60 degree wedge

[mdl]

I think it's a combo of confidence from practice and experimenting with the many different methods of hitting green side shots.  I have a low bounce 60˚ and I never had a ton of trouble with it.  It instantly became my most consistent club for short shots when I got it.  I occasionally will almost whiff under it on a super fluffy lie or dig it a bit in muddy, super soft fairway with short grass, but I can do that second one with my 54˚ too and you can learn to be aware and stay confident with it on a fluffy lie.

Look at mvmac's short chipping video.  It's really excellent.  My stock chip is approximately like his mid-mid shot, but I've been practicing his high shot recently and put a couple really nice shots near the hole on my last round with my 60˚ when I'd short sided myself without having to hit a more classic style flop with the face and stance way open, which I skull often enough from tight to standard fairway lies that I don't like to use that shot regularly from there.

[lewisgl]

I read the same article in Golf Digest  and indeed the four guys were against amateurs using a 60 degree.   Even Roger Cleveland and Bob Vokey have stated the 58 degree would be a better choice.  Roger Cleveland has a youtube video that he does with Peter Cowen and he says that if you are  a "strong" player go ahead and use the 60 degree.   Exactly how he defines a strong player, I don't  know.   There are also some pretty good experts out there who say it is  just fine to use a 60 degree, such as Robert Maltby and probably more well known David Pelz, and others   All this difference in opinion can be confusing for the average amateur, and the more you read about it and watch videos it can get even more confusing.

I used a 58 degree with 8 degrees of bounce for a few years, then switched to a 60 degree wedge with about the same amount of bounce and have used a 60 for the last 7 years.   I practice quite a bit with the short game, probably at least 4 hours a week.   I play on courses that tend to be on the soft side and don't have much experience on courses that are very firm.  Based on quite a bit of experience with the 58 and 60 with moderate bounce, I can't say the 60 is very much harder to use the the 58.   Because of the loft difference, the 60 degree might be slightly more difficult to get to the target, but not a lot from my experience.   Whether you use a 60, 58, 56, or whatever, you are going to need to practice with it.    The 60 degree might require a little more practice but if you want to hit a flop shot with a 56 degree, that is going to take some practice too, especially when need to aim left about 30 degree and open that baby up and swing hard.    Now if you want to learn to hit a good flop shot off a really tight lie with a 60 degree with 3 or 4 degrees of bounce, that is going to require some pretty serious practice too obviously.

I guess the moral of the story is that if you are a fairly serious golfer you should try different lofts and different bounces, see what you can do with them and go from there.  Any wedge is going to require  some pretty serious practice if you want to get seriously proficient with it.   A 60 degree will do the trick if you practice with it, as would the 56 or 58 or whatever.  Sounds like too many people throw a 60 degree in the bag, then don't take enough time to practice with it to figure out what they can do with it,  then toss it back out of the bag after it doesn't work for them.  With enough practice these guys might find they can hit some pretty spectacular shots with the 60 degree on the course and also be pretty consistent with it.

Most of the guys who like the 60 degree really well, have practiced with it and are pretty proficient with it, and a lot of them just love the thing.   I really like the ones I have used .   On the other hand, a 58 with 8 or 10 degrees of bounce will work VERY well too, if one practices with it enough.   Some folks do quite well with a 56 with 10 to 14 degrees of bounce.  They all require practice and good form to get the most out of them.

[HeadGolfool]

Biggest mistake I see with higher handicap golfers is they don't realize how hard you have to hit them.  If you just arm swing them you will chunk them most of time.  Have to hit them with good chest rotation and the amount of rotation will dictate the distance.  Also I see a lot of golfers adding loft to them when they need to hit the shot high.  There is plenty of loft, you don't need to add any on most shots.  Once you learn to hit them you can pretty much fly the shot 2/3rds of the way to you target.