Quite simply, the loft is the angle between the ground and the club face. Together they help get the ball out of the sand, putting a bit of spin and control on the ball to help you leave it closer to the pin. The combination of higher loft and higher bounce is key for playing a sand wedge out of a bunker. This avoids the club digging into the sand and slowing the swing down. The bounce is designed to bounce back off the playing surface. The sand wedge has a more rounded sole of the club (with 10-14 degrees of bounce). One of the most important aspects of the sand wedge is not just the loft angle, but also the bounce on the club. And as the name suggests, it’s primarily designed to help you in the sand!
And although the sand wedge is used for full shots within a certain range, they are also your go to tool to escape out of a tricky spot, which is what it excels at. The higher the loft on the golf club, the higher the shots that can be hit. In most sets, the sand wedge will be the club with the highest loft, which makes it one of the most important clubs in the bag. However, depending on the manufacturer this could be a loft between 54 and 58 degrees.
A sand wedge will typically have 56 degrees of loft.
