it's really a preference whether you want to have 3 or 4 wedges.  if you have 3 wedges and assuming the pitching wedge is 46 degrees, you would probably want a 50 or 52 and a 56 or 58 to keep the yardage gaps close.  if you want 4, and again assuming your PW is 46, you could go with 50 or 52, 54 or 56 and a 60. 

because i carry a driver, 3 wood, hyrbid, 3-PW, i only have 2 other wedges which are a 50 and 56.  it really all is about preference and what you want your yardage gap to be.

you can go visit the vokey website to see guides on what wedges to have, grinds, and bounce.

whats the best gap wedge between pw and sw to buy  do you  think 

robin, alot depends on your PW.  i have a 45 degree, and a 52 would be too big of a gap for my style of play so a 50 works great.  whereas christian prefers a 52 to properly gap to his 56 and 60.

one thing to always remember with all clubs, dont let there be more the 6 degrees of a gap.  6 degrees is about 15 yards difference between clubs.  for me, this is most improtant with wedges for those 125 yds and in shots.

My PW is a 47 degree AP2 and I since I like to carry 4 wedges, I also carry 3 Vokey SM4's a 52.08 GW, a 56.11 SW and a 60.04 LW.

If you are also carrying a 56 degree sand wedge, then look into a 50 if you are using a 45 degree AP1 or similar PW, or a 52 if you have a 47 degree AP2 or similar.

My last iron set had a 44 degree PW.  So I went with 48-6/54-11/58-6 Vokeys.  Now I have a 45 AP1.  I don't mind the 6 degrees from 48 to 54, because I don't take a full swing with the SW under normal circumstances.  Will be going for gap analysis with the full set once winter subsides.  The PW and GW are pretty close, so depending on what I carry on the other end of the clubs, the GW could be tweaked to 49, I could get a 50, or replace both PW and GW with a Vokey 46.  You really shouldn't guess, it all depends on how you use your short clubs.   But you do want at least 4 degrees between wedges. 

go to the bob vokey wedge fitting page on titleist.com and it will give you all the steps to figure out you wedge set up.

It all depends on the loft of your pitching wedge (PW) as most everyone mentioned.  I have a 47 degree PW, so I ended up buying a 52 degree Gap Wedge, and 56 degree sand wedge. 

You would want your wedges to have anywhere between 4-5 degrees of loft within each other to fill in those "gaps" of yardage.  I'm still trying to figure out whether I want to get a 60 degree lob wedge right now instead of just opening up my 56 degree more, or just go with a longer fairway wood since I do have room for one more club in my bag.

I agree with Ryan, it's all about preference and how many clubs are already in the bag.  I use a 46* 52* 56* and a 60*.  I feel that this is the best setup for my game, and it works well for me.

I also use 46/52/56/60 for everything inside of 150yds....When you figure in your 1/2 and 3/4 swing alone with lower gripping, you should cover any distance with the 4 inside 150...

I switch between 4 and 6 degree gaps

47, 53, 59 if the 3 iron is in the bag

47, 51, 55, and 59 when the 3 iron is out

i bend a 52 degree a degree strong or weak to get there

if i am playing a lot i carry a 3 iron and am more comfortable with 3/4 wedge shots

if i am not playing, i would rather have smaller gaps with my wedges and have more full swings

To each his own though.

Hi Robin, I like what Craig says, I also switch clubs around. I carry ap1 pw 46 and Vokey gw 50, sw 54 and lw58 but I have to drop my 3 hybrid 909 19 to carry 4 wedges. If I need the 3 hybrid I'll drop 1 wedge ussuallt the 58 but course will dictate, I have found this will cost me in strokes around green or wet heavy bunkers. I am currently looking at a new 4hybrid and 5 wood combo to not have to carry the 3 hybrid and keep the 4 wedges. Try them out and find your gaps and don't forget the bounce, I have an 11 on my 54 and an 8 on my 58 so I can open it up.

David

My vokeys: 50, a 54 bent to 55, and a 58 bent to 59.  I don't carry a fairway wood so have room for one more. I might add a 62 or 64 this year.

PW, 52*, 58*

AP1 PW (46*), SM4 52-12 and 60-10 bent 1* strong.  This is versatile, simple and no problem with gaps and does all I need it to do. Also approaches an "old school" setup (9 irons used to 45*, PW was 51-52* and SW around 57-59*)

I used to carry SM c-c 50-08 (bent to 49) and 54-14.  I found out the 52-12 works just as well on the longer bunker shots as the 54-14 and I can open the face a little more; the distance diff between the 50 and the 52 is 5 yards on a full swing. I played them alongside each other for about the past 6 months and the 52 does all I need.

My wedge game (which has been pretty strong since 2006) has been a science project.  The basic thing is the setup that does what you want.

I started with PW 55 60 64 (this was an old school PW of ~50*) in 2006.  I changed the 55 and 60 for a Vokey 258-12  I changed my irons out and played set PW and GW.  Used this until 2009.  I got pretty proficient with the 58 but the short coming was long bunker shots.

In 2009 I constructed some irons and played set PW and SW, Vokey SM2 60-07 and 64-07.  Got pretty adept at working the PW. The set SW actually outperformed quite a few major vendors.

IN 2011 changed irons to Eye 2.  Added a Voley 54-11 (bent to 55) and found the SM c-c 50-08 worked better than the set PW around the greens.  Mid year changed the 60 and 64 for a SM c-c 62-07 because it did just as much as both put together.

Briefly tried a 58-04 in early 2012, Worked great for high bunker shots but didn't get much use on the turf.  I actually was playing 5 wedges.  Traded the 58-04 and 62-07 for my current SM4 60-10.  The SM4 has been my greenside bunker weapon since last summer and I have made some great "ups" with it; it also stops the ball better than my 62.

The 52-12

Several years ago, I settled on 52 degree and 58 degree wedges to go with my 46 degree PW. I chose the 58 with 4 degree bounce because I can open it lot and make it act like a 60+ loft or, shut it down a bit and make it work like a 56 degree. It's worked well, FOR ME. You should try out different wedges to see what works best for YOU. Not only lofts, but bounce settings and flange widths.

Hey Robin,

You really need to get out and test some wedges for your self to get the best feel and setup according to your style and needs. I play 52, 56, & 60 degree wedges not including my pitching wedge. You also work the wedge in a certain way to get different ball flight and trajectory out of it. I hope your taking in all the tips and planning your wedge setup. All the best. Team Titleist for Life.

Respectfully, Manny M.

Exact same thing for me. The key for me was to have consistent loft differences from wedge to wedge. Everything else is practice.

I spent a lot of time in the short game practice area and really tried to figure out distances on full, 9 o clock and 7 o clock shots, and starting to work on different types of shots, flop, hinge and hold, pitch, chip. Not to say I'm any good, just that I'm practicing and getting better :)

I personally use Bob Vokey SM4 52*, 56*, & 60* wedges. I love em! They do really well around the green, in the rough, and on the beach.  

I got a set of 755 forged irons so I am playing with the 9 and PW (47) tomorrow, along with the 52-12 and 60-10.

Hey Robin,

A lot of the suggestions make a great deal of sense.  I feel that the most important part is how you feel about your swing and game.  I carry an AP 1 PW (45degrees), an AP 1 GW (50 degrees) and a Vokey SM4 SW (56degrees).  I've tried the 4 wedge system (45,50,54,58) in the past, but found that some of the situations I was in (30-40 yd pitches) led me to wonder which club to use.  Both the 54 and 58 could get the ball to the pin, but did I want to fly it there or maybe have a little more run on the shot?  I found that I was not certain when I was over the ball, and that indecision usually led to a bad result. So I went back to the 3 wedge set-up and took some of the confusion out of the mix.  My suggestion is try them all and settle on the ones that work the best for you most of the time.  If you are like me, you don't have a lot of money to have a bunch of wedges in the house to switch out based on the course you're playing, so do the set-up for where you play most often and do your best on the other courses.  One suggestion, I have run across some golf stores that have demo clubs that they would rent for a week or so in order to let the customer try them somewhat before buying them.  You might ask around your area or maybe the pro at the course you play.  If you're a regular the pro might be more willing to let you borrow something to try.  Fairways and greens.

  Mark F

The AP1 PW, SM4 52-12 and 60-10 work like a charm.  I have the AP1 PW bent to 46 and the other two 1* strong.  When I had the 4 wedge setup (SM c-c 50-08 and 54-14 before going to the SM4), sometimes it was a bit of confusion on choosing one or the other.  I also had 50-55-60-64 in 2006 and ended up replacing the 55 and 60 with a 258-12.   I even had a 5 wedge setup last year (PW-50-54-58-62) and that got very confusing with the lob wedges because each one had limited use.  With fewer wedges it is easier to master each one.

The loft choice of your wedge is first based off the loft of your pitching wedge.  How big of a degree gap that you use is based on your speed and shot preference.  You can see the Vokey Wedge Recommendation page for bounce options.

Slower speeds will see less of a difference is degree changes and therefore could use a 6 degree gap so that your yardage gaps stay the same (10-12 yards).

If a high ball speed player and distance control is an issue, I would recommend a 4 wedge system with 4 degree gaps.

If you have the ability to take yardage off your wedge, keep a high trajectory consider just 3 wedges with no more than 6 degree gaps.

Hope this helps.  You can always see your local PGA Professional and Titleist Fitter in your area to go thru a wedge fitting.

KL

Agree with Kevin.  I have a slower swing speed than I used to and I find it easier to control distance by choking down.  Someone with a 110+ mph swing speed would probably fall on his keyster trying to hit a fully choked swing.  

I also like the simplicity of a 3 wedge system.  I learned how to play golf when pitching wedges were 50-52* and sand wedges were 58*.