This week’s blog topic is called, Should You Be Carrying A 60-degree?

Have you been wondering whether to carry a more lofted wedge or not or have you found yourself not having much success with your current one? It’s a club that doesn’t offer much forgiveness due to its high degree of loft. Over the last few years we seen more tour players gaming 58 degrees as opposed to 60 these days. Follow along as I breakdown a few things to consider when deciding what YOU should put in your bag this season

When Should I Consider A 60-degree?

If you are a golfer who is striking their chips nicely around the green but seems to launch it lower and maybe struggle with that stopping power in those short-sided positions, then adding something more lofted in the bag like a 60 could be a really good option for you. Also, if you don’t like to open the face on wedges around the green, carrying a 60 may give you more options for short high required flights.

When Should I Consider Dropping The 60-degree?

If you find that you struggle to advance your 60-degree wedge very far and find yourself making too many unforced errors with it then it’s time to drop or get some expert advice on how you can be more effective with it. An easy win for the golfer who falls into this category is using your SW more which varies from 54/56 degrees but preferably not the one that comes with the set of irons as they are usually a bit chunky and less versatile.

Sand Wedge v.s. Lob Wedge

There are quite a few variables that influence launch and spin, but the more influential parts are the loft presented at impact and the angle of attack of the club at the point of contact. These subtracted are known as Spin Loft which in 2D is described as the angle between the loft presented at impact and the angle of attack. If the gap between these two becomes too high, then the ball will slide up the clubface and you will create very low-ball speed and struggle to advance the ball very far. The player who decreases the angle between these two components too much will see much lower flights and much faster ball speeds.

Finally factor in the gapping between your clubs, ideally you’re looking for 4 degree increments and in many modern sets that will put you with a 58 degree wedge instead of 60. In conclusion, if choosing to carry a 60 degree, be aware of what you are gaining but also what you could be losing.

– Coach Tim