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Re: Cleveland Wedges?

• jonobro 22 Posts

  Wed, Dec 21 2011 10:43 PM

  I recently purchased the cleveland wedges and then I noticed that bolloxinbruges, jakestanfill7, and mrenn29 all do not use only cleveland wedges and that they only use one. So this got me thinking...Is there a downside to the clevelands and if so what it is?

• Romesco 51 Posts

  Wed, Dec 21 2011 11:14 PM

  All of the clubs that they choose are of personal preference. Most people base their wedges off of the distances, not what type they are. If you like the Cleveland's, then keep them. It just takes a lot of testing before you choose the wedges that you want to use.

• jimbean346 3,006 Posts

  Thu, Dec 22 2011 12:55 AM

  ^^^ Good answer up there; the Cleveland wedges are great clubs but many players know their current setup perfectly and therefore take the approach of "if it ain't broke, why fix it".

  From a personal standpoint, I found that the shorter cleveland wedges gave literally too much spin. It's much easier to hole out from 75yrds and lower by applying top spin to your short wedges and knowing that you'll get a short, gentle roll out. When using the clevelands, on some approaches it can be near impossible to extract real forward movement so you then have to judge backspin to try to hole out which IMO is much, much harder.

  The flip-side to the clevelands is that they offer more options out of the rough, particularly around the greens. As Romesco said, go out there and practice with your clubs. Get used to what you can do with them and make sure you practice all the shot types which are available. Many players rely too heavily on certain shots around the green where in reality there are better options available, particularly if you want to increase your chances of holing out.

  Happy hittin' on the frosty short stuff over Christmas one and all.

• SGTBilko 1,686 Posts

  Thu, Dec 22 2011 5:16 AM

  jimbean346:

  ^^^ Good answer up there; the Cleveland wedges are great clubs but many players know their current setup perfectly and therefore take the approach of "if it ain't broke, why fix it".

  From a personal standpoint, I found that the shorter cleveland wedges gave literally too much spin. It's much easier to hole out from 75yrds and lower by applying top spin to your short wedges and knowing that you'll get a short, gentle roll out. When using the clevelands, on some approaches it can be near impossible to extract real forward movement so you then have to judge backspin to try to hole out which IMO is much, much harder.

  The flip-side to the clevelands is that they offer more options out of the rough, particularly around the greens. As Romesco said, go out there and practice with your clubs. Get used to what you can do with them and make sure you practice all the shot types which are available. Many players rely too heavily on certain shots around the green where in reality there are better options available, particularly if you want to increase your chances of holing out.

  Happy hittin' on the frosty short stuff over Christmas one and all.

  Nice write up Jim and you were pretty much on point. Wedges are a very personal thing on here and like those mentioned, some of us that have been around know the satin's inside and out. I have tried the clevelands and while they are good clubs they were way to fickle for how I play. 

• borntobesting 9,709 Posts

  Thu, Dec 22 2011 5:24 AM

  jonobro:

  I recently purchased the cleveland wedges and then I noticed that bolloxinbruges, jakestanfill7, and mrenn29 all do not use only cleveland wedges and that they only use one. So this got me thinking...Is there a downside to the clevelands and if so what it is?

  There is really no downside to the Cleveland wedges. Once you learn not to add much if any extra backspin and just let the spin of the club and ball combination do it they are very good. The 3 players you mentioned have learned to play so well with the Ping wedges that they have and Sam(bollux) with his 1 Z  satin that there is no need for them to get better wedges. For the vast majority of us we need all the help we can get. But like an earlier poster said it is all about personal preference. All the top wedges the Ping W's The Z satins and the Clevelands are very good you just need to find what you feel is right for you style of play and then learn all the shots with them and stick with what you have chosen.

• DarSum 1,440 Posts

  Sat, Dec 24 2011 10:29 PM

  I use the 60° 80 yrd. and up until yesterday used the 52° 115 yrd. The 60° is deadly from 86 down to 50. Full top spin no wind will get you the 86 yrds and slightly under 3 avatar movements down with 1 full dot of bs will get you 50. I do not add bs to that wedge unless I'm choking it 2 avatar movements or below and then it's 1 full dot and it will stick. If you don't apply bs choking it you'll get run out. Which is a shot I also use. That wedge has so many shots in it.

  I bought the R11's yesterday so I switched back to my 52° TM Satin 105 yrd from the 52° CG 115 yrd because of the yardage gap difference between the 2.0 wedge (125yrds) and the R11 wedge (120 yrds). The CG 52° was a difficult wedge for me to master. Somedays it was right on the money. Other days it would be like 2-3 yrds off. The backspin was no where near as predictable as the CG 52°.

  I also use the 64° TM Satin 50 yrd wedge. CG has one too, but there is no possible way I'd give up the Satin. I just know it too well. Why change?

  Now for the short answer. The downside of the CG's is they have too much backspin. That's how most of the top players control yardage with clubs. Ball spin. Whether it be top or bottom. The CGs are very unpredictable with full BS.