gap or lob wedge? or neither?

Hi all ! Iam looking for some advice off you pro,s! Iam thinking of adding a gap or lob wedge to my bag this season. I have been playing for about 4 yrs now and play with ben ross rip speed cavity back irons 4-pw. can anyone advise me on what loft, bounce and make might suit me? Any advice is gratefully welcomed!

Hi Chris, if your most lofted club is a pitching wedge then yes you should get some more wedges. What I would say is do some googling and try to find the specifications for your iron set and find out the loft of your pitching wedge.

These days most manufacturers have strengthened the lofts to make it appear that their clubs hit the ball further. The end result of this is that a pitching wedge is less lofted than it used to be and that usually leaves a gap of around 8 - 10 degrees to the sand wedge which causes the need for another club in the middle ie the gap wedge.

However in your situation if you dont yet have an SW I would suggest getting 2 wedges, the 1st probably around 6 degrees more lofted than your PW and the 2nd a further 6 degrees, or maybe 3 wedges and slightly less gap.

As for what make and bounce its really down to personal preference, you cant go too far wrong with Cleveland or Titleist but my favourite (not everyones) are the Ping Tour wedges.

On the subject of bounce, there is a great feature in this month's Today's Golfer in regards to what kind of player needs what bounce.

For my wedges, I have PW, 52 & 58 keeping a 6* gap between each.

I bought Cleveland 60 degree lob wedge recently it's added lots of new shots to my game I'd recommend trying some at the range first

I bought a full set of ping g15s and it came with the P and SW, i then went and bought a cleveland golf cg15 60* wedge and its my Favorite club in the bag, chipping, pitching, anything from 90yds in i hit it and it lands and stops. I wanted a gap but the pings have quite strong lofts so to keep it even i bought it from ping so the lofts are even.

I think so many people bang on about drivers and fairway woods and rescue clubs (i have one of each) but id happily drop my 3 wood for another wedge. more attention needs to be paid to the advantages of wedges IMO

Chris, I have mixed feelings about wedges. I have decided that I'm better served with the pitching and sand wedges that came with my Mitsushiba set. I have tried adding a lob wedge to my bag but have found that for every good shot I hit, I then messed up more. Perhaps I should persevere and practice with the lob wedge, but I just like to get out there and play. I feel you have to be a very regular pure striker of the ball for lob wedges to benefit your game. I know off my handicap that I'm not. Good luck in your endeavours to get that handicap down. Mike.

I have got a gap wedge and a lob wedge in my bag, as well as the pitching wedge and sand wedge. My Callaway Diablo irons came with the pitching wedge which is 45* and the sand wedge which is 55*. I bought the gap wedge (at 50) with the set and later added a 60 lob wedge to my bag. I use all of the clubs in most rounds for various different shots. I think it is a case of working out what you want the new wedge for, or what shots you have problems with that a new wedge might help with.

Thanks to you all for your comments! very helpful and iam definately going to speak to the pro at golf shop and invest in 1 or 2 wedges to give me a better range of shots. Thanks again!

I currently carry five wedges because I have lost all the shots that I used to be able to play with just the PW and SW. My set PW is 48 deg and I have a set AW and a set SW. I complement these with a 60 deg face forward wedge which is shank proof and excellent for very short flop shots. My other PW is a blade and with the sharp leading edge is used for the low pitch and check quickly shots.

I've got to agree Mike Bonney, if you're striking pure then you'll be a demon from 50 yds in but for me it's heartbreaking to see that 20 yd chip end up going 10 yds or 80yds. For now I'll settle just getting on the green.

I got a 60* wedge for Christmas and it has added a lot to my game. I already had a PW and a 54* in the bag but the 60* has really given me confidence to attack the flag from 60 yards in. Has meant that I have had a lot more makeable putts for par.