Return of the LOVETT wedge!!!!

A few years back, our old friend Edgy promoted the virtues of the Lovett sand iron. With its curved leading edge, the Lovett created much less resistance through the sand. While the standard wedge requires a unique and well-practiced swing in the bunker, the Lovett popped the ball safely out with just a regular swing.

It's been gone for a while, but now it's back under a new name. If you're interested, Google the Worx Wedge.

Way too much bounce for me. Tried Aliens and same thing. So after years of looking, settled on a Vokey Spin Milled 60* with 4* of bounce and a really funky looking grind with, when viewed facing the bottom of the clubhead, a narrow plateau right under the sweet spot. I can nip it off hard-packed sand which shot has long been the nemesis. For soft fluffy stuff I have the 54/10 Vokey and that is just a normal half swing and out.

Actually, Mongrel, it has a wide, rounded sole but not a lot of actual bounce.  In any case, I use a very similar club as a dedicated sand iron.  I really like a radically curved leading edge in the sand, even if it's useless anywhere else.  (Good in deeper greenside rough, too.)

I use the strong lofted PW and AW that come with my Apexes and a very low bounce (4°) fifty-eight, similar to your sixty, for short game play.

That makes nine clubs for irons and wedges.  My Ogio has fifteen slots, and since I only play for shits and giggles these days, I use all of them.

Thriver (1)
dedicated driving iron (+1 = 2)
18, 21, 24º fairways (+ 3 = 5)
5-9, PW, AW (+7 = 12)
58.04 W (+1 = 13)
dedicated sand iron (+1 = 14)
putter (+1 = 15).  Shame on me.

If I ever play in another outing and have to abide by the rules, I have an overlap.  The driving iron and 18º wood are identically lofted. I don't hit the driving iron as far as the wood from the tee, and don't try to hit it at all from the fairway. The iron is just a security club for very tight driving holes.  

I'm usually pretty good with fairway woods from the fairway, but inexplicably, I tend to either hook or push them from the tee once in a while. With the dedicated driving iron, I always hit an ugly line drive safely into play.  The thriver is straighter than a longer, lower lofted driver, of course, but really tight landing areas scare me.  I loathe riding back to the tee after a lost ball as there are usually other players there, and that gets them pissed.

Unless I'm dealing with public course hard-packed sand, however, I wouldn't like to play without a dedicated sand iron.  Not hitting a bunker shot close enough for the save is one thing, but leaving a shot in the bunker is unacceptable.  In hard packed sand with the ball sitting tightly on top, the conventional wedges are fine for just chipping or lobbing the ball out.  But in fluffy sand with a fried egg lie, I need my curved leading edge. Fifty-plus years haven't taught me to hit an explosion shot with a straight leading edge wedge.  I've always sucked at that.

My big numbers holes from sand traps typically come from shots skulled over the greens into the jungle. So if I have an impossible lie like a bad fried egg or worse in some mongoloid's footprint, it doesn't bother me too much if I leave the shot in the trap so long as the next one is from a decent lie that I can get close enough for a one-putt. Guys who fail to rake the traps after their visits should be knee-capped and get their hamstrings sliced. Same with the greenskeepers who failed to have their charges keep the traps raked to prevent hard-pack concrete surfaces.

A trick I've used for tee shots with less than driver-- fairway wood, hybrid, long iron, driving iron -- is to put the ball on a very low tee but pull some grass out of the ground and surround the tee with the grass. Makes my golf brain think I'm hitting it out of a nice perched light rough lie. Works every time for me.

On my home course, we have all kinds of bunkers. Soft, hard and in between and when it rains a couple of them are pretty much mud. Small town local eighteen and its tough to come up with the money to do everything that is needed to maintain it. Over all, decent course but have to watch out for the bunkers.

Totally agree with you mongrel that people that can't rake a bunker after their shot should have their putter snapped and do the walk of shame ala Branded.

trombettista_vecchio wrote:A few years back, our old friend Edgy promoted the virtues of the Lovett sand iron. With its curved leading edge, the Lovett created much less resistance through the sand.  While the standard wedge requires a unique and well-practiced swing in the bunker, the Lovett popped the ball safely out with just a regular swing.

It's been gone for a while, but now it's back under a new name.   If you're interested, Google the Worx Wedge.

I stay with my favorite Lajolla Knife Wedge... I bought (4) 52* bent to 48* and (1) 56* bent to 58* for $ 8.99 each. 48* wedge plays more like 50*GW and 58* plays more like a 60* LW. The best for me

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LA-JOLLA-56-DEGREE-SAND-WEDGE-GOLF-CLUB-IRON-GRAPHITE-SHAFT-RIGHT-HANDED-/381107352611?pt=Golf_Clubs&hash=item58bbc4b423
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=lajolla+knofe+wedge&_from=R40&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xlajolla+knife+wedge&_nkw=lajolla+knife+wedge&_sacat=0