What are the different types of golf wedges?
Lob golf wedge: 58-62 degree, 60 degree most common. Used for high, soft flop shots or short-range pitch shots.
Sand golf wedge: 54-56 degree, 56 degree most common. Usually has greater “bounce” to facilitate sand shots.
Gap golf wedge (GW): also called Attack Wedge (AW) or Utility Wedge (UW, by Ping). 50-52 degree, 52 degree most common. Used to fill in the yardage gap between the pitching wedge and sand wedge.
Pitching golf Wedge (PW): usually supplied with the iron set, the original PW was 50-51 degrees. As manufacturers made iron set lofts stronger, the PW slipped to 48 degrees and the Gap Wedge was introduced fill in the gap. Current PW has slipped further and now is lofted at 45-46 degrees and the gap is back. Usage these days is less as a wedge and more like a “10-iron”.