From touring pros to the weekend golfer, there are more wedges
in more golf bags these days. For the golfer who has wondered why, one statistic should come to mind. More than 70% of your
game is played from 100 yards or closer. 70%!
45 to 60 degree lofts characterize wedges. Combined with generally being heavier than
your irons, they are designed to help you achieve a higher trajectory from either sand or grass.
How many should you carry in your bag? Before you start looking at choices, here’s
some info to consider.
An important term you’ll need to know regarding wedges is ‘bounce’.
(Bounce is the angle formed by the leading edge of the clubface and the ground.)
This enables the club to literally ‘bounce’ out of the sand or rough without digging-in. It is THE distinguishing
factor about wedges that makes them worthwhile to carry, especially a sand wedge. For mid to high handicap players, it is
‘bounce’ that will get you out of those bunkers.
Wedges are frequently made of softer metals such as copper or beryllium. You’ll
also find numerous types of face inserts to consider. Both are intended to increase touch and feel around the green, and assist
the golfers ability to put backspin on the ball to better hold the green.
Today, there are four basic types of wedges you need to consider. From longest distance
to shortest, these are:
Pitching wedge
For longer approach shots, 90 yards for women to 110 yards for men, the pitching wedge
is used. It has minimal ‘bounce’ and typically a 45 to 50 degree loft.
Gap Wedge
As the name implies, the gap wedge should be chosen with a loft that falls between
that of your pitching wedge and your sand wedge. They are used for 90 to 95 yard shots for women and 95 to 100 yard shots
for men.
A GW iron is a Gap Wedge, it is a very important wedge that fit's in distances between the PW and SW. It will
go about 5 to 10 yards less then a PW and about 5 to 10 yards longer then a SW.
In most golf club set’s there is a 2 club gap between for example a 46 degree PW and a 55 degree SW. This gap will cause the golfer to take off something from there PW swing (less then
a full swing) so that the ball does no go past there target. For most golfers taken off some yardage with less then a full
swing is very difficult to do consistently. For example if you hit a PW 100 yards
and a SW 80 yards and your are 90 yards from your target you have to take less then a full swing with your PW or swing extra
fast with your SW to hit your target.
Your consistency will increase if you have clubs with no yardage gaps, so that you can take a full swing with
every club all the way down to the SW.
Thomas Golf covers
the “GAP” with a number of option:
- AT 602 GW players iron.
- AT 505 cavity back
- AT 510 hallow head
- AT 100 square head
- AT 705 hybrid head
- 23 degree fairway wood
Sand Wedge
This club has several features that distinguish it from other wedges, starting with
lots of ‘bounce’. All are designed to reduce the risk of digging in. Maximum distance for men is about 90 yards,
and 80 yards for women.
Lob Wedge
There are times on the golf course when a player needs to get the ball up very quickly
and land softly, over a short distance. This is where the lob wedge comes in. They have a higher loft than any other wedge,
usually over 57 degrees. Maximum distance is about 60 yards.
