History
Over time the loft angle on irons has been reduced for multiple reasons including improved designs and the desire to advertise longer ranges for clubs. This has affected long and short irons including the pitching wedge which is now pitched about the same as an 8-iron from the 1960s, generally about 48 degrees. However, sand wedges did not have the same reduction in loft, because their eponymous purpose requires 54-58 degrees of loft in order to lift the ball out of sand. It is now popular for golfers to carry a wedge in the 49-54 degree range to fill the gap; hence the term gap wedge.
Read more about this topic: Gap Wedge
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