Choosing Wedges To Help You Play Better.....

During all of the snow of the past week, I went back and watched a number of Ralph Maltby (Golfworks) videos that I have. If you are looking for some easy to understand information on some of the key elements of clubfitting, these are excellent resources.

The one I was most interested in was "Learn All About Wedges." In it he discussed the evolution of wedge heads (here I am talking sand and lob wedges), how one measures bounce for a wedge, but most importantly the concept of "Effective Bounce." It was interesting to read again that a large majority of wedge heads on the market do not look substantially different than the original sand wedge designed by Gene Sarazen something like 50 years ago.

There are four variables that influence the "effective bounce" of a wedge head, these are.....

1. The normal bounce angle built into the wedge,

2. The width of the sole of the wedge,

3. The radius of the sole of the wedge, and

4. The sharpness of the leading edge of the wedge.

There are two primary reasons why, I believe, most mid to high handicap players should seriously consider playing wedges with high effective bounce (usually one with wider sole width):

1. To help players to more easily hit good sand shots, and

2. To eliminate one of the two ways a player can mishit a wedge. These two ways are hitting the shot fat and hitting it thin. With a wedge with high effective bounce, you can hit a shot fat but because of the bounce can still get good shot results. So you only have to be concerned about thin shots.

Look into, then, the option of non-standard wedge heads for the wedges in your bag. You can give your self the opportunity to save a number of shots around the greens and in the bunkers.

Tony

The SHORT and LONG of it....

The SHORT.... I received one of the best testimonials ever this weekend from Scott Masters, a local PGA professional - here it is....

"Tony,

Thanks so much for the help with the Tour Lock Pro putter weighting system. It has certainly made a difference in my putting.

After about a couple of weeks practicing with the system, I went 3-0 in a match play tournament and was named MVP of the team and the next week won the Knoxville PGA Chapter Championship. The system really works and I recommend it to any skill level to help putting.

Thanks again Tony"

The Tour Lock "Opti Vibe" putting weights - you locate a weight down the butt end of the putter shaft and vary the distance down the shaft to optimize the putter feel - are in the putters of at least 30 players on the Senior Tour, and are the real deal! You can truly vary the feel if a putter by varying the location of the Opti Vibe weight down the shaft. Scott came by the Centenial golf club this Saturday to have a second set of weights put into another putter.



And the LONG.... For months now I have been thinking of becoming an Alpha Golf dealer. They offer some terrific driver heads - one of which, the C830.2 Plasma, was the head used by players who took 2nd and 3rd place at the REMAX long drive championships a few weeks ago. This past week I bit the bullet and ordered some of the Alpha products....in particular the C830.2 head (well, ordered two of these so I could build one for me to "test") and some great fairway wood head that they offer. I look forward to offering these heads as a new option to customers.


And......................for the future....................there is Scratch Golf wedges (but more on them later!).


Tony

My Favorite Clubfitting Christmas Present...

My youngest son David (a bomber, about 115 mph swing speed who I am fitting for a new driver this weekend) bought me a wonderful new tool for my fitting business - a USB microscope. Many of my clubfitting friends are now using this to show their friends and customers how they can improve their wedge games by getting the right kinds of wedges in their bags.

The picture I show in this blog post is a USB microscope picture of the face of a Wishon PCF Micro wedge face. Notice how sharp the groove edges are and also notice the rough wedge face as the result of the CNC milling that has been done to the face. Wedges with these kinds of grooves and milled faces can help players to easily spin the ball and stop it quickly on short wedge shots - even from lies in the rough. One of my good friends has SMT Durometer wedges with these kinds of grooves and faces, and I have seen him stop 30 yard wedge shots from the rough with only a few feet of roll (again taking money out of my pocket by making par!).

I am looking forward to using this new tool a lot over the coming months to show golfers what some of the improvement opportunities are available for them by getting the right kinds of wedges in their bags. If you are at my Centenial golf fitting center some Saturday in the near future (or want to make an appointment) let me take a picture of your wedge faces and see if they look like the face shown above.

Happy New Year!

Tony