56 and 60 or just 56

[doof_dizzler]

Don't take this the wrong way, but you are a bit of a freak.

Totally agree. Very good post! It's my opinion that until one is breaking 90 on a consistent & regular basis, they should just use their PW & 1(one) other wedge that they can play from the sand. This setup will force the development of many different shots with the 2 wedges, and will help lower scores way more than any number of wedges. I went with the 47* PW & a 56* SW for a long time before I got a GW. I still don't use a LW/60*. A little practice or a lesson with the pro will demonstrate just what all can be done with a 56. I don't think there is much, if any, that a bogey player could do with a 60 that couldn't be done with a 56. Versatility & creativity is the ey in greenside play, not having a specific club for every shot...

[Fourputt]

I had one 20 years ago (Slotline made one back then)... sold it at a garage sale. I found it to be quite useless.

You are a low single digit handicapper so there is no way you can identify with a player who is a bogey golfer or worse. You also hit your wedges at least twice as far as most players do. I can barely hit my 52° GW 90 yards. My 56° SW is about a 60-70 yard club with a full swing. And I'm much better than a bogey golfer. High lofted wedges require precise ball striking for any consistency at all, and bogey golfers rarely achieve that sort of perfection.

[bunkerking321]

I have had a 52 56 and 60 since i started playing. I use my 60 all the time around the green. It was difficult to learn how to hit at first. I still skull one every now and then. But I would say get one but practice with it at the range.

I was at a local golf show on friday and my father in law and i were looking at wedges. He pulls out a wedge and starts laughing. He shows me the degree on it. It was a 70! who in the hell can hit that?!?!?

[wolverine_man]

I know your dilemma. I just moved from a 4 wedge setup: 48 (my set's PW), 52, 56, 60 to a 3 wedge setup: 48, 52, 58. I bought a 58 with a "C" grind - heel and toe relief - to allow the club to be opened without adding any significant bounce. I will just open the club face when I need a tad more loft. I am very versatile with my 52 and I can hit from 102 yds full swing to 80 yards at full swing while choking down. My 58 goes around 78 yards. I may end up getting a 53 to replace the 52 but I will see how things go this season.

My advice would be to go demo some clubs and find out exactly how far you hit each wedge. Then, write down the yardages, look your gaps and determine if you need another wedge to fill those gaps or if you can comfortably choke down or hit 3/4 and knock down shots to fill the gaps. You might find out that you need fewer wedges than you anticipated. It took me 3 weeks of demoing, calculating and rationalizing to figure out what I really needed as far as my wedge setup. Plus I have freed up an extra club!

[patriot07]

No reason for a 20-handicap to get a 60. You can do almost everything with a 60 that you can do with a 56. If you're short sided and need to stop it quickly beyond what your 56 will allow, it's very unlikely you're going to get up and down anyway. You might as well do the best you can, leave a 15-footer, and take your 2-putt. A 20-handicapper is going to lose as many shots from carrying a 60 and blading or hitting it fat than they are from successfully hitting shots they absolutely can't hit with a normal 56 degree wedge. I only use my 60 for short-sided green shots and bunker shots, and I can't imagine a 20-handicapper seeing that much benefit from it.

Did someone earlier say they hit their 64* wedge 90 yards? That's crazy. My 51* gap wedge is my 85-110 club. I love it. I don't go to my 56* until I get to the 80 yards and in range. I NEVER hit my 60 from the fairway because I can stop my 56 on a dime an don't have to worry about hitting it fat or thin nearly as much.

The only exception I can think of is if you're only carrying 13 clubs right now and you don't have any big yardage gaps at the top of your bag. If that's the case, go ahead and grab one and test it out. Might as well try it out if you really want to and you don't have to sacrifice another club to do it.

[JML22]

actually i dont even know my handicap at the moment
but my problem is putting and wedge shots since i only have a pw and a 53 right now so its tough to cut stuff out. I dont really have troubles with hitting thin anymore. I just need to stop hitting driver on holes no one else is.
I dont carry a 3 wood because i find i only need it once every like 5 rounds depending on the course. My problem is right now when i'm 30-50 yards out i have to hit a gap in and its a super old wedge.

[patriot07]

Then buy a sand wedge, not a 60. A half sand wedge is bread and butter from 50 and my 1/4 sand wedge is perfect from 30. Much easier than hitting a lob wedge. The other option is to hit your 3 wood that you never hit instead of your driver and leave yourself a full wedge instead of the 30-50 yard shot. You hardly ever see pros intentionally leave themselves a 50-yard pitch shot, because they know they're better off hitting a full sand or gap wedge.

[WUTiger]

You can do almost everything with a 60 that you can do with a 56. If you're short sided and need to stop it quickly beyond what your 56 will allow, it's very unlikely you're going to get up and down anyway. ... You might as well do the best you can, leave a 15-footer, and take your 2-putt.

One reason I don't carry a LW is I avoid getting shortsided. I end up with enough exciting shots without going after high-risk pin placements.