Technically, the golf wedge is a type of iron. In older golf sets, wedges were often given numbers, to reflect their relation to ordinary irons, usually going up to an 11-iron. However, wedges are designed to a more specific brief. Instead of length, it's loft and accuracy which define the wedge.

There are four widely recognised types of wedge on the market; the pitching wedge, the sand wedge, the gap wedge and the lob wedge. They are distinguished from each other by the amount of loft they provide and the distance they cast the ball. We'll first give a few short overviews of the general types of wedge available, then discuss which are most beneficial to women's golf.

The Pitching Wedge

Wedges with a loft of 44-50 degrees are usually categorised as pitching wedges. This wedge is the most like an iron, and is usually marked with a "P" or a "W". This is a cross-over club, representing a blend of characteristics of both wedges and irons. This was often labeled a 10-iron in the past.

The Sand Wedge

A sand wedge has the ability to skim over the surface of sand (or slick grass and mud), instead of simply digging itself into it and squandering your swing's power. This ability is commonly called 'bounce', and while it's common to all clubs to some degree or other, it's one of the most important features of a sand wedge. The bounce allows you to strike golf balls quite cleanly from difficult positions, and it's created by angling the sole of the club up slightly. This lets the face of the club slide over a surface, rather than impact it head on. You'll find that the sand wedge is typically marked with an "S".

The Gap Wedge

As the development of the pitching wedge progressed, a chasm opened between it and the sand wedge. The gap wedge was the result; a wedge designed out of the necessity to fill the 'gap' which had arisen. Offering you 50-54 degrees of loft, the gap wedge can be marked "G", "A", "D", or "U", depending on the manufacturer.

The Lob Wedge

This wedge offers you the highest loft of these four types (although there are other fringe manufacturers which offer even steeper angles of ascent). The lob wedge can provide you with up to 68 degrees in some cases, but usually it will provide 60. You would most commonly use a lob wedge for close to green shots extending just 10-45 yards, or thereabouts.

You should go for a difference of about four degrees of loft between each of your clubs, and trust your own ability to take up any resulting slack between wedges. For example, if your ball has landed just under the lip of a bunker, the shot might require a near vertical loft to get it out. This doesn't mean you will have to resort to a club with a near vertical loft. Instead you should use your sand wedge to 'open the angle'; essentially positioning your body in a way which allows the club to dig under the ball - roughly so that the ball is closer to your left foot than your right, if you're right-handed - providing the extra loft necessary to scoop the ball over the lip of the bunker.

Ladies' Wedges

The differences between a man's wedge and a lady's wedge are generally quite subtle, particularly in terms of performance. A ladies' wedge will usually be a couple of inches shorter than the same club in a male golfer's bag. This compensates for the disparity between men and women's height. It makes the club more accurate and easier to hit too, but at the expense of a few yards. Since they're wedges however, this difference in stroke length is rendered virtually meaningless.

The shaft of a women's wedge is a little slimmer than the shaft of a man's; this is to allow a tighter grip and provide more control over the clubhead. This also makes the club lighter, since the club is made of less material, so you can increase your clubhead speed as it connects with the golf ball.

Since the purpose of the golf wedge is accuracy, not length, there really isn't much difference between men's and women's golf wedges. Any advantage that a man's club gains through the application of a little extra power is equaled by the lighter weight of the women's wedge.

There are differences in styling however. Cleveland have been pioneers of high-end female golf clubs for some time. As a theme, they apply long, subtle swathes of pink across the shafts and around the grips, and Cleveland's ranges of female golf wedges include soft pink inserts in the rear of the club heads, just as their irons do. As well as looking pretty good, Cleveland's wedges perform exceptionally well on the course, too.

Mizuno offer a professional a lady's golf wedge for similar money to Cleveland's. the performance is similar too, but the styling is not. Mizuno completely avoids the bold colours of Cleveland's wedges, opting instead for a metallic blue on the shaft and a non-glare, carbon steel clubhead.

If you're struggling to choose a wedge for your game, then it might be worth remembering a couple of fundamental points. First, most of the wedges on the market are very good at what they do; so it's very hard to make a drastically wrong choice. Second, while there are very worthy budget golf wedges available for women, such as the SkyMax Spin-Doctor, wedges tend to perform quite similarly. You have to be a very serious golfer indeed before the disparities between different manufacturers' wedges become noticeable. So again, you really can't go far wrong. The choice, in the end, comes down to styling, and your tastes and preferences.

We hope you found the information in this guide useful. If you have any further questions that are not covered here or in any other section of our buyer's guides, please don't hesitate to get in touch via our Contact Us page!