who needs 14 clubs anyway??

[Fourputt]

I find this to be an odd sentiment. The 60° is, by far, the easiest club in my bag to hit. I love it, at 90 yards, it's like throwing darts. It's also a great club around the greens, and in the bunkers. I couldn't even come close to shooting as well as I do without it.

You happen to be a low handicapper too, which means that you make fairly consistent contact every swing. Add 10 strokes to your average and now you are going to find that you miss hit that 60° wedge more than half the time. Add another 10 strokes and you are closer to the average player, and he is going to have a lot more trouble than that with it. When he does miss, it's usually a bad miss... skulled way long or chunked a few feet. And most who use one couldn't hit it 90 yards on threat of death. I hit my 52° 90-95 yards. When I carried a 58° I hit it about 50 yards on a perfect swing.... which I rarely accomplished with that club.

I don't know how long you've been playing, but the odds are that you didn't use that club when you were a 20 handicapper. If you did you probably sucked with it. Not trying to pick a fight but that's just how it is. The radical face angle makes a much smaller effective sweet spot than even a 56°. And it gets worse with a 64°. A typical 20 handicapper just doesn't have a swing that can hit that sweet spot consistently. Anyone with a decent swing can probably learn to use one with a lot of practice dedicated to that club, but I personally would rather devote my time to practicing a couple of more versatile and forgiving clubs (my 52° and 56°). I can pretty much do anything with them that I could with the LW, and more. And on that one time in 3 or 4 rounds where I'm in a position where the LW might be effective, I play the best shot I can with what I carry. I'm not going to spend the little bit of practice time I have available on a club that is of such limited value to me. By the way, I have a 58° and 60°.... both live full time in the spare bag in my garage. They are better for my game there than on the course with me.

[Shanks A Million]

You happen to be a low handicapper too, which means that you make fairly consistent contact every swing. Add 10 strokes to your average and now you are going to find that you miss hit that 60° wedge more than half the time. Add another 10 strokes and you are closer to the average player, and he is going to have a lot more trouble than that with it. When he does miss, it's usually a bad miss... skulled way long or chunked a few feet. And most who use one couldn't hit it 90 yards on threat of death. I hit my 52° 90-95 yards. When I carried a 58° I hit it about 50 yards on a perfect swing.... which I rarely accomplished with that club.

Hell, it was the only club I could consistently hit as a 20 handicapper. Hit it nearly anywhere on the face, and it will go just fine. I hit it about 60 yards back then, but could do it with amazing ease. I had a 64° wedge when I was a high handicap as well. I've had my Cleveland for a while now, and I've put a nice big wear mark right on the sweet spot.

[Fourputt]

Hell, it was the only club I could consistently hit as a 20 handicapper. Hit it nearly anywhere on the face, and it will go just fine. I hit it about 60 yards back then, but could do it with amazing ease. I had a 64° wedge when I was a high handicap as well. I've had my Cleveland for a while now, and I've put a nice big wear mark right on the sweet spot.

Then you are a freak of nature, because the typical high handicapper usually has no business even looking at one. I play with a lot of different players and I see all types of swings, and most of players near or above bogey golf either use it when they shouldn't, or they use it too much. Virtually all of them would be better off without it. Maybe you are a genius with it, but most players are not. I can usually out chip that typical player with my PW, even my 8I depending on the situation. I can flop my 56° and land it soft, or chip and roll with my GW or PW, so I just don't see the need.

In my defense, I began the game almost 40 years ago with a set that ended with a PW. I didn't even own a SW for the next 10 years. I learned to play greenside shots with imagination, and I still do so. I even had a 64° almost 20 years ago, and got rid of it quickly as I saw it as nothing but a gimmick club. I can see the use for a LW in the hands of one who knows how and when to use it, but I just don't have any use for one. I never try to tell anyone I'm competing against that they shouldn't use it though, because I generally start right out with that advantage over them.

[Shanks A Million]

Then you are a freak of nature, because the typical high handicapper usually has no business even looking at one. I play with a lot of different players and I see all types of swings, and most of players near or above bogey golf either use it when they shouldn't, or they use it too much. Virtually all of them would be better off without it. Maybe you are a genius with it, but most players are not. I can usually out chip that typical player with my PW, even my 8I depending on the situation. I can flop my 56° and land it soft, or chip and roll with my GW or PW, so I just don't see the need.

My first set had a 7 iron as the shortest club. I had to chip with it. Still, the 60° wedge is fairly easy to hit. The shaft is short, and the loft is so high that it's hard to mishit. You just swing easy and it goes.

[The Recreational Golfer]

We're drifting away from the original topic, but here might be a good place to mention that I played with a guy this weekend who has an 80-degree wedge in his bag. Did real well with it, too.

[B-Con]

You happen to be a low handicapper too, which means that you make fairly consistent contact every swing. Add 10 strokes to your average and now you are going to find that you miss hit that 60° wedge more than half the time. Add another 10 strokes and you are closer to the average player, and he is going to have a lot more trouble than that with it. When he does miss, it's usually a bad miss... skulled way long or chunked a few feet. And most who use one couldn't hit it 90 yards on threat of death. I hit my 52° 90-95 yards. When I carried a 58° I hit it about 50 yards on a perfect swing.... which I rarely accomplished with that club.

I carry a 60*. I don't (well, very rarely) use it for approach shots, but I do use it once or twice a game to get myself out of trouble. 90% of the time I use it it's to get the ball up to an elevated green that I'm standing just to the side of and several feet below, or to minimize roll when executing a short chip for a pin that's close to the edge of the green. Looking back, my original enthusiasm for getting one was overly optimistic, it's proven more difficult to master than I had thought. That said, I'm glad I have it and I have clubs that scare me more than that one. That also said, I don't pull it without a specific reason why my gap wedge won't suffice, and like I said that's usually because I want need a shot with very little roll. If I could re-do it, I would probably have gotten a 58* (and still may get it bent).

The wedge I rarely use is my sand wedge. I avoid sand traps like the plague, and one of my primary courses only has a couple. If I pulled a club from my current bag, it'd likely be my sand wedge.

[JWL1957]

Back when I was rolling along with a 6-7 hdcp, I tried and tried to hit a 60 degree wedge and never could master the thing. I still have it, but have not swung it in 13 years.

[carl425]

...the typical high handicapper usually has no business even looking at one..

You need to take into consideration that not everyone who plays this game is in it for the same reason you are. I may be in the minority, but while I do keep my score, I never compete. The operative word here for me is "play". I do this for nothing other than entertainment so the thought of whether I have any business hitting a specific club is absolutely alien to me. If I saw Phil Mickelson hit a really cool shot on TV and find myself in a similar position, I think it's fun to pull out the 60 and give it a try. I don't care if I take an eight, or lose a ball or skull it across the green. In playing like this, I do however take care not to hold up the group behind me. If I've taken too long (which is not usually the case because I don't take practice swings or plumb bob putts), I'll pick up and move on to the next hole.

I'd rather have fun shooting 95 rather than stressing myself out for an 89. What's wrong with fun? Give it a try, you might like it.

[Fourputt]

You need to take into consideration that not everyone who plays this game is in it for the same reason you are. I may be in the minority, but while I do keep my score, I never compete. The operative word here for me is "play". I do this for nothing other than entertainment so the thought of whether I have any business hitting a specific club is absolutely alien to me. If I saw Phil Mickelson hit a really cool shot on TV and find myself in a similar position, I think it's fun to pull out the 60 and give it a try. I don't care if I take an eight, or lose a ball or skull it across the green. In playing like this, I do however take care not to hold up the group behind me. If I've taken too long (which is not usually the case because I don't take practice swings or plumb bob putts), I'll pick up and move on to the next hole.

Ummm.... I do have fun.

I wouldn't play otherwise. But it's a lot more fund to shoot 80 than it is to shoot 90. I seriously doubt that very many would dispute that. I still have fun and I also play by the rules. Playing smart and playing by the rules and having fun are not mutually exclusive.

[denver_nuggs_15]

You say you're a 9.4 cap... if you are carrying 17 clubs, you don't have a handicap.

He's actually got 19. You're a 13 and you can't add? Maybe those 86s are actually 88s ;). All jokes aside, I agree with Fourputt that many golfers just throw clubs in their bag without really thinking about it. If you don't use it, you don't need it. However, I think as your handicap decreases, you're more able to take advantage of 14 clubs.

[James_Black]

We're drifting away from the original topic, but here might be a good place to mention that I played with a guy this weekend who has an 80-degree wedge in his bag. Did real well with it, too.

you sure it was 80*?????

I saw a 72* on the internet before. he had to close the clubface didn't he? 90* means the ball will go nowhere. 80* means it'll go like 10 yards lol

[carl425]

...it's a lot more

lol - a Freudian slip?