Blown away that a cheap gap wedge fixed my short game

I've been playing golf for about 6 years now, and I always carried a pitching wedge and a sand wedge. Last month I picked up a 52-degree gap wedge from a pawn shop for $25, just to fill the space in my bag. First round out, I hit a chip from 40 feet that stopped 2 feet from the pin, which never happens with my sand wedge because I always flop it too high. Turns out my sand wedge was 56 degrees, and that extra loft was why I kept leaving approach shots short. I'm curious if anyone else has had a similar moment with a club they thought was just a gimmick, or am I the last one to figure out gap wedges are worth carrying?

2 comments

2 Comments

robinl905d agoTop Commenter

Turns out my sand wedge was 56 degrees" is EXACTLY the kind of thing that makes me wonder how many other tools I have that are just slightly wrong for the job. It's like using a big wrench when a small one would fit better, you don't know until you finally grab the right one.

milam423d ago

Is that not the best feeling ever, when you finally figure out the thing that's been messing with your game the whole time? Same thing happened to me with my hybrid, I kept using my 5-iron for long fairway shots and always came up short. Picked up a 4-hybrid at a garage sale for like $15 and suddenly I'm carrying the green from 180 out, which my 5-iron could never do. It's wild how much of this game is just matching the right tool to the situation, you know? I bet half my bag could be swapped out for better stuff and I'd drop strokes instantly, but I'm too cheap to test all of it.