| The short game is king, or so we are told by | | | | through your edges: 48-52-56-60 degrees. This |
| manufacturers who want us to buy their clubs. | | | | would make it easy to hit a pitch any distance |
| Forty years ago, professional golfers carried two | | | | from 100 yards in and get the ball close. It would |
| wedges. Now, most of them carry three, and | | | | also allow for finer differences in chips right |
| four is not out of the question. How many | | | | around the green, too. You would have four |
| wedges should you carry, and how do you | | | | different shots with the same setup. That's a big |
| decide? | | | | plus. |
| Let's look first at the wedges that are available to | | | | So. Which wedges should you put in your bag? |
| you, one by one, to see what each one does. | | | | Hale Irwin said he won three U. S. Opens carrying |
| Your pitching wedge, which came with your set | | | | only one additional wedge, a 56-degree sand |
| of irons, doubles as a fairway club and a pitching | | | | wedge. You might need only this one extra |
| club. You can chip around the green with it, too. | | | | wedge, too, in the 54- to 56-degree range. |
| There's no reason why you wouldn't carry it and | | | | If you want to have a lob wedge, then a |
| use it often. | | | | 48-54-60 progression makes sense. Think before |
| Next up is the sand wedge, a traditional club. You | | | | you add the fourth wedge, though. You will |
| use it to get out of the sand, of course, but its | | | | probably have to take out a club to make room, |
| real value is in pitching from short distances. It can | | | | since the fourth wedge could put you over the |
| be the most versatile club in your bag, with no | | | | 14-club limit. That would probably be one of your |
| end to the shots you can play with it by varying | | | | long irons that you don't hit that often. |
| how you set up. | | | | Though there are benefits of adding wedges, |
| The lob wedge. It gets the ball real high, real fast. | | | | there are costs, too. You have to make an |
| It has less bounce than a sand wedge, so it's | | | | additional purchase, so there's more dollars out of |
| safer to use off tight lies in the fairway. If you | | | | your pocket. You have to learn what the new |
| have to get over something and stop the ball in a | | | | wedge can do differently than you ones you |
| hurry, this is your club. You can use standard | | | | already have, and that's extra time at the range. |
| setup and not have open the clubface to get | | | | Then look at how many strokes the new wedge |
| extra loft, which is always risky. | | | | will save you. If it's one or two a round, by all |
| Finally, the gap wedge. This wedge fills the gap | | | | means go for it. If it's one or two a month, then |
| between the pitching wedge and sand wedge. Its | | | | practice more with the wedges you already have. |
| purpose is to give you a 4-degree progression | | | | |