Pitching wedge degree pro#

By simple math, with par for a hole based on 2 putts, and at least one additional stroke needed to get the ball on the green, a scratch golfer will take up to 54 strokes on a typical par-72 course with the intention of getting on the green and/or in the hole only about a third of the strokes taken in a round will be with a wood or long iron with the main intent being distance.

Pitching wedge degree pro#

Wedges, and the golfer's 'short game', have come to be emphasized by pro players and teachers/coaches as an area of critical importance. This led to the tradition of calling these high-lofted irons 'wedges', regardless of the amount of bounce (angle of the sole to the ground) that the sole provided. The highest-lofted irons got the most additional weight, resulting in the widest soles, giving these clubs the same eponymous wedge-shaped profile as the sand wedge. As irons became more standardized in the 20s through the 40s, the wide sole of the sand wedge was copied on other mid- and high-lofted irons to add mass, which compensates for the progressively shorter shaft lengths to provide a similar feel across all the irons with a given swing. Sarazen's new club, including the wide, angled sole, was ruled legal by both R&A and USGA authorities, and the club itself and its basic design concepts became widely copied by other golfers and by club manufacturers. Open with a final-round score of 66 that would stand as a tournament record for almost 30 years.

He won that tournament with a then-record score of 283 (the sum of four rounds of play), and also won the subsequent 1932 U.S. He brought his new club to compete in the 1932 British Open, but kept it hidden from the authorities to avoid having it ruled illegal. The resulting clubhead profile was roughly wedge-shaped as opposed to the blade-like style of high-lofted irons, hence the name. He built his first prototype in 1931 by taking a niblick and soldering extra lead to its sole to add mass, then adjusting the angle of the sole to about 10 degrees from level with the ground, which he found to be the optimal angle to prevent the clubhead either digging deeply into the sand or skimming (bouncing) along the top.

Sarazen noticed the flaps on the wings that were lowered on takeoff to help create lift, and surmised that the same could be done to a high-lofted golf club to help the clubhead cut through and then lift out of the sand (bringing the ball with it). The modern sand wedge, the first of the clubs to be called a wedge, was developed by Gene Sarazen after flying in Howard Hughes' private plane. The club was also not ideal for approach shots from a bunker near the green, as a chip shot made with this club tended to roll for most of its distance. The lower loft prevented the club 'digging in' to soft lies, but the low launch angle and relatively high resistance to the club moving through the sand to 'dig out' a buried ball made recovery from a bunker with this club very difficult. The club most often used for bunker shots was called the 'jigger' it was used similarly to today's pitching wedge, and had a similar short shaft, but its loft was closer to the 'mashie' of the day (equivalent to today's 4-iron). Prior to the 1930s, the best club for short 'approach' shots was the ' niblick', roughly equivalent to today's 9-iron or pitching wedge in loft however the design of this club, with a flat, angled face and virtually no 'sole', made it difficult to use in sand and other soft lies as it was prone to dig into soft turf. The class of wedges grew out of the need for a better club for playing soft lies and short shots. Wedges come in a variety of configurations, and are generally grouped into four categories: pitching wedges, sand wedges, gap/approach wedges and lob wedges.

In addition, wedges are designed with modified soles that aid the player in moving the clubhead through soft lies, such as sand, mud, and thick grass, to extract a ball that is embedded or even buried. These features generally aid the player in making accurate short-distance 'lob' shots, to get the ball onto the green or out of a hazard or other tricky spot. As a class, wedges have the highest lofts, the shortest shafts, and the heaviest clubheads of the irons. In the sport of golf, a wedge is a subset of the iron family of golf clubs designed for special use situations.