or two ago just to respond to a particular thread. Never knew or cared before then.

[RickinMA]

my starter set as a kid had 3, 5, 7, 9 irons - I could make the same arguement about unnecessary even numbered irons -

On the course, for a long time I would go easy on a 5 or kill a 7 instead of reaching for the 6 iron

if a player wants to add wedges at the expense of fairway woods - who cares? for me, Driver - 4 wood makes sense - makes plenty of room for wedges or #10 and #11 irons