SandWedge for half-novice. Vokey or which?

[MioDiMia]

As you should have understook I'm looking for a good SandWedge and i can't make up my mind.
I'm an Hp29 and i'm tired of using my Mizuno (MX-100 perimethral) which is huge and can't get trough the ball so well. I would like to buy a good sand that would allow me to make good Pitching Shots to make the ball fly high and make it roll very few (the less the better)at the impact with the ground.
My Golf Course ground is a mixture of softness and hardness. The ground is very soft because it's often rainy but bunkers are as hard as stones. I thought about a middle Bounce, maybe 8.
I woulde have liked to buy a Vokey Spin Milled Chrome or Oil (56°) but i don't know if it can be good for a novice like me. What do you think about it? Is it good for me or not? Even if i won't be able to use the 100% of its capabilities, that would be okay to use it at its 60% and improve my approach with time and training.
What do you say? And if the vokey is not good for me why don't you tell me which SW i could use? xD
Leon

P.s.:And was my Bounce idea okay?

[Stretch]

Any decent wedge will be fine for you -- Vokey, Cleveland, Callaway etc. I think you'd probably be better off with a little more bounce though, maybe 10 - 12 degrees.

[MioDiMia]

THank you Stretch ^^.
Do you think i should take Chrome, Nickel or Oil for what i want to do with it?

[Stretch]

It's a purely cosmetic choice. Pick whichever finish you prefer and just be aware that the un-chromed ones will weather and rust. Doesn't affect performance either way.

[James_Black]

I have 14* of bounce on my SW.
Bounce isn't a bad thing, it stops the wedge digging in on soft ground/bunkers.

Chrome wedges are nice but when it starts wearing off they look terrible.
I'd pick the oil can because you'll get an even coat of rust, not just the sole and the parts of the face where you hit the ball most of the time.

[sean_miller]

I have 14* of bounce on my SW.

It took about a decade for the chrome on my Mizunos Pros to start visible signs of wearing through. After 15 years (off and on - been hoing lately) in the bag, they look a helluva lot better than that rusted POS "oil can" I got last summer. I was so familiar with the BeCu wedges from the 80s that I didn't realize the Oil Can "finish" was actually a lack of finish. Everyone has a right to their opinion when it comes to aesthetics, and my opinion is that picking up a club designed to begin rusting almost immediately after wearing off those ridiculous swirls, was possibly the stupidest equipment related purchase I've ever made.

[WUTiger]

A non-shiny chrome finish will probably show bag wear less, and sand abrasion less.

As for bounce, are you a digger or a sweeper, or in between? People with steeper swing descent can use bounce more than people with a shallower one. Note that high bounce wedges can ricochet off of hard sand or ground and cause you to skull shots.

Also, wedges have the shortest shafts of all clubs. Thus, they are easier to control. Middle HDCP players can learn to use smaller-headed specialty wedges - it just takes a little practice. Also, tapping "full capabilities" of the wedge come with practice, and learning to hit some of the more "specialty" shots - as long as you can use them.

Check out club designer's Ralph Maltby link on the playability of wedges - it discusses bounce and other things:
http://www.ralphmaltby.com/50

[James_Black]

It took about a decade for the chrome on my Mizunos Pros to start visible signs of wearing through. After 15 years (off and on - been hoing lately) in the bag, they look a helluva lot better than that rusted POS "oil can" I got last summer. I was so familiar with the BeCu wedges from the 80s that I didn't realize the Oil Can "finish" was actually a lack of finish. Everyone has a right to their opinion when it comes to aesthetics, and my opinion is that picking up a club designed to begin rusting almost immediately after wearing off those ridiculous swirls, was possibly the stupidest equipment related purchase I've ever made.

good point.

I just hate looking at my vokeys now though, scratches aren't too bad but when they start to rust they look 10x worse. I think it's because the vokeys are made of a softer steel and bang up pretty easily compared to other cast wedges. I have some ancient wedges that got a lot of use which haven't started yet. if you look after the oil-can wedges they shouldn't rust too much

[CassinoNorth]

good point.

Oil can rusts basically no matter what.

If you look after chrome you should never see rust.

[BonoVox]

I am not sure if the standard finish is chrome. But it is the lighter finish and I love it! Coming from Oil Can Clevelands I have not missed a beat. I also like them when it starts to get dark on twighlight rounds of golf. Easy to see the club head. (very occasionally I get a glare off of them but nothing serious)

[James_Black]

Oil can rusts basically no matter what.

you will see rust on chrome if you wear it away.

You should get a thin layer on oil can's but some people deliberately leave them out in the rain to make them rust quicker and they look terrible after a few months.

[JML22]

just get the tomwatson ones off rockbottomgolf
full set for like 60-70 bucks and they're pretty good wedges

[CassinoNorth]

I have 14* of bounce on my SW.

It also makes you much more susceptible to skulling the ball right over the green.

[James_Black]

It also makes you much more susceptible to skulling the ball right over the green.

that's a myth, way over-hyped.

how do you skull the ball? if you hit the ball above the equator line. as long as you hit it with a descending swing it'll be ok. It's not as if once you take out a 14* wedge you'll skull all your chips.

[CassinoNorth]

that's a myth, way over-hyped.

And on the other side digging in on all your chips is a myth too.

You don't buy a higher bounce "because you won't dig in as easy" you but it because you're a digger. A sweeper always uses low bounce as it works for them.

[max power]

There are pros and cons to different types of wedges, and different levels of bounce. But -high bounce doesn't make you skull the ball, low bounce doesn't make you dig in under the ball, and a Vokey or other blade style wedge doesn't make it easier to "get through" the ball than a cavity back wedge. No matter what anyone says. I'm not knocking personal preference, I prefer a blade wedge myself-but not because it "gets through" the ball better than a cavity back wedge.