sand/pitching wedge

Can anyone tell me the loft of my pitching wedge and sand wedge.  They have PW and SW on them.  When I look at clubs in the shops  they have 56degree or 64 degree on them or people talk about a lob wedge?  I know its not much to go on.

Jon,

If they are a "bog standard" set, the PW will be about 48* and the SW 52*.

TheLyth

I think 52* is more of a GW Lyth.  Typically 56* for a SW, 60* for a LW, 64* for a HLW (nostril picker) in my limited experience.  Agree about a PW being 46* or 48* depending on the strength of the set

You could always drop a line to to the manufacturer and ask.  I did this recently with my Cobra clubs and they replied within a couple of hours.

My Wilson PW is 45* and SW is 56* if that's any help to you Jon.

I read in one of the golfing mags that manufacturers have been delofting clubs over time to make it seem that their new clubs hit the ball further than their old set.  So the age may determine the loft although I don't know if this applies to wedges.

Back in the 70's a standard set of Irons were 3 - SW, but you could also get a 1 & 2iron. The Players back then were shot makers and could use a single SW as most use 56*, 58*, 60* and 64* Wedges today. Each club was about 4* different and that was 1* = 4yds so about 15yd difference between clubs.

Hogen introduced the "Equaliser" a duel W & SW and Macgregor numbered their "Tourney" range as 10 & 11irons.

Pro's then started to form their sets by adding certain clubs, like in went a Ping 1iron or a SW of their choice which wasn't part of their set. Manufacturers saw this opportunity to sell individual SW's and todays market began.

Ping introduced 'Square Grooves' and they sold well, even though one shot using a Balata covered ball and that was it. The grooves shreaded the ball cover, but the combination made the ball bite more than it had ever been able to before.

One company produced a SW called a "Raptour", it had round holes instead of grooves and did stop the ball quick without ripping the cover. This was because it was one of the first 60* wedges and not its design.

The Professional Game has changed over the last 25years and ordinary Golfer copy the Pro's. The Pro's now want a Club to hit the ball a set length for their short game so want all the different lofts, Golfers follow without knowing why. Why buy four or five clubs at £70 each when one will do the same job?

The answer is "Bounce". Instead of having say three wedges with the same loft and three different leading edge designs and Bounce angles, the Pro's also have different lofts. So my advice, if you are going to buy three wedges, dont go for the same design with 52*, 56* &, 60* lofts. Get one with a sharpe leading edge, one with a straight leading edge and one with a thick sole, that will cover all shots into and around the Green.

TheLyth