I found the Vokey fitting guide using handicap is a better judge than the other club or ball fitting guides. It actually matched what I was fit for. Sounds like the D for you is spot on.

To inject some opinion, the M grind is more versatile than the D grind for most players. For me, many bunkers I play are as much clay as they are sand. If damp, the D and K grinds have too much bounce.

D Grind is pretty versatile good out of bunkers and ideal around the greens as well !!

Sand wedges, back in the day were 54 and 56 degrees before any loft greater was really produced or used. So the name has stuck but the K grind is designed for higher lofted wedges with high bounces normally (except for the special release low bounce). The ultimate wedge for out of the sand depends on the consistency of the sand you are playing out of, the K is very beneficial out of very fluffy loose sand, however wet or hard sand could be better with a lower bounce wedge.

Understand, all these variable on paper do apply but every golfer is different including the courses we play. Thus, get fit in person with a professional...I have alot of wedges at home to prove this having been fitted by Bob Vokey as well as experimented on my own!

Good Luck! IMHO

P.S. - you will find an equally challenging discussion on the shaft to put in the wedges once you determine which grind and bounce to go with! Get ready!!

Yep Mike A, the D grind is very versatile. You will see that it has heel and toe relief in the grind. That will allow you to open the blade on tight lies and not get extreme grab on the turf. Same if you open the blade and play upright chips close to your stance. You still get adequate bounce in the middle for normal sand shots. The M grind is the same way except it has less overall bounce in the middle of the sole. Go M if you have a shallow swing and very firm bunkers or D if you play a lot of soft bunkers and minimal tight lies on chips. D was great for me when I was in SoCal but now that I am playing much firmer conditions in Arizona, I am changing all my SM10 wedges to less bounce.

Gentlemen, thank you for the feedback. I agree with all of your feedback. In the past, I found the D grind is easy out of the bunker but a bit too much roll for a lob wedge. So I plan to go with SM10s, D grind for my 54* and M grind for 58*. I play the set gap wedge. Also having different grinds provides more versatility when playing a variety of shots. The lightweight shaft option in the SM9’s were a blessing due to being in my 50’s now. The stock shafts maintains control while not wearing me down on the back 9.

I prefer K grind. D grind does work but K works better off hard pan for me.

I have a couple SM6 K grind. I bent them 2* strong and they work pretty well in hard sand. The low bounce K works in a wide variety of conditions.