Anything Above a 60 Degree???

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By Caleb J

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  1. Caleb J

    Caleb J
    Alpine, UT

    I am looking to buy a new set of Vokey's. I am getting a 52, 56. I don't know whether I should get a 60 degree or something with a greater loft? I am also wondering whether I should get just one finish or different finishes. Thanks for the help

    Caleb

  2. eboos

    eboos
    Whitinsville, MA

    What kind of shots are you looking to hit with it? What kind of shots are you playing now? I love my 60. I never felt like I needed a higher loft. I also have a 52 and a 56. My advise is to try out some clubs around a practice green and try hitting a number of different shots. Play the types of shots that you use most often and find the clubs that will give you the best results. My three go to shots around the greens are a standard chip, a bump and run, and a flop. My lie, carry distance, and amount of green to work with will determine which shot I play and which wedge I choose. Make your wedge selection based on being able to get up and down from any situation with the shot types you are comfortable with.

  3. Don O

    Don O
    Madison, WI

    Even wedges need a fitting.  Without knowing if you use full swings and the loft and distance of your PW is, it is not uncommon to look at a 50 degree or a 52 bent to 51 degrees.  I use a 48 and 54 for full swings and keep a 58 for lob shots.  Probably need to get checked myself, the 48 GW was for my 43 PW but my current AP1 PW is 45 degrees.  Based on your need for a lob shot or a shorter full swing distance than a 56, a 60 or 62 would work.  64 is only for pure lob shots.

  4. Course conditions and bounce make a difference as well. Like Don mentioned, it'd be best if you visited your nearest Regional/Advanced fitting center. Hit some shots off of real grass, out of sand, etc.. I have tons of wedges. However, I usually carry a 53* and a 58*. I can open them up very easily if I want to hit high flops, get more spin...I can hit some nice little bumps with the toe down. I'm pretty good with judging my distances, so, I don't need to carry more than 2 wedges, unless the course calls for them. 

    If you have an arsenal of shots in the bag, you may not need too high of a lofted wedge. Like it was mentioned earlier, it all depends on what YOU want to do with your wedges and so on. Your fitter will be able to tell you exactly which wedges would work best for YOU.

  5. Dallin H

    Dallin H
    Arlington, TX

    I recommend a Vokey 60*.  It is one of my favorite clubs in my bag...it also means I'm getting close to the green which is always a good thing :).  Be sure to get fit so you get the right bounce.

  6. David B

    David B
    Watertown, NY

    Yes, depending on the shot type you are looking for. I have a 60 and use it a lot depending what type of course I am playing. Sometimes it comes out of the bag when I opt to have a different type of club that fits the course, like a long iron or hybrid and so on. I have played a couple of course with tightly pack sand in the bunkers and usually opt to use my 60 rather than my 56. I also own a 58 with 4 degrees of bounce which is great on tight lies or fairways so I will switch them out based on the course.

  7. Mike C

    Mike C
    Dallas, TX

    Your "longer" wedge selection is really based on your distances and the types of shots you are hiting.  I have always set these up to have proper yardage gaps as I am coing down from the PW and GW.  As with all of your clubs, it is important to get fit to ensure the club setup matches your swing and, for the wedges, make sure you don't have any yardage gaps.

    Regarding greater loft than a 60, I don't believe it is necessary but everybody is different.  I use a 60 degree Vokey TVD and it it my favorite club in the bag.  If you have the right grind on the club, you can rotate the 60 degree so the face is open up facing the sky for full swing short lobs to squaring the face for more distance shots.  I use it everywhere around the green from chips that run out like a putt from just off the green to lob shots that drop and stop to 60-70 yard approach shots from the fairway. 

  8. Luke W

    Luke W
    liberty township, OH

    i dont think i "need" a 62 but i really like having it. i feel very comfortable with it. around the greens you can use it and about 75 yards out if you have to as well and sits down on a dime

  9. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    Luke W said:

    i dont think i "need" a 62 but i really like having it. i feel very comfortable with it. around the greens you can use it and about 75 yards out if you have to as well and sits down on a dime

    I had a SM c-c 62-07 and it did a lot of good things.   Things like a SM4 64-07 are "nice to have" when you got that occasional oddball shot like pitching downhill from behind the green.

    My primary wedge is my 54-11.

  10. Luke W

    Luke W
    liberty township, OH

    Lou G said:

    I had a SM c-c 62-07 and it did a lot of good things.   Things like a SM4 64-07 are "nice to have" when you got that occasional oddball shot like pitching downhill from behind the green.

    My primary wedge is my 54-11.

    [/quote]

    i agree man they are just nice to have and i am thinking about pulling my 3 iron out of the bag and adding a 56-08. right now i have 52 and 62 i need an in between wedge. Cant remember the last time i hit 3 iron since i cant hit a great knock down 5 wood 215-250 so no need for 3 iron.

  11. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    Luke W said:

    I had a SM c-c 62-07 and it did a lot of good things.   Things like a SM4 64-07 are "nice to have" when you got that occasional oddball shot like pitching downhill from behind the green.

    My primary wedge is my 54-11.

    [/quote]

    i agree man they are just nice to have and i am thinking about pulling my 3 iron out of the bag and adding a 56-08. right now i have 52 and 62 i need an in between wedge. Cant remember the last time i hit 3 iron since i cant hit a great knock down 5 wood 215-250 so no need for 3 iron.

    [/quote]

    The only thing I don't like about the SM4 62-07 or 64-07 is the sole grind.  Ok off soft turf but almost impossible to hit off wet,packed sand.  The SM c-c 62-07 had a wide full grind sole and picked the ball nicely off packed sand or hard lies. 

    I don't think I have hit a 3 iron since about 2003 (before a 3 year hiatus of no golf).   I work wonders with a 20* fairway (19F set at C3 - 19.75* or any other 7 wood)  a 9 wood and 27-30 hybrids.   I haven't carried a 3 wood since 2006 either.  I also have trained myself to hit stinger shots with a 13* driver for distances between 190-210 on par 3s. 

  12. Caleb J

    Caleb J
    Alpine, UT

    Thank you so much for all of your advice. I got fitted for a 60 and since the course I usually play is short and the greens are open, I figured that a 60 would be a better choice. 

    Thanks,

    Caleb

  13. Samuel  C

    Samuel C
    Phoenix, AZ

    Caleb J said:

    I am looking to buy a new set of Vokey's. I am getting a 52, 56. I don't know whether I should get a 60 degree or something with a greater loft? I am also wondering whether I should get just one finish or different finishes. Thanks for the help

    Caleb

    This all depends on your preference, course conditions and really any gaps in your bag. Some people carry 3, some people carry 4 wedges in their bag. Most people I would say can't hit a 60*, since they scoop the ball and add more loft to it and can benefit from using their SW a lot more, but with more practice, we can all get better.  

    If you are getting a 52 & 56, why would you consider getting something with more loft? Wouldn't there be a big gap between your 56* and whatever else you get? Or will you be adjusting the lofts on those clubs?  

    As many others have mentioned, go and see a fitter and talk about your game and the shots you hit, and they will be able to help you find what is right for your bag. 

    All the best,

    Sam

  14. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    My current setup is Vokey SM4 54-11, 60-10 and 64-07 (the SW and LW are 1* strong in loft).  I've also played with a SM c-c 62-07.  My first ever Vokey sand wedge was a 258-12. 

    My 54-11 is actually SW/GW.  I use it pretty close to exclusively within 50 yards (occasionally use the PW for bump n run shots.

    My 60-10 is mainly for greenside bunkers and I use it just about exclusively in hard or wet sand, although it works well in soft bunkers.  When I play some of the munis in the county, it is great for approach shots to hard greens.   This is the best lob wedge ever.

    I've been using a 64* wedge since 2006.  Rarely used but comes in handy for hitting over a tree near the green (although I seldom get under them these days).  Good for small deep bunkers with tight pin positions.  The main thing about a 64 is that a full golf shot is 50-55 yards for most of us (probably 80-100 for those with triple x flex shafts).  A full swing pitch is 30-35 yards for me.

  15. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    If you think about "old school" golf, a PW was 50-52* and a sand wedge was 57-58*.  

    The thing nice about the 54 and 60 is the "M" grind sole; makes them versatile in a wide variety of conditions. 

    When I had my Eye 2 irons, my wedge setup was SM c-c 50-08 and 54-11 (both bent 1* weak) and 62-07 (turns out this wedge did as much as the SM2 60-07 and 64-07 combined).  I kept the SM c-c when I switched to AP1 irons (mainly the AP1 PW and the Eye 2 9 iron have the same loft).  I briefly tried a SM c-c 58-04; it was OK for bunker shots but, believe it or not, not that great on tight lies (4* bounce is really a misnomer because the leading edge is about 13*).  I switched from the 58-04 and 62-07 to the SM4 60-10 and my lob wedge game got much better (also started using the 60 for greenside bunkers).   In an effort to simplify the top end, briefly played an SM4 52-12 in place of the 50 and 54; worked OK but turns out the SM4 54-11 (bent to 53) works way better overall.

    The 64 is purely for lob shots or short bunker shots with tight pin position.  Consider that a full swing is 50-55 yards and a full pitch is 30-35 yards.    The ball literally stops on a dime with just about zero roll (unless you play a course with rock hard greens, like a couple of the muni executive courses in San Diego).   Also consider a half swing pitch is about 20 yards so hitting from a mound down to the back of the green is the situation where this club excels.   Many years ago my tee shot pulled into a ditch on the left side of the green on a 170 yard par 3 and I had to hit a full swing just about straight up in the air and it stuck the ball 2 feet from the pin to save par.

    I've played a couple courses where I have just about never used the 60 because the greens are pretty soft; one of the courses had a lot of elevated greens so I found myself even using a pitching wedge more often around the green.

     

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