Ditching the “Gap” Wedge

[HoganHO]

Coming to the realization that the so called gap wedge (50 or 52) may not be the best use of one of my 14 slots. I’m finding I’m getting better results taking some off my set PW (Srixon Zx7) versus hitting a 50 or 52.

 

Currently have a 56 and 60. I just don’t mind that gap and truth be told I did not grow up playing a gap wedge—they weren’t really a big thing in the 80’s early 90’s.

 

I’m actually better off having more versatility at the top of my bag…

 

 

Anyone else feeling this?

[cgasucks]

No.  To each their own...

[lefty1978]

Back in the 80's and 90's the pw was 48-50 degrees. So a gap wedge wasn't necessary. Going from a 46 pw to 56 sw will create quite a gap. Why not ditch the 60 and go 52 to 58?

[HoganHO]

Ive done 52-58. It works.

[HoganHO]

I guess what I am saying is that the 46 to 56 doesn’t create a huge problem for me, and actually my results are better taking a little off the 46 versus trying to hit full 50 or 52 shots.

I play a good amount of golf and this is what I am experiencing.

[PanchiCab]

If you can hit your in between yardages consistently on daily basis, yes, the gap wedge maybe isn't the best option for you and also depends a lot on the lofts you play

 

For my game, i have found that a G is a must cause i have troubles with distance control

Edited November 4, 2021 by PanchiCab

[J_Tizzle]

I mean thats fair and I'd say do what works best for you no matter how out of the norm it is.

 

Personally, I think more wedges vs long clubs is always a good thing. Wedges are scoring clubs and I find it much easier to take a little off my hybrid for a 220 shot than carry an iron specifically made for that yardage, at that length i'm trying to hit a green, not necessarily hit it close, but when you put me in gap wedge territory I'm aiming straight at the pin almost every time.  

[9thGreenAt9]

i once contemplated this idea and thought my 50 degree gap wedge was the one club i can compensate for with either a SW or PW and hit different shots with to cover a 46 to 54 degree gap in the bag until i essentially realized my 50 gap wedge was my PW. my longest iron is a 4 iron but it's essentially a old school 3 iron loft. so my bag is really a 3-PW plus SW and LW. there's no more room up top of the bag as i have a 14 degree 3 wood and 18 degree hybrid. this simplified it for me. 

[LBB]

For me...

45 PW - comfortable with full to partial shots 105-130, with 115-125 being ideal

50 GW - comfortable with full to partial shots 85-115, with 100-105 being ideal

54 SW - comfortable with 95% to partial shots 60-95, with 80-90 being ideal.  Full swing is 100, but I almost never attempt it.

60 LW - comfortable with 90% to partial shots 45-75, with 55-65 being ideal.  Full swing is 80+, but I almost never attempt it.

 

When laying up, I try to avoid 70 yards.  It's not that I can't hit the shot well or don't practice it...I'm just indecisive.

 

From a full/partial shot perspective, a 58 makes more sense to me instead of 60, which could help fill that 70 yard hole I have.  But I prefer the 60 around the greens for chipping and flopping.  I prefer to play on the quicker side, so having to choose between 54 and 60 is more obvious once I get up to the ball for a chip or pitch.  When I used to carry 54/58, often times I'd pick one club, then when I stood over it, I'd rethink that maybe the other club might be better, but didn't want to go through the whole shot process.  That kind of indecision lead to bad strokes...at no fault of the club.

 

I couldn't get rid of my GW.  While I probably could still hit a PW down to 95 yards, or hit my SW 100 with a full swing, it's just not what I'd feel comfortable doing.

Edited November 4, 2021 by LBB

[justcallmemoses]

A good wedge player is about controlling distances and flight windows. Some people can hit yardages with 1 club, others prefer several clubs. It’s really down to the individual. If you don’t practice partial shots, get a gap wedge, if you do you’ll manage without 

[Billfitz]

Whether is a PW or a 5 iron I've never done well trying to take something off a club. It's also harder to put spin on the ball when I don't hit it full, so I get better results with a four wedge setup than two or three. Whatever the shot if I'm in between I'm better off taking the shorter club and giving it a bit extra.

[Tax77]

I'd have to learn how to golf again without my gap wedges. I carry 2, a 49 which I give full rips with, my 52 which I also do full swings and does all my bump and runs and pitch shots. I'll never give them up. 49,52,56 wedges, weird maybe.

[WHGolf]

I went the exact opposite. I realized I could add or take off distance from almost any club. I went the minimalist route and only use 6 clubs (3w, 5 utility iron, 7, 9, GW, P)  My 52 GW is basically my PW and SW now. I’ve never enjoyed the game more. 

[AC in TX]

I absolutely could never get rid of my set gap wedge ... chipping the bump and run, pitches, long sand shots, 90 yard approaches ...  this, along with the driver, 3 hybrid, 7 iron and putter get the most use in my senior dude bag.

[BIG STU]

I say whatever works--- Now traditionally I carried only 2 --- 48* PW 56* SW and sometimes slid a 60* for courses with fluffy greenside bunkers. Lately due to back injuries I switched clubs and the PW is 46*--- Even though traditionally I could close my gaps between 48 and 56 I had found even before I switched I could no longer swing hard enough to cover the gaps especially the 56. Normally for me it is 12 clubs and that leaves room at either the top or bottom of the bag to add clubs. Right now it is 13 clubs. 

[sfdoddsy]

I’ve been playing 3 wedges for a while -  50GW, 54 SW, 58 LW.

 

it worked pretty well.

 

But during a recent experiment to cut down on clubs and make carrying the bag easier, I switched to 52, 58.

 

In the couple of rounds I’ve been trying this I seem to have lost nothing when it comes to fuller shots, or chips and pitches.

 

In fact hitting the 58 harder rather than the 54 softer has helped me be more positive. Which is good.

 

Ditto with the 52. I like knowing that I definitely need to hit it hard, rather than tossing up between pulling back on the PW or smacking the 50.

 

Plus I like the potential of an extra club at the top of the bag now that I am older and hit hybrids instead of med irons.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 4, 2021 by sfdoddsy

[AP76]

52 is the wedge I use the least but I still like to have it in the bag. I would rather have options at the bottom of the bag as they are the scoring clubs but it's golf so whatever works for the individual.

[dlygrisse]

Nothing wrong with this. When you have 4 wedges it seems one of them rarely gets used.  If you can 10-15 yards off the PW then Just embrace it. 

[amace04]

Sounds good in theory when you say you're better hitting a partial PW than a full Gap, but my question is, why are you hitting a full gap?

For me, I hit my 50 about 125, and I can get a nice 60% swing to go 95.   My equivalent swing on a PW goes about 120 (GW distance).  I'll rarely hit a full swing wedge unless there's some extreme reason I need to try and be so accurate, and usually, I've already gotten myself into trouble, so the full 50 won't improve the situation.

 

I'd agree more with the 52-58 crowd.  It seems like that might be a better option, then you can look at a gap at the top of the bag somewhere.

[PEI_Golfer]

1 hour ago, amace04 said:

Sounds good in theory when you say you're better hitting a partial PW than a full Gap, but my question is, why are you hitting a full gap?

I hit full GW because I generally treat it no different than any other iron, it is for full to 3/4 shot distances, nothing really more.  I don't chip or pitch with it, not going to be used out of the sand unless at least 70y-110y is needed.

 

I have no love for trying to 'flight' a PW all the time when I can just use a GW and make a less manipulative swing to a know yardage. 

 

I also don't buy the argument of having more options at the top of the bag, how many do you need?  I have 4 with driver, 4wd, hybrid and 4i.  If I need a 5th, then I'm doing something really wrong.

 

As most sets I play have a 45* to 46* PW, I got off of that.  When I play an older set with a 47* or 48* PW, then I'll go 52/58 as I really don't like 60* wedges vs. 58*.  it also gives me a completely known in shot variety in the scoring zone without needing to change up yardages.

[Abh159]

I've actually been considering the opposite. I've carried a PW (47*), 54*, and 60* for the past 10 years or so.

 

However, I'm now starting to consider removing the 3 iron from my bag and going with something like a 47*, 51*, 55*, and 60*. There are a few holes at my club where I'm consistently right in the middle of that 47* and 54* gap, and adding a club for that shot would probably benefit me a lot more than keeping the 3 iron (which I may hit once every 5 rounds).

[rsballer10]

standard recommendation is 4-6 degree gaps between wedges. I have bent my PW weak to 48, then 54/60. This has worked. I have also bent my 4 iron strong, kept the PW at 46, then 50/54/60. This has also worked.

 

I would recommend not going more than 6 degrees between clubs, because if you have to dial a wedge back that much to fill the gap you will lose stopping power and height. I like to hit my wedges low, but there's a limit to how low you can flight it

[doublehans]

In that scenario, Id be more tempted to ditch the SW and keep the GW/LW. I can take something off the GW for approach shots to cover the SW just as easy as taking something off the PW to cover a GW.

 

The difference for me is around the greens. I tend to use the either my GW or LW around the green. There's just not as much differentiation from the SW and LW for me green side to make a lot of difference. GW to LW is enough that I can hit very different shots. Of course, there's the argument that I could go PW to LW around the green. But the caveat there is I use a set PW, whereas my GW which is a specialty wedge I like more around the green.

 

All that said, I'll still be keeping my SW. Its nice to have for approach shots rather than taking something off. Plus, I like it for some bunker shots where its longer than I want to use my LW for. The long clubs are easier for me to fudge, I'm only so accurate at those distances anyway.  But if I had to ditch one....it would be the SW, not the GW.

Edited November 4, 2021 by doublehans

[NRJyzr]

One of my sets has a 47* PW, I go 52/58 on top of that.  For the sets with PW at 49*, I'll go 55/60.  Not a fan of 4 clubs from 47* and higher.

 

[J_Tizzle]

20 minutes ago, rsballer10 said:

standard recommendation is 4-6 degree gaps between wedges. I have bent my PW weak to 48, then 54/60. This has worked. I have also bent my 4 iron strong, kept the PW at 46, then 50/54/60. This has also worked.

 

I would recommend not going more than 6 degrees between clubs, because if you have to dial a wedge back that much to fill the gap you will lose stopping power and height. I like to hit my wedges low, but there's a limit to how low you can flight it

 

This is a good point as well.  I actually have my 5i bent 2* strong and then go to a 3i, so I don't really have the gaps in the long end of my bag by tweaking the lofts a bit, which allows me to have 5 wedges.  I use the W and the U wedge (set wedges) mostly as full swings and some long bump and runs, then the 54 and 58 get most of the action from inside 100 yards, then the 62 is a specialty club that I'm slowly becoming more and more comfortable with hitting shots in the 40-50 yard range.

[Primo1868]

There are some podcasts that talk about that recently (hack it out is one that comes to mind). 
 

I guess the just of the conversation is that if you have a wedge system that allows you to cover the majority of the gaps you need to cover then there is no reason to carry a gap wedge and there is some positive implications for more clubs at the top. 
 

but if you don’t have a wedge system to hit the major yardages then you are limiting yourself in the scoring zone. Personally my wedge system is knee to knee with 50/54/58 equates to 40/50/60, chest to chest with 50/54/58 is 70/80/90. 
 

I couldn’t hit it reliably to fill those gaps without a 50 unless I manage dynamic loft or come up with a different system.

[PixlPutterman]

Im curious more about the top of your bag, those are all lower percentage shot clubs so Im curious how more variety there and less variety in wedges is a benefit?

 

When you say you have more success with a backed off PW vs a full gap wedge, what do you mean? How is that playing out? I had some issues with my SW being "successful" this year and it turned out I need a shaft and bounce change...

[bellken]

I use my gap wedge, so, I am sticking with it.  If ditching the gap wedge works for you, go for it.

[Ger21]

With a 47° PW, I've always just went 56-60, with no gap wedge.

Now that I have a 45° PW, the gap wedge gets a lot more use.

[animalgolfs]

46-52-58