St Andrews Links Blog

How important is a wedge fitting?

Many golfers will get fitted for their driver and irons but the ‘scoring’ part of the bag is often forgotten – the wedge. We consider a proper wedge fitting to be just as important as the rest of the bag and with the wide variety of lofts, grinds and bounce available to golfers it’s crucial to make sure you have the correct set up for around the greens.

Here in the Custom Fit Centre at St Andrews Links Golf Academy we offer an  hour long wedge fit session aimed at helping the golfer get the correct set up for pitching, chipping and bunker play – areas of the game that are central to better scoring. We recently welcomed long time customer, Derek Cochrane, for this service as his wedge game was falling slightly short.

During the session we spent time in the practice bay as well as out on the short game practice area and noted that Derek’s striking was very inconsistent compared to his normally steady iron play. As a result, we started with looking at what grind might help him best achieve a consistent strike on the ball. Callaway offer 3 different grind options, S –Grind, C- Grind and W –Grind. After working with Derek we opted for the W-Grind which offers a wider sole designed to help achieve a better strike and also assist with turf interaction.

Once we’d decided on the most suitable grind we then began testing varying weight options. We fitted Derek with a counter balance weight in the butt end of the club to help with overall weighting and achieve more consistency. In terms of the shaft we ensured this was kept the same as his irons (recoil graphite) as this was what he felt most comfortable with.

We’re glad to report that since Derek’s fitting he’s reported that ball striking and most importantly scoring has improved! So if your wedge play has been falling short then perhaps it’s time to consider a fitting?

Find out more about our wedge fitting and other services on our website or by emailing customisation@standrews.com.

Words by Adam Legg, Customisation Specialist