A remark to your central misunderstanding:
SmillerTim3: on the fairway after my second shot leaves me 39 yds out, so I have my Cleveland CG16 wedge out, max distance of 70yds. So I judge my distance to the halfway mark on the meter and hit it perfectly figuring it will fly 35 yds and roll the rest of the way, because that's what it used to do when I was using the upgraded balls. Nope, it chilly dips to only 25yds and rolls another 3
All wedges have a non-linear power-to-distance ratio which means that 50% power on the meter is always less in distance.
Furthermore, you have low level wedges (L7) which unfortunately do not show top performance. Therefore, they may operate irregular below a certain percentage.
For precision shots, you'd have to invest some time for a distance table over power.
The ball has an influence, too, but not so much to the distance but to other characteristics. Most important: meter speed and spin. For Starter balls, the former is high and the latter is low.
You might want to try some custom balls, e.g. the B-ES or the Tour-SD.