The loft of a club affects the height and the distance of a golf shot. Clubs with higher lofts produce higher trajectories and are generally more accurate. Wedges are higher-lofted clubs designed to be used close to the green, within about 110 yards. Wedges might be the most important club in your bag, as the short game accounts for up to 70 percent of your shots, according to Golf Spyder.
Pitching Wedge
The classic pitching wedge was the first wedge to be included with a standard golf set. Once designed for strict use around the green, the pitching wedge is the strongest-lofted wedge and is generally used from about 100 to 120 yards. Pitching wedges come in lofts of about 45 to 49 degrees.
Sand Wedge
The sand wedge was designed by Gene Sarazen in the 1930s to be used from green-side bunkers. Sand wedges have higher lofts than pitching wedges, generally between 54 and 57 degrees. Sand wedges also have a great deal more bounce than other wedges, a feature that prevents the sole of the club from digging too far into the sand, according to Learn About Golf.
Lob Wedge
The lob wedge is the highest-lofted of all the wedges and is designed to get the ball up as quickly as possible, with a soft landing on the green. Lob wedges usually have lofts between 58 and 60 degrees, while some have even greater lofts. Lob wedges are versatile clubs that allow you to produce significant spin from the fairway, stop a ball close to the pin from a bunker and provide rescue from deep green-side rough.
Gap Wedge
The gap wedge is one of the newer clubs to find its way into golfers' bags, says Golf Spyder. A standard golf set increases in loft from about 4 degrees between clubs, which makes each subsequent club about 10 yards shorter. Because of the large gap in loft between the pitching wedge and sand wedge, golfers had a hard time executing shots between these two clubs. The gap wedge was created to fill this distance void, and generally has a loft between 49 and 54 yards.
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