What Club Do Pro Golfers Chip With?

Ever watch a pro stiff a chip an inch from the cup and wonder, What club did they just hit? The camera rarely shows it, but the answer is the secret to a great short game. This article will show you exactly what clubs the pros use for chipping and, more importantly, teach you their thought process so you can start choosing the right club for your own shots around the green.

The Pro's 'One-Club' Myth

First, let’s get one thing straight: there is no single, magical chipping club that pros use for every shot. While you might have a favorite go-to club, like a trusty 56-degree sand wedge, professional golfers think of their wedges and short irons as a toolkit. They don’t just have a hammer, they have a full set of tools and know precisely when to use a wrench, a screwdriver, or a sledgehammer. Their choice is 100% dependent on the situatieon they face.

The goal of any chip shot is simple: get the ball onto the green and rolling like a putt as quickly as possible. The club they choose is just the tool that achieves this outcome most predictably for a given lie and pin location. Learning to think like a pro means expanding your own toolkit beyond just one club and understanding the 'why' behind each choice.

Meet the Chipping Toolkit: The Three Main Players

For the vast majority of chips, a pro is going to be choosing between their primary wedges. Each one has a different loft, which directly influences how high the ball flies and how much it rolls out upon landing.

1. The Lob Wedge (LW: 58-62 degrees)

This is the highest-lofted club in a pro’s bag, and it’s a specialty tool used for specific situations. Because of its extreme loft, the lob wedge produces a shot that goes very high, lands very softly, and stops very quickly with minimal roll.

• When Pros Use It: A lob wedge is the choice when there’s very little green to work with between the edge of the green and the hole. Think of situations where the pin is "tucked" right behind a bunker or you're short-sided. They need the ball to get up fast and stop on a dime. It's also used for delicate shots from fluffy rough around the green where you need to get the club under the ball easily.
• How to Think About It: All carry, no roll. Choosing the lob wedge means prioritizing a soft landing over everything else. It's a high-risk, high-reward club, even a small mis-hit can lead to a chunked shot that goes nowhere or a bladed shot that flies over the green.

2. The Sand Wedge (SW: 54-56 degrees)

If a pro has a "standard" chipping club, the 56-degree sand wedge is it. It offers a perfect blend of loft for carry and enough rollout to be predictable. Its design often features a wider sole and more "bounce," which helps it glide through sand and thicker grass without digging into the ground.

• When Pros Use It: This is the workhorse. They use it for medium-length chip shots where they have a decent amount of green to work with. It's their go-to from light rough, fringe, and fairway lies. The flight is a bit lower than a lob wedge, and they can reliably predict about a 50/50 split between carry and roll. It's versatile enough to be played with different ball positions to produce slightly different shots.
• How to Think About It: The Jack-of-all-trades. When in doubt, the sand wedge is often a solid and safe play. It provides a good margin for error and gives a golfer the ability to get the ball rolling towards the hole without taking on the risk of a lob wedge.

3. The Gap or Pitching Wedge (GW/PW: 48-52 degrees)

When the shot calls for less air time and more ground time, pros reach for their gap wedge or pitching wedge. These clubs have less loft, which means the ball comes out lower, hits the green sooner, and rolls out much more than the higher-lofted wedges.

• When Pros Use It: When the pin is in the back of the green and there's plenty of green to work with. Why fly the ball all the way to a back pin when you can land it just a few feet onto the front of the green and let it release to the hole? This shot is much more consistent and less prone to error than a long-distance wedge shot. Pros use this for an extended "bump and run" style of shot.
• How to Think About It: This is a ground-game play. It turns a risky, long chip into a simple pitch that acts a lot like a long putt once it touches down. It's all about minimizing risk and increasing predictability.

Going Off-Menu: Chipping with Irons

Here’s where you can really start making smarter decisions and shaving strokes off your score. Tour pros are masters of the "bump and run," and they often use even lower-lofted clubs, like a 9-iron or even an 8-iron, for certain chips.

The 'Bump and Run' Technique

The idea is to take the most direct path to getting the ball on the green and acting like a putt. The lower the loft of the club, the less it will be affected by an inconsistent lie, and the truer it will roll. This is the ultimate low-risk shot.

• When Pros Use It: Whenever possible, frankly! Especially from a very tight, firm lie just off the fringe where the grass is cut very low. A wedge with a lot of bounce might skim off the firm ground and cause you to blade the shot. An iron, with its sharper leading edge, makes cleaner contact. They'll also use this when they have a long way to go across the green, especially if it's uphill.
• The Set-Up: A bump and run with an iron is played very differently.
  • Set up with a narrow stance, feet closer together.
  • Play the ball back in your stance, off your back foot's big toe.
  • Put about 60-70% of your weight on your front foot.
  • Use your putting grip and make a putting-style stroke - no wrist action. Just use your shoulders to rock the club back and through.
• How to Think About It: Putt whenever you can, chip when you have to. If the only thing between you and the green is a bit of smooth fringe, why introduce the risk of a high-lofted wedge? Chipping with an 8-iron essentially turns a chip into a putt with a tiny bit of initial lift.

The Professional's Mental Checklist for Club Selection

Choosing the right club isn’t a guess, it’s a calculation. Here is the process a pro goes through in the 30 seconds before they hit a chip shot. Start using this yourself, and you’ll see immediate improvement.

Step 1: Analyze the Lie

The ball's lie is the first and most important factor. Where and how the ball is sitting dictates everything.

• Fluffy Lie (in the rough): The ball is sitting up on top of the grass. A sand wedge or lob wedge with more bounce is ideal here. The club will slide under the ball instead of getting snagged.
• Tight Lie (on hardpan or thin grass): The ball is sitting down on firm ground. This is a very dangerous lie for a high-lofted wedge. The leading edge of an iron or pitching wedge is much safer.
• Normal Lie (in the fairway or fringe): You have all options available. Move to the next step.

Step 2: Survey the Journey

Look at the ground between your ball and the edge of the green. Do you need to carry the ball over a bunker, a sprinkler head, or rough terrain? If so, you need a club with enough loft to fly over the obstacle - a sand wedge or lob wedge.

Step 3: Choose Your Landing Spot

This is the step most amateurs skip. Do not look at the hole. Instead, pick the safest, flattest spot on the green where you want your ball to land. Your goal is simply to hit your chosen landing spot.

Step 4: Visualize the Rollout

From your landing spot, how will the ball behave? Is it uphill to the hole? If so, you’ll need more rollout (use a PW or 9-iron). Is the green sloping away from you and running fast? If so, you need minimal rollout (use a LW or SW).

Step 5: Pick the Club and Commit

Once you've done the math, you'll know the answer. A tight lie, an uphill green, and a back pin means bring out the 8-iron. A fluffy lie to a tucked pin over a bunker means it has to be the lob wedge. Now, all that’s left is to make a confident stroke with the club that the shot dictates.

Final Thoughts

Mastering the short game doesn't come from discovering one secret club. It comes from understanding that the answer to "what club do pros chip with?" is "whichever one the situation demands." By learning to assess your lie, picking a smart landing spot, and understanding how different lofts affect carry and roll, you can move from being a one-dimensional chipper to a versatile short-game strategist.

The key is replacing uncertainty with a clear plan. When you're standing over a tricky shot and indecision creeps in, having on-demand guidance can be a major confidence booster. This is where we designed our Caddie AI to help - you can take a picture of your ball's lie, tell the app the situation, and get an instant, expert recommendation on the best way to play the shot. By removing the guesswork, Caddie lets you fully commit to your choice and swing with the self-assurance of a pro.