Pick the Right Golf Club: Wedge Your Way Out

If you were playing perfect golf in a perfect world, your club selection would be simple: A few woods, a few irons, a driver and a putter. Unfortunately, people who design golf courses design them to be a challenge, and they set it into a surrounding of roughs, bush, and sand traps. Hence the humorous description of golf: Ever Wednesday, businessmen have a meeting out on a beautiful lawn. They swing thin sticks at small objects, and swear and scream terribly while doing so. They call it golf.

Here are the basic clubs you need to be able to get around it:

The first golf club: Wedge no.1: The sand wedge. The  underside of the sand wedge was designed in such a way that it’s actually supposed to “bounce” of the sand surface, allowing you to hit “more ball and less sand”. No other club can do this, so it HAS to be in you set.

The next golf club: Wedge no.2: The pitching wedge. Designed to be used at (typically) 100 to 130 yards from the pin, this is also the wedge with the longest range. The loft on this wedge can be anything from 46 to 50 degrees, and, as it is a relatively standard, essential item, it normally comes included in any basic set.

The next golf club: Wedge no.3: The gap wedge. It is called a gap wedge because the loft angle falls between that of the pitching wedge and the sand wedge. It has a typical loft of 50 to 54 degrees, and is sold separately from the rest of the set.

The last golf club: Wedge no.4: The lob wedge. Having a loft angle of 60 to 64 degrees, these are used for playing shorter shots where you want the ball to stop quickly, and short, sharp uphill shots. One again, this is not an item in your standard set, and is purchased separately, according to your individual needs.

Having these basic additions to your golf club set will allow you to adapt to a relatively wide variety of conditions and situations. Being able to use them will afford you the ability to “play yourself out” of uncomfortable situation and positions.