At least three wedges.
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Even many club golfers are carrying four wedges - a 60-degree lob wedge, 56-degree sand iron, 52-degree gap wedge and 48-degree pitching wedge.
Measure the distance
From 100 yards, it's a pitching wedge for most of us, though for golfers with a slower swing speed, it could well be 9- or even 8- iron.
I suggest you spend a little time this winter finding out just how far you hit each wedge and short iron in your bag, when you strike it solidly and precisely. Hit 10 balls with each club, measure out the average distance (the ball pitches) and keep a note of it. It's what the pros do, so leave nothing to chance.
Picking the right club
Once you know how far you hit each club with a smooth swing - and make a mental note how much further the ball travels when struck with your maximum power - you're halfway to improving your ability in the scoring zone.
Then it's a matter of considering what's in front of you: the ground conditions, the lie of the ball, the flag position and the slope of the green, and choosing the club with which you feel most comfortable and confident.
Balance is key
To play a smooth pitch, balance is so important.
For chipping around the green weight sometimes favours the front or back foot to get the correct elevation and ball trajectory, but from 100 yards back in the fairway your weight should be evenly balanced.
Ball in the centre of your stance - towards the right heel if you're looking to punch it into the wind - shoulders square and aiming just left of the target with the clubhead aimed at the flagstick on the other side of an imaginary railway track.
If your shoulders are aimed at the flagstick it will tend to close your alignment and, looking over your left shoulder, you will automatically try to compensate and pull the ball to the left.
This could be a key reason why we tend to pull our short shots and why John has a tendency to tug his pitches to the left. It's purely an alignment fault.
Use the clockface method
For pitching, imagine you are the centre of a clockface with your head at 12 and the ball at 6 o'clock.
This is a similar method to that used by Phil Golding, the Tour pro who won the French Open earlier in the year.
Golding has labels on his wedges which tell him how far he tends to hit the ball when the club reaches 9 o'clock in the backswing and 3 o'clock in the throughswing (halfswing) or 10 and one (three-quarter swing). Perhaps it's a tip we should all try.
Soft hands
Remember too, that grip pressure is a vital ingredient in pitching.
All short game shots - including 100-yard pitches should be made with what we call soft hands.
The tighter we grip the club the more tension is exerted. And tension leads to mishits.
Grip the club softly in the fingers and swing with a slow tempo. Your ball striking will improve.
Top of the flagstick
It's not rocket science to discover that 90 per-cent of pitchmarks on a green occur on the front edge of the putting surface.
We tend not to trust our distance control to throw the ball all the way to the flagstick.
Pros, however, imagine their shots landing on top of the flagstick. Okay, they can exert more backspin but if the rest of us considered this approach we would be much more positive about our pitching.
