3 Wedges????

[Libre]

What's your opinion?
I know the pros carry 3 and 4 wedges, and the conventional wisdom is that the weekend player should leave the 3 iron at home (or in the trunk) and substitute a lob wedge.
I think I blow as many shots with my lob wedge as I do with my 3 iron.
Somewhere in my backswing I start to think: "WHOOAH - YOU CAN"T HIT IT THAT HARD" and then I quit on my swing and chile dip the shot - of even if I hit it solid it never gets there.
Plus, today I bought a rescue/hybrid type club and I always stay within the 14 club limit. So I left my 4 iron in the trunk and then wanted it 2 or 3 times out on the course, while I wasted several shots with the lob wedge as described above.
I should point out that I suck, so no matter what clubs I have/don't have in my bag, I'm going to blow some key shots.
But, if you are going with 3 or more wedges, what clubs do you leave out?

[JEFF4i]

I keep 4 wedges, and leave nothing out. Every distance and shot is filled.

[SilverUberXeno]

I also carry 4 wedges total. I don't carry a 5 wood AND a 3 iron. That was my break. I chose the 3 iron over the 5W.

And the lob wedge is definitely a high risk/high reward club. You really have to swing to move the ball any significant distance, so skulling it over greens is a SERIOUS possibility. But I'm confident with mine now, and I see the rewards at every outing. It's my second most used club behind the putter.

It's important to have consistent degree gaps in your wedges, to give you the best ability to hit different distances. with 4, I go 46/52/56/60. That's not perfect, but it works great for me. With 3, I would go 46/52/58.

[J.J.]

to me its all in personal preference and how comfortable you are with hittin certain shots and at what power..

i carry my pw (47*) and a 56* and a 60*.. i'm comfortable with having that big gap between the pw and the 56*; however, alot of people arent.. by not carrying another wedge and no 5 wood, this will allow me to have a 16* hybrid to take place of 2 iron and 5 wood and still allow me to have my 3 iron in the bag

[cypressperch]

No two people will probably agree on what the perfect fourteen clubs are. We all have different strengths and weaknesses. The courses we play can be extremely different. A person may think their choices are perfect, but if they play enough different courses, there will be times when some other club might have been more exactly the needed club for a given shot. Perhaps a 56* wedge was the right club, but it would have been better had it had more or less bounce for the conditions at hand.

The truth is that even when we get it down pretty good, we might have to choke down a bit on hybrid to get a 210 yard shot because 200 may be our limit with a four iron. We will have to get more coverage with fewer clubs than are ideally needed. I would feel very comfortable if I could carry twenty clubs.

I cannot go with four wedges. Jeff, for example, has a system in which four wedges can be carried and still have all the other shots covered reasonably well. The fact that Jeff has about eighteen clubs listed shows that he too would probably feel a little more comfortable with a larger arsenal at his disposal than just fourteen. I want more versatility on longish shots even though it is true that more shots are going to be within a hundred yards or so from the green. I just disagree with Peltz that because more shots fall in that area that we automatically need more clubs to handle those shots. I use a 58* wedge as my lob wedge, and if I open the club up a bit, I can get it to be a 60* in effect. I use a 54* most often on shots within 95 yards of the green. The 54* wedge is my FEEL club which is the club that I can vary the back-swing length to get different distances the best. Also, you can position the ball in your stance differently to produce many different shots, and feel enters into that process. I use all sorts of clubs on chips, but when it comes to pitches, the 54* handles most of them, and when I need a really lofted shot or a shot with extra bit, the 58* is ready. I suppose some would say why not add a gap wedge. I have to lose something somewhere, so it is the gap wedge. That shot will be made with my pitching wedge with a tad less back-swing, or by choking down an inch or so. No it is covered though perhaps not perfectly.

I like having a 15* and 19* fairway metal. I also like having a 20* hybrid. My irons start with a four iron. So this gives me a number of options with shots from 190 to 240 or so. I can make more eagles with this set up, and that is important to me. Also, if I hit into trouble, I can hit safely back into the fairway and still have ways to get to the green even on longer holes. I just like having long shot options. The hybrid is a very versatile club, but not quite as long or high as the 19* (five wood), so I want them both. Coming out of trouble especially the woods, I like having the four iron, which I can keep low and bend either right or left while keeping it low.

So there are lots of ways to go. Through trial and error, I am sure you will eventually find your perfect fourteen. But be ready for change, because as your game changes, it is quite common for your needs concerning clubs will also change.

Sincerely, Cypressperch

[Pa Jayhawk]

Carrying 4, I used to revert between dropping my 3w or 5i. Conventional wisdom tells me to leave the 3i out of the bag by replacing it with a FW or Hybrid. Leaving it entirely out of my bag would be a big mistake as I rely on it for many of the longer par 3's up here. There are 3 on one course that play around 200-210.

Conventional wisdom now tells me to leave my 3w out because it results in many penalties and my 5w already plays more like a 4w at 17*. Last year it was the 5i, however because I took some yardage off my clubs for the sake of consistency, I now require my 5i for some of the par 3's on my home course.

For me, the first thing I look at to decide what club to pull are the common par 3's I play. I don't want to be in between clubs every time I step up to certain par 3's, and throw shots away. Then I look at what I hit the most consistent.

[sandwedge]

4 wedges works best for me. I don't carry a 5 wood and I replaced my 3 and 4 irons with hybrids. I usually use all of my wedges at least 2-3 times each per round. Since my pw has only 45* loft I went with a 50* gap wedge. I use the 50* for 100 yard shots and chip with it a lot. My 54-14 has high bounce and I use it out of sand or deeper rough. My 58-8 has less bounce and I use it for short pitches over bunkers and on tight lies. For me the differnce in bounce betweent he 54 and 58 makes the biggest difference.

[Eracer]

Originally Posted by cypressperch

...Jeff, for example, has a system in which four wedges can be carried and still have all the other shots covered reasonably well. The fact that Jeff has about eighteen clubs listed shows that he too would probably feel a little more comfortable with a larger arsenal at his disposal than just fourteen.

Sincerely, Cypressperch

I count 17. But who's counting...

[ualtim]

I think a lot depends on where you are at in your game and how comfortable you are with your wedges. If your just starting out, 2 wedges are just fine. Learn to hit those two wedges before expanding your inventory.

If you find yourself needing additional wedges as your game improves/advances, add one in. I have been back and forth between 3 and 4 wedges for the last 5 years or so and have ended up with a 3 wedge setup as the 4 wedge setup left too large of a gap at the top end of the bag. In order to make it work, I went with a 48*, 52*, and a 58*. When I had four wedges, I found that I used my 56* wedge the least and that I could work with the 52* and 58* wedges to make up for any of the shots that I used to use the 56* for.

4 wedges are great if you can get your top end of the bag evenly spaced without leaving a large gap. I could not find hybrids/fairway woods that could fill the gaps evenly that I could hit with any consistancy. If your playing an iron set that has a PW loft of 45*/46* you almost have to carry four wedges as the gaps are so huge, but you should be able to pull a long iron as it will likely overlap one of your hybrids and/or fairway woods.

Basically, start with two wedges until your comfortable with them. As you expend your short game, add a wedge or two that helps you keep yardage gaps consistant and adds new capabilities as long as does not leave another large gap somewhere else in the bag.

[gwlee7]

Since I am not super long to start with (265 or so with driver), I conceded trying to hit medium to long par 5s in two and dropped the 3w in favor of a 4w. I then put a 20* hybrid in the bag and filled it out with 4iron - LW. This has worked best for me since I use the 4 wedges in all sorts of different ways. I can hit the lob wedge well to up to 85 yards but only use it at that distance if I need to hit the ball really high. I like hitting little half swings with my wedges that come in on a flatter trajectory that hit and stick where they land. The trick with wedges no matter how many you carry is to practice with them at least twice as much as you do your driver.

[niblick]

I don't consider the PW in my iron set a "wedge" in the traditional sense. I don't hit the same kinds of shots with it that I would with my Clevelands. That said, yeah, 4. I have mine bent so they're 50, 55 and 60 degrees. And I don't consider a 60 degree to be difficult to hit (this coming from a guy who doesn't hit it anything all that well, fwiw, ymmv, etc. wtf bbq lol).

[SilverUberXeno]

I had 4 shots I particularly remember from my last round, a 115 yd shot clear to the green, a 98 yd shot, an 80 yd, and a 65 yd.

I used my PW, my GW, my SW, and then my LW respectively, all with full swings.

All of them hit hole-high, and stopped within a foot of the ballmark. That's why I want four wedges. A full swing creates more spin, so the more yardages you have in the short game that you can execute via a full swing, the better.

[JEFF4i]

Originally Posted by cypressperch

I cannot go with four wedges. Jeff, for example, has a system in which four wedges can be carried and still have all the other shots covered reasonably well. The fact that Jeff has about eighteen clubs listed shows that he too would probably feel a little more comfortable with a larger arsenal at his disposal than just fourteen. ISincerely, Cypressperch

Precisely. My long is certainly covered. And I pick what club I'm going to use based on what course I am playing and other conditions. So yeah, 2 iron, hybrid, 3 iron, and 4 wood all change out. Though most commonly the 3 iron is in there.

Originally Posted by Eracer

I count 17. But who's counting...

18, by the sig. 19 now though, need to update.

Driver, driver, TS, 5, 2, Hybrid, 3-PW(8 clubs), GW, SW, LW, Putter.

[t.j.k.]

I carry 3 wedges. A 46, a 53, and a 60. I don't really need more than 3. I also need my long irons quite often. I carry a driver,3 wood, 2-9, and 3 wedges and a putter.

[Wi-Golfer]

I literally pulled my lob wedge out of my bag today & brought it into the house. I will not use it for awhile until I get other aspects of the game down. I attempted to use it earlier today several times & I either came up way short or a skulled the damn thing & overshot the green. Will stick with my GW & SW which I hit a lot better anyways. Need a lot more practice before I bring out that lob wedge again.