50 degree wedge question

**KidWilson33** · 02-02-2006

Hi gang,
I currently have 13 clubs in my bag. Driver, 3 wood, 3 - pw, and 54 , 58 degree wedges. I was considering a 5 wood or a 2 iron hybrid of some sort. Anyhow, I saw a 50 degree vokey in great shape at a shop today for 50 bucks. My Pw is lofted at 47' and was wondering what you guys thought of adding a wedge that is very close in loft to my PW? Would it be better to just hit an 3 quarter PW or a very hard 54' wedge and maybe settle for a hybrid or 5 wood? Any comments would be appreciated and considered. Cheers

**LesIsMore** · 02-02-2006

We would have to know the distances you hit each club in order to find a significant gap in yardage that would justify another club. Almost all would agree that vokeys are great wedges so it should definitely be a choice if you hit it particularly well. but yeah if you do have a big gap between your 3 wood and 3 iron you should look into hybrids or woods.

**Res Ipsa** · 02-03-2006

Originally Posted by KidWilson33

Hi gang,
I currently have 13 clubs in my bag. Driver, 3 wood, 3 - pw, and 54 , 58 degree wedges. I was considering a 5 wood or a 2 iron hybrid of some sort. Anyhow, I saw a 50 degree vokey in great shape at a shop today for 50 bucks. My Pw is lofted at 47' and was wondering what you guys thought of adding a wedge that is very close in loft to my PW? Would it be better to just hit an 3 quarter PW or a very hard 54' wedge and maybe settle for a hybrid or 5 wood? Any comments would be appreciated and considered. Cheers

I know this isn't very useful, but I would have gone with the more traditional setup of 52 and 56. Then your gap wouldn't be so large and you could get a hybrid/5 wood in the bag. for 50 bucks it would be nice to have a Vokey no matter the loft.

I don't know much about changing lofts on wedges but it seems to me you could have some adjustments made. From my understanding for every degree you add you also add a degree of bounce and vice versa. So your 54 maybe at 10 degrees bounce and if get it adjusted to 56 you would add 2 degrees for 12 total. A more or less typical SW. You could also bend it to a traditional 52 w/ 8 bounce. Of course this depends on what your bounce is currently on your 54. You can likewise make other changes. Anyways just a thought.

**neverman** · 02-03-2006

If your wedge is 48 and your present gap wedge is a 54 I wouldn't bother filling that hole in.

**Guru2** · 02-03-2006

I would try the wedge out.With used clubs some shops let you take them out and play with them.You can only use 14 clubs in competition,but you can own more and substitute a GW or your 5W.I own several wedges some of them for specific conditons.You might like the 50 degree for pitch and run shots or whatever.Those wedges hold their value,so for $50.00,if you decide you don't like/need it,you can sell it for about the same $.I might be a bit extreme with all the wedges,I find it great fun to take all your wedges to the practice area and try all different kinds of shots.

**fred3** · 02-03-2006

Originally Posted by KidWilson33

Hi gang,
I currently have 13 clubs in my bag. Driver, 3 wood, 3 - pw, and 54 , 58 degree wedges. I was considering a 5 wood or a 2 iron hybrid of some sort. Anyhow, I saw a 50 degree vokey in great shape at a shop today for 50 bucks. My Pw is lofted at 47' and was wondering what you guys thought of adding a wedge that is very close in loft to my PW? Would it be better to just hit an 3 quarter PW or a very hard 54' wedge and maybe settle for a hybrid or 5 wood? Any comments would be appreciated and considered. Cheers

was to keep the gaps consistent so I have a 48 degree pw, a 53 degree gap/sw and a new Titleist Vokey Spin 58 degree sw. Your gap sounds large if you believe what the pros are saying(7 degrees now), but if you can learn to hit a soft pw that'd be my suggestion for a shot requiring a bit of roll and if you just shut down the 54 you'd likely get the shot with extra spin. I'm not a fan of 4 wedges as opening , closing, choking down etc can give you a variety of ball flights/distances. I like the idea of replacing the three iron with a hybrid and getting a 5 or 7 wood. Personally I carry a 7 and 9 wood.

**Boomhauer** · 02-03-2006

I have a 50* Vokey wedge, and really like it. Unlike Fred3, I am not as profiscient at choking down and taking some off a PW - I can do it to reasonable effect with the 54*, but the PW is another story. I carry my 46.5* PW about 120 - 125 and get around 105 out of my 54*, so I am much more comfortable with my 50* for shots requiring 115 or so. I looked at filling that spot with a 5 wood, but I rely more heavily on wedges than I do on long stuff. Golftown was selling the demoed Vokeys off for that same price...I bought 2 - 50* nickel and 58* SM...both were like new clubs. If you don't need the 50 bills, it is a great investment, even if you don't use it all the time.

**Lloyd_Christmas3** · 02-03-2006

Answer to this depends on your game. Do you have a "home" course that you play more than others? If so, do you find yourself in between wedge shots or in between longer clubs more often? That's how I'd suggest adding to your bag. If you're hitting 2 or 3 (or more) three-quarter pitching wedges every time you play, I'd say get a wedge to fill that gap that you can just make a normal swing with. If you've got long par 3's or a par 5 that you're constantly between clubs with on the long end of your bag, I'd say you'd be better off adding another fwy wood or a hybrid.

**Boomhauer** · 02-03-2006

Yup, Lloyd hit the nail on the head there...my home course has one short par 3 that means GW for me. There are also a couple holes where good approaches leave me in that range. Some of the other courses I play have different lay-outs and I'd switch in my 7 wood, but I hit the new hybrid about the same distance as the 7 wood, so I just bother anymore.

**Sandpiper6** · 02-03-2006

wow.... lloyd does say some smart things once in awhile..... but he does make a good point..... all good points here, try it out, but the gap between ur wedges isnt that bad, if i were where you are, id probly get the hybrid and work on filling that gap between ur PW and SW with hard/softer swings and shots...

**bethpage caddy** · 02-03-2006

, 53, 58 combo, and I love it. I get around 125 out of the 53 and 105 out of the 58.

The 53 is VERY easy to ease up and hit a 100 yard shot with, or anything in between. You can feel all those distances out.

**Guru2** · 02-03-2006

I think you should go and but the 50 degree--you know you want it.Its only $50.00.Come on.

**KidWilson33** · 02-03-2006

Originally Posted by Guru2

I think you should go and but the 50 degree--you know you want it.Its only $50.00.Come on.

Ok gang,
I believe all of you had some very good advice and I do appreciate it. However, I went ahead and got the wedge today. I figure since this wedge is in mint condition, I can probably still get a good trade in on a 5 wood or a 2 iron hybrid. I suppose I just want to find out what kind of yardage and shots I can make wiht the 50 degree compared to my PW. Who knows, i might just go back to carrying two putters again. Thanks again.

**bethpage caddy** · 02-03-2006

Two Putters?

"Spalding, I think this calls for old the Billy Beru... Oh Billy Billy Billy Billy Billy......"

**Sandpiper6** · 02-03-2006

you hit ur 53* 125yrds???? shiiiitt..... my 52 im using at the moment is at most if i smoke it as hard as i can 115.... its average yardage is 105-110.... and im about the same build as your profile says.... im 6"2, 215 lbs, im a bit bigger than you, and probly a little stronger... how do so many ppl hit the ball so much farther with such awkward swings.... it bugs me sometimes.... a couple of my friends i play with hit it so much farther than me, but ive been told my swing "looks" better, and i obviously use it better since i shoot better more often than not.... but when i play CJGA and the junior tours, everyone smokes it by me.... ne little things that really focus power into swings that yall know of?

**KidWilson33** · 02-03-2006

I hit my pw about 120- 125. and that is 47 degrees of loft. I guess we will be seeing bethpage on tour sometime soon eh?

**bethpage caddy** · 02-04-2006

Originally Posted by Sandpiper6

you hit ur 53* 125yrds???? shiiiitt..... my 52 im using at the moment is at most if i smoke it as hard as i can 115.... its average yardage is 105-110.... and im about the same build as your profile says.... im 6"2, 215 lbs, im a bit bigger than you, and probly a little stronger... how do so many ppl hit the ball so much farther with such awkward swings.... it bugs me sometimes.... a couple of my friends i play with hit it so much farther than me, but ive been told my swing "looks" better, and i obviously use it better since i shoot better more often than not.... but when i play CJGA and the junior tours, everyone smokes it by me.... ne little things that really focus power into swings that yall know of?

I'm closing in on about 195lbs at the moment, and although I don't doubt you're a strong guy, I'm pretty strong myself.

Maybe you are stronger than me, who knows?

**bethpage caddy** · 02-04-2006

A lot of the time those simulators are off. I remember hitting a 6 iron over 215 once on them... Sometimes its totally BS.

Especially if you hit driver when the thing is set for irons or something different.

**Da Blade** · 02-07-2006

Originally Posted by 19handicap

i was playing with a guy who was 16 at a tournament this year and he hit his wedges extremly long! he was long but no exceptionally long (300-320) off the tee, and was only 5'8 and under 170, and he was hitting his gw from outside 150. i felt so weak hitting my 7 iron from there! its was insane. also at my last visit at golftown in the simulator there was a guy testing various tm and titleist drivers. he was probably 5'10 and 175 (looked wirey) and 24 or so years old. frig he hit 5 in a row over 370, and one hit up to 389!!! his ss was around 130 mph. i couldnt believe it. then his 16 or so yr.old friend who was smaller than his stepped up and hit 3 or 4 that were over 330. then i come in with an r7 and hit it 245

. lol how the heck do they do it ???

The FASTEST way you'll increase clubhead speed is having a true swing thats on plane throughout, not just part of the swing, but the whole thing. Including the follow through. The good golfers do that huge follow through from recoil, they're not posing. Once you work your swing out, you'll see HUGE improvements in your swing speed at HALF the effort.

At your size, I would bet 50 bucks you could take David Toms over your knee anytime, but look how far that little guy can hit it !

Its not strength, its purity of the swing. There are a bunch of tiny little muscles in your back, lower back, top of shoulders, inside groin and chest that you need to develop to to do this, most other big muscles like biceps, triceps quads and lats only hinder a swing until you know HOW to swing consistently on plane. Get video taped and read Hogan.

Your big muscles are overpowering your swing.

I play occaisionally with a gorilla friend of mine like you and he swings very well, he's a BIG, BIG Bomber, its ridiculous how far he can drive the ball, hell, it looks like long range precision bombing when tee's off. You'll be big off the tee too, when you make a few adjustments to your swing plane.

**Sandpiper6** · 02-07-2006

yea, simulators can be pretty far off..... i was hitting a PW one time and it said i was hitting it 230-240...... im betting you coil alot more than me though BPC... im not "the most" flexible person in the world, ive worked on that a bit and it definately help my swing, or at least my distance....

**philfrance** · 02-08-2006

I'd buy the 50° - it will be more useful than a hybrid. I carry a PW, a 52° and a 56°....
I hit my 52° 100 yards carry max - my PW about 115 max - seems pretty weak compared to everybody else here - but i nail the pin pretty well wthin 140 yards regardless of the club.

I don't think a club under an 8 iron needs to be hit or should be hit harder than 80-90% of capacity. I play em light and easy and go for the pin.... just my game

**Boomhauer** · 02-08-2006

Originally Posted by bethpage caddy

A lot of the time those simulators are off. I remember hitting a 6 iron over 215 once on them... Sometimes its totally BS.

Especially if you hit driver when the thing is set for irons or something different.

There are approximately 5 Golftown within a 20 minute drive radius of Montreal. I have hit balls at all of them, and there are definite discrepancies between the distances I've hit on them. The large screen sims have generally given similar distances, although there is one at the Kirkland mall Sports Experts where I was spanking 310 yards drives with a Launcher 400 last year (I think they have it adjusted long to sell). The Golftown at Point Claire is the shortest hit on, followed by the Laval location, where I hit irons about 10 yards short of my normal carry distances. Some are long, some are short, but typically the reps will tell you they are more for telling shot direction than distance.