Each month, we tap experts from the equipment industry to answer your most commonly asked questions. In this installment, Hoyt McGarity, CEO of True Spec Golf, addresses the importance of choosing the right wedge for your game.
Wedges are the most overlooked clubs in the bag, other than putters. Considering how critical they are to scoring, I highly recommend putting in some time to get them right.
For starters, it’s critical to get your gapping correct, which is approximately five-degree increments between clubs.
Because modern pitching wedges are typically about 45 degrees (though some are actually stronger), a 50-degree gap wedge, 55-degree sand wedge and 60-degree lob wedge is a standard that I favor for a lot of players. Once you’ve filled in your gaps, I then recommend mixing up the bounce and sole-grind options on your higher-lofted models to make them playable from a variety of turf conditions. A good option is to choose a higher-bounce sand wedge and low-bounce lob wedge, since they can be used for many of the same shots. This way, if you play somewhere with soft conditions, you’ll have the higher-bounce wedge, and when you play in firmer conditions, you can use the low-bounce model.
