There are many routes you can take to becoming a better golfer.
Your starting point can be an analysis of each department of your game to assess what works and what needs some improvement.
For many, a key area is wedge performance.
Good wedge play isn’t just about setting up birdie chances. It’s about keeping momentum with a great up-and-down; just look at the new Open Champion Ryan Fox’s bogey at fifteen in the final round.
In a horrible position in a greenside bunker off the tee, Fox had no option but to play out sideways. A deft pitch for his third left Fox a relatively short bogey putt, which he duly converted. That pitch for his third was a crucial shot to minimise the damage and meant he could leave fifteen knowing that he was still in the fight.
We need a lot of versatility in our wedges, but it’s something we often overlook in favour of opting for a funky finish to the head, or looking to see which models produce the most backspin, so we look cool.
So, how do you start to improve your wedge play?
One way you can start improving is through good wedge gapping and custom wedge fitting to uncover exactly what you need for your game.
If you’re in the market for new wedges, we’ll guide you through:
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Understanding Wedge Gapping
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Customising Your Wedge Setup
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How An Improved Wedge Setup Improves Your Game
Understanding Wedge Gapping
PGA Tour professionals average roughly 20 feet from the hole from 100-125 yards, while a typical mid-handicap golfer may finish more than twice as far away. Around the greens, tour players get up and down around six times in every ten attempts, compared with roughly one in four for many club golfers. The difference isn't spectacular shots; it is consistent distance control.
Like every club in the bag outside the putter, it’s important to have consistent gapping from one club to another. There is no direct rule of thumb, but normally, good distance gapping will be between 10 and 15 yards between each club.
When it comes to wedges, this is particularly important because we are principally looking for control over our shots. Control can be broken down into two key areas, which are interlinked:
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Distance Control
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Trajectory Control
You’re faced with a 115-yard shot to the flag. You have a 50-degree wedge that flies 125 yards and a 55-degree wedge that goes 95 yards. What are your options?
You can ease off on the 50-degree, useful if playing into the wind, or try to force your 55-degree wedge to cover 115 yards.
The problem with both options is that you’re compromising consistent ball striking. Easing off or swinging harder, even with wedges, can affect strike location, which in turn can affect launch and spin rates, which brings us on to our next point: trajectory control.
Watching pros hit wedge shots on television can look a little misleading.
To the casual viewer, it looks like the ball is getting hoisted up into the air, which helps spin the ball or have it stop dead when it lands on the green. Not true.
Pros like to hit a consistent trajectory across all their wedges because it helps them manage more effectively how the ball reacts when it lands on the green.
Hitting a wedge too high will send the ball up into the air, where it can be more affected by the wind. Using the less-lofted wedge might not create enough trajectory to allow the ball to stop where you want it to on the green.
Either way, for clubs you are looking for maximum control over, you are leaving a lot to chance.
Consistent distance gapping helps to reduce the risk of being stuck between clubs and allows you to make a normal swing.
When you swing within your normal limits, you stand a much better chance of being consistent in your ball striking and your launch and spin numbers.
Consistent distance gapping lies at the heart of a customised wedge setup designed specifically for your game. So, how do we achieve this?
Customising Your Wedge Setup
The main thing to understand is that evaluating what a good wedge setup looks like follows the same process, whether it’s for a tour player or an 18-handicap.
The common thread is that a good fitting gets to the heart of what you need for your game.
The starting point is to evaluate your current wedge setup, how many wedges you carry, which clubs you use most around the greens and the types of approach shots you regularly face. Where do you feel you have the biggest limitations, and what are you looking to achieve from the fitting?
These are details that can be shared with the fitter before you get going with hitting shots with your wedges. The shot detail will be captured on a launch monitor, which accurately records data that can’t be captured by the naked eye, such as launch and spin rates, carry distance, peak height, and shot dispersion. Once a good data set has been captured, the picture will start to become clear on where improvements can be made.
The first place to look at is the all-important wedge distance control. The data set from your existing wedges will clearly indicate if the gaps are too big or too small.
Shot dispersion might sound more important for the driver, but wedge shot dispersion is an important factor. Less-than-committed swings or going all-out can affect how accurate your wedges are in finding their target.
Spin and launch rates from your existing wedges will also determine your ability to stop the ball and whether you are hitting your wedges on a good trajectory.
All these factors help to determine what the ideal loft gapping should be that will help create more consistency.
Again, like distance gapping, there is no set rule when it comes to loft gapping, but in most instances, loft gapping of between 4 and 5 degrees is normal, so your wedge setup might look like 50, 54, and 58 degrees.
It’s also important to understand if you use the pitching wedge from your iron set, what loft it sits at and whether you might be better suited to a pitching wedge loft that will match the rest of your new wedge setup, which helps breed consistency in looks and feel.
Once loft is established, a secondary factor is bounce and grind on your wedges.
The fitter is likely to have asked you what types of courses you play most regularly. What he or she is trying to establish is that if you play more links-style courses, you may need less bounce, whereas parkland courses may require more bounce.
Bounce angle helps determine how effective the ball/turf interaction is. Too much effective bounce for your delivery and playing conditions can increase the likelihood of thin strikes, while too little can allow the leading edge to dig and produce heavy contact.
Bounce is measured in degrees, with lower bounce wedges carrying a lower number - 4 to 6 degrees- while high bounce wedges will be between 12 and 14 degrees. Pitching and gap wedges are likely to have lower bounce because they are used for full shots. Higher-lofted wedges can have more bounce for increased adaptability around the greens, which is where grind also plays its part.
Grind describes how material is shaped or removed from areas of the sole, such as the heel, toe or trailing edge. This changes how the club interacts with the turf and how the effective bounce behaves when the face is opened for different pitch, chip and bunker shots.
There are many bounce and grind options available, which makes it all the more important to be custom-fitted for your wedges to ensure you have the correct combination.
Once those options are sorted, shaft selection is the next element to consider.
Many tour professionals use different shaft weights or flexes in their wedges than in their irons to improve feel and versatility. The same can work for your wedge setup, and the fitter can assess a range of steel and graphite shafts, weights and flexes designed specifically for wedges to help you achieve the correct distance numbers and trajectories.
The fitter will also look to ensure that your wedges are cut to the correct length and sit at the right lie angle. We are all built differently, and off-the-shelf wedges are built for a specific profile of standard height, which can compromise your ability to use your wedges effectively because of poor address positions and swing mechanics to accommodate an ill-fitting wedge length or lie.
If you commit to the custom-fitting process, what are the benefits you are likely to see where it matters the most: on the course?
How A Customised Wedge Setup Improves Your Game
Golf, regardless of your playing ability, is a game of confidence.
When it comes to wedges, knowing how far we hit each club is crucial data on the course. For approach shots, knowing you have the right wedge, with the correct loft, length and lie, means your only focus is on the shot at hand.
Even if you are in trouble and need to lay up to give yourself the best chance of escaping with a reasonable score, knowing a good number to lay up to for a comfortable wedge can make a big difference to the score you walk off the hole with.
Pitch and chip shots become easier because you have the correct bounce and grind for your swing and turf conditions to make consistently good contact.
Reliable contact also produces more predictable spin, helping you judge where to land the ball and how far it should release. Better wedge play begins with control: knowing your carry distances, producing the intended flight and having suitable bounce and grind options for pitches and chips. With the correct setup, shot selection becomes simpler and the outcome less dependent on improvisation.
Wedges play a vital role in how we can maintain or create momentum in a round of golf, but wedges are often overlooked, or we don’t think about how having the correct wedge setup can make a difference.
Improved wedge play comes from improved consistency, which starts with distance control and leads to spin and launch numbers.
Approach play is one element of wedge play; pitching and chipping well are also vital components, and having the correct setup makes shot selection and outcome much more predictable.
So, if you want complete confidence in your wedges, book yourself in for a custom-fitting wedge session at Nine By Nine Golf, where our experienced team will help unlock what your ideal wedge setup should be and build in-house to your exact specifications.