Choosing the Correct Golf Wedges

Golf wedges are very important to improving your short game and are used for high trajectory shots. After all, the putter is the only other club considered as a short game club. While is highly recommended to buy the same brand of irons from 3-9, many people will buy their wedges from companies that specialize in wedges. These high loft clubs have a characteristic called sole weighting that helps the club penetrate grass or sand. The pitching wedge is usually the only wedge included in a set of irons. This club is used for longer approach shots than the other wedges and is normally used in the 100-120 yard range. Depending on the person, the yardage can be more or less than this range. The important thing to realize is that the higher the loft, the shorter the distance. The loft for pitching wedges is around 48 degrees. Like the other wedges though, the loft can slightly vary from one manufacturer to another.

The next wedge is called the gap wedge, which might be acceptable from 90-100 yards out. The loft on this club is usually around 52 degrees. This is probably the least common wedge. The key to choosing a gap wedge is to find one that has the average degree of loft between the PW and SW. For example, if your PW is 50 degrees and your SW is 56 degrees, you would want a gap wedge with a 53 degree loft. It would not make much sense to get a gap wedge with 55 degrees, since this is not much different than the 56 degree SW in your bag.

The sand wedge is almost a necessity to have. The loft is around 56 degrees, and it is a good club from about 90 yards from the hole. Not surprisingly, this is the club used to get out of the sand trap. This club has the highest bounce angle of all clubs, which prevents the club from getting buried in the sand.

The lob wedge is the last wedge and this club has around 60 degrees of loft. This wedge is very useful when you are hitting over a sand-trap or water hazard and need the ball to land on a small green. They are usually good from around 75 yards away or less from the hole. The LW helps get the ball into the air quickly and land with minimum bounce. With the 14 club limitation, I don't think it is a good idea to have all 4 wedges. Low and mid-handicap golfers will more than likely carry 3 golf wedges while high-handicap golfers will probably be okay with 2 wedges.

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