Unknown to many golfers, the wedge is actually the most important club you must have in your bag and often called known as the sexiest too! There can be no compromise when it comes to this. If you want to have the lowest score possible, your wedge play needs to be improved.
Saving your shots
Golf wedges are the necessary tools that will help save your shots from the perils of the game like sand and turf. There is a lot that you must consider like the bounce, the lofts and the grinds, to name a few.
The List
So, what should you be looking out for? We give you the 10 mandatory ones!
- The Loft – A pitching wedge can go a low as 45 degrees of loft. On the other side of the spectrum, a lob wedge can go as high as 64 degrees. This means that among all the clubs, the wedge has the highest loft which is the angle where the clubface is located as per the shaft.
- The Pitching Wedge – Known in short as PW, this is one club that is a permanent item in all irons sets. After the 9-iron, it is the most lofted club in your bag. If you are taking shots of more than 100 yards, this wedge might be your best bet. Typically, the pitching wedge’s loft is between 45 and 48 degrees that let you hit ‘full out’ or ‘chip and run’ shots.
- The Sand Wedge – This wedge is specially designed to play in the bunker. The SW has a 54 to 58 degrees loft where its more rounded and wider head lets you make chips from the fringe as well as taking on some belly-wedge putts.
- The Gap Wedge – This wedge is commonly seen as the bridge between the sand and the pitching wedge. It is the result of the changes in the angle of the SW and the PW in the past. Since both the wedges now have 10 degrees difference, the gap becomes a necessity to carry this task.
- The Lob Wedge – As the name implies, you want to push the ball high and this wedge is good if you want to do this in short distances. Often called the ‘flop shot’, it comes with an angle between 60 and 64 degrees. Take note that this wedge is not used for distance.
- The Sole Grind – You will see this around the toe or the heel of the wedge where you can see some additional shaping. This is known as the Sole Grind. The sole is ground by most manufacturers in order to cater to certain types of shots or turf conditions. This is commonly practiced by seasoned golfers and if you are seeking one, it is advised to seek the consultation of a trained coach before getting one.
- The Grooves – There are usually 15 to 16 grooves on a typical golf club. These are like the treads you see on a wheel of a car. What it does is that the groove sort of grabs onto the ball which will then give you the trajectory and spin you need. In the past, there were a lot of grooves included in the wedge but a recent change by the USGA (United States Golf Association) and R&A (Royal and Ancient Golf Club) to disallow deep grooves in wedges has resulted in manufacturers now using 2 main styles of grooves; Laser-Etching and Vintage Finish
- The Bounce – If you place the wedge horizontally on the ground with eh lead edge seen to be off the ground, that is the bounce. This is the part of the head on the wedge is curves designed to stop the club from getting stuck on the turf during the hit. There is more bounce on the wedge if the lead edge is higher away from the ground. Every golfer’s swing and style will determine which bounce is suitable. Golfers with shallow attack angles will like to use clubs with lesser bounce while the standard bounce gives players steeper angles.
- The Finish – This refers mainly to the aesthetics and strength of the wedge. In the past, it was mostly coated with chrome and steel. Today, new technologies have enabled better wedges to be made which now comes with material like copper, nickel, black nickel and beryllium copper, among others.
- Which Wedge should you have? – The rule of thumb is that all your wedges should have about 4 degrees in terms of difference. It is very common that golfers just have a PW and SW but the Gap Wedge is one that has become extremely important.
Wrapping it up
Ultimately, it is entirely up to the golfer to decide which wedge is most suitable. The Finish is what you will like to be seen with but you need to be aware of the bounce and the grind too. The SW, PW and GW must be in your bag but it takes time to find the best wedge that can help your game. The LW meanwhile could be something that you can do without if you have the confidence to get the lobs you need using the current set of wedges.