What’s the perfect loft for a sand wedge? 

To take it a step further, what if you had to pick one tool to use from short distance? Do you have the chops to hit soft pitching wedges? Hard sand wedges? Do you know how to play with an open face? Closed? Use the bounce? Make something work?

I remember when I first started playing golf and my first full bag of clubs. I remember the set vividly, it was a set of Red Birds (now Avian) driver, 3-wood, 5-wood, 3-PW, a sand wedge, and a Ping Anser 2 putter. If you do the math, that’s the 13 clubs (for the club counters out there) and it was by design. Growing up at Rainier G&CC, I was taught the game by now Director of Golf at Glendale CC Mike Montgomery.

“Where’s the 60?” I asked. “You don’t need it,” said Mike. “Everything you need to do around the greens can be done with your 9-iron and that 56 degree. Once you master those, we can look at a 60.” Not what you want to hear as a 16-year-old, but what did I know?

If you talk to any of the great wedge makers (Vokey, Taylor, Dill, etc), they will tell you the same thing, and it’s not based on some conservative theory—they have seen the best hands in the world play this way. Seve and Lee to name a few.

So I went down The Gear Dive guest list and asked this question…

If you had to pick one wedge to use after the pitching wedge, what would it be and why?

The answers are REALLY interesting.

Rocco Mediate: (50) – “With my bounce numbers then I can make it up to at least 75 degrees dynamic loft on-call, so all bases are covered.”

Ryan Palmer: (50) – “I could hit numerous shots and have shots from multiple distances.”

Aaron Dill: (56-14F) – “I think it’s plenty of loft for anyone but not too much where you’re disconnected from the PW. The F style of sole tends to be forgiving yet subtly versatile in most situations.”  

Fred Couples: (58) – “If I had to hit it 100 I could, and I know how to hit a soft PW. Also around the greens, I’d have everything I need.”

Steve Elkington: (52) – “I can always add loft but it’s hard to go the other way. 52 gives me plenty of options to get it done.” 

Jimmy Walker: (54) – “I can make it work around the greens and there are lots of 115 shots in golf.”

Chris Trott: (56 High Toe) – “Most golfers need the versatility of a 56, and if they need to turn it down and hit it out of the fairway it’s there. The High Toe gives them a little more versatility on opened face shots.”

So what did we learn here? More loft isn’t necessarily the end all be all. I don’t see any 60-degree wedges mentioned here.

So, the nugget is to get creative with all your wedges. Get to know what each one can do and what they offer. You may find that the more you mess around with them the more shots in your arsenal you will have. If you do it right, you won’t just go for the 60 every time. Most players at the highest level could not only turn one wedge into four or five but could also turn three into 12-15…

And back to the beginner (or me at 16): Master one first, and then add others. Do not make your life more complicated than it needs to be!