When bending loft: for every degree of loft it changes the bounce by one degree.....

I bought the AP3s this year. I went down to the 48° in the set. I have the 52° & 56° SM6 wedges. This is what worked best for me.

I also play w this set up

BR,

I play the 716 AP1s which has the PW at 43* also. My question to you would be what gapping do you prefer? In my case I go with 4*-5* between the wedges. My first GW is at 47* (an SM6 46*-8*bounce that I bent). My second GW is at 51*(an SM5 52*-12*bounce that I bent). My SW is an SM6 56*-10* bounce that I left as is. As for the bounce question, the bounce will go up or down the same amount as the loft does. For example if you start with a 52* with 12* bounce and bend it to 51* the bounce will also go down 1* to an 11*. The same will hold if you bend the loft upward - 52* with 8* bounce will go to 53* with 9*bounce. Hope this helps some. Fairways and greens.

Mark F

Change in loft has the exact same change in bounce e.g add 1 degree in loft increases bounce 1 degree- I would base my decision firstly on the grind you prefer and then if you eliminate the 54S you would then base on where you want to be in bounce- other than desired bounce I don't think you need worry going stronger versus weaker.

I just purchased a set of AP3 4-PW & the AP3 48 degree then i went with SM7 in a 54.08 m grind and a SM7 58.08 m grind. All 4wedges now gap between 75 to 125 yards iam not a hard swinger so this is my gap ranger.

Tramy Why did you choose to got to 54.08 M? I trying to find the closest 54° wedge to the AP3 48°. I don’t like the K grind so seeing why you liked the M?

I love my AP3’s! I went with a 48, 54 & 60. The distance gaps work for me. I don’t think you need to worry about bending your new wedges. A 1 degree difference in loft is not going to make a huge difference.

if it's any help i just put a set of AP3s 3i to Pw, and some SM6s 52*F bent to 53, and 58*K bent to 59 into my bag... coming from a mixed set of TMBs and AP2s and SM5s 54*M and 58*M.

When bending a club strong like 54* bent 1* strong to 53* should decrease the bounce by 1* (roughly). Opposite being bending a 54* weak to 55* would then effectively add 1* of bounce (roughly).

I think your idea is the best option, 43* pw and the 5* gapping, 43*, 48*, 53*, 58*. As far as a 53* wedge that will be probably the toughest decision. Whether to go 52* bent weak to 53*or 54* bent strong to 53*. Do have any idea what grind you would want to bend to 53*? Would you you'd rather error towards more bounce or less, I think that'd be the approach to look at before bending.

Best of luck definitely looking forward to hear how it all plays out.

Hi, with the choice available in the new wedges I would seriously consider getting fitted for the wedges and incorporated into the fitting you would also get a gap session. I had a wedge fitting yesterday with Titleist and would never buy wedges without one now. My normal irons are standard lie but because of how the wedges sat and how I strike them I needed the wedges up to 2 deg flatter. Hope this helps. Chris

I added the 48* AP3 as part of my set and was thinking of adding a 54 and 60 degree SM7. Not sure if that is too much gappage or if I would be. Ether off with 53 and 58

You will love the AP3. I took a different approach on wedges for my set of AP3’s. My AP3’s are through the 48 degree wedge, then I ordered an AP2 50 degree bent to 51 degree with the same Nippon shaft as my AP3 irons. Then I have a 56 M grind and 60 L grind Vokey wedges. I can’t wait to get a few rounds in with this set-up. If I don’t like it I will take the 48 degree AP3 and the 51 degree AP2 and add a couple of SM7’s.

I went with the 48* Gap Wedge in the AP3, bent to 49*. Then I went with the 54* and 58* with nothing bent.

Enjoy!

Paul

I just ordered three new wedges to complete my AP1 iron set. I opted for 48°,52° and the 56° which should arrive in early March. Looking forward to putting the SM7 into play as soon as the weather cooperates.

Gapping of 4-6 degrees is perfectly acceptable in the wedges and while I understand your desire to change the loft so the gaps are perfectly even it is not required. Going 48, 54, 60 would give you gaps of 5, 6, & 6. I'm not a fitter by any means and I do not have experience, but my gut tells me that if you were to bend a club to go 53 then less loft would = less bounce and more loft would = more bounce.

If you don't want to do more than a 58 LW, that does complicate things a bit and would then probably be best to change the loft of a different club. Which way you go is going to be dependent on which grind you want and how much effective bounce is required for the courses you play and how you swing the club.

If it were me, I'd want to have a wedge set made up of an F grind, S grind, and either L or M grind. In that case, I'd go with a 54 and have it bent to 53. Hope this helps!

I also play AP3. I get great gapping from the set I was fit for.

* 48° F Grind Model 48.10 bounce

* 54° S Grind Model 54.10 bounce

* 58° M Grind Model 58.12 bounce (will be D grind when I order SM7)

For every degree you bend it strong, you will decrease the bounce by the same amount, 1 degree strong = 1 less degree of bounce. and vice versa for bending it weak. 1 degree weak = 1 more degree of bounce.

I think it depends on what type of shots you are going to play with the 53 degree wedge, if you are thinking it'll be just full shots I might recommend the 52 degree F grind bent weak.

either way it's best to get fitted for your wedges. believe me it's worth it.

Josh

Thanks for all the replies.
I will definitely get fit for wedges at the same time as the irons, looking at everyone's advice it definitely rings true you need to hit the clubs to find the gapping rather than trying to plan it perfect on paper!
At the moment I used a 46* PW and then gapping of 4* to 58*. I don't use each club for one purpose though, eg I love to play little half shot punches with my PW into greens as much as a full SW shot that comes down with snow on it!
Again thanks for the advice and I will definitely post the results when I get fitted.

If you bend it strong, the bounce is less.

A 43* wedge is almost a 9 iron (standard "player" loft is 42*).

48-53-58 is good. If you took a 50-08 and bent it 2* strong it would be 48-06. For the 53, you could either take a 52-08 and bend it weak or a 54-10S and bend it strong since both would have 9* bounce. If you want a more universal sand wedge, try taking a 60-12K and bending it to 58*.

The 60-12K plays more like an "old school" sand wedge.
I have an RM 21 42* as a 9 iron. I carry SM6 50-08 (bent to 49), 60-12K (bent to 57) and an MD3 64/8. This wedge setup works very well for me and is almost a reversion to what I carried in 2007-2009 (50* PW, 256-12 SW and an el cheapo 64). I've also had 48-54-62.

I simplified mine SM6 50-08 (bent to 48*), SM7 56-08M, MD3 64/8. I have an RM21 42* that I use as a 9 iron replacement.

I would go AP3 W 48* (maybe bend it to 47), then 52,56,60

Just bought the AP3 4-PW, but the PW goes farther than my old 9 iron (cally x-22 tour). Thinking of gapping for distance control so have added a vokey (went sm6 b/c they're on sale) 46, to gap with my 52, 56 and 60, all vokey. I love the existing gapping at the bottom of my bag. Going to drop the 4 iron, as my new AP3 6 iron goes the same distance as my old 4 iron. I have a high swing speed, and am excited for this new setup. Will replace my 5 wood/3h for the 4 iron depending on conditions and where I'm playing. Would appreciate hearing thoughts on this.