Bounce on 60 deg. Vokey SM

[Tommy]

I have read numerous threads that cover this subject but hoped that I could get some advise considering my particular circumstances:

I live in Vancouver, BC where, as many of you know, we get a significant amount of rain during the spring, fall and winter months. Summers, recently, have been hot and dry. With this in mind, I bought a 56 deg. SM Vokey with 14 deg. bounce to get me through sand bunkers and perhaps, wet rough. However, I have been playing on a few courses recently that are very hard and dry. As a consequence, I've skulled some shots near the green and the balls have shot off to the next fairway.

In contemplating the purchase of a 60 deg. SM, I thought I would get one with the 4 deg. bounce to prevent this from happening and give me some flexibility when I'm on a hard and dry surface.

Is my logic sound?
Is this a reasonable combination?

And lastly, I've never quite figured out how much bounce is preferred when the ball is sitting wet, thick and long grass. Any insight would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

[670forged]

Sounds logical to me. That's why I use a SM 54-10 and 60-04 combo. Since I play mostly desert courses, too much bounce wouldn't work with my game.

Mike

[prutkows]

  Tommy said:

I have read numerous threads that cover this subject but hoped that I could get some advise considering my particular circumstances:

it sounds viable to me.

as far as how much bounce is prefered.. i think it depends a lot on the kind of shot you're trying to hit. personally, i try not to hit any kind of SW/GW/LW out of wet, think & long grass. too many things can go wrong with the clubhead. unless its greenside, i just chop it out and get it as far up the fairway as possible.

[gas_can]

  Tommy said:

I have read numerous threads that cover this subject but hoped that I could get some advise considering my particular circumstances:

Tommy, To answer the last part of your question, when the ball is sitting up in thick, wet grass I like to use high bounce to keep the club moving through it. I usually add a little bounce to the club by taking a stronger one like my 54 degree sand wedge and opening it up. When the ball is sitting down in thick, wet grass, I like to have a little more dig to the club, so tend to hood it a little so the leading edge cuts through the grass better with little bounce. It's very easy to manipulate the bounce angle of a club by opening it to add bounce or closing it to reduce bounce.

[Tommy]

Thanks very much for your comments everyone. With your affirmation of my thought process and further input from gas_can, I made the decision to pick up the 60/4 on my way home from work.

Naturally, I'd like to now complete the set and buy a gap wedge next. My 804.OS pitching wedge is 46 deg. and my sand wedge is 56...quite a spread!

Should I keep the 4 deg. spread between wedges and buy a 52 deg. or drop to a 50 deg.? Also, it doesn't appear that Titleist make a SM wedge <54 deg. - is that correct?

Thanks again.

[gas_can]

  Tommy said:

Thanks very much for your comments everyone. With your affirmation of my thought process and further input from gas_can, I made the decision to pick up the 60/4 on my way home from work.

Tommy,

I've always been a big fan of matching your gap wedge with your iron set as closely as possible since it's a full swing loft, it's nice to have the same visuals, shaft, and trajectory properties as the rest of your irons. I would go to a retailer with a Titleist account, they should be able to order you the "W" iron which has 50 degrees of loft. I would get it bent one degree weak to 51 degrees which would leave you with five degree separation between your pitching wedge, gap wedge, and sand wedge. That should fill in your distance gaps quite nicely.

[Tommy]

  gas_can said:

Tommy,

I actually hadn't thought of that gas_can, makes sense. I'll ask my favourite haunt whether they can order the 'W' iron. If, for whatever reason, they are unable or unwilling to order one for me, is the Vokey 200 50/8 bent to 51 a reasonable alternative? Also, I presume the bounce would also increase, wouldn't it?

Thanks.

[gas_can]

  Tommy said:

I actually hadn't thought of that gas_can, makes sense. I'll ask my favourite haunt whether they can order the 'W' iron. If, for whatever reason, they are unable or unwilling to order one for me, is the Vokey 200 50/8 bent to 51 a reasonable alternative? Also, I presume the bounce would also increase, wouldn't it?

Tommy,

That would be a perfect alternative. You are correct about adding one degree of bounce; however, the difference is so negligible you will not likely notice it.