Help on wedges please!

[nsherman2006]

I think it's more a course stup type of issue. I play crappy courses with small greens. You dont usually have room to run it much, and it's hard to predict what it's gonna do when it's rolling, so i like to at least fly it all the way to the green. FWIW, the shot i play with the lob wedge most of the time is a fairly low-trajectory shot. Pitching the ball with a high swing speed is not good for the most part, but io dont think the degree on the club is where perople make the mistake, it's just in trying to execute the wrong types of shots. They think 60*=high lob, but that isnt always true. The bock of stance, low, spinning pitch shot is my favorite. We call it the jizzer

 

[lildudejds]

yeah i threw away that lob wedge...and got a new wedge see my new thread

 

[VtDivot]

Neal,

I'm not saying that the 60* wedge is the devil's tool. However, for most guys sporting a 10+ handicap, it is.

If you spend time on your short game and have an understanding of your touch and feel, you'll probably have good success with it. But it takes time, patience and constant refreshing of that feel to get it dialed.

For most guys, a 56* would do just about whatever a 60* can do, other than the flop shot, which is once in a blue moon.

You make a good case tho.

R35

I plan on dropping the 56 degree and adding a second driver to the bag.

 

[Witmaster]

I plan on dropping the 56 degree and adding a second driver to the bag.

Preach it, Phil

 

[dave.]

I agree,the lob is for pros who need it because of the courses they play on,not amateurs who kid themselves they need one when in fact they don't and they play the wrong shot most of the time.

 

[ezra76]

I plan on dropping the 56 degree and adding a second driver to the bag.

That's what I'm going to do. Drop the 60* and get a "draw driver". Then I can hit it into the left side of the woods too.

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

Thinking about it, I would pretty much say that my 60* is a necessity for the courses I play up here. Small tight greens are part of it, I use it for downhill chips and downhill running chips. Being able to do a direct pitch, which may otherwise require opening a SW, which is very high risk off the fairway, if bump and run is not an option, which more commonly it is not up here.

Finally, it really comes down to one hole on my home course and a couple on other course, that I use the majority of the time. I have found no other method of getting a ball to stop on a small green which is elevated 30 feet from about 30-40 yards out. I will take a picture next time I am out. A great drive gives you a shot at the green. Any other drive puts you about 140-150 yards out in the fairway with a tree blocking the left front of the green (if not the entire thing), I predominantly hit a draw and still risk running off the side for a penalty. If you run off the back you have a downhill lie onto a green that if you miss you are off the green 30 yards away. I usually play up to 30-40 yards and use a LW. I can think of no other shot that will stop on the green from the fairway onto a 30 foot small elevated green.

All of the shots I mentioned I have found no better option that I can more effectively hit to set me up for a one putt, which I do more times than not. I also have found no more predictable 60-70 yard shot than my 3/4 LW. I actually am more accurate and predictable playing a ball up to inside 70 for my 3/4 LW than I am 100-110 for my SW or GW. Although I still usually aim for 100 if I am not certain I can reliably get to 70, which in most cases if I can reliably get to 70, it is with less than a 7i, and that being the case I usually may have a better shot at getting to the edge of the green with a wood.


Again though, for the first year or so I paid dearly for trying to use it in less than ideal situations where there were better options. As I mentioned early, the most important thing for me is avoiding the temptation of over using the club. I also play a 3/4 shot back in my stance to avoid fat shots. I am now to the point where I limit enough damaging choices that it really is beginning to save me strokes. Now, if there is any questionable nature in the shot, I keep it in my bag. I also do practice with the club, probably more so than any other than my Putter and GW for Chipping. I went from using it maybe 10-12 times a round to currently maybe 4. To me the affectiveness of this club is more mental than ability, in simply knowing when not to use the club.

 

[Rockford35]

I plan on dropping the 56 degree and adding a second driver to the bag.

It still won't get rid of your man boobs.

R35

 

[lildudejds]

I agree,the lob is for pros who need it because of the courses they play on,not amateurs who kid themselves they need one when in fact they don't and they play the wrong shot most of the time.

now i never said i used it...i never used it on a course it was to inconsistent and i realized that...thats why im just gonna like throw it away...and i never said i needed it in the first place...i didnt buy it it was givin to me in a set of clubs.

 

[ualtim]

I had not carried a 60* wedge in my bag for a while until I started playing a par 3 course with my wife a few weeks ago. When we go to the par 3, I pull my driver out of the bag and put the 60* in. Amazingly enough, I have been playing the 60* well on the shots I have had to use it. With the drought down here, there are a lot of thin lies and my SW bounce angle thin lies do not work so well (unless you are trying to blade it.) The 60* has allowed me to pitch the ball onto the elevated greens of the par 3 with little to no run where my 52* Gapper tended to run the ball another 5-10 feet. Not an issue on the bigger greens, but the greens on the par 3 course are small. If properly used or the course set up demands it, the 60* wedge can save you some strokes.

 

[VtDivot]

It still won't get rid of your man boobs.

R35

Zing - nice!