Decent, cheap Wedges for a beginner?

jasonb

Hi there,

Have only played a few rounds of Golf, and I'm nowhere near any sort of a handicap yet.

After a friend very graciously gave me a set of Woods / Irons ( a 'Tour Model' copy of the TaylorMade Burners / Heaters ), I've bought myself a putter and now just need to buy a Pitching Wedge and Sand Wedge to 'complete' my beginners set.

I'm really looking for something fairly cheap ( as, let's face it, if I get into Golf I'll probably upgrade everything anyhow ) that will be as forgiving as possible.

I had a quick look in American Golf and they had some 'Golden Bear' wedges for around €30 or so. I also looked in Focus Golf and they had some MacGregor 'Grass & Sand System' wedges down from €50 to €25, and some Masters MCZ 140 wedges for €20.

Are any of these any good? Can anyone else recommend anything else, preferrably no more than €40-€50?

Thanks in advance...

J.

k.p.h

Check out MD Golfs selection of wedges they are all excellent quality and perform better than their price would suggest. I swapped out some old vokeys for a set of them and hardly notice any difference except they perform better because they have fresh grooves.

Decent prices on ebay here

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Dunluce-Golf/Wedges-/_i.html?_fsub=3017058&_sid=192970522&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

Tones69

Just got a macgregor 60 degree wedge in Focus golf for 24.99 down from 49.99,perfect . Any amount of them about from this price up to 120 so the choice is yours really

stockdam

I've had a MacGregor wedge and it was fine. Be careful with the lofts........you don't want a 60 degree wedge (lob wedge) as it may be hard to use and will not hit the ball very far. A lob wedge is not the same as a pitching wedge and may only hit the ball 70 yards instead of about 110 yards. You want about 4 or 5 degrees of loft more than your 9 iron and then another 4 or 5 degrees to your sand wedge. A 50 degree pitching wedge and a 54 degree sand wedge will be fine.

LostPassword

stockdam wrote: »

I've had a MacGregor wedge and it was fine. Be careful with the lofts........you don't want a 60 degree wedge (lob wedge) as it may be hard to use and will not hit the ball very far. A lob wedge is not the same as a pitching wedge and may only hit the ball 70 yards instead of about 110 yards. You want about 4 or 5 degrees of loft more than your 9 iron and then another 4 or 5 degrees to your sand wedge. A 50 degree pitching wedge and a 54 degree sand wedge will be fine.

Most modern pitching wedges are 45 to 46 degrees and 9 irons are nowadays around 40-42 degrees with loft 'deflation' so that the manufacturers can market the distance and sell more wedges. The TM burner 9 iron is 40 degrees: http://www.taylormadegolf.com/products/irons/Burner-1.0-Irons/product-detail-specifications

Unfortunately, you can't readily buy pitching wedges as single clubs. Ideally, if you want a pw and sw, you would be looking for lofts of about 47 and 54 degrees for even spacing. 54 degrees is no problem, but you'll have a job finding a single club at about 47 degrees. You could probably pick one up on second hand on somewhere like golfbidder.co.uk

stockdam

LostPassword wrote: »

Most modern pitching wedges are 45 to 46 degrees and 9 irons are nowadays around 40-42 degrees with loft 'deflation' so that the manufacturers can market the distance and sell more wedges.

Yes you are right. The loft I gave for the wedge was the loft of a gap wedge (mine is 52 degrees). Sorry I'm old school and to me this is a wedge and my "pitching wedge" that came with the set is more like a 9 iron. If things continue we'll need up to 5 or 6 wedges.

My Vokey gap wedge is the one that I use most and I play half shots etc with it.......I'd struggle to use my "pitching" wedge the same way. My pitching wedge is just another iron to me and although it says "W" on the bottom I don't really see it as a wedge - I know that sounds silly but then again so is calling it a wedge to make us think we hit our wedges 120 yards.

I think we need to know the loft of the OP's 9 iron so that we can advise what loft to get.

jasonb

Thanks for your replies!

My little bit of research had suggested that I should be looking at the late 40s ( in loft ) for a pitching wedge and the mid 50s for a sand wedge alright.

As has been said, so far I've found it hard to find individual pitching wedges. In fact, the only ones I've found have been expensive big brand names, or those Masters MCZ140 in Focus Golf, they've got Pitching Wedge versions of them.

The MacGregors reduced down to €25 seem to be a good deal alright, and they have Sand Wedges in stock. So I think I'll try out one of them and if I like it that's my Sand Wedge sorted, and only for €25!

So that leaves me with the PW. Either I'll bite the bullet and buy a more expensive one ( there's one MD PW on that ebay link ) or I'll just buy the Masters one and not feel too bad if I replace it sooner rather than later, as €20 isn't too bad.

J.

LostPassword

stockdam wrote: »

My Vokey gap wedge is the one that I use most and I play half shots etc with it.......I'd struggle to use my "pitching" wedge the same way. My pitching wedge is just another iron to me and although it says "W" on the bottom I don't really see it as a wedge - I know that sounds silly but then again so is calling it a wedge to make us think we hit our wedges 120 yards.

Me too - I have cavity backed irons and to me my PW is just another iron - I can't really use it as a traditional wedge for chipping and pitching as it just feels too clunky. I have 3 wedges and my 50 degree Cleveland is what I use for the traditional wedge approach shots.

The manufacturer inspired loft deflation is a bit ridiculous. "Wow, my new irons are s**t hot - my 5i goes further than my old 3i" - that's because it is a 3i! The lofts on 3is are approaching the lofts of 3 Woods which is especially silly as most sets are now sold without 3 irons as almost nobody can hit them.

jasonb

Just found an online shop in England that are selling the MDGolf NV Drew 48 PW Standard Bounce that'll cost about €66 incuding shipping. That's not too bad, so it's really a case of do I go for the €20 cheap one for the moment or the dearer one that might last me a good while. Are the MDGolf clubs decent enough?

J.

LostPassword

jasonb wrote: »

Just found an online shop in England that are selling the MDGolf NV Drew 48 PW Standard Bounce that'll cost about €66 incuding shipping. That's not too bad, so it's really a case of do I go for the €20 cheap one for the moment or the dearer one that might last me a good while. Are the MDGolf clubs decent enough?

J.

I'd advise you to go for the cheap one. If the bug bites you'll probably be buying a new set of irons before too long and all iron sets include a PW. When you're just starting off you're unlikely to get much benefit from better clubs as the problems will all be with the swinger, not what you're swinging *

*note, I'm assuming that the cheap one isn't a blade and is some sort of cavity back.

Tones69

LostPassword wrote: »

I'd advise you to go for the cheap one. If the bug bites you'll probably be buying a new set of irons before too long and all iron sets include a PW. When you're just starting off you're unlikely to get much benefit from better clubs as the problems will all be with the swinger, not what you're swinging *

*note, I'm assuming that the cheap one isn't a blade and is some sort of cavity back.

Good advice right there, boom!

jasonb

That is good advice, thanks!

I'm pretty certain both the €20 PW and the €25 SW are Cavity Backs, but I'll make sure.

It's quite easy to look online, see a good club, think 'well, it's not *that* expensive, my Visa can handle it' etc. and start doling out the money, it can be tempting.

But, for €45 I can get a PW and a SW and my bag is complete for the moment and I can get playing without having to get a loan of clubs.

Thanks again...

J.

ssbob

jasonb wrote: »

That is good advice, thanks!

I'm pretty certain both the €20 PW and the €25 SW are Cavity Backs, but I'll make sure.

It's quite easy to look online, see a good club, think 'well, it's not *that* expensive, my Visa can handle it' etc. and start doling out the money, it can be tempting.

But, for €45 I can get a PW and a SW and my bag is complete for the moment and I can get playing without having to get a loan of clubs.

Thanks again...

J.

Alright mate, I bought the golden bear wedge set on the internet

52 degree Gap
56 degree Sand
60 degree Lob

All for about €35 at the time on Amazon but they are not available there any more. Good wedges for the price. You can also buy one off clubs in Heatons for about €9 each and they are fine for your level.

kevin99

jasonb wrote: »

Hi there,

Have only played a few rounds of Golf, and I'm nowhere near any sort of a handicap yet.

After a friend very graciously gave me a set of Woods / Irons ( a 'Tour Model' copy of the TaylorMade Burners / Heaters ), I've bought myself a putter and now just need to buy a Pitching Wedge and Sand Wedge to 'complete' my beginners set.

I'm really looking for something fairly cheap ( as, let's face it, if I get into Golf I'll probably upgrade everything anyhow ) that will be as forgiving as possible.

I had a quick look in American Golf and they had some 'Golden Bear' wedges for around €30 or so. I also looked in Focus Golf and they had some MacGregor 'Grass & Sand System' wedges down from €50 to €25, and some Masters MCZ 140 wedges for €20.

Are any of these any good? Can anyone else recommend anything else, preferrably no more than €40-€50?

Thanks in advance...

J.

My advice is to get a few lessons from your local club pro and he/she can advise you on what type of wedge best suits your swing.
Don't spend anything. Just get a few lessons first.

bustercherry

kevin99 wrote: »

My advice is to get a few lessons from your local club pro and he/she can advise you on what type of wedge best suits your swing.
Don't spend anything. Just get a few lessons first.

Wedges are wedges IMO until you can hit then consitently (Good ), forget about trying to see which fit's your swing (ideally you don't want to be blasting your wedges anyway). Unless your very tall or short get something you feel confident hitting and forget about the lob/gap wedge's for now. Getting fitted for wedges when the rest of your clubs are are 2nd hand is overkill.

stockdam

LostPassword wrote: »

The manufacturer inspired loft deflation is a bit ridiculous. "Wow, my new irons are s**t hot - my 5i goes further than my old 3i" - that's because it is a 3i! The lofts on 3is are approaching the lofts of 3 Woods which is especially silly as most sets are now sold without 3 irons as almost nobody can hit them.

Sorry I don't mean to derail this thread.

I used to play with a set of blades that had "old" lofts. Try as I could, I couldn't hit my 9 iron as far as everyone else hit their wedges. I would hit a 7 iron when they were hitting a 9. Then I looked up the lofts and the lengths of the shafts and suddenly it made sense. They were playing with stronger lofts and longer clubs and obviously they would hit the ball "further".

My gap wedge is now the one I use most often from 110 yards in. My pitching wedge is just a club I hit from 120 yards. I use a lob wedge from around the green at times or when I'm in the bunker (I may just remove my sand wedge some day).

So back on topic.........for the OP...........make sure you have about 5 or so degrees between your 9 iron and the next wedge and then about 5 degrees to your gap wedge and about 5 degrees to your sand wedge. Otherwise you could end up having to hit a 3/4 or half shot from 100 yards or so - it's much better to be hitting "full" (but controlled) shots than trying to play a half-shot.

I know that JJB in N.I. have cheap wedges but I haven't looked to see what lofts they are. Sometimes you'll see a wedge being sold on Ebay (beware though as a lot of clubs on Ebay are fakes - I'd hope the 2nd hand ones aren't). Also look at Nevada Bobs or other golf shops to see if they have any second hand wedges.

jodie85

you could probably get a good quality 2nd hand vokey wedge or a cleveland wedge for less than 50 on ebay

jasonb

Thanks for all your help & advice. I got the two cheap ones ( the MacGregor SW and the Masters PW ). Tried them at the range last night and they're fine. They'll easily do me while I figure out how much I'm gonna get into Golf!

J.

ssbob

jasonb wrote: »

They'll easily do me while I figure out how much I'm gonna get into Golf!

J.

Jason,

Believe me once your in you can't get out.

kevin99

Remember, the secret using wedges is the follow through. No matter how short your backswing is, you must always follow through.
Take no more than 10 balls at the range and pick your imaginary green, say 30 yards away.
Visual the shot, and practice getting the distance right. Imagine where the pin is and try to land the ball ten maybe 15 yards from it.
Do that three times.
Then imagine the green is 50 yards away. And do the same again.
Take your time. Don't just wallop ten balls one after the other.
Compose yourself, take your stance, have a few practice swings before executing the shot.
If practicing on an outdoor driving range remember to keep the divot area tidy. Place your ball on the side or near the last divot used.
Try to 'nip' the ball off the turf.
One more tip. Keep your left arm straight at all times. Head still and left eye focussed on the back of the ball.
The wedge is one of the most difficult clubs to master. And most middle to high handicappers don't practice with them enought. If they did, their handicaps would come tumbling down.
However, most just want to hit the ball with a driver as far as possible without recourse to accuracy.

barry zx10

ssbob wrote: »

Jason,

Believe me once your in you can't get out.

I would have to agree I tried 9 holes mid week with a buddy using his old clubs about 7 years ago, went more to stop him asking me rather than getting into it.

Now
I play every Sunday Morning.
Member of 2 golf societies.
Play 12 hole comp every tuesday
oh and go to club 1 night a week for 6 to 9 holes with 1 hour chipping and putting.

It's not addictive :)

barry zx10

On the wedges some golf shops would have good quality 2nd hand clubs.
decent club on the cheap until you get a full set in the future
which you will.

ssbob

barry zx10 wrote: »

I would have to agree I tried 9 holes mid week with a buddy using his old clubs about 7 years ago, went more to stop him asking me rather than getting into it.

Now
I play every Sunday Morning.
Member of 2 golf societies.
Play 12 hole comp every tuesday
oh and go to club 1 night a week for 6 to 9 holes with 1 hour chipping and putting.

It's not addictive :)

#Barry what club in Cork you a member of?

barry zx10

Mitchelstown

You?

ssbob

barry zx10 wrote: »

Mitchelstown

You?

Blarney but am from Mitchelstown, play there quite a bit.........knew by your accent ha!!! "LAD"

What handicap are you Barry?

barry zx10

18 somtimes good and sometimes bad depends on €

Yourself

ssbob

barry zx10 wrote: »

18 somtimes good and sometimes bad depends on €

Yourself

20 myself, we must get out for a game sometime in mitchelstown. I would say it's nice now that it has firmed up, I just love the 4th and 14th.

barry zx10

ssbob wrote: »

20 myself, we must get out for a game sometime in mitchelstown. I would say it's nice now that it has firmed up, I just love the 4th and 14th.

2 nice holes if you get your drive away but if you dont :mad:

If your around sure send me a message and you'd never know.
I'm busy for the coming week as I'm organising a classic in mitchelstown for autism Assistance Dogs Ireland.
Mitchelstow GAA had a olf society last year were you with them. I'm Glanworth myself like

ssbob

barry zx10 wrote: »

2 nice holes if you get your drive away but if you dont :mad:

If your around sure send me a message and you'd never know.
I'm busy for the coming week as I'm organising a classic in mitchelstown for autism Assistance Dogs Ireland.
Mitchelstow GAA had a olf society last year were you with them. I'm Glanworth myself like

No living in the city and a member of a work society here whioch is only getting going, know some of the lads alright though. Ya I saw that but not around but would have liked to play Mallow alright, supposed to be a good course!

barry zx10

Yea Mallow is a nice course can be tight in places

The_Kew_Tour

barry zx10 wrote: »

Yea Mallow is a nice course can be tight in places

Improved lot in last 5 years, their greens used to be brutal.