Binks Forest Golf Club

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Golfers carry up to 14 clubs in their bag, each of which is designed to hit the ball a different distance. All clubs have some degree of loft, which is the slant of the club face.

That loft helps the golfer get the ball airborne. Some clubs have less loft, allowing the player to hit the ball farther. Other clubs are more lofted for shorter, high shots. Clubs are also different lengths and have different design features–each with its own purpose.

Woods

Woods are designed primarily for distance. The woods are so-named because the heads were originally carved from a block of wood–beech, ash, maple and persimmon. Today, the club heads are made of titanium, steel and alloys; a golfer who wants a wooden wood must have it specially made by a club maker.

Professional golfers can hit the ball in excess of 300 yards with woods.The head of a wood is rounded or oblong, and the bottom, or sole, is broad. The wood designed to hit the ball the farthest is the driver, which also has the least amount of loft and the longest shaft. Fairway woods can include the 3 wood, 5 wood and 7 wood. The lower-numbered clubs have less loft and hit the ball farther.

Irons

The irons are intended for shots where accuracy is the main consideration. The club heads are made of forged iron, steel or titanium and are thinner than the woods. These clubs are numbered one through nine and also include the wedges, which are the most lofted of the irons.

The irons decrease in shaft length in half-inch increments and increase in loft as the number of the iron gets higher. Because of the lower loft, even experienced golfers have trouble hitting accurate shots with the 1 and 2 irons, and standard sets of clubs do not include them.

The skill of the golfer determines how far he can hit his irons. A beginner might hit a 9 iron 80 yards, while a professional would hit the same club 150 yards or more.

Wedges

The wedges have the most degrees of loft for short, high shots than land on the green and stop quickly. They include, in ascending order of loft: pitching, gap, sand and lob.

The pitching wedge is standard with a set of clubs. If the irons were to continue their numbering system, the pitching wedge would be a 10 iron and the gap wedge would be an 11 iron.

The sand wedge, invented by professional golfer Gene Sarazen in 1931, is specifically designed to hit out of sandy areas called bunkers, but can also be used for a shot off the fairway or out of the higher grass.

Sand wedges have shorter shafts and a design feature called “bounce”–a slant of the sole, or bottom, of the club–which allows the club to glide through the sand rather than dig into it. The lob wedge has the most loft, allowing the golfer it hit high shots over obstacles.

Putters

The putter is the club golfers use the most during a round of golf. It has a straight or nearly straight face for rolling the ball on the green. The blades come in a wide array of shapes and sizes, such as mallet-type putter heads and flat blades.  Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes considered part of the irons in a bag, golf wedges are known as “scoring clubs.”

They are the clubs that dominate the short game, and shave strokes off of your score from 100 yards and in. The wedges can differ slightly in design and loft, but the purposes remain the same.

Pitching Wedge

Often considered the baby brother of the 9 iron, the pitching wedge usually features a loft around 48 degrees and is used for most amateurs for a shot from 90 to 140 yards.

Sand Wedge

An essential for most beginners, the sand wedge usually features a loft around 52 degrees, and is used for sand shots and distances of around 50 to 90 yards.

56 Degree

The 56 degree lob wedge is a club that most beginners will not have in their bags. It is used for shots just inside of sand wedge range, from 30 to 50 yards.

60 Degree

The 60 degree lob wedge, or loft wedge, is used much like the 56 degree variation. It can be helpful in short shots just off of the green.

64 Degree

The 64 degree, usually the most lofted club in a golf bag, is used for very high shots, sometimes over trees. These shots are designed for accuracy as they provide the least amount of spin or roll.

Gap Wedge

The gap wedge, sometimes an alternate or substitute of the pitching wedge, is more of an actual wedge than the pitching wedge. It is usually lofted around 48 degrees, and is used for shots around 70 to 120 yards.

Hybrid Wedge

The hybrid wedge is often used by female golfers, and older and younger golfers. It is equipped with a larger club head and allows weaker swingers to hit the ball farther.

The shaft of a golf club is perhaps its most integral component. The shaft consists of the long tube-like structure that connects the grip to the club head.

Most shafts are made from graphite or steel, which goes a long way toward determining the specifications of the shaft.

The shaft’s length, weight, flexibility and torque all serve to determine its stability during the golf swing. As such, different swings require different specifications of shafts.

History

For much of golf’s history, shafts were constructed from wood, mainly hickory. Because wood from different trees tends to yield varying degrees of quality, it was often difficult to put together sets of any shaft consistency.

This began to change in the 20th century when steel was introduced into club manufacturing.

With the advent of steel, hickory shafts quickly became extinct and it became easier for manufacturers to create consistent specifications of shafts. In the 1980s, graphite (a steel composite) began to gain in popularity, but its only main advantage was in lighter swing weights–there were still more inconsistencies than in steel.

By the end of the 20th century, technology in graphite shafts had become so strong that it had nearly matched steel shafts in terms of consistency and stability, but with lighter swing weight.

Length

Shaft length is the first, most notable specification, as it serves mainly to determining the length of the club. The length of the club should basically be determined by the height of the player. The taller the player, the longer the club should be.

Another important factor of the shaft’s length is that it serves to determine or alter the other specifications of the shaft, most notably its flexibility. In this regard, the longer the shaft, the more flexible it will be.

Flexibility

The shaft’s flexibility refers to its propensity to bend during a swing. A lighter or longer shaft tends to bend more violently during a swing. Shafts are generally rated by flexibility into several categories: light, medium, stiff or extra stiff.

Sometimes a highly flexible shaft is not rated as light, but might be rated as “senior” or “ladies” flex. Generally, the faster a player swings the club, the stiffer the flex shaft should be. Read the rest of this entry »

Using the right golf club is essential in getting the ball to the hole. Every golfer should be equipped with a driver, irons, woods, wedge and putter. They all have their specific purposes for the ball and it is important to know when to use them. If a golfer uses the incorrect club, a golfer may not to achieve the score she wants.

Drivers

Drivers are only used to tee off on the hole. They are used for no other purposes other than to tee off.

Woods

Not to be confused with a driver, a wood is designed to hit the ball a long distance toward the hole. They have a fat head but not as big as a driver.

Irons

An iron is used when the golfer hits the approaching shot to the green. They are often flat-faced, designed to hit the ball out of rough patches of grass.

Wedges

Wedges are used to shoot a high projectile shot, particularly if the ball is in a sand trap or the hole is on a hill.

Putters

Putters are used to putt the ball into the hole when the ball is on the green. They are specifically designed to roll the ball across the green.

Hybrids

A hybrid is a cross between a wood and an iron. It is made of iron and has the head of a wood.

Wedges are among the easiest and most difficult clubs to hit in golf. Picking the right wedge for you and for the situation are essential to hitting the club successfully.

With three main types of wedges to chose from and variations of each of these, picking the right kind of wedge can be difficult.

1. Pick the right length, making sure the wedge is addressing the ball when your arms are extended and your head is over the ball. Be sure that you can make a comfortable swing and the ball is not to close or too far.

2. Determine the club head for you. Certain wedge club heads are filled in at the bottom, to allow for less bounce and a cleaner shot. These are for more skilled golfers.

3. Consider that wedges with carved out bottoms allow for greater give at the bottom of your swing. This means that you can miss your mark but still make solid contact on the ball. They will not produce the same kind of accuracy or spin as clubs with full heads, however.

4. Use a pitching wedge should be used for a player wishing to hit a farther shot with more bounce and less spin. The pitching wedge is harder to hit from the sand or rough.

5. Consider a sand wedge should be used for the player hitting shorter shots, or shots from the sand. By taking a full swing with the sand wedge, decide if you can control this club with length or accuracy.

6. Move on to the more specialized lob wedge for shorter shots. If you can master the full swing and the chip shot with the lob wedge, you can use the other wedges for normal purposes.

Golf is a fun game to play but almost an impossible one to master. There are many clubs in a golfer’s bag, but when is the right time to use each one? Selecting the right golf club at the right time could mean the difference between you making par or double boggy-ing, winning or losing your friendly wagers, or making a tournament’s cut.

Each club is marked with a number: The higher the number, the shorter the ball will travel when struck. Understanding when to use each of those golf clubs is probably the hardest part of any golfer’s game.

1. Go to a driving range and use each of the clubs in your bag. You will need to note how far you are able to hit the ball with each club, as well as which clubs you feel the most comfortable using.

2. Tee off. This is the first shot you take at the beginning of each hole. Usually you would use your driver as it is the fastest club head in your bag and the one that should make the ball travel the farthest. However, not every hole is far enough for you to use your driver, so make a note of the distance to the hole before teeing off.

3. Select one of your irons to hit the ball after teeing off. The seven iron is the most common club to use for the in-between shots. If you cannot identify which club is right for this situation, feel safe to hit with the seven iron.

4. Take a shot just off of the green by hitting one of your wedges. These are the shortest clubs in the bag and have the most open-faced heads. If you are in a sand trap you will need to use the sand wedge. Otherwise the putting wedge is the correct club to choose.

5. Use the putter when your ball has made it on the green. This is the short club with the flat face, which is used for direct shots. How hard you swing it is all that affects where the ball goes.