Golf... A Pleasant Pastime

Golf is a lot of walking, broken up by disappointment and bad arithmetic.

Woods

Woods (also known as drivers) are long-distance clubs, meant to drive the ball a great distance down the fairway towards the hole. They generally have a large head and a long shaft for maximum club speed. Historically woods were made from real wood. In the late 1980's manufacturers started using metals (steel or titanium); even more recently manufactures have started using space age materials such as carbon fiber or scandium. Even though most 'woods' are made from different metals they are still called 'Woods' to denote the general shape and their intended use on the golf course.

Hybrids

Hybrids are a cross between a wood and an iron, giving these clubs the wood's long distance with the iron's familiar swing. These clubs generally are used instead of either fairway woods or low-numbered irons, though some manufacturers produce entire sets of hybrids or "iron replacements" that incorporate hybrid design to add distance and forgiveness to a player's entire set of irons from 3 or 4 all the way to pitching wedge. These clubs are often referred to as "Rescues" because the TaylorMade Rescue was one of the first clubs to utilize this design, as well as the use of the clubs to get one out of a tricky position (to be in fact rescued by the club).

Chipper

Chippers are technically supposed to be used when you are on the last 10 to 20 yards of the fairway, an often times more manicured or more closely mowed narrowing section of grass called the approach. Chippers are very similar to putters except the part where you hit the ball to raised to about a 45 degree angle

Irons

rons are golf clubs with a flat angled face and a shorter shaft than a wood, designed for shots approaching the green or from more difficult lies such as the rough, through or over trees, or the base of hills. As with woods, "irons" get their name because they were originally made from cast iron. High-loft irons are called wedges The higher the number gets on the scale the lower amount of angle diffrerence from 90 degrees.

Wedges

Wedges are irons with a higher loft than a 9-iron, which is typically lofted at about 44 degrees. Wedges are used for a variety of short-distance, high-altitude, high-accuracy shots such as hitting the ball onto the green ("approach" or "attack" shots), placing the ball accurately on the fairway for a better shot at the green ("lay-up" shots), or hitting the ball out of hazards or rough onto the green (chipping).

There are usually four types of wedges with lofts ranging from 48° to 60°: pitching wedge (PW - 48°), gap wedge (GW 52°), sand wedge (SW 56°), and lob wedge (LW - 60°). The pitching wedge is sometimes called or labeled as a 10 iron, and the gap wedge is often called an approach wedge and labeled with AW. Also present in some golfers' bags is the "chipper" or "chipping wedge" which is designed for low-speed swings to lift the ball a short distance (20-30 yards) onto the green. The club if used takes the place of a pitching wedge used with an abbreviated swing to accomplish the same end. Most chippers however have more in common with putter design than that of wedges.

 

Clubs

Woods

Irons

Wedges

64° is the most loft on a wedge per most association standards