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some wedge loft/bounce suggestions

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Acesteve

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For many years, I played a 52, 56, 60 combo where the 56 had much bounce and was generally only used in sand (rightfully or wrongly).

I'm now thinking 52 and a 58 so I can bag both a 5w and 3w. Does it bother anyone that neither of these wedges would have big bounce numbers? The 58 I'm looking at has 10 degrees of bounce.

On the range today, I hit the 52 on a full shot about 95 yards, the 58 about 65 yards. I also hit a 54 which I own and it was maybe 85 to 90. I bought a 52 to replace the 54 so I could have a bit less bounce as I like to run the ball up to the hole vs. fly it high on many shots. Sand play is the key concern I have in playing a 52, 58.
 
Acesteve said:
For many years, I played a 52, 56, 60 combo where the 56 had much bounce and was generally only used in sand (rightfully or wrongly).

I'm now thinking 52 and a 58 so I can bag both a 5w and 3w. Does it bother anyone that neither of these wedges would have big bounce numbers? The 58 I'm looking at has 10 degrees of bounce.

On the range today, I hit the 52 on a full shot about 95 yards, the 58 about 65 yards. I also hit a 54 which I own and it was maybe 85 to 90. I bought a 52 to replace the 54 so I could have a bit less bounce as I like to run the ball up to the hole vs. fly it high on many shots. Sand play is the key concern I have in playing a 52, 58.
Click to expand...

I'm not too concerned with bounce as much as I used to be. If you need bounce you can always add it to the club. For me, I'd rather have the extra wedge if I had to pick between a 5w and wedge, but that's just me.
 
For me it's a little different. I carry 5 wedges. It might not work for all but it really works for me. The reason I do is to compensate for my iron play which to say is not that accurate. Looking at different irons/shafts this winter/spring to get my accuracy a little better. Anyway back to the wedges, the gaps might not work great with some but to me it's more than gaps. Depending the shot, I can either open or close the face to get the shot that I need within 120 yards in. Bounce really is not a critical factor as most of my wedges when they're set-up the edge is very close to the ground. For that reason, most of my wedges have wide soles. My best wedge for touch shots is an old Vokey SM5 58* K grind with 11* of bounce that when set, looks like it's flush with the ground. Just loved that wedge and still play it but my CBX (current 58*) just gives me a little more range than the Vokey.
 
You don’t need a lot of bounce on your SW (58 now I assume) if you open up the face anyway. The reasons to have bounce are soft conditions or thick greenside rough.


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thanks all, I have rarely hit a shot from the sand with anything other then a 56 degree 14 bounce wedge. I will give my 58 a try to see how that works out. I did experiment with the 58 and my old 60 yesterday and really I felt both did basically the same job and both require touch.

I should note that I do have a PW (44 degree) and GW (48 degree) in my set but I always forget to call them wedges because when I started like a 50 degree was called a PW. I do play many finesse shots with my GW.
 
It would depend on how good/fluffy the sand that you normally play but I don’t think many amateurs are good enough from the sand to really notice the difference between 10 and 14 degrees of bounce on a bunker shot. I don’t have any trouble hitting green side bunker shots with the 7 degrees of bounce on my 60*.
 
great, then the 58 with 10degrees of bounce should work well for me. somehow I was thinking a true sandwedge offered some mystical benefit and never really tried anything else.

the other thing that crossed my mind is that many of my public courses no longer take care of the sand very well and it is often hard. Likely a club with lots of bounce not ideal for this situation.
 
I have always been told bounce is our friend.

I personally prefer to make sure the gaps and distances are covered at the short end of the bag way more than being concerned about gaps at the other end. I think most of us might have 1 shot a round where the 5w distance becomes an issue. But we have tons of shots at the assorted short distances.
 
Acesteve said:
thanks all, I have rarely hit a shot from the sand with anything other then a 56 degree 14 bounce wedge. I will give my 58 a try to see how that works out. I did experiment with the 58 and my old 60 yesterday and really I felt both did basically the same job and both require touch.
Click to expand...


... I also play 52/58* and pretty much exclusively use my 58* from the sand, unless I have a long bunker shot and then I will use my 52*. So much goes into the bounce decision concerning how and where you play. Mid bounce works great with the medium density sand in the midwest, high bounce works well with the fluffy sand in Florida and after playing several kinds of bounce in Phoenix, I finally settled on 12* in my 58* because you cannot use the bounce in bunkers that are basically hardpan with a light dusting of sand, so digging in the leading edge or picking it clean are the only options. The bounce ill do just that, bounce into the ball so I use my 52* with a square face and appreciate the 12* of bounce on my 58* that helps get thru the gnarly bermuda rough.
 
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