Lob Wedge Bounce

[NiftyNiblick]

There's one thing that jumps out when you look through the 58/60° wedge offerings from Crews, Honma-Beres, PRGR, Fourteen, and the other high end JDMs. They all come with fairly generous bounce. You don't see many of the 3, 4 and 5° bounce angles that come on some American lob wedges. My long time favorite Cleveland 691 58° had ZERO bounce, and the recently defunct clubmaker Merit offered an entire line of Zero Bounce wedges.

What this says to me is that JDM lob wedge users are really attacking their lob wedge shots with full swings.

That takes a little guts from my 11 handicapper prespective! I dial down my weak lofted gap wedge from 60-90 yards out rather than jump on my lob wedge. Using my lob wedge for little greenside finesse shots, hedge jumpers after errant approaces, little flips over bunkers, and the like, I don't want bounce. That's why I loved the now very worn out Cleveland.

Another thing, of course, is that I'm one of the last of the dedicated sand iron users. None of my turf wedges has to do duty in greenside bunkers, so bounce choice is again reflected there. I suppose that that's minor compensation for not having the power to need so many long clubs--there's room for a dedicated sand iron.

Unlike as with the upright JDM fairway woods, I totally understand the medium bounce lob wedges. I'm just a little surprised at the fact that they're almost all that way. I suppose scratch and near-scratch players know how to work those special grinds with relieved heels and such better than I do.

I'd be interested in your comments.

[xxio]

2 comments

I have not played in Japan but generally I have heard the conditions around the greens are generally on the "lush" side making more bounce a better option for the average player.

I have an Epon 56 and the bounce is at 14* IIRC. It looks but does not play that much at all. There is something in the sole grind that makes it "play" less I guess. The Epon 60 is 10/bounce and I would expect it to "play" less than that as well.

Just to add, IMHO for the player with a less than stellar shot game a bounce of about 10* in the 60 would actually make it more playable, as long as the player knows what specific shots he can play with them.

[NiftyNiblick]

Just to add, IMHO for the player with a less than stellar shot game a bounce of about 10* in the 60 would actually make it more playable, as long as the player knows what specific shots he can play with them.

I quite agree in certain respects. There are several shots that I could play with my 58s and 60s if they had a medium bounce sole that I don't play now. But the shots that I do play with the LW don't call for any help from the trailing edge.

I've got all kinds of wedges in my club museum of a basement-- a certain Cobra Phil Rodgers model (not the Trusty Rusty) comes to mind that gave me absolute fits--and now I know that my ideal setup goes something like 48-50/-6, 53-55/-6 to 8, and 58-60 /4 (or less), plus an old fashioned oval faced sand iron.

In all fairness, I don't see that rig in many other bags, so mine is the game that it fits.

[gocchin]

2 comments

I have not played in Japan but generally I have heard the conditions around the greens are generally on the "lush" side making more bounce a better option for the average player.

I have an Epon 56 and the bounce is at 14* IIRC. It looks but does not play that much at all. There is something in the sole grind that makes it "play" less I guess. The Epon 60 is 10/bounce and I would expect it to "play" less than that as well.

Just to add, IMHO for the player with a less than stellar shot game a bounce of about 10* in the 60 would actually make it more playable, as long as the player knows what specific shots he can play with them.

It is definitely the trend of most JDM wedges where in general the bounce is higher. As XXIO said and is correct, the courses here are indeed lush and meticulously kept with soft sand and you rarely get hard stuff here on the fairways or even rough. And in general once again, the largest population of golfers here is the average golfer where more bounce can be more forgiving.

That said, with changes in grinds, including multi grind soles, the bounce is not always representative of the actual or effective bounce. Even on the Epon's the bounce numbers are high because the mark the highest bounce point on what is in fact a multi bounce sole, which is why it is so versatile. Even the Vokey TVD's are like this because of their grind.