Improve Your Game With US Open just around the corner our expectation will be that the winner on Sunday evening will be -16 to -20 under par. You've all heard the old saying 'you Drive for show and putt for dough' and ultimately it will come down to who holes the most putts. One way we could all hole more putts is by hitting our shots closer to the flag. With this in mind I would like to ask you about the wedges that you carry in your set? Most of you are probably still carrying only a Pitching Wedge and Sand Wedge in your sets. This is fine but will certainly limit your shot selection when approaching the greens and ultimately your ability to get those shots close to the pin. Most Tour Pro’s are carrying 4 wedges in their bag. They will have a Pitching Wedge (45’) a Gap Wedge (50’), a Sand Wedge (54’,55’ or 56’) and a Lob Wedge (58’ or 60’). With a good player these 4 wedges are the scoring Clubs and if you are able to have a consistent strike with your wedges you should be able to get your ball close to the flag without having to adjust the length of your swing. If you only have 2 wedges then you will need to vary the length of your swing to adjust to different distances required. This can make distance control extremely tricky. In my opinion, EVERY member at Thurlestone should be carrying a lob wedge as there are so many shots at Thurlestone where a lob wedge will be needed. A prime example of this would on our first hole. Lots of you end up just short and left of the green and are left with a fairly short shot up and over a bunker to a narrow target. If you are playing this shot with a SW or PW then you are going to struggle to stop the ball on the green, and how many of you then end up in the rough behind the green? Those that do will also know that this is not an easy up and down especially with a SW or PW from a downslope and out of the rough. I’m afraid you will need that Lob Wedge again for this shot. If you don’t have one, again it will be tricky to stop the ball on the green and that bunker at the front of the green awaits!! Guess what Club you should be hitting out of that green side bunker?? Yes that 60’ Lob Wedge! If you would like to Demo one of these wedges and see the benefits for yourself or would like some more information about what wedges you should be carrying in your set please come in and see Glenn, Duncan or myself in the Proshop. We have an excellent range of wedges in stock from PING, Callaway and Mizuno with prices starting from £79.99. We can measure your current wedges and help you select the correct wedge to fit your current set. For those of you who do have a good selection of wedges in your bag, do you know how far each of your wedges go? If you don't, then you really should! You can resolve this very quickly and easily by visiting the practice ground which now has distance markers for 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 and 150 yards, or you can be even more exact by booking into the swing room to measure your distances which you can hire for £6 for 30 minutes. If you would like any help with your game, click here and get in touch. |