Instruction

Filling the gap in your short game

By Golf Etc on September 15, 2009

Driver… 3 and 5 fairway woods… hybrids #3 and 4… 5 iron to 9 iron… now what? Leaving room for you putter, this set make up leaves you room for three more clubs (if you play by the Rules of 14 clubs maximum!). For most golfers wanting a full set, a pitching wedge, gap wedge and sand wedge would be best. But what lofts? And what is a gap wedge anyways?

Truth be told, a gap wedge – also known as dual, fairway, mid, approach – is an old time pitching wedge. When manufacturers introduced the cavity back irons 25-30 years ago, they discovered that the ball flight was too high in general. So they tweaked the lofts stronger, making your new cavity back 9 iron loft the same as your old blade 8 iron. This created a “gap” to fill between the new wedge and the standard sand wedge (which couldn’t change much in loft to remain effective). So now we have a 9 iron at 42 degrees loft, a pitching wedge at 46, maybe 47 and the sand wedge still “traditional” at 56. That 10 degree spread leaves room for the 51 or 52 gap wedge. What you want to ensure is that you have an even spread between lofts of no more than 5 degrees. This allows for you to focus on more full swings as you approach the green rather than trying to master ½ and ¾ swings.

The better player may want four wedges, introducing a lob wedge and taking the 5 wood out of the bag (the 3 wood might then become a 4 wood for this player too). The lob wedge might only be 58 degrees instead of 60 if you tighten the spread to four degrees – 46, 50, 54, 58 which is my wedge spread this year.

During our Golf Bag Analysis we will make recommendations for your wedges and your full set make up in general, all based on your actual swing data we gather through the Vector Pro Launch Monitor. Our lie/loft machine can bend the lies and lofts of your current set to bring those wedges into the correct blend.