Do I Really Need More Than 60 Degrees Of Loft ?
Using the Ask Terry button, Steve asks:
What’s your opinion on wedges with lofts greater than 60 degrees ?
Any advantage/disadvantages for the average golfer ?
Steve,
I am kind of amazed at these wedges with lofts over 60 degrees, actually.
There’s one that’s 73 degrees for Pete’s sake ! In my experience, most amateur golfers cannot properly handle the 60, and adding loft more than that seems like just adding another way to lose strokes.
The higher loft a wedge has, in many ways, the harder it is to hit it properly, as the face is making a more and more glancing blow to the ball.
Most courses do not have the kind of shots where a well hit shot with a 60 won’t get the job done, in my opinion.
I think that if any golfer would really work with a good 60, he would find that there would be very, very few instances when he wishes he had more loft at his disposal.
A good 60 can allow you to open the face from a reasonably tight lie, and hit good bunker shots. It also allows you to hit flop shots with little or no roll after landing, with practice of course.
If the goal is to provide full swing distances less than their 60 flies, there are other ways to achieve that. I have written a book called “The SCoR Method” that outlines just such a method that is very simple to learn.
So, to me, until a golfer has a short game with their 52, 56 and 60 that is the envy of their friends, any wedge with more loft than that should stay in the stores.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Agreed. Tried a 64 after reading Dave Pelz’s book recommending it but found it’s hard to control. It’s good for consistently hitting a known max distance on a full swing, but IMO this doesn’t justify keeping it in place of clubs that are more useful overall, and the extreme angle once you start opening the face is hard to control precisely - slight changes in face angle translate to large distance differences, at least in context of the narrow distance ranges you are usually trying to hit when you use a 64, and it’s easy to mishit. Needs a lot of practice to get your angles and distances down. IMO better to spend that time learning how to use a 60 in different situations and with greater overall range.
I currently own, but not for much longer, a 64 degree wedge. I have hit it probably around 100 times in the last 3 years and with less then acceptable results. Like Rick stated, it is very difficult to control. Unfortunately, it has cost me more strokes than it has saved. If anyone is looking to buy a 64 degree wedge I know where you can get one cheap.
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