Wedge (golf)
Encyclopedia
In the sport
of golf
, a wedge is a subset of the iron
family of golf clubs designed for special use situations. Wedges are designed with modified soles designed to aid in shots through the rough or sand. Wedges have the greatest loft of all of the golf clubs, enabling the ability to produce spin on the ball. Wedges are easier to control than the other clubs due to the short shaft. The combination of the high loft and short shaft make the wedge family of clubs ideal for short shots. Wedges come in a variety of configurations and are categorized as pitching wedges, sand wedges, gap/approach wedges and lob wedges.
after flying in Howard Hughes
' private plane. He built his first prototype in 1931 and started carrying it in his bag in 1932. Before his invention of the sand wedge, many golfers had a difficult time getting their balls out of the bunker.
A ruling by the USGA and R&A to ban the sale of 'square' grooves accelerated revenues from wedge sales as golfers rushed to acquire them before the ban took effect. Sales peaked in 2010 with a 23% revenue increase. Wedge prices inflated to a record $97.
used to hit a shot with higher and shorter trajectory than a 9-iron and a lower and longer trajectory than a gap wedge
.
. This is for a number of reasons: first, before the term "wedge" became common for high-loft short irons, the pitching wedge was actually numbered as the "10-iron" of a matched set, and to this day it follows the normal loft progression of the numbered irons. Also, even though it has been named a wedge, many matched iron sets for retail sale include the pitching wedge even when not including other wedges. Finally, the loft of modern irons has been reduced compared to older designs. This is both to compensate for cavity-back iron designs that launch the ball higher for a given loft, and to increase the distance carried by each club with the average golfer's clubhead speed to be closer to the pros (the pros now use similar and the difference between the amateur golfer and a pro remains). The pitching wedge, as a result, was delofted along with the numbered irons from a traditional loft of between 48–54° to between 45–50°, similar to that of an older 8-iron.
These clubs are most commonly used with a full swing to produce high-altitude shots such as approaches to the green or lifting the ball over trees. They are also commonly used to "lay up" in front of a hazard or to create a better lie for the next shot, recovery from firmer rough or sometimes from sand when the ball is lying on top of the surface. Modern pitching wedges range in loft from 45 to 49 degrees. Pitching wedges can have between zero and 10 degrees of bounce
, though most pitching wedges have very low bounce (only 2 or 3 degrees) as other wedges like gap
, or sand wedge
s are more traditionally suited for play out of hazards or "soft lies" like high grass or soggy ground where high bounce is desired.
and lower and longer trajectory than a sand wedge
.
In the lower loft range, from 48-52°, the gap wedge typically has little or no angle between the sole and the ground when the club is at rest—that is, no bounce. This wedge is used primarily from the fairway and favors firm lies. It is often called an "approach wedge" and is sometimes labeled "A".
Gap wedges go by different monikers given to them by their clubmakers. Past synonyms of the gap wedge include Taylormade's
"attack wedge" and Cleveland's
"dual wedge". The Karsten Manufacturing Company, maker of the Ping brand of golf clubs, labels its gap wedges with "U" for "utility wedge". It is uncommon to find a gap wedge labeled with "G". Nicklaus, Adams Golf and King Cobra are among the few manufacturers that label their irons with a "G". Many manufacturers simply label the gap wedge with its angle rather than naming it.
Better players tend to avoid carrying a gap wedge by becoming skilled at making short plays with their pitching wedge.
used to hit a shot with higher and shorter trajectory than a gap wedge
and a lower and longer trajectory than a lob wedge
.
began to win tournaments in 1935 with a new club he had invented that was specialized for sand play. He is hailed as the inventor of the sand wedge. However, history goes about 3 years further back than that. "Spoon" clubs offered varying degrees of loft and allowed players to scoop their ball out of sand traps and deep rough. As manufacturers became more and more innovative with club design, new types of wedges appeared. Some had concave faces, others featured deeply grooved faces, but not all of these designs conformed to USGA and R&A regulations, and many were banned. With the concave-faced wedge having been outlawed in 1931, Sarazen designed his sand wedge with a straight face. Another modification that he made was to add extra lead to the front edge of the club face, allowing it to cut through the sand more smoothly. After he won the 1932 British and U.S. Opens with the help of his new club, its popularity quickly grew.
, which often has a loft of 60 degrees or more. It usually has one of the shortest shafts, between 33 inches (83.8 cm) and 36 inches (91.4 cm), though in some sets the sand wedge has a longer shaft than the pitching wedge
. A longer shaft encourages the player to hit sand wedge shots "fat" (where the club hits the ground before the ball); in most situations this is highly undesirable as the majority of the energy of the swing is wasted digging into the turf, but in the case of hitting out of a bunker, a "fat" shot gets the club underneath the ball to lift it out of the sand.
Bounce
The main distinguishing difference of the club from most others, however, is a feature called "bounce
". On most other irons, the sole of the club is perpendicular to the shaft, meaning it is roughly parallel to the ground when the club is at rest allowing the leading edge to get between the ball and the ground more easily. A sand wedge however is designed with the sole of the club at an angle to the ground in the same position, lifting the leading edge of the club off the ground.
. However, the features which make it useful for this purpose are advantageous in other soft lies such as thick rough, soggy ground or mud. It's also used from firmer grass lies for lobs or chips, generally onto the green. It can also be used as any other "short iron" would; with a "full swing", a skilled golfer can typically hit a sand wedge between 80-100 yards. Tour players often use a lob wedge (60 degree wedge) to get out of sand traps with controlled trajectory and lots of spin.
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
of golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, a wedge is a subset of the iron
Iron (golf)
An iron is a type of club used in the sport of golf to propel the ball towards the hole. They are so-called because historically the clubhead was generally made from iron. Whilst the vast majority of modern irons are still made from iron, it is almost always its stronger and more durable alloy,...
family of golf clubs designed for special use situations. Wedges are designed with modified soles designed to aid in shots through the rough or sand. Wedges have the greatest loft of all of the golf clubs, enabling the ability to produce spin on the ball. Wedges are easier to control than the other clubs due to the short shaft. The combination of the high loft and short shaft make the wedge family of clubs ideal for short shots. Wedges come in a variety of configurations and are categorized as pitching wedges, sand wedges, gap/approach wedges and lob wedges.
History
The first golf wedge to be played was the pitching wedge, also known as a jigger. This was the best option golfers had for difficult shots until the invention of the sand wedge. The sand wedge was invented by Gene SarazenGene Sarazen
Gene Sarazen was an American professional golfer, one of the world's top players in the 1920s and 1930s. He is one of five golfers to win all the current major championships in his career, the Career Grand Slam:U.S...
after flying in Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
' private plane. He built his first prototype in 1931 and started carrying it in his bag in 1932. Before his invention of the sand wedge, many golfers had a difficult time getting their balls out of the bunker.
A ruling by the USGA and R&A to ban the sale of 'square' grooves accelerated revenues from wedge sales as golfers rushed to acquire them before the ban took effect. Sales peaked in 2010 with a 23% revenue increase. Wedge prices inflated to a record $97.
Pitching wedge
A pitching wedge is a type of golf clubGolf club (equipment)
A golf club is used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a clubhead. Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; irons, the most versatile class, are used for a variety of shots; Hybrids that combine design elements of woods and...
used to hit a shot with higher and shorter trajectory than a 9-iron and a lower and longer trajectory than a gap wedge
Gap wedge
A gap wedge, also known as an approach wedge, is a wedge used to hit a shot with higher and shorter trajectory than a pitching wedge and lower and longer trajectory than a sand wedge...
.
Design and history
Though technically a wedge, pitching wedges are generally treated as if they were numbered ironsIron (golf)
An iron is a type of club used in the sport of golf to propel the ball towards the hole. They are so-called because historically the clubhead was generally made from iron. Whilst the vast majority of modern irons are still made from iron, it is almost always its stronger and more durable alloy,...
. This is for a number of reasons: first, before the term "wedge" became common for high-loft short irons, the pitching wedge was actually numbered as the "10-iron" of a matched set, and to this day it follows the normal loft progression of the numbered irons. Also, even though it has been named a wedge, many matched iron sets for retail sale include the pitching wedge even when not including other wedges. Finally, the loft of modern irons has been reduced compared to older designs. This is both to compensate for cavity-back iron designs that launch the ball higher for a given loft, and to increase the distance carried by each club with the average golfer's clubhead speed to be closer to the pros (the pros now use similar and the difference between the amateur golfer and a pro remains). The pitching wedge, as a result, was delofted along with the numbered irons from a traditional loft of between 48–54° to between 45–50°, similar to that of an older 8-iron.
Usage
The pitching wedge is a very versatile club. Being on the cusp between numbered irons and wedges, the pitching wedge has generally-accepted uses falling into either class. Used with a "full swing" similar to a short iron, a golfer can produce a high-trajectory shot that carries between 80–130 yards (depending on a variety of factors such as swing and club design), then "bites" with little or no roll after initial impact. Used with an abbreviated "chipping" motion, the club can produce short (25–45 yard) "lob" or "approach" shots. And with a "putting" motion, the club can lift the ball over rough or fringe onto the putting green from a short distance to the pin (10–25 yards). This last kind of stroke is commonly called a "bump and run" and can be done with many other irons, generally with a loft equal or higher than a 7-iron.These clubs are most commonly used with a full swing to produce high-altitude shots such as approaches to the green or lifting the ball over trees. They are also commonly used to "lay up" in front of a hazard or to create a better lie for the next shot, recovery from firmer rough or sometimes from sand when the ball is lying on top of the surface. Modern pitching wedges range in loft from 45 to 49 degrees. Pitching wedges can have between zero and 10 degrees of bounce
Bounce (golf)
In golf, Bounce, or bounce angle, is a term used to describe the angle inscribed by the leading edge of a golfing iron , the sole of the club, and the ground. In plainer terms, bounce angle is an indication of how much the sole, or bottom-most part, of the club head lifts the leading edge...
, though most pitching wedges have very low bounce (only 2 or 3 degrees) as other wedges like gap
Gap wedge
A gap wedge, also known as an approach wedge, is a wedge used to hit a shot with higher and shorter trajectory than a pitching wedge and lower and longer trajectory than a sand wedge...
, or sand wedge
Sand wedge
An open faced club, sand wedge, or sand iron, is a wedge primarily designed for use out of sand bunkers. It has the widest sole of any wedge, which provides the greatest amount of bounce, allowing the club head to glide through sand and avoid digging in.-History:Gene Sarazen began to win...
s are more traditionally suited for play out of hazards or "soft lies" like high grass or soggy ground where high bounce is desired.
Gap wedge
A gap wedge (or approach wedge) is used to hit shots with a higher and shorter trajectory than a pitching wedgePitching wedge
A pitching wedge is a wedge used to hit a shot with higher and shorter trajectory than a 9-iron and a lower and longer trajectory than a gap wedge.-Design/history:...
and lower and longer trajectory than a sand wedge
Sand wedge
An open faced club, sand wedge, or sand iron, is a wedge primarily designed for use out of sand bunkers. It has the widest sole of any wedge, which provides the greatest amount of bounce, allowing the club head to glide through sand and avoid digging in.-History:Gene Sarazen began to win...
.
History
The gap wedge originated when the loft angles of irons were reduced to increase the range of clubs. Sand wedges remained the same because they required a 54-58° loft to be effective in the sand. Some golfers began carrying a wedge in the 50-54 degree range to fill the gap; these were typically referred to as a "gap wedge".Design
Gap wedges are loosely defined, but typically have the loft between that of a pitching wedge and sand wedge, between 50-54°. Players typically prefer a 52° to avoid a redundancy with either the sand or pitching wedge. Most players prefer a separation of 4° between clubs.In the lower loft range, from 48-52°, the gap wedge typically has little or no angle between the sole and the ground when the club is at rest—that is, no bounce. This wedge is used primarily from the fairway and favors firm lies. It is often called an "approach wedge" and is sometimes labeled "A".
Gap wedges go by different monikers given to them by their clubmakers. Past synonyms of the gap wedge include Taylormade's
Taylormade-adidas
TaylorMade-Adidas Golf Company of Carlsbad, California is a U.S. headquartered subsidiary of the German based Adidas Group. TaylorMade was started in 1979 by Gary Adams, the inventor of the metalwood, and the company has continued to maintain a consistent presence at the top of golf product...
"attack wedge" and Cleveland's
Cleveland Golf
Cleveland Golf is an American golf equipment company based in Huntington Beach, California. The company was founded in 1979 by Roger Cleveland, originally producing replicas of classic golf clubs from the 1940s and 1950s...
"dual wedge". The Karsten Manufacturing Company, maker of the Ping brand of golf clubs, labels its gap wedges with "U" for "utility wedge". It is uncommon to find a gap wedge labeled with "G". Nicklaus, Adams Golf and King Cobra are among the few manufacturers that label their irons with a "G". Many manufacturers simply label the gap wedge with its angle rather than naming it.
Better players tend to avoid carrying a gap wedge by becoming skilled at making short plays with their pitching wedge.
Sand wedge
A sand wedge is a type of golf clubGolf club (equipment)
A golf club is used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a clubhead. Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; irons, the most versatile class, are used for a variety of shots; Hybrids that combine design elements of woods and...
used to hit a shot with higher and shorter trajectory than a gap wedge
Gap wedge
A gap wedge, also known as an approach wedge, is a wedge used to hit a shot with higher and shorter trajectory than a pitching wedge and lower and longer trajectory than a sand wedge...
and a lower and longer trajectory than a lob wedge
Lob wedge
A lob wedge, also known as a lofted wedge or a L-Wedge is a wedge used in the sport of golf, known for being one of the shortest-hitting clubs and providing the most loft on a shot. Lob wedges are used to produce shots with a very high arc, and are most often used for shots over hazards and other...
.
History
Gene SarazenGene Sarazen
Gene Sarazen was an American professional golfer, one of the world's top players in the 1920s and 1930s. He is one of five golfers to win all the current major championships in his career, the Career Grand Slam:U.S...
began to win tournaments in 1935 with a new club he had invented that was specialized for sand play. He is hailed as the inventor of the sand wedge. However, history goes about 3 years further back than that. "Spoon" clubs offered varying degrees of loft and allowed players to scoop their ball out of sand traps and deep rough. As manufacturers became more and more innovative with club design, new types of wedges appeared. Some had concave faces, others featured deeply grooved faces, but not all of these designs conformed to USGA and R&A regulations, and many were banned. With the concave-faced wedge having been outlawed in 1931, Sarazen designed his sand wedge with a straight face. Another modification that he made was to add extra lead to the front edge of the club face, allowing it to cut through the sand more smoothly. After he won the 1932 British and U.S. Opens with the help of his new club, its popularity quickly grew.
Design
The modern sand wedge is often the heaviest iron in a player's bag, with most weighing nearly 40 ounces (1.1 kg). Traditionally it also had the highest loft at 54 to 58 degrees (55-56 being most common), although that distinction now goes to the lob wedgeLob wedge
A lob wedge, also known as a lofted wedge or a L-Wedge is a wedge used in the sport of golf, known for being one of the shortest-hitting clubs and providing the most loft on a shot. Lob wedges are used to produce shots with a very high arc, and are most often used for shots over hazards and other...
, which often has a loft of 60 degrees or more. It usually has one of the shortest shafts, between 33 inches (83.8 cm) and 36 inches (91.4 cm), though in some sets the sand wedge has a longer shaft than the pitching wedge
Pitching wedge
A pitching wedge is a wedge used to hit a shot with higher and shorter trajectory than a 9-iron and a lower and longer trajectory than a gap wedge.-Design/history:...
. A longer shaft encourages the player to hit sand wedge shots "fat" (where the club hits the ground before the ball); in most situations this is highly undesirable as the majority of the energy of the swing is wasted digging into the turf, but in the case of hitting out of a bunker, a "fat" shot gets the club underneath the ball to lift it out of the sand.
Bounce
The main distinguishing difference of the club from most others, however, is a feature called "bounce
Bounce (golf)
In golf, Bounce, or bounce angle, is a term used to describe the angle inscribed by the leading edge of a golfing iron , the sole of the club, and the ground. In plainer terms, bounce angle is an indication of how much the sole, or bottom-most part, of the club head lifts the leading edge...
". On most other irons, the sole of the club is perpendicular to the shaft, meaning it is roughly parallel to the ground when the club is at rest allowing the leading edge to get between the ball and the ground more easily. A sand wedge however is designed with the sole of the club at an angle to the ground in the same position, lifting the leading edge of the club off the ground.
Usage
As its name suggests, a sand wedge is used most often to extract the ball from a bunkerBunker (golf)
A hazard is an area of a golf course in the sport of golf which provides a difficult obstacle. which may be of three types: water hazards such as lakes and rivers; man-made hazards such as bunkers; and natural hazards such as dense vegetation. Special rules apply to playing balls that fall in a...
. However, the features which make it useful for this purpose are advantageous in other soft lies such as thick rough, soggy ground or mud. It's also used from firmer grass lies for lobs or chips, generally onto the green. It can also be used as any other "short iron" would; with a "full swing", a skilled golfer can typically hit a sand wedge between 80-100 yards. Tour players often use a lob wedge (60 degree wedge) to get out of sand traps with controlled trajectory and lots of spin.
Lob wedge
The lob wedge is known for being the shortest-hitting of all of the wedges and providing the most loft on a shot. Lob wedges are used to produce shots with a very high arc, and are most often used for shots over hazards and other obstructions. Due to the high arc of the shot the lob wedge, like the other wedges in the set of irons, produces little roll after landing on the putting green and can even be used to produce backspin if necessary. Lob wedges are one of the newest additions to the modern collection of golf clubs and, along with the sand wedge and gap wedge, were not included prior to 1931.Ultra lob wedge
An ultra lob wedge is a specialization of the lob wedge with an extremely high loft, as high as 70°. Synonyms are generally marketing terms and include the "flop wedge" and "final wedge". When included in a club set, it generally has the highest loft of the set. It is used for specialized, extremely high-angle shots such as from the "lip" of a bunker. This wedge is generally made by specialty companies, and some argue that their purpose is redundant, as a regular lob wedge can be "opened" for extra loft in situations calling for such a high launch angle.See also
- Golf glossaryGolf glossaryThe following is a glossary of the terminology used in the sport of golf. Where words in a sentence are also defined elsewhere in this article, they appear in italics.- A :The following is a glossary of the terminology used in the sport of golf...