Golf Clubs - Wedges

The wedges is an iron club with varying degrees of loft ranging from 48 to 64 degrees intended to hit the ball very high and stopping it quickly on the green.

The wedges is an iron club with varying degrees of loft ranging from 48 to 64 degrees. All of these clubs are intended to hit the ball very high, stopping it quickly on the green. The 48-degree pitching wedge is designed for shots from the fairway and rough within about 100 yards distance from the green. The 56-degree sand wedge is specially designed to slide under the ball in the sand, thereby floating the ball airborne on a gentle wave of sand. The sand wedge can also be useful from fairway and rough close to the green, particularly when the shot requires getting up and over an obstacle and stopping the ball quickly on the green.

More recent wedges appearing on the golf scene are the 60 to 64 degree lob wedges,  which are used like the sand wedge around the green but hit the ball even higher and stop it even more quickly than the traditional sand wedge.

Wedge play has become increasingly important in the expert golfer's arsenal of shots. Therefore, golfers may carry as many as three or four wedges to handle all the varied demands of the short game around the green. Of course, for every wedge that is added, another club  must be given up in order to stay within the 14-club limit.