A lob wedge, also known as a lofted wedge or a L-Wedge is a wedge

Wedge (golf)

In the sport of golf, a wedge is a subset of the iron family of golf clubs designed for special use situations. Wedges are designed with modified soles designed to aid in shots through the rough or sand. Wedges have the greatest loft of all of the golf clubs, enabling the ability to produce spin...

 used in the sport of golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

, known for being one of the shortest-hitting clubs and providing the most loft on a shot. Lob wedges are used to produce shots with a very high arc, and are most often used for shots over hazards and other obstructions. Due to the high arc of the shot the lob wedge, like the other wedges in the set of irons, produces little roll after landing on the putting green and can even be used to produce backspin

Backspin

In racquet sports, backspin , is a shot such that the ball rotates backwards after it is hit. The trajectory of the shot involves an upward force that lifts the ball...

 if necessary. Lob wedges are one of the newest additions to the modern collection of golf clubs and, along with the sand wedge and gap wedge

Gap wedge

A gap wedge, also known as an approach wedge, is a wedge used to hit a shot with higher and shorter trajectory than a pitching wedge and lower and longer trajectory than a sand wedge...

, were not included prior to 1931.

Design

Lob wedges are part of the iron family of golf clubs and are designed for short, high arc shots. Lob wedges and ultra lob wedges are designed with the shortest shafts and the highest loft of all golf clubs. Regular lob wedges may come in a variety of lofts, usually starting around 56 degrees and approaching 60. While those above 60 degrees are rare, often up to 64 degrees, they do exist and are referred to as "x-wedges", extreme lob wedges or ultra lob wedges. Other differences between the lob wedge and the rest of the wedge family include the less pronounced flange on the sole allowing the club to slide under the ball more easily and less degrees of bounce

Bounce (golf)

In golf, Bounce, or bounce angle, is a term used to describe the angle inscribed by the leading edge of a golfing iron , the sole of the club, and the ground. In plainer terms, bounce angle is an indication of how much the sole, or bottom-most part, of the club head lifts the leading edge...

 (often between 0–10 degrees). The low bounce was designed out of the necessity of professionals who found that the higher bounce sand wedge was making it difficult to produce the spin they desired, especially out of tight lies

Ultra lob wedge

An ultra lob wedge is used to hit a shot with higher and shorter trajectory than a standard lob wedge. This club is labeled "UL" and has a loft of about 64° and has the highest loft of any golf club. It is used for specialized, extremely high-angle shots such as from the "lip" of a bunker. This wedge is generally made by speciality companies and some argue that their purpose is redundant, as other wedges can be "opened" for extra loft in situations calling for such a high launch angle. Furthermore, to get consistent results, this club requires skill - in particular, distance judgement is always key with such a lofted club. It can be noted that different lengths of swing will often yield a similar distance but with varying trajectories and thus roll (on the green).

Usage

Lob wedges can be used for a variety of shots including pitch and runs and pitching over an obstacle, particularly shots requiring a very high arc, a large amount of backspin or both. Pitching over an obstacle is used in situations where a hazard of some sort, usually a water hazard, bunker or tree, is located in the line of the shot between the ball's current location and the target (often on the putting green). By utilizing a lob wedge for these short shots, the ball is carried much higher in the air than with a standard iron causing significantly less roll on the landing surface. This is most often important for short shots into difficult pin placements.. Before the invention of the lob wedge, or to create a shot similar to the lob wedge, the golfer was required to perform the shot with a sand wedge or pitching wedge and to modify the shot by cutting across the ball making a glancing blow, a much riskier shot.

History

Traditional sets of golf irons did not always include the lob wedge. Before 1931, golfers used a single wedge, known as a "jigger", similar to the modern day pitching wedge. After 1931, additional wedges entered the golf bag starting with the sand wedge. The lob wedge was first envisioned by Dave Pelz

Dave Pelz

Dave Pelz is a United States golf coach, known for his expertise and published writing on the art of the short game, particularly putting.Pelz's Short Game Bible was a New York Times “national best-seller” in 1999. Pelz was named by Golf Digest magazine as one of the 25 most influential instructors...

, a former physicist for NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

, who recognized the need for higher loft wedges (at the time 60 degrees) due to the increasing complexity of the putting greens being designed at the time. This concept was taken up by the professional golfer Tom Kite

Tom Kite

Thomas Oliver Kite, Jr. is an American professional golfer and golf course architect. He spent 175 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1989 and 1994....

, who began using the lob wedge professionally on tour spurring other professionals to follow his lead. The mainstream lob wedge was invented by Karsten Solheim

Karsten Solheim

Karsten Solheim was a Norwegian-born American golf club designer and businessman. He founded Karsten Manufacturing, a leading golf club maker better known by its brand name of PING, and the Solheim Cup, the premier international team competition in women's golf.-Early life:Solheim was born in...

, the founder of the PING

Ping (golf)

PING is an American brand of high-quality golf equipment, as well as one of the largest of the remaining American manufacturers of golf clubs, based in Phoenix, Arizona, founded by Karsten Solheim, who was an engineer at the General Electric company. In 1959, he started making his own putters in...

 line of golf products, possibly after experimenting by gluing

Adhesive

An adhesive, or glue, is a mixture in a liquid or semi-liquid state that adheres or bonds items together. Adhesives may come from either natural or synthetic sources. The types of materials that can be bonded are vast but they are especially useful for bonding thin materials...

 a potato chip

Potato chip

Potato chips are thin slices of potato that are deep fried...

to a straw. Solheim was also responsible for naming the club the "L Wedge" or the "Lob Wedge" as it is currently known today.