Today, Titleist released a brand-new Vokey WedgeWorks 64º T grind wedge in a Black Vapor finish for $ 275.

But its release comes with a question: Who’s this actually designed for? Vokey states that the new offering is “a high-lofted lob wedge designed to help golfers navigate firm conditions, elevated greens and short-sided lies.” But I think there’s actually another unsuspecting customer for the high lofted lobber.

The Unsuspecting Beneficiary

I have several times thrown a 64-degree wedge in the bag of lesser-skilled friends of mine who all share a similar trait in their short game: a lack of confidence. That lack of confidence leads to bladed shots over the green as they try to force too much speed into the ball, or coming up short of their target after a major decel in the swing.

But when I give them a 64-degree wedge, the same pattern always occurs. For the first handful of shots, everything goes straight up and straight down and about half as far as they think it will. I usually suggest that these guys not have a lob wedge at all, so they are comparing the 64-degree to a sand wedge or a gap wedge from their game-improvement iron set, which leads them to swing with less speed than they should.

The traditional thought is to stop lesser-skilled golfers from getting the ball up in the air. Many legends of the game have said that keeping the ball close to the ground leads to more success.

And while I think that’s generally true, the 64-degree wedge could be the solution for that. After a few more shots, they’ve realized that they can throw the lob wedge behind the ball, and it’s just going to pop up. By introducing a bit more speed, they can essentially hit a single-shot type from just about anywhere without worry, knowing that the launch will help the ball stop with gravity. Their confidence goes up, speed becomes more consistent and their short game begins to improve dramatically.

You can see here in the data I collected this morning on Foresight that the 64-degree does exactly what it’s meant to do. It launches a little bit higher, it spins a little more because of that loft and it stops a bit quicker because of those factors and gravity. It’s an ease-of-use thing. Can I also hit a spinny 8-yard flop shot that stops where it lands? Yeah. But that’s fun we’ll talk about another time.

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