Do you really need a wedge with more loft than 55 or 56 degree in your bag...

[Rapidcat]

....if you can open up your 55 or 56 degree wedge because the grind enables it and you have the skill/technique?

 

The advantage to "capping" your wedges at 55 or 56 degrees can be only 3 wedges needed: mid 40 degree PW, c.50 degree GW then your 55/56 degree SW.

 

So your SW does double duty as a lob wedge.

 

Naturally this opens up a slot in your bag for another club.

 

Some will say more wedges and so greater versatility at the short end of your bag is more important. Maybe less wedges though simplifies your decision making per shot and builds your familiarity and so execution with the lesser number of clubs.

 

What are the considerations? Technique? Grind? Simplified club selection vs versatility?

[bvanlieu]

With winter golf on, I played my first 18 yesterday in years without my 60 (which I do enjoy...bit of a binky at times. I use it for most greenside sand shots for example). 

 

The  56 a bit open did pretty good, I have to admit. I was skeptical on a few pitches but it has plenty of bounce and its a solid middle of the road grind with some relief. 

 

I did it for lighter bag and only carried 12 but I do see  how a 53/58 or similar setup I could get used to to drop a wedge. 

 

 

[bladehunter]

I’m currently considering this.  I don’t truly find a lob wedge that useful.    I’ve always been one who will lay even a pw open.  So laying my sand wedge open is no big deal at all.  And I rarely if ever use lob wedge for a full swing.  Maybe if I ever found one I liked on full shots I’d have a different opinion.  

[Golfingfanatic]

1 minute ago, bladehunter said:

I’m currently considering this.  I don’t truly find a lob wedge that useful.    I’ve always been one who will lay even a pw open.  So laying my sand wedge open is no big deal at all.  And I rarely if ever use lob wedge for a full swing.  Maybe if I ever found one I liked on full shots I’d have a different opinion.  

I am in a similar situation. I currently use a 680MB PW and then the Tiger wedges in 56 and 60 loft and truthfully, they feel like the same club to me. So I am thinking about going to 680 MB PW, 52.12 Vokey and a 58.8M Vokey bent to 57. 

[rufus mangler]

Short answer is no. You don't need a lob wedge. I rarely hit full shots from the FW with my 58º, but it makes short bunker shots and shots to tight pins a LOT easier. I can carry 14 clubs so...

Edited December 11, 2020 by rufus mangler

[braincramp52]

In the area I live a 58 works better with the sand we have. I'd never give up my 58.

[dmbrill719]

I think it has a lot to do with what type of course you normally play, and how firm and fast the greens usually are.

 

If you play at a course with elevated greens and/or firm and fast greens, the 60* can really help out.  If conditions are soft, a 56* is likely plenty of loft to get the ball up and stopping quickly.

[GolfTurkey]

couldn't you ask something less controversial, like is it ok for a 12 handicapper to play blades?

[Rapidcat]

7 minutes ago, GolfTurkey said:

couldn't you ask something less controversial, like is it ok for a 12 handicapper to play blades?

Yes I could and I notice how quickly a bunch of replies have been posted🙂

 

Seriously though, these replies indicate how topical this question is.

 

For years I played 54 and 60 with my 60 doing double LW and short greenside SW duty because my home course had mainly hardpan bunkers camouflaged with a thin sand cover. That use with the occasional lob requirement made sense to bag the 60.

 

Now I don't play that home course anymore and have been experimenting with 54, 55, 56, 58 & 60 deg wedges in various combinations.

 

I have a 58 I really like but also a 55 which I can open up enough for almost all lob requirements. The 55 is slightly better for general bunker duty than the 58.

 

Nice to have options and no issue bagging both the 55 and 58 (55 is 1/2 inch longer shaft length than the 58 as well for ok gapping) but I can see bagging just the 55 is do-able if I need to free up a bag slot.

 

This, combined with experimenting at the top end of my bag and a couple of other recent threads here has lead to me creating this topic.

 

 

[Myherobobhope]

I play 50, 54, 58... I could easily drop a wedge. I could also easily drop a hybrid, utility iron or my three wood.

 

you get 14 slots. After about 10-12, my bag starts to get more specialized. I played with 12 for awhile. It was fine.

 

If you would use a different club more than a lob wedge, drop the lob wedge... your 14 is different than my 14.

[Golf64]

56* is as far as I go. 60* wedges are not easy to hit. Only need them for flop shots and that is a rarity for me. So is it worth carrying a $200+ club for one shot per few rounds?!

[GolfTurkey]

I find it easier to play a square shot than opening a club up because I struggle a bit to align everything properly once I open up a club, so I like playing a 60. Also gives a few more standard yardages for approach shots when you have more wedges.

[MtlJeff]

I need a 60, i have tried to chip with a 56 and i'm not a fan. I already by default play low chips that spin a lot, i can't elevate a 56 as much as i want. 

[TwistedSister]

Yes!

[cgasucks]

For years I've been using a PW, SW, LW combo but was sick and tired of choking down on my PW to play distances a GW can do so I got one and got rid of my LW to compensate.  That forced me to open the face of my SW to play LW shots.  I became a much better wedge player because of that.  If tour players can win majors before the LW was invented I think a hack like me can shoot sub 80 golf.

[manima1]

My 60 is just way too valuable out of the sand for me, especially short-sided.  I've become so accustomed to that loft out of the sand, that it is my "normal" and can't imagine using left loft there.

[bbfifas]

No you don't.  But real question is which wedge and grind do you like for the 56 do it all wedge?  

[scomac2002]

I used to carry one for a few years.  Rarely used it as the 54° was the go-to club around the green for 95% of my shots.

 

Went with a 52/58 combo after that and didn't really like that quite as well.

 

Now I'm playing a 50/56 combo which is fine, but there are times when a higher lofted wedge would be nice like when I'm stuck behind a tree or short-sided with the green running away from me which happens more often than I like.

 

I acquired a 60° about a year ago, but it never made it into my bag this past season, but I'm pretty sure that it will be there come spring.

[forrester_fire]

56 is as high-lofted as I go.  I trust it more on full(ish) shots and I'm able to open it up and hit flops without any issue. 

 

LW is hit or miss for me and I rarely find it a necessity.  It's like a 3w; I might "need" it once a round, if that.

[dubbelbogey]

Personally, for my game, on the variety of courses I regularly play - 100%, yes, I want to have the 60 LW in the quiver.

 

It's a super versatile club for me:

• Hard sand or thin sand over hardpan bunker shots are just as common here as regular, softer sand. Playing muni/public courses, bunker consistency is not something I can count on. The low-bounce 60 is far less at risk for skipping off the hard surface and blading a ball over the green. My regular SW is a relatively high bounce (for the other sorts of bunkers where the sand is deeper/softer), and opening it up exposes more bounce, which can put those skipped blades into play. No bueno.
• Short sided chip shots off tighter lies. Same logic as above - tighter lies are more comfortable to me with less bounce in play. Sure, if the lie isn't super tight or firm, I can easily open up a SW for more loft, but sometimes it's not.
• Sometimes, you just have to hit the high flying lob/flop shot. Again, depending on lie/bounce, a SW can do this, but the LW gives another option and can pull of the more extreme version of this more reliably.

So for me, it mostly comes down to having options on bounce, more than loft.

 

I almost never hit a full LW, so that's not a shot I worry about. I'm very comfortable hitting partial wedges with my SW/GW, so that is covered.

 

[Sparty4202]

I haven’t played a 58* or 60* in years. As a matter of fact I recently went from a 56* to a 54* sand wedge. The only time I would need a low bounce 58* would be off some hard pan and at the course I play that’s doesn’t exist. But I’m kind of old school and learned years ago how to open up a 56* to give me all the options needed.

[nitram]

Can I play without a 60? Yeah, I did for about 25 years.

 

Why did you change? Because the greens became faster and my game changed. I became more aggressive and found myself short-sided more often.

 

When do you play the 60? short pitches (6-12 yards), short downhill-down grain chips, bunker shots inside 10 yards, and a lot of "distance" wedges inside 25 yards. 

 

How often during a round do you use the 60? Average 7.8 and has been as high as 13.

 

If you removed the 60, what would you replace it with? I honestly don't know. All of my gaps are covered adequately. I don't want 2 drivers, putters, or anything else. I will legally carry 14 because I can. 

 

If a person chooses to drop the 60 that's their choice, it just seems like you are handicapping yourself without it. At least I showed myself that I was handicapping myself. Even if you hit it only once or twice a round, it's still a viable option. It is a different critter, just learn to hit the damned thing.

 

If a short game guru like Stan Utley personally moves to the 60 after playing his entire golf life without one, there's a good reason.

 

 

 

Edited December 11, 2020 by nitram
spelling

[Ivyguy]

I carry a 60 as a “break glass in an emergency” type of club. 
 

grew up with old lofts and 56 was the go to degree sand wedge back in the day. 
 

but not having to open the face but taking an aggressive swing around the greens is nice when dealt a difficult lie. 
 

I won’t remove mine, but it may get used once or twice a round. 

[ThinkingPlus]

Yes, for me I need my 58° wedge.  I have no unreasonable gaps from 200 yards down to 70 yards.  I use all clubs for full shots.  I also use all short irons and wedges for short game shots (occasionally a hybrid as well).  There are no empty chairs and no one is standing so no reason to remove the 58°.

[EDT501]

If you have the time to practice with it, a true LW can be a real scoring weapon. A lot of the courses I play at have small, fast, highly undulated greens with tight lies surrounding. In these conditions, sometimes a low spinner, putt from the fringe, or bump and run just aren't viable options if you want to chip a ball close enough to guarantee an up & down. I'm not saying I'm out there hitting full on flops left and right, but its just much easier to get the ball to land softly while controlling distance with a slightly open 60* vs a fully laid open 56* in my experience. Also much easier to get elevated in a hurry if you leave yourself in a deep bunker or green side swale. I also feel more confident going after tucked pins from outside partial-wedge territory when I know that if I am short sided I have a reliable tool to get myself out of jail.

 

I have a tough time making a case against the LW. Sure 20-30 years ago maybe they weren't as common, but putting surfaces also tended to be slower, the greenside grass a little longer, and soil softer. Lob wedges are nearly universal (if not actually universal) on the tours these days.

 

I carry three wedges, my 50* set PW, 55* SW (Vokey M grind w/ a very blunted leading edge), and 60* (Vokey L grind). I carried 4 wedges for year (PW, GW, SW, LW) but finally concluded that the PW and GW were basically being used at 10/11 irons and dropped one in favor of a weaker PW and just two speciality wedges. I have yet to encounter a situation where I wish I had another wedge or a round where I didn't use every single one at least once.

[Bye]

Yes, because it allows me to play certain shots in a more aggressive way due to the extra loft. Or even a very delicate shot under greater control from a short distance. I believe it increases my chances of getting up and down ( or just avoiding taking 4) from difficult spots. 

 

I rarely hit it from more that 40 yards.

 

If I felt that I didn’t need it, or needed another club more elsewhere in my bag then it would be dropped.

 

I preferred the lob wedges of a few years ago (SM4 era) they all seem to have a really wide sole now.

 

 

[MattyO1984]

I can totally see where you are coming from although, I am coming from a slightly different perspective in that I would want to keep my 60 but I could drop my 56. I tend to use it out of the bunker and around the greens on occasion but I can barely think of a full swing that I take with it. I could adjust to the 60 out of the bunker no bother.

[MPAndreassi]

Over the last couple of months I’ve been working my way away from the 60 and using my 55 much more for those shots. Moving into next season, winter here, I’m moving to a 54 and 58 setup. The 54 has heel, toe and trailing edge relief so it will be my go to wedge when I need to manipulate the club head at all, then the 58 is going to be a lower bounce, full sole and higher camber club that I’ll use for short sided bunker shots, deep green side rough, more of the specialty type situations. 
 

I don’t need the extra club at the top end of the bag, and I still will use the 58 for partial wedges into the green. 

Edited December 11, 2020 by MPAndreassi

[dkochalka]

A few years ago I got rid of one wedge to reduce the over analyzing of my short game and haven't looked back.  PW, 52, and 58.  I've been trying to figure out how to get rid of the 52 but not sure i can get my PW to cover the gap.  My feelings are whatever works for you.  Some of my buddies can play a 60 without fail while others need as much help as possible.  I feel the same about 3/4 irons and 3/5 woods...too many options for me.  Less is more for me.

[Myherobobhope]

5 hours ago, MtlJeff said:

I need a 60, i have tried to chip with a 56 and i'm not a fan. I already by default play low chips that spin a lot, i can't elevate a 56 as much as i want. 

I’ve been spending time learning the sieckmann method of hitting wedges (probably called something different) and it amazes me how much more loft and spin I hit the ball with... it’s a pretty large departure from my old wedge swing (which worked fine!) but I’m liking the results thus far.

 

whether I successfully transition to playing that shot is a different question. I could easily drop the 58 with the new swing, but it also helps me utilitize the bounce of the club, so the 58 is easier to hit

Edited December 11, 2020 by Myherobobhope