Golf Tips: Wedges

The short game is the key to scoring low. Most amateurs focus so much on their driving and putting but fail to realize just how many strokes are lost to having a poor short game. Aside from relentless practice around the practice green the next best way to improve your short game is to understand the differences to the many wedges in your bag.

Wedges come in an assortment of lofts so that they can perform specialized shots. Some wedges are made for high spin, flop shots that land softly with little to no roll while others are meant to pop the ball up over a short collar of rough but landing quickly on the green so to run towards the hole like a putt. Knowing which wedge to use for the situation can dramatically lower your scores.

The different wedges differ mainly in the clubhead. Loft degrees, sole size, and the overall shape of the head, bounce angle, and camber all play their part into customizing the role that each wedge can play. Typically a 48-degree wedge is your pitching wedge which is wonderful for full swing shots around or slightly more than 100 yards. A pitching wedge is also ideal for pitches that hit the ball low and release on the green, running towards the hole. The 56-degree sand wedge differs from the pitching wedge not only in the added loft, which helps to launch the ball much higher, but also with the added bounce built into the sole of the club. Bounce allows the clubhead to skirt off sand or grass without digging deeply in. This is extremely useful when playing bunker shots, enabling you to "splash" the ball out of the sand for consistent sand-saves. The lob wedge usually has 60-degrees or more of loft and is intended to get the ball up into the air quickly while landing softly on the green with little roll. Lob wedges are the perfect utility clubs for shots requiring imagination and touch, such as a short flop shot over a green-side bunker to a tight pin on the green.

Lesser-carried wedges try to fill in the gaps in yardage between the pitching, sand, and loft wedges. The aptly named Gap wedge is usually around 52 degrees and fills in the distance gap between the pitching wedge and sand wedge. It has less bounce than a sand wedge, which makes it less workable from the sand but far more ideal from the fairway. Other specialized wedges include the Approach wedge (50-degrees), Duel wedge (52-54 degrees), and the Fairway wedge (52-degrees, shorter shaft length). Many options in bounce and loft adjustments can be attained with all of these clubs further specializing them still.

A solid and reliable short game is arguably the most important part of scoring low. The first step towards maximizing your short game potential is knowing and understanding the clubs made specifically for your short game. Now that you can recognize the assortment of wedges at your disposal your next step is to take these clubs and practice, practice, practice. Soon you'll be shooting lower scores than ever before all thanks to your ideal short-game weapons: the wedges.