I carry it but only use it when there is not other choice, i.e. a flop shot to a tight pin. For any other pitch, I'll use a SW. I just don't have the confidence with the 60. So really, I'm down to carrying 13 clubs, and using 12.
I use my Lob Wedge when I have a good lie from 10-35 yards out. I dont really like taking a harder swing to hit it farther. From 35-75 yards out I hit my gap Wedge I still don't like to take a full hard rip with it. For me these wedges work with I take very short to 2/3 swings with them minimizing the chance of that bad skull shot. I like the grinds on my wedges and like to open the faces to get them to land soft. I am now really getting the ball closer to the pin. As long as I stay within my self and don't try to use them from long distances I do well. I use my sand wedge in normal green side bunkers and deep grass around the green. And i will bump and run with a hybrid from the fringe when I have a lot of green to work with. Little Green to work with it is the Lob wedge.
Well, I can see that as per usual, we've got a lot of long bombers around here who hit nothing but sand and lob wedges into greens
The 60 degree is a specialty club. There is very, very little you can do with a 60 degree that you can't with a 56, especially if you either grind some of the bounce off it or go with something like the 588 DSG (which is magic, by the way). It's a club for single-digit handicappers for sure, and much more so for guys at the 5 and under numbers.
Anyone with a 11 or above handicap using a 60 is almost surely throwing away strokes with it. And a 64? Puh-leez.
Geat responses guys. Everyone has their own prefereences but it kills me to see amatures 50-30 yards in trying to get cute with the 60 wedge and either end up way short or way lone (due to a blade) Just an idea to approach the shot in a different manner but thanks for all the insight.
I think that too many mid-level players will try anything they see on TV or in a golf mag because they are so desperate to get better, and all those ads and tips seem to promise to cut "X" number of strokes off your score if you just follow their lead. The same is true of the LW pundits. It is a club that works great for some players, barely adequate for a lot more players, and is a severe handicap for the rest (read majority) of the players at this level of the game. One of the best wedge players in history, Tom Watson, doesn't carry a 60° wedge. Not because he couldn't learn to use it, but because he can make 99.9% of those shots with without resorting to such a specialized club.
IMO, it's more important to learn to use the 2 basic wedges (PW and SW) well, then decide from a position of experience what you need to add to complete your set and your short game. I added a 60° LW prematurely (or maybe just because of the hype), used it more than I should have, then finally started to analyze my success (or lack thereof) with the club, and realized I was using it far too much. My short game was far better years ago, before anybody had ever heard of the LW. So I started using it less and less, and my scoring started to improve. For 3 years it hasn't left my garage, and my handicap is down 5 points in the last year alone, getting close to where it was 15 years ago before marriage cut into my playing and practice time, and before I carried a LW. Now my highest lofted club is my Cleveland 56° CG11, and it suits me fine.
I don't deny the power of the LW being used by skilled hands in the right situations, but what I do recommend is caution to those who might see it as a cure all for the short game, as that is something that it definitely is not. The only true cure for short game woes is good technique, and practice, practice, practice.
Today in a tournament as an example, I had two lies near the green that the ball was sitting down in the rough. My usual 52 for chipping was not a good choice. The lie was "fine" for the 60 and I hit good shots each time. If I didn't have the 60 and was used to chipping with it, I would have probably had another stroke on each of those holes.
I also hit the 60 with a full swing from the fairway...would have had to take something off it with any other club...much tougher that way to get the right distance.
I'm the exact opposite as you ForeOnRoad for hitting short wedge shots in from the fairway. I feel much more comfortable laying off of a PW from the fairway anywhere between 30 - 100 yds out. I'm much more comfortable with a pitch and run from that distance and my PW gives me the best feel and results. Now if I don't have green to work with for a pitch and run. I'll hit a 56* wedge in from up high and try to drop it close. Those drop in flop shots and greenside bunker shots are all I use my 56* for. Everything else is a pitch and run with the PW or if I'm right off the green, I've become fond of the bump and run with a 9I or the PW if the pin is close. As much as I struggle to stay consistent with that little bag of short game, I don't even want to think about a 60*. But that's because it just doesn't fit my game. I depend more on trajectory and roll than spin. I do want to add a 52* gap wedge though for shorter pitches and use the 56* for bunkers and flop shots only.
I think the bounce with the wedges is more important than the loft. You can do most everything with a 56 that you can do with a 60, but the bounce for sand wedges and lob wedges is typically different. I find the soft bunkers demand a higher bounce, but hitting shots from the fairway demand less bounce. I carry a 58 and a 59 wedge with opposite end of the spectrum bounces. I feel comfortable on thick sand and wet sand in the bunkers and fee confident on heavy rough and fairway with each club respectively.
I think the loft is just one aspect of a wedge, and maybe not even the most important. To me, bounce is more important than loft, but it really is the combination of loft, bounce, and possibly weighting that make or break the club.
Similar to Drivers. I do not think one brand is far better than other brands. But I do think, you need to find the right combination of driver loft, shaft kickpoint and flex for each person's swing.
It is a friend when used in the right situation. A tricky shot which needs to stop quickly is fine but a full shot or some thing that you could use a PW or 8-iron is the wrong shot. Too easy to thin, too easy to fat. Try and use it for little chips around the green and not shots where you can use something else. Only use when there is no other option. An 8-iron bump and run is your friend
Yep...low bounce is critical for a 60 in my opinion.
My 60 has a 4 bounce. The lower the bounce, the better with a 60 for working around the greens and hitting from the fairway. I have Titleist Spin Milled Vokeys.
I actually had a higher bounce with the first SM Vokey I bought in a 60...couldn't remember what it was and got too much. I ended up trading it in for a lower bounce when I bought another 56 that was stolen (expensive "swap" the next day). I had a hard time with the higher bounce when chipping with it, which at the time was the only club I used for chipping. I switched to a 52 Vokey for typical chips this year and use the 60 for tough lies, when I need to land it soft, etc. I've been doing great with the 52 for typical chips...really like the feel of the 52 Vokey for that. I finally got over my "60 or nothing" attitude for chipping.
I have never used a 60. I only hit my sand wedge 50 - 60 yards and have no problems opening up the club face for the flop shot. I just don't see how I would use it that many times in a round so I keep a club that I do use regularly (5w).
I've been finding my LW really useful lately. I think I pulled it out of my bag at least 4 or 5 times during my last round. I remember 2 specific times when it was very valuable. First time, I had to get over a greenside bunker and only had about 10 ft of green to work with. Second time, I was about 20 ft off the green and on a hill that was probably 5 ft above the green and again, I didn't have much green to work with.