Long ago I replaced my 5 wood with a 60 degree wedge. I figured that my 3 hybrid would fill the distance gap and for the most part I have things covered. I switch to the lob wedge because I felt it would help me lower my golf scores and increase my confidence around the greens when making a delicate up and down. I am here to say that this was a great decision and I have zero regrets.
I carry 4 wedges and except for my 52 degree gap wedge, I am having very good success hitting the ball close. After switching back to my previous chipping style, I have some work to do being more aggressive. As it is right I am missing left and about 8 to 10 feet short. This is easily correctable and I expect to be chipping up a storm is short order. As a recap for the different wedges:
I generally do not use my lob wedge outside of 20 yards. I find I have to swing too hard to get any more distance with control. I suppose I could fix that with more practice, but I just do not have the time. So, I will settle for how I use it and be grateful it works.
I have found a few things that work for my game with a lob wedge in my hand that I think is worth sharing. Let me know if these help:
- Hit the ball harder than I think. I have found that by committing to the shot and hitting aggressively, the ball travels the distance I need
- My hands lead contact with the ball. This is very important to prevent hitting the ball thin and skulling it over the green. (learned this one the hard way)
- Do not be afraid to let my lob wedge be my go to club when the pin is short-sided when chipping
- I use my 60 degree in the sand when the lip is very close and relatively high (2 feet or more)
Using a lob wedge with success is as much about confidence as it is about technique. This is a specialty club in my bag and I rely on it in tough situations. It took sometime to get here, but I am so glad I did.
Do you use a lob wedge with success?
I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!
The Grateful Golfer 
I am happy I kept my lob wedge. I use it 60 yds in effectively. But chipping now with pitching wedge is easier. Glad you found your “groove”.
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Thanks Larry. I am not that strong with my lob wedge outside of 30 yards. At this distance I do not have to take a full swing and that works well for my game.
Cheers Jim
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Jim, I just replaced my 3-iron with a 3-hybrid and carry four wedges as well. Was considering taking out the lob wedge but my instructor recommend against, as the LW is in the scoring zone. Sounds like our set makeup is identical!
Happy pin hunting.
Brian
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Brian
Sure does. I agree that the lob wedge is a scoring club. Great minds think alike? 😁
Cheers Jim
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I stayed up tonight to see the launch of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA. It’s 151 miles from my doorstep on the other coast and I could see the plume from my front yard all the way until a few seconds after the first stage separated. Both the rocket and a crescent moon were in view. What a site.
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That sounds amazing!
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I took my 60 degree out of the bag when I adjusted my wedges to get a more consistant distribution of lofts. For a short time it was a little painful to not have it, but I’ve since learned to make my 56 do everything I used the 60 for. I tended to use the 60 only in wet sand traps around the green and most lob shots from tight lies near the green. Now I have confidence enough with my sand wedge to execute those shots so I don’t miss it anymore.
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Kevin
Finding a solution is always best. For now, my 60 degree is stays at it is more valuable than a 5 wood. That might change in the future, but I doubt it.
Cheers Jim
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I guess I should have mentioned that I still have 4 wedges in my bag too. It’s just that when I made the switch from my older Cobra irons to the newer Calloway set the lofts changed a bit. After reading one of your posts, last year I think, I decided to even out the loft change among my wedges. That meant changing to 48, 52, & 56 because my pw is 44. The 3 wedges I had been carrying besides the pw were at 50, 56 and 60. So I didn’t have a consistant change in lofts. So now I have a 4 degree loft change among all the wedges where before it switched around from 4 to 6 degrees of change. Losing the 60 hurt for a short time, but I don’t miss it at all now. I won’t be having people standing in front of me while I try to pop one over their heads anytime soon, but I can actually hit that shot with my sand wedge off a tight lie as long as I don’t have the added pressure of possibly sending someone to the hospital. Lol.
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Kevin
Great points. I carry 4 wedges as well 48, 52, 56, and 60. I guess it really does not matter what we call them, as long as the lofts of our clubs fit our game. This is a point to ponder for a bit….I think. Thanks for adding to your previous comments.
Cheers Jim
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