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You can launch the ball twenty feet in the air and it can stop on a dime when it hits the green. A fifty yard shot to a pin cut five feet onto the green, no problem. A short bunker shot with little green to work with. How did the golfer survive back in the day without a 60 degree lob wedge? The problem is, there is little room for error with the 60-degree wedge. One centimeter is the difference between a shot ending up 2 feet away and a blade across the green into a water hazard. Not everyone is a Phil Mickleson around the greens and I think the lob wedge is a great club for certain shots, but not all shots and not all golfers.

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Just got my 58 degree Titleist Vokey spin milled wedge. I love it. On the softest greens from 30 yards, it takes 1 bounce and stops or comes back a foot. On firm greens the thing takes 2-3 bounces and stops or comes back. High low bunker anywhere, 80 yards is the farthest I'll go to hit it and works like a charm.

i actually have taken it out of my bag in favor of a 64... i found that I was only using the lob for the trick shot, as i'll hit my 56 sand into most greens, maybe open it up if i need a soft landing... now, when i really need a flop shot or something of that nature would be when i'd grab the 60, so, i decided to use the 64 which is automatic mega-flop shot.... great for going over the trees, etc..... just my $.02.

Interesting read. IMO the 60° lob wedge is one of the most overrated and mis-used clubs in the game. I do have two of them and yes, I can actually hit them well but they rarely go in my bag. I normally carry a fairly low bounce gap wedge (51° or 52°) and a 56° sand wedge. I'll hit pretty much any greenside chip with the gap wedge. If I've got green to work with then I am pitching it with another iron most likely (7 iron is my favorite if conditions allow).

Then again I am pretty "old school". I learned how to play golf when there weren't even gap or lob wedges. Most golfers only had a "wedge" (what's now a pitching wedge) and a sand wedge. I still have the pitching wedge I played through high school and college and I can still hit a great flop shot with it around the green. You had to be a lot more creative back then and learn to hit a lot of different shots with your wedge and even when to keep the wedge in the bag. Funny thing is all those shots still work today even though it goes against most "mainstream" thinking.

I carry four wedges-Pitching, Gap, Sand, and Lob...the gap wedge gets the most use with chips and pitches around the green. I use the sand wedge out of the bunker and when I need to stop the ball quickly and get it in the air. I almost never use the lob wedge. I've found that it doesnt get the ball much higher than the sand wedge and it is harder to hit and judge correctly. Very overrated club IMO. Keep the ball as close to the ground as you can around greens..Very practical and good short game tip.

I drive the ball a long ways, so I hit a lot of 60* wedge shots into greens. If I'm anywhere from 10 to 90 yards out, I'm probably going to hit my 60. Inside 10 is anyone's guess - it just depends on the situation, and how I'm feeling that day.

Of course, that first statement should be tempered with the fact that until recently, gap wedges weren't necessary, since the pitching wedges' lofts were arounf 52 degrees -- exactly what most gap wedges are today. The gap wedge was necessitated by the fact that the pitching wedges that come with sets have been strengthened (along with all the irons) to at least 48 degrees or more ... some sets have pitching wedges at 43 degrees now -- you need a gap-gap wedge with that set!

All that said, the point remains the same -- common availability of a 60 degree wedge is a pretty recent trend. In theory, it is supposed to be easier to hit than opening up the face of a (pitching or sand) wedge. I'm not sure either way.

Which I think comes to my main point here, which is however you choose to play those 10, 20, 30 yard pitches, you have to go out and practice them. Just having a 60 degree wedge will not make those shots easier to play -- you have to practice and develop the technique and most importantly the touch to play those shots confidently. The wedge is not going to play those shots itself. You have to practice whether you use the 60 degree wedge or a pitching wedge or 7 iron or all of 'em.

Personally, I really like my 60 wedge. I have practiced a lot of different shots with it, so I feel pretty confident with it in my hands. It is also a numbers thing for me: With the extra loft, there is a greater margin of error: Compare a 60 degree wedge (about 80 yards on a full shot for me) and my gap wedge (120 yards on a full shot). One yard is the difference between on the pin and a 9 foot putt, to keep a shot within that one yard error is maximum of 1.25% with the 60 degree wedge, but only 0.83% margin of error with the gap wedge. More than 50% larger margin of error with the 60 wedge, and I know I can use every extra bit I can.

But, the practice and comfort points cannot be overstressed. You have to play the shots and clubs you are comfortable with, and practice them to keep the touch and technique sharp. Again, just having a 60 degree wedge will not improve your short game at all, you have to practice the shots.

I'm in the same school with MGP. When I was learning the game, most players carried 2 wedges, a pitching wedge and a sand wedge. For years I didn't even have the SW, finally bought one in about 86 or 87. Then, in the mid 90's I read about how you really weren't properly equipped if you didn't have a 60° LW, so I got one. I carried it for years, practiced with it religiously, played lots of shots with it, and finally started watching my stats with it. Turned out that it was costing me more strokes when I misplayed it than I saved when it worked right. I put in the garage 3 years ago and it's been there ever since. I have never missed it, not one shot. My wedges are a 45° PW, a 50° GW, and a 56° SW, and I can pretty much do anything I need to do with those 3.

Bignose says there is larger margin of error with the LW? Not sure what he bases that on. In my experience, there is a greater chance of a mishit with the LW, and it usually leads to a worse result when you do mishit it. A little bit fat and it goes nowhere... a little bit thin and it bullets across the green, usually into deep trouble. That is why it left my bag, the club just takes too much precision in ball striking, and it's too unforgiving when you are imprecise.

I have 14 clubs in my bag currently, including a 60* Lob Wedge. As soon as I get around to buying a Gap Wedge (to fill the void between Sand Wedge and Pitching Wedge), it will leave my bag. It has never done me any good. I can't hit it to a consistent distance on full swings, and I get by just fine with the finesse shots using other clubs.

I showed you what I based that on. You don't have to be as precise with your distance control to keep the ball +/- 1 yard. I said nothing about ease of hitting. But, I also don't have too many problems hitting my 60 degree wedge, I fully understand if someone else does. Which is why I stressed practice and comfort over anything.

My 60* and I get along great....as long as its a day it wants to get a long with me lol. Some days we are friends, others we are enimies. Today...we were enimies.

I think it depends on the person but for me, the 60 degree wedge has been overrated. I use it at most once or twice a round, if at all and when I pull it out of my bag during my round, I probably won't hit it well.

Ok... I guess I understand that, if you are a very good ball striker then the distance variance may be smaller. But for me, and for a lot of guys I see on the course, the margin for error is actually far smaller because the radical flattening of the loft angle. So many shots around the green or from rough, and making good contact is more difficult when you aren't really sure how much grass is under the ball, leading to the fats and thins. And such mistakes tend to be exaggerated with the LW, especially hitting it thin, because you are usually swinging harder to accommodate that 60° face. I see guys who try to overcome this by playing the LW at the back of their stance, effectively delofting it to about the same angle as my SW. IMO that seems a bit odd, as they already have one 56° wedge, why create another artificially?

I admit that when I actually pulled off a difficult shot with my LW, it was pretty cool. I just didn't manage that often enough to make it worth keeping in it my bag.

I carry a PW, SW, and LW (60*); and their use is determined by course condition, lie, and distance. Granted, I have been playing for 1.5 yr, and I have always played my wedges in this manner (the Pelz approach), and I am successful with it.

I much prefer my 56 PW compared to my 60. However, my 60 has saved me in the sand recently and I am beginning to use it primarily for that purpose. When I am within 10 feet from the green or on the fringe, I ALWAYS use my 8 iron and have become very adept at the bump and run.