Lob Wedges 60*, 62* or 64*???

[Thwak-Thwak-Ting]

I read somewhere that tour pro's use 60* wedges as their lob wedge, but lesser golfers should use a greater loft.

The vast majority of signatures here contain 60* wedges - is this just because it's the done thing...or there is more of a variety in the bounce selection?

Another point is the difference between irons. At the bottom end of the scale the difference between a 3I and a 4I is usually 3*, due to the distance generated. Then most irons have a 4* difference between them. Surely once you get to the shorter irons the difference in loft should be "exponentially" increased?

If you have PW 47* and GW 51*, 56* is the standard SW, then surely your lob wedge should be 62*????

[golfro]

I use a 60* because I can easily open it up and pop it up high if I need. Lesser golfers who have a harder time controlling their wedge shots by opening/closing their club face might want to consider a greater loft.

Don't worry about calculating everything out in distance. I use a PW (47*), 56*, and 60*. Between those three, I can control the distance with my swing. I carried a 52* for awhile but its not a necessity for me. Between the PW, 56, 60, I got the distances covered.

[robbo323]

I carried a 60* Ping Tour W wedge for a while and I just didn't like it. I feel like with a 60* wedge I have no control so therefore I play a 58* as my sand/lob wedge. I do think there is a lot more bouce veriety with the 60* wedges.

[WUTiger]

I suspect the greater than 60* lob wedges might be useful in unusual turf conditions. Any comments on this?

[Leftygolfer]

I've carried tons LWs over the past 3 years. I used to have the 52, 56, 60 setup. I then bent the 60 to 58, got a 53 and droped the 52,56. I then got the 64 and didn't care much for the 53 so I went back to the 52, 56, 58 (60 bent) and 64. Then replaced the 56 and bent 60 with a 58 and carried for a while my GW(50), 58 and 64. Just got a 54 I haven't used yet so I am sticking that in there. Where am I going with this post?? Not really sure, but I don't think any of my lob wedges were harder or easier to hit regardless of loft. With the 64, I think you have to be smart about when to use it. In the rough it is really easy to hit it really high on the face so not great performing out of there. But from 65 yards fairway, No other club is easier to hit close. I have to take so much off a 60 to hit it that short that it is hard for me to be consistant. That is why I added my 54. I want to feel ultra confident from 95-105. I can hit my 58 that far but with any wind or not a perfect lie, it is hard for me to hit a soft 50 and get the hieght to stop the ball.

[James_Black]

I suspect the greater than 60* lob wedges might be useful in unusual turf conditions. Any comments on this?

they're worse.

A friend of mine has a 64* wedge, he can only hit it off good lies. Get a 60* I don't see the point in anymore than that. I've tried 64*'s and they're just not worth the hassle.

[Crey23]

they're worse.

+1

anything greater than 60* is really tought to hit. I would suggest to get the 60, and play with opening the face for higher flops....I didn't feel comfortable dioing it with the SW 56* I tried a 64* not too long ago, and found myself hitting very short and high spinners...I could get the same effect more consistently with my 60* and sitll keep the versatility of the 60*. I carry: Titleist AP1 PW-45, GW-50, Spin milled SW 56-10, and a Spin milled LW 60-04 I can cover jut about all conditions with that setup.

[mrbillinoc]

I carry a 48, a 58, and a 62....works well for me. The 48 and 58 is my bread & butter. I think your home course plays a big roll in what wedges you should carry. For example, at my club 14 of the greens are elevated to the point that if you miss a green just by a few feet you've got a 20 foot shot to green that is just about eye-level. That's why the 62 is in my bag.

[Leftygolfer]

I am not sure what makes the 2 or 4 degrees so much harder to hit. I don't think O darn I hit a great drive and now I have a lob wedge in. I expect the best results (shortest putts) with my wedges and particularly my lw or SW. The only different I see between the 58 and 64 is 20 yards. I've heard this from so many people and I really don't get it. The shorter the club, easier to hit is the way I see it.

[goblue107501]

I don't know about the 'harder to hit' thoughts since I have never hit a wedge over 60º. I can think of a few shots here and there where a 64º would have been nice to have (although it is pretty easy to just open up a 60 a few times a month).

My big thing with a wedge >60º, is the distance I could hit it. My LW maxes out at 65 yards or so. If I had a 64, I could probably only hit it 50 yards or so max. I like being able to hit the 60 as an approach shot if needed, a 64 would do nothing but give me a bigger gap.

[Quinn07]

I carry a 60 because I find anything more than that is just too much loft and it doesn't really work for my set. I find with my 60 I can the short shots that I need and I can still get 75-80 yards out of it on a full shot. Which is good because I don't really have a 1/2 shot that goes that distance.

[jamo]

...but lesser golfers should use a greater loft...

Totally untrue. Many people will even discourage you from using a 60. I'm not one of them, because I love my 60, but some people do find them tough to hit, and 62's or 64's are even tougher.

[Crey23]

TO be honest, I really don't ee the need for the 64*....as GoBlue mentioned, I can open my 60 when I need it...I, personally would not put the 64* into play much (although I think thy look sweet!!!!).

I find that I have great overlap with my wedges....PW 120, GW 105, SW 90, LW 70 Max yards, but I use the one wedge (loft) three different shots deal that Pelz pushes....I can cover 50 yards with my SW as well as with my LW, depending on what I want to the ball to do on the green (or at least hope that the ball does greenside). I would suspect that a 62 or 64 would give more of a flop type shot ...hit the green bounce and stay..but you can do that with 60 or 56 if you strike it well.

If I were to play short courses where i tend to be under the 60 yards left to green on most of my second shots....well I would consider it for when I play that course, but to be a permanent tenant in the bag.

I think 60 is large enough and versatile enough to put into play 90% of the time.Choke it, open face, 25, 50, 75% swings....I even use it to chip 25yards to he pin.

[CrazyXGolfer]

Since your a 18Hc I would not sugest anything over 60. 60 allows you to open the blade of the blade and hit certain shots. All I 64 is going to do for you is make you confused with what shots you should hit, also with a 64 I have seen alot of high Hc's chop stright under the ball and windy the shot.

My sig say I play a 60* wedge, but I also have a 64, i only really use at my home course, I have used the 64 at some other courses in competitions, but I made sure I went and played a practise round before hand. 64's only seem to suit those courses's with some very VERY nasty greens and have heavy rough most of the way round the greens were you can't hit the flop shot because the ball usually sits down. So they suit well were you may need to hit a shot that pops stright in that air even out of the heavy rough.

I would just stick with the 60, thats just my sugestion.

[Fourputt]

I'm in the apparently small faction which has made the decision to stop at 56°. I find that I can do just about anything I need to do with that club, and the rare shot which might call for a higher loft, just doesn't happen often enough for me to worry about. My best suggestion is don't go get a 60 or higher just because you think you're supposed to. If you get one, do it because you actually need it, and then commit to practicing with it, because it will be useless to you if you don't.

[Thwak-Thwak-Ting]

Another point is the difference between irons. At the bottom end of the scale the difference between a 3I and a 4I is usually 3*, due to the distance generated. Then most irons have a 4* difference between them. Surely once you get to the shorter irons the difference in loft should be "exponentially" increased?

The general vibe seems to be get used to using whatever you use to cover all distances and you'll be right.

I see a fair bit of logic in the above, but there doesn't seem to be many comments about the 62*.

[James_Black]

The general vibe seems to be get used to using whatever you use to cover all distances and you'll be right.

but you don't need distance in wedge shots.

Should we have wedges spaced out to 72*? 62* is a little bit too much loft to control.

[Leftygolfer]

I don't know about the 'harder to hit' thoughts since I have never hit a wedge over 60º. I can think of a few shots here and there where a 64º would have been nice to have (although it is pretty easy to just open up a 60 a few times a month).

I guess the reason I like it is I hit my 60 or 58 90 to 95 yards so it is so hard for me personally to take 30 yards off consistantly. I find when I open the face I have a real trouble getting the alignment right.