pitching wedge?

This is going to sound really stupid... I just realized I don't have a pitching wedge!

When I took up golf 2 summers ago, I had some clubs that a neighbor gave me, but no wedges. So I went to a shop and picked out a wedge, knowing nothing about what I was doing. It happened to be a 60* lob wedge. I didn't even know what the 'L' stood for! Sometime later, I bought what I thought was a pitching wedge, a 52* wedge. I always used the lob in bunkers, but fairly recently I acquired a 56* sand wedge. I thought that was it for wedges. But I've discovered that the 52* club isn't a PW at all; it's a GAP wedge. Since there's a 4* difference between the other wedges, I think I'd like a PW with 48* of loft. But I'm only seeing 50* wedges in shops. Should 48* PWs be available?

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Todd
Philadelphia, PA
USA

The reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can't see him laughing. ~Phyllis Diller

Hi Todd,

Most new PW's (clubs labelled with a P) are ~ 48º in loft. By new, I mean since the late 80's. Since you've got the ideal lower wedge makeup (52,56,60), you should find out the loft of your 9 iron, and then do one of the following things:

If there's a 8º gap between your 9i (44º) and GW(52º), then it's dead simple: buy a 48º PW.

If the gap is smaller than 8º, you'll have to decide which yardage model to follow. Do you want a yardage gap between your PW and your GW, or between your 9i and PW? The only way around this is to buy a PW and get it bent to a halfway loft. It may only be 1/2 a degree, or a full degree, but it'd be worthwhile to keep your yardage gaps more consistent.

__________________
True Length Technology Fitter - www.truelengthtechnology.com
It's live! - www.ShipShapeClubs.com
PCS Class 'A' Clubfitter

A new highlight: Golfing the home course on Christmas Day.

I say it too often: If it's golf club shaped, you can play with it.

For the record, I'm a club doctor, not a swing doctor.

I don't know what the loft of my 9 iron is. As I mentioned in another post, I don't have a "set" of clubs. My 9 iron is, I think, a fairly old club, but I'm not really sure. It's a PowerBilt "Fuzzy Zoeller" edition that looks a lot like this: http://www.sju.edu/~tmoody/fuzzy.jpg But I hit pretty well with it; wouldn't want to trade it in at this point.

I'll keep looking for a 48* PW; it's odd that I haven't seen one in any of the shops, but maybe they sell out first.

__________________
Todd
Philadelphia, PA
USA

The reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can't see him laughing. ~Phyllis Diller

It's highly unlikely that you'll see a club with 48º stamped on it.

It most likely will have a 'P' or 'PW' stamped on it instead. The only way you'll know what loft it is is by getting it measured.

The only reason this is important is because PW can be anywhere from 45-49 degrees - so a 45 degree PW will be awfully close to your 9 iron, I imagine.


Another note on your mix 'n' match set of clubs - something that might make your consistency difficult is the amount of offset each club has. You may have some clubs with a ton, and some with none. That's going to affect your consistency. I haven't done any research on how much it affects ball flight, but I've seen lots of posts where lots of offset lead to hooks, and none lead to slices (depending on the golfer).

__________________
True Length Technology Fitter - www.truelengthtechnology.com
It's live! - www.ShipShapeClubs.com
PCS Class 'A' Clubfitter

A new highlight: Golfing the home course on Christmas Day.

I say it too often: If it's golf club shaped, you can play with it.

For the record, I'm a club doctor, not a swing doctor.

I just picked up a used 48* Mizuno PW at 2nd Swing Golf, for $16. It felt good to swing and I had no trouble whacking a few with it in the practice area.

As for offset...I'm not sure what that's all about. When you get a chance could you say a little more on that subject?

Offset is how much in front of the leading edge of the face the hosel is. Offset allows a split-second more time for the face to close.

Attached Images

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