A Lob Wedge Addict
Hello. My name is Matt, and I’m a lob wedge addict. I’m here to share my story, the things I’ve learned in almost twenty years of addiction, and how I’m playing better, smarter golf now.
How It Started
I started playing golf seriously around 2003. I was a wide-eyed, uninformed viewer in the era of peak Tiger and Phil. Which is to say, I never stood a chance. When I put together my first set of golf clubs, a 60 degree wedge was a requirement.
Going to the short game area, I was only carrying one club. Every shot called for the lob wedge. Chip shot? Lob wedge. Flop shot? Lob wedge. Bunker shot? Lob wedge. Bump and run? Lob wedge. The results were spotty, but the club was never blamed. I was a new golfer – my expectations were low and any failures could be laid at the feet of my inexperience.
The Golden Era
The excuse of being a “new golfer” lasted for the duration of my college years. I didn’t play that often, so it was easy to blame my shaky short game on a lack of practice. I wasn’t a lob wedge addict at this point, just awash in ignorance.
What transformed me into a full blown lob wedge addict was the three year stretch after college – my Golden Era of golf. I lived near a course and had a work schedule that allowed me to play virtually every day that the weather would allow. And I loved the short game. I didn’t go on the course every day, but I would spend hours chipping and pitching. With only my lob wedge, of course.
The stupidity of my approach was overwhelmed by the number of hours I put in. My short game became exceptional. I stamped each new lob wedge “Otis” – up and down, just like an elevator. My other wedges were little more than ornaments in my bag. Despite ball striking that could generously be described as “hit and miss,” I routinely shot in the low 70s. It’s the best and worst thing that ever happened to my game.
The Darkness
Here’s a math problem for you:
What do you get when you take an ill-informed approach and subtract all the hours of practice?
Answer: Bad results.
As my life changed, no longer allowing for hours of short game practice, my scores exploded. This isn’t an unusual story, and I wouldn’t trade my current life for my old handicap.
The problem was that the dramatic change in my practice habits masked the lessons I should have been learning along the way. Every time that I played, I reached exclusively for the lob wedge. When it worked, it was validation of my strategy. When it failed, I blamed it on my lack of practice rather than seeing that other variables were in play. My lob wedge addiction had blinded me.
Seeing the Forest, Missing the Trees
I can’t put an exact date on it, but there was a point where I started to see a little pinprick of light.
My commitments outside of golf were growing, so my practice time continued shrinking. My short game continued to deteriorate. It was rare that I got through a round of golf without an embarrassing mishap around the green – stuffing the wedge into the turf or blading a shot across the green.
I decided on a solution as extreme as my current, failing approach: putt almost everything. Regardless of how far off the green I was or what the conditions were, I was putting. I wasn’t putting out of the rough, of course, but after years of being burned by the boom-or-bust lob wedge, I settled into the no-risk approach of relying on the Texas wedge.
While I didn’t have my arms around the solution yet, at least I was admitting that there was a problem.
Epiphany
99% of the time, testing golf clubs is not helpful for my game, but every now and then it opens my eyes to something important.
This past summer, I was testing a lot of short game clubs. In a situation where I would normally grab my putter without thinking twice, I started hitting some of these test clubs. The results were outstanding. “Huh.” I grabbed my pitching wedge and started replicating those results. I changed the situation, and the pitching wedge continued to shine. “Where has this been hiding all these years?” I wondered, as I started exploring the other unused clubs in my bag.
A Grown Up Short Game
After over twenty years of golf, I’m finally playing with a mature short game approach. I’m using all of the tools in my bag – putter, lob wedge, pitching wedge, even the occasional long iron – and all of the shots I know – chips, pitches, putts, flops.
When I approach a short game shot, I’m considering the distance to the hole, the situation, and, perhaps most importantly, where my game is at. If it’s my first round in two weeks, I’m probably playing the lowest risk option. When my game is feeling great, I’ll let the lob wedge off its leash.
I’m laughing as I write this, thinking about the response of my 24 year old self. “You old bastard, you’re just jealous.” Yes, I’m jealous of the unlimited free time you had. And I’m simultaneously gobsmacked at the stupidity of how you played this game. My brain and your schedule would have been a hell of a combination.
The Bigger Picture
This lesson goes well beyond the short game. Don’t be held hostage by your current beliefs. Try lots of stuff. Try stuff that you tried before that “didn’t work” – it’s possible you weren’t letting it. Don’t let pride get in your way. You don’t have to do things because they work for other people, but if something works for a lot of people, it probably has some merit.
In life and in golf, you should never be done learning, growing, and evolving.
He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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15 Comments
One of the best article i read in quite some time. Great job.
Thanks!
That was fun read. I’m early in my golfing hobby. Definitely putting wisdom of others to work. 57 is the highest loft in my bag and I need to have a VERY good reason to not use my 50 degree or 53 (you got me on the Edison bandwagon too). Love using my PW or 9 iron on up hill chips and pitches. I see way too many experienced golfers flubbing their lob wedges.
Matt, enjoyed the article. For me and probably many others, you could also add #1 through #4 irons, and 3 woods that are no longer our “go to” clubs, or “implements of destruction” we even carry anymore! Keep up the good work! Cheers.
So I love my love wedge too. 40,50,60 yard shots. Perfect. About 5 years ago I got the chipping yips. Bad. I don’t throw clubs but I wanted to. It still happens. I have a 26 degree Adams pro black hybrid that replaces my 5 iron. I learned to chip with it. Is the most worn out
club in my bag. Such a boring short game but it works.
Nice article Mat ! Tiger and Phil certainly did a job on many of us trying to copy their games.
Great article Matt!
My own Lob wedge addiction began in the early 90s with Dave Pelz’s articles and Tom Kite’s using one. As recently as 3-years ago, I used a 58* wedge for more than 40% of my shots around the green! After I started using Shot Scope and looking at my own statistics I realized that my proximity was MUCH better with a putter, hybrid and chipper than with my 58*. Some of my best short game shots happened when I realized that facing an uphill lie, my UW would be a better choice….which turned out to be the right call. Learning to use a 9i or PW for a 30+ yard bunker shot was an eye opener.
My most lofted wedge for 2025 will be a 56* or 57* and I’m practicing a chip and run with a PW!
Great article , I was obsessed with the flop shot with my Vokey 60 for years , when it worked it was impressive but with age and much less practice there were disastrous results. Today the flop is an absolute “ break glass “ emergency shot. I’ll chip with a 5 wood or 9 iron , the end result is always better.
Great article and reflections. Thank you so much for the advice and encouragement.
-another recovering lob wedge addict
A great article Matt on how we can to be too fixated on a given club. Thanks for reminding us to look beyond the familiar to learn what other shots are in the bag so to speak…
Entertaining read from an avid golfer, I am still trying to decide on a 54’ wedge as a Christmas idea for my wife, need cavity back with help for accuracy
Have a great Thanksgiving
I’m glad I never really got hooked on the lob wedge. I haven’t had one in the bag for any extended time for years. Granted, a big part of why is testing clubs at the other end of the bag, but when I do have it, the results are hit or miss.
The yips forced me to take the lob wedge out of the bag. I’m currently in the “putt everything you possibly can” boat. Putted one the other day from about 60 yards off the green. The 56 doesn’t seem much better than the lob wedge with regard to the yips. When your brain is broken it doesn’t really matter what club is in your hands. I’m legitimately more confident I’ll hit the green taking a full swing from 150 than trying to chip from 5 yards off the green. It’s a really hard way to try to enjoy golf.
An Interesting / semi related thought:
At my older grandson’s fitting (he’s very tall, so needed fitted), I was talking to the Pro. What was interesting is my 40 yo clubs, my 9i is 46°, my PW is 50°, SW is 55-56. There is no Lob (I had one for a while before the Groove Rule of 2010). I was saying how the 50 is my most important (AKA “MAGIC” from all the hole-outs it’s logged) wedge; and that I don’t know that a 60 is of any use to me. The pro pointed out that younger / current tour player and teacher now, teach “1 swing” but vary the wedge/club; where as we (grew up in 80s) learned the 1 wedge, and to vary the swing/length for a given shot. I ended up thinking I was really in between; because I do both but with perhaps fewer clubs than a “modern” approach. Having several “set points” I use for the partial swings, and then vary club for various distances between swing points.
I hope to update my 40 yr old 1982 vintage Wilson 1200LT irons (soon?) , and when I do, even w/o considering the loft changes; adding a wedge or 3 is looking “probable” even and Lob might end up back in the bag. Flop Shots? not sure on that yet.
Anyway – glad you’re recovering. 50°W addict out.
Excellent!!!