The heart of any scoring club is in its sole.

Do you have a fear of bunkers? Have you ever hit a wedge shot where the club just seemed to dig? Or bladed a shot from a tight lie because your wedge skipped into the belly of the ball? How about a delicate chip or pitch where the leading edge hung up in the grass? Well, take heart, because many of those misses weren’t all your fault.

The sole design and bounce determine how any wedge performs from various lies. Quite simply, “bounce” is the downward angle of the sole portion of a golf club from the leading edge to the rear of the sole. Its purpose is to deflect the club from the turf as the golf club moves through impact.

What we call "high bounce" wedges are great for soft turf, tall grass, deep rough and sand shots because the aggressive sole angle relative to the ground keeps the club from digging. You’re going to have shots in every round of golf where “bounce is your friend”. A low bounce wedge in these situations is just not the right solution.

But you’ll also face those shots that are sitting down tight, or on a hard-pan lie, where only a “low-bounce” wedge can give you the performance you need. A high bounce wedge here will cause the clubhead to bounce into the belly of the ball.

So, the problem with conventional wedges – regardless of the brand – is that in any round of golf, you will face nearly every lie imaginable, from fairway to rough, hardpan to bunkers. So the specialized-bounce wedge you chose in the store is going to handicap you at least some of the time on the course.