If you struggle getting under the ball with your short chip shots, a 64 degree wedge may be a solution to your problems. This club is great at giving your ball the height it needs to get onto the green. However, many suspect that this club is illegal to use. So, to figure this out, I looked at the USGA and R&A’s club regulations. Below is what I found.
Is A 64 degree wedge legal? According to the USGA and R&A, a 64 degree wedge is legal to use for any casual, amateur, high-level amateur, and professional tournaments and games. In other words, you can use a 64 degree wedge for any golf outing as it is considered totally legal to use.
For reference, the USGA and R&A are considered governing bodies of the golfing world. So, any club that is deemed legal under their rules, should be considered legal by every other golf group and organization.
Is There A Limit On Wedge Loft?
Surprisingly, the USGA does not have any limit on the amount of loft that a wedge can have. In other words, you can have as much or as little loft as you want on your wedge.
If you really wanted to you could have a 1° wedge or an 89° wedge. Although both would be very difficult to hit, and likely not benefit you at all, they are still legal to use.
What Is A 64-Degree Wedge Used For?
The average distance for a 64 degree wedge is 30-40 yards. So, this club is great if you are right outside of the green, or on the far side of the green. In other words, this club is meant for close chipping shots.
It is important to not overestimate how far you can hit this club. If you are too far from the green or the hole, you are guaranteed to come up short if you use a 64 degree wedge. While you will get a lot of height with this club, you won’t get that much distance.
What Is A 64 Degree Wedge Called?
A 64° wedge is called a lob wedge. Any wedge between 60° and 64° is referred to as a lob wedge.
The reason why it is called a lob wedge is because the purpose of this club is to essentially lob the ball into the air. It should give you a little bit of distance with decent up and down height. Mini golf clubs have an indicator on them that shows whether or not they are a certain type of wedge.
Most lob wedges have the letter L engraved on them somewhere on the club. If you do have a 64° wedge, take a look and see if it has the letter L engraved on it.
Who Makes 64 Degree Wedges?
Most of the well known golf club manufacturers make 64 degree putters. Below is a short list of some of the brands that have their own 64 degree wedge:
- Titleist
- Callaway
- Cleveland
There are plenty more brands that create their own 64 degree wedges, but the above are the most popular. You are likely to see many 64 degree wedges created by them
Is The Titleist Vokey Wedge Legal?
According to the USGA’s conforming club database, the Titleist Vokey wedge is legal to use for all casual, amateur, high-level amateur, and professional games and tournaments. So, no matter where you use this club, it should be considered legal by the organization running the event.
What I did to check whether or not the Titleist Vokey wedge was legal was check the USGA’s conforming club database. Below is a screenshot from the database that shows all of the versions of the Titleist Vokey that are legal to use.
As you can see, this wage not only conforms to the “pre-2010 rules of golf” but it also conforms to the 2010 groove rules.
Is The Callaway Jaws Wedge Legal?
Another wedge that I took a look into was the Callaway Jaw Wedge. After double checking the same USGA database, it looks as though the Callaway Jaws Wedge is legal to use. Below is a screenshot of this club in the database.
As you can see, this club conforms to both the ‘pre-2010’ rules of golf as well as the ‘2010 groove rules’. So this club is legal to use in any golf game or tournament.
What Are The 2010 Groove Rules?
The 2010 groove roles were originally put in place to prevent golf club manufacturers from creating clubs which had incredibly advantageous grooves. Leading up to this change in rules, many golf club manufacturers were creating golf clubs that had grooves which would allow players to give the ball a crazy amount of spin regardless of the training that they were in.
For example, if a player was deep in the rough, a club with these insane grooves, would allow the player to apply the same amount of spin to a ball as if they were hitting it from the fairway. So, to prevent players from gaining too much of an advantage from their grooves, the USGA released these rules.
Is A 64 Degree Wedge Hard To Hit?
In comparison to many high loft wedges, a 64° wedge is not as difficult to hit. However, with this being said, it still does present certain issues to many beginners.
The main struggle that most people go through when trying to hit a 64° wedge is actually making contact with the club face. As the loft of a club increases, it becomes more horizontal, meaning that there is less clubface to make contact with.
So, while it is much easier to hit than other highlighted wedges, a 64° wedge is still quite a difficult club to hit.
Final Thoughts: Is A 64 Degree Wedge Legal?
So, if you are on the fence about including a 64° wedge in your bag, you can rest assured that it is totally legal to do so. If anyone questions the legality of your wedge, just point them to the USGA’s club regulations.