Ditching the lob wedge?

[Crim]

Rather than carrying a specialty club that's very difficult to hit and "takes a lot of practice", I'd humbly suggest managing your approach shots with a little more thought towards not getting into those situations.  It's far easier, and more effective, than trying to learn to play very difficult recovery shots......

The great thing about being a high handicapper like myself, I don't have to "try and learn" to play difficult recovery shots....I just have to.

Before last Fall, if I had an approach shot longer than 130 yards...there was a very good chance I'd miss-hit (yes I would play away from hazards & play to the middle of the green) and have to play some sort of pitch. I think that's the beauty of being bad early on, you get to practice that stuff.

Now that I'm hitting a ton more GIR's...the short game is declined just a tad for lack of practice. That's just how she goes.

[MrDC]

I would never ditch my 58.8, it great for chipping from tight lies where I spend a lot of time, but it's not so great out of the sand or grassy areas where I also seem to be a lot, so I have a 54.14, lots of bounce.

Sure I could open/close the face with one club in the middle bounce-wise but why get into that?

[dave s]

First off, I consider wedges 60* and higher lofts 'lob wedges.'  A 58* can certainly be turned into a lob wedge by opening the face, so I consider my 58* as the 'go-to' wedge around the green.

Back to your conundrum of swapping out wedges for the long side of your bag.  Apparently, you hit the ball a long way according to your 3-wood distance.  The question is, how many times do you find yourself in a fairway with shots of 200-245 (your 3-wood range) to the green?  Given those yardages, PLUS a drive means you're playing 7000 yard PLUS courses all the time?  If so, perhaps copying the club complement of a tour pro is what you should be looking at.

Most tour pros carry a driver, ONE fairway wood, ONE hybrid (that's 3 clubs) and 4 iron - wedges and a putter.  Let's count: long clubs plus  4-9i equal NINE clubs, plus a putter is TEN.  This leaves room for PW, GW, SW and a LW to round out a 14-club bag.  Pretty much the club complement you see in most tour bags anymore.

For me, it's driver, 3w. 5w, 4- and 5-hybrid, 6-9i, PW, (45*) GW, (50*) and a 54 and 58* Vokey wedges on the short end.  Add putter, and I'm up the 14 club limit. Personally, I see MUCH more value with wedges from 120.  Just personal taste, though.

dave

[Fourputt]

First off, I consider wedges 60* and higher lofts 'lob wedges.'  A 58* can certainly be turned into a lob wedge by opening the face, so I consider my 58* as the 'go-to' wedge around the green.

Back to your conundrum of swapping out wedges for the long side of your bag.  Apparently, you hit the ball a long way according to your 3-wood distance.  The question is, how many times do you find yourself in a fairway with shots of 200-245 (your 3-wood range) to the green?  Given those yardages, PLUS a drive means you're playing 7000 yard PLUS courses all the time?  If so, perhaps copying the club complement of a tour pro is what you should be looking at.

Most tour pros carry a driver, ONE fairway wood, ONE hybrid (that's 3 clubs) and 4 iron - wedges and a putter.  Let's count: long clubs plus  4-9i equal NINE clubs, plus a putter is TEN.  This leaves room for PW, GW, SW and a LW to round out a 14-club bag.  Pretty much the club complement you see in most tour bags anymore.

For me, it's driver, 3w. 5w, 4- and 5-hybrid, 6-9i, PW, (45*) GW, (50*) and a 54 and 58* Vokey wedges on the short end.  Add putter, and I'm up the 14 club limit. Personally, I see MUCH more value with wedges from 120.  Just personal taste, though.

dave

I think you are slightly off from most people then.  At least, anyone I know considers a lob wedge as anything over 56°.  Back in my earlier days, even a 56° was pretty lofty.  Most sand wedges were 52° to 54° in the 70s and early 80s.  My current SW is 54°, and I also use my 51° gap wedge from bunkers a lot when I have more than 30 feet to the hole, or even on a  shorter shot with a severe uphill lie.  Only rarely do I use my 56° from sand.

[Lihu]

I would never give up my 60 degree wedge.

[Hardballs]

I have a 62* /6 I don't use it too often but I like having it as comes in very handy for up and downs over green side bunkers!

[dave s]

I think you are slightly off from most people then.  At least, anyone I know considers a lob wedge as anything over 56°.  Back in my earlier days, even a 56° was pretty lofty.  Most sand wedges were 52° to 54° in the 70s and early 80s.  My current SW is 54°, and I also use my 51° gap wedge from bunkers a lot when I have more than 30 feet to the hole, or even on a  shorter shot with a severe uphill lie.  Only rarely do I use my 56° from sand.

Lucky 'guess' on my part.  Here's a link from Tltlest Vokey wedges site where they clearly state their 'lob wedges' start at 60*

https://www.titleist.com/vokey_wedge_guide/

But anyone can have his or her own definition of PW, GW, SW or LW.

dave

[rkim291968]

I carry 53/56/60 wedges.   I am seriously thinking to drop 56 for a hybrid or wood.  I use 60 to get out of traps, and lob into green.   I can easily simulate current usage of 56 wedge with 53 or 60.  To make this happen, I have been practicing with 53 at range.

[dkolo]

Lucky 'guess' on my part.  Here's a link from Tltlest Vokey wedges site where they clearly state their 'lob wedges' start at 60*

https://www.titleist.com/vokey_wedge_guide/

But anyone can have his or her own definition of PW, GW, SW or LW.

dave

I think it's fair to say that the 58° is a gray area club depending on what bounce and grind configuration it has, which dictates its use. But I'd be more likely to call it a lob wedge because I don't know of anyone who would have a 58° SW and then a more lofted club than that. At that point, I think the person has a lob wedge they use out of the sand. But it's purely semantics, as you say.

[SoundandFury]

It's all personal preference.  I hated my 60 degree until i really practiced with it, and now it is my go-to club for anything 40 yards and in (and sometimes further).  if you can practice enough to feel comfortable with the 54 pulling off the shots you are doing with the 58 then ditch it.  If I was in your situation, though, I'd stick with the wedge.  I don't think a 5 wood or 2h would benefit you more than your wedge.  You're talking about a 15 to 25 yard gap at over 200 yards.  pull the club you want to hit, and hit it.  If you hit it well, and your distance falls in this magical void zone, you'll either be a little short or a little long with hopefully an easy up and down.  If you're caught with a bad lie at 240, I think a new club would only talk you in to bad decisions.

Yeah, I think this is pretty good advice.  I took a demo 5w out today and despite being longer than my 20* hybrid, I actually hit it either the same distance or a touch shorter. Also, it goes absolutely sky high (might have been because the one I used was an R shaft, but I always though whippier shafts gave more distance...).  For the record, no way would I sell my 58*, I've never been able to commit to getting rid of clubs, much to the chagrin of my wife.

Might try a 17* hybrid, but since I hate how high the 5w goes, doubt I'll put it in the bag.

[dfreuter415]

I carry 53/56/60 wedges.   I am seriously thinking to drop 56 for a hybrid or wood.  I use 60 to get out of traps, and lob into green.   I can easily simulate current usage of 56 wedge with 53 or 60.  To make this happen, I have been practicing with 53 at range.

I carry a 47° pw, a 52° gap wedge, and a 60° lob wedge. Like you use my lob wedge out of the sand, and if it a longer bunker shot, I use the gap wedge. I find 3 wedges to be sufficient for my needs. The other clubs in my bag are pretty normal Driver, 3w, 4w, 3 hybrid, 4-pw, gap wedge, lob wedge and putter.

[cooke119]

If you are in the market for a wedge, regardless of loft, try the "Fourteen" wedge, two to three years ahead of any other wedge sold in the US.

[oldmanpar]

I ditched my L wedge 12 years ago best thing I ever did. Since then 56 bent/50 bent/47. I think the main thing to think about which does not get talked about much is the bouce of the wedge. 56/10 51/6

[ay33660]

I play almost 100% of sand shots from green side bunkers with my 60 degree wedge.

[jmsage]

No point for me to use a 60, if i need more loft i can deloft my 56 to play with more loft.

[Lihu]

I ditched my L wedge 12 years ago best thing I ever did. Since then 56 bent/50 bent/47. I think the main thing to think about which does not get talked about much is the bouce of the wedge. 56/10 51/6

Welcome to this site! I hope to see more posts from you. :-)

[Golfingdad]

If you are in the market for a wedge, regardless of loft, try the "Fourteen" wedge, two to three years ahead of any other wedge sold in the US.

If you don't mind my asking, what does that mean exactly?

[iacas]

If you don't mind my asking, what does that mean exactly?

Brand name.