Anyone use a 64* wedge?

I believe most teachers would advise high handicappers to stay away from that much loft. Hank Haney, for example, doesn't even like high handicappers to use 60° wedges.


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I agree with this. I consider myself pretty decent with a wedge, especially chipping. But a 64* (and even 60* to some degree) takes too much practice to make it effective. I would go no higher than 58*, maybe even 56*.
 
I have a 60* and use it quite a bit, but to be honest I don't really need it and could get a lot more use out of another club lower in the line up. As others have said, its pretty easy to learn how to open a 56* and send the ball almost straight up if you need to. A 64* seems pretty out there to me.
 
*phew

I feel a lot better now. Thought I was the only one... even the salesman at the shop looked at me like I was crazy and said that they dont carry stock, cause they only sell one a year...

a lot of people are scared of them and if you don't make solid contact i understand why. and i get some ball busting about it from certain players even my instructor laughs at all my wedges in my bag( pw,aw,52*,56*,60*,64*) but i do use it even if its not a lot but if you practice with it youll become very comfortable with it. i got very comfortable with my 60* for a year before i tried a 64* and that took some getting used to also but i feel very comfortable with it now. if you can afford it id get one try it out and see if you like it. its nice knowing i have it in there and don't have to worry about opening my 60* club face to make the shot i tend to skull those shots more than me hitting my 64* but thats just me.
 
Hey, if the shoe fits, wear it!! I'm surprised you would rather go to a 64 instead of closing the gap between your PW and your 60 degree, but if you're comfortable with that setup, but all means go for it!!

Only time will tell. My 64* is probably the second most used club other than the putter. If you take David Pelz advise, a 64* would be valuable inside 60 yards. If you are the type of golfer that would rather hit their wedges square, without opening up the blade, this may be the ticket. Can be used effectively for flops as well . I would recommend a low bounce model, but really depends on the conditions you play. I find the 64* an effective tool for flops, chips and partial shots around the green. Like many have said, they can do the same by opening up their other wedges, but I prefer to hit my wedges square when possible. Good luck, it's worth giving it an attempt, because this is inside the scoring zone where you can save a couple strokes with instruments that fit your swing.
 
Only time will tell. My 64* is probably the second most used club other than the putter. If you take David Pelz advise, a 64* would be valuable inside 60 yards. If you are the type of golfer that would rather hit their wedges square, without opening up the blade, this may be the ticket. Can be used effectively for flops as well . I would recommend a low bounce model, but really depends on the conditions you play. I find the 64* an effective tool for flops, chips and partial shots around the green. Like many have said, they can do the same by opening up their other wedges, but I prefer to hit my wedges square when possible. Good luck, it's worth giving it an attempt, because this is inside the scoring zone where you can save a couple strokes with instruments that fit your swing.

Thanks, that is kind of what I have in mind. I hate opening my wedges, sure, with lots of practice it will get better, but I would like to give this a bash. Worst that can happen is I trade it in on an AW. I was starting to feel like the ginger step-child for a minute ;)
 
To the OP, I play a 64* as well. I just got my new Callaway jaws yesterday. This makes my bag complete for now. I play PW, GW (both JPX-800 from the set) 56* and 60* Cleveland CG16s and now the 64*Jaws.

IMO, even if I use it 2-3 times a round, then it saves at least that many strokes. I am not good enough in my own mind to open up the 56 or 60 even and often blade that shot when I try. With the 64 I don't have to think about that as much. Before I got the callaway, I used to have this old wilson 64 and it save me enough shots in a round to keep it in the bag. There are plenty of other irons that I might hit once if that in a round at all. So to me even 2 times a round is worth it.

i have a 60* and a 64* and i love them both. i use my 60* for close chips for pitches that i want to stop and i use my 64* for tight shots maybe only 1 or 2 shots a round sometimes but when i have a downhill chip with no green to work with i love this club.. i do practice A LOT with them both so i don't thin shots very often unless i open the face on my 64 to try a crazy shot like last week trying to get over a pine tree. lol its nice to have it in my bag for when i need it though.

I definitely got a lot of grief for having and playing the 64 but to me its about eliminating variables. Play what makes you feel comfortable. I feel like with tight pins, or the need to hit a high flop it is much easier to do so with a 64, as opposed to opening up the face of my 56 or 60 even.
 
To the OP, I play a 64* as well. I just got my new Callaway jaws yesterday. This makes my bag complete for now. I play PW, GW (both JPX-800 from the set) 56* and 60* Cleveland CG16s and now the 64*Jaws.

IMO, even if I use it 2-3 times a round, then it saves at least that many strokes. I am not good enough in my own mind to open up the 56 or 60 even and often blade that shot when I try. With the 64 I don't have to think about that as much. Before I got the callaway, I used to have this old wilson 64 and it save me enough shots in a round to keep it in the bag. There are plenty of other irons that I might hit once if that in a round at all. So to me even 2 times a round is worth it.



I definitely got a lot of grief for having and playing the 64 but to me its about eliminating variables. Play what makes you feel comfortable. I feel like with tight pins, or the need to hit a high flop it is much easier to do so with a 64, as opposed to opening up the face of my 56 or 60 even.

i couldn't agree more. i dunno why people give me grief about it. it saves me strokes in my mind and i hit it well even on full shots.
 
Years and years ago I had a 64* that I picked up cheap used. It was only really playable on flop shots from thin rough, otherwise the potential for a) thin shots or b) digging a hole to China was too great. They have so little margin for error... very difficult to hit well on all but a couple of shots. Not worth giving up another club for it, IMHO. A 60* is plenty if you learn how to open it up. Take the money you'd spend on a 64* wedge and take a short game lesson instead.
 
for me a 64 is just not needed. I keep a 50, 56 & 60 in my bag and thats plenty. I am to open and close the faces on these 3 for any shot needed. Any miss, or over hit I have is usually a fault of the user (me) not the club.
 
Have one......no longer in the bag though.

1) First of all, if you're going to have one, it's very possible to have to go to a 5 wedge setup. The times I tried with 4 wedges, I just ended up with too much of a gap between my wedges and the 64 was really useless to me outside being around the greens.
2) If you insist on going with the 3/4 wedge setup with the 64, you'll compromise your long end side of the bag. I found that the 3-4 times I wanted to use the 64 a round was balanced by 3-4 times a round I felt that I needed my 4 iron, hybrid, or 3 wood.
3) Like what the others said, you could just get away with a open 60....heck, I get by with a 58 now instead.
4) While the idea of the 64 is a pretty decent one, you have much less margin with it...and I don't mean the thin shot mistake because if you do that with any sort of frequency, you shouldn't be using one. It's just that you'll have to be more careful reading your lie in the rough. If it's a pretty fluffy lie, you'll tend to go right under the ball and hit a weak shot into the sand trap you're trying to go over if you play it as a 64 rather than closing the loft and moving it back a little.

At the end of the day though, I realized that none of the courses I can play have pro-level greens that are so fast that I need a 64. The idea of using one seems like a natural one, but there's no greens I've seen that's so punishing that you need to flop a shot over a bunker to land on a green 3 feet deep with the edge of a cliff on the other side kind of thing. And even if there was, you'd be pretty crazy to try to land the ball there anyways. :)
 
this is just my opinion but unless your playing in the us open i dont think theres any need at all for a 64 degree wedge or even a 60, i have never thought a wish a had a 64 in the bag even in heavy rough i think they clag up to much, but then again i am a huge fan of the chip and run with a 7 iron. its such a easier shot to play and alot less risky. but that might be me just growing up playing links golf. with the 64 you have to button it everytime to get the right distance, and the amount of times i have played a chip and run and caught it a bit thin and still got up and down.

not arguing that is just my opinion
 
I used to have a 64* wedge. I bought it thinking it would help me out around the green. I kept it for about 3 or 4 months and I don't think I ever hit a decent shot with it. I was playing a course not far from here one day and finally got completely fed up with it and threw it in the woods and never went to get it. At that time, I never wanted to see another one. Now that I've gotten a considerable amount better at the game, I've thought about going to pick another one up and try it again, but I've already got 4 wedges and I don't know that I would get enough use out of it.
 
Even if you have every wedge they make, you'd be wise to try to open your SW and LW up and learn to use the bounce. Otherwise you'll always be in danger of the leading edge digging in too much.


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I had one when I first started playing. I couldn't hit it very well at all and quickly took it oot of my bag. I currently game a 60* and love the versatility it brings around the greens. I don't feel that a 64* is necessary for my game, but I love hitting them at demo days. I haven't pulled the trigger yet and hope I can keep resisting.

John Deere Tappin...
 
I've never played with a 64˚ wedge myself. I do carry a 60˚ though and use it all the time in close. Almost never take full shots with it though. This is my go to club around the greens for a bunch of shots. I use other clubs for certain shots, but always have this one with me around the green just in case. I'm comfortable with it to the point that I don't think I need a 64˚.

That being said, I say game whatever works for you. If you want a 64˚ and think it will help, go get one.
 
Thanks for all the opinions. Seems very divided, with the majority saying "practice, go for lessons, rather fix the pw/sw gap and open the face" whilst the minority say "give it a go, its useful but dangerous". I will take all comments to heart and give it a go for a month. Will count the amount of times I use it and report back. If after a month I dont use it at least three to four times a round, I will get rid of it, get an AW and go for a short game lesson.

Thanks again for all the feedback.
 
I think the important thing is to be honest with yourself about it. No one here is on the PGA tour so I'm doubtful any of us face conditions harsh enough to say that the 64 gives us the best shot for the job.

Personally, I remember all the successful shots I've had it and the times I've felt glad to have it with me, but I also remember several of the shots that were god awful and would have been better off not having it. If anything, the 64 tempts me to hit the heroic shot when the much easier shot would work just as well and have one heck of a lot more margin for error.

Having gone through all that, I've actually ended up going the opposite direction and going back to a 58 and tossing the 60 completely.
 
I believe most teachers would advise high handicappers to stay away from that much loft. Hank Haney, for example, doesn't even like high handicappers to use 60° wedges.
I only carry my 60* when I am playing a course with a lot of mounds around the green and I have a lot of extreme downhill lies close to the green.

No way do I have or need a 64.
 
I haven't read the entire thread, so someone may have stated this.

If you are having trouble with a 60, you are in a world of hurt with a 64.

It's about as smart for an amateur like you and me to use as it is to game a 2 iron. It just doesn't make a lot of sense for us. Keep working on the 60. It took me about a year of frustration to feel some confidence with it and it STILL gives me some fits.
 
I pulled my 3 iron to add a 64* and will never go back. I use the 64* a lot and it is a very versatile club. I am a long hitter and care more about the short game which is why I carry 5 wedges. 64, 60, 56, 52, 48(PW). I surely use my 56* wedge the most but I wouldn't pull any of my wedges. I say give it a try and see if you like it.
 
I got a 64 in the bag... Never let anyone tell you what's right for your game unless they know your game...

I like mine just fine, & it's helped me more than hinder me for sure
 
I like mine. But I've had it for a short time i'm waiting for next year to really start hitting it more often cause right now I use my 60* around the green and in rough unless I have to really use more loft then i'll try the 64* I love the club though
 
Another thought is this, it really comes down to what works for you. If you can make the 64* work and it gives you good results then game it. There is no rule set in stone that players need to play certain clubs and avoid others.
 
I have played a 64* in the past, but I only play a 60* now. I, like a few others on this post, was not able to justify a club with such limited use. I suppose that I could remove a club if I felt that I really needed it, but not at this time.
 
I have a 64 that I practice with from time to time and to be honest I can hit pretty much the same shots with a 60 so I don't carry it. The only real advantage I see to the 64 is that you can hit that real high soft shot with pretty much a normal square setup and pitch/chip stroke.
 
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