Design wedge heads

[Reval14]

Why do wedge heads have a different design than the regular irons? All sets have a PW, so why don't they just build irons in the same set with higher lofts (I know some companies actually do)?

[iacas]

Why do wedge heads have a different design than the regular irons? All sets have a PW, so why don't they just build irons in the same set with higher lofts (I know some companies actually do)?

For starters, the soles are different. People do more with wedges than they do their 6-irons.

[jamo]

Golfers tend to make better contact with wedges because the shafts are shorter. You don't need the big cavity backs.

[PirateJim]

The Ping G20s I bought when I first took golf back up had a full set of wedges (PW, GW, SW, LW).  It wasn't long before I swapped out the lob wedge for one that was the same loft and nearly the same bounce, but with a different sole grind that was a bit more accommodating for different kinds of shots.  I really only used the PW, GW and SW for full swing shots like a 10, 11 and 12 iron.  But I wasn't getting as much flexibility as possible using the clubs that way.  While most people still make full swing shots sometimes with their various wedges, the real utility of a wedge is in partial swing finesse shots, and as noted above you really don't need the big cavity to help with forgiveness in most of these kind of shots.

Besides, it gives us golfers something else to tinker with.

[WUTiger]

I usually like the PW that comes with a set of irons, but the stock specialty wedges (G, S, L) often disappoint.

One of the good points on the new SLDRs: the stock AW (aka GW) is a really solid club.