Campbell's Corner: When to replace your wedges

By Thomas Campbell -- 2nd Swing master fitter

There is no doubt that an old wedge with worn-out grooves will spin less than a wedge with fresh grooves. 

More specifically, fresh grooves provide more friction and produce more grip on the ball, while grooves that are worn will result in the ball rolling up the clubface, which leads to less backspin.

Those realities create two questions that you should be asking: What are the differences in performance? And when should I replace my wedges?

For the latter question, the short answer is as often as you can afford to.

It is well known that tour players regularly replace their wedges. Adam Scott replaces his wedges four times a year, in advance of each major championship, as he is seeking the ultimate performance at those four events.

It is also important to consider how often you play, where you play, and what you use each of your wedges for.

First, let’s discuss what exactly causes a wedge’s grooves to wear out. Of course, frequent play will create gradual wear of the grooves.

Additionally, each bunker shot you hit essentially is sandblasting across the clubface, possibly with small pebbles and rocks, which is a huge factor when it comes to wear. So if you like to practice bunker shots with your favorite wedge, that wedge likely will faster.

Bag chatter will also cause wear, along with sandy lies, and rocks under the turf. 

Titleist’s R&D team has conducted extensive robot testing on groove wear and spin performance. The results were certainly eye-opening, as wedges with newer grooves launched the ball lower and created more spin, both of which are keys to control, while older grooves caused the ball to launch higher and spin less. 

In terms of the actual process that Titleist used, fresh grooves were tested against grooves that had been used for 75 rounds and 125 rounds, or an estimated 800 and 1350 shots, respectively.

Fresh grooves produced 8500 RPM of spin, rolled out 10 feet, and launched at 33 degrees. Grooves that had been played 75 rounds had 7700 RPM of spin, rolled out 18 feet, and launched at 34 degrees. Grooves that had been played 125 rounds had 6500 RPM of spin, rolled out 24 feet and launched at 35 degrees.

As you can see, the drop off in performance as your grooves wear is significant, and based on the results of its testing, Titleist now recommends that every golfer inspect their grooves every 75 rounds.

And what about the golfer who practices with his wedges regularly? As you would guess, practicing more only increases the rate of wear.

When I typically practice my short game, I spend a lot of time hitting shots with my sand and lob wedges, and I replace my sand wedge and lob wedge more often than my other two wedges.

If I hit 50 bunker shots, I’m already six percent of the way to the 75-round or 800-shot threshold, not to mention blasting sand across the face each time, which accelerates the wear process.

Tour professionals practice with their wedges every day to dial in what are their primary scoring clubs. They rely on their wedges to hit it close every time.

For the average tour player, he or she utilizes a 1-2-3-4 formula for wedge replacement:

1. Pitching wedge replaced once per year
2. Gap wedge replaced twice per year
3. Sand wedge replaced three times per year
4. Lob wedge replaced four times per year

I have a better suggestion and one that is more cost-effective. Keep your old, higher-lofted wedges to practice with. After I have replaced my wedges, I always keep the worn wedges to practice my bunker shots and shots around the green, saving my fresh grooves for the course.

In summary, if it’s been at least 75 rounds, you’ll probably start to notice that your distances might be off by a couple of yards, due to the ball rolling out further, and that you can no longer check that ball up on the green as fast you’d like.

At that point, it’s time to consider replacing your wedges. And when you do, you will appreciate the advantage over your competitors.