Golf Wedges-You Need A Little Wedge Or Two

What wedges do you have in your bag? For years the only wedge the golfer whether professional or amateur had in their bag was the ever present sand wedge. This wedge was used for playing out of the bunkers and generally ignored for the rest of the game. Well the wedge is becoming the most important club in your bag, it’s time has come.

When you learn that nearly seventy per cent of your golf is played in the 120 yard zone it becomes obvious why wedges have been elevated in this way. The sand wedge was joined by the pitching wedge to allow for shots from around the 100 to 120 yard mark with a lower bounce angle to take into account you are playing off the turf.The pitching wedge, like all wedges can be quite versatile and by opening or closing the club face a variety of shots could be played.

The skill here is to know how for open or closed the face had to be in order to get the distance correct. Most golf pros will have this down to a fine art but for the ordinary golfer it could be a complete mystery. What better than a club then than a club for the shorter distance that could be played normally.

The lob wedge with a loft of around sixty degrees can be used instead of having to worry about opening up a sand wedge. The less detail you have to worry about the easier the game becomes. Having said that the lob wedge is one of the hardest clubs to master. and plenty of practice should be made to ensure you don’t have the dreaded bladed shot across the green or even worse the duff shot which goes nowhere.

For the middle distance between a sand wedge and the pitching wedge there is now the appropriately named gap wedge. It fills the gap between the other two.

So you see the wedges are becoming an essential part of any golfers equipment. Some professional golfers carry five wedges, adding the ‘X’ wedge for close in work. These clubs , with lofts around the sixty eight degree range allow for full swing shots at very close quarters to the green, flinging the ball extremely high to land very softly with no roll. The advantage of this when playing to a hard dry green is obvious.

So, take a long hard look into your golf bag and find room for a lovely little wedge. Your scorecard will thank you for it.

Norman Stanley is a weekend hacker and part time tutor with particular interests in the mental game and short game wedge playCleveland Wedge Cheap Golf Wedges UK