On this planet of golf tools, wedges are probably the most homogeneous membership from producer to producer. Whereas they’ve developed, they nonetheless share a good quantity of DNA with Gene Sarazen’s OG sand wedge. A straighter vanguard right here, a sole grind there, possibly a bit extra weight on the prime of the blade to decrease the flight. Most wedges share a really comparable template.
Tour Edge Exotics Wingman Wedges
The brand new Tour Edge Exotics Wingman wedges try to do one thing new. And once I say “new”, I imply they want to the previous for inspiration, making a wedge with a definite design trait favored by a number of the greatest golfers of all time.
Trendy golfers are indoctrinated to dislike offset. From a younger age, we’re instructed offset causes a hook. In actuality, offset is, in keeping with Tom Wishon, a way to assist trajectory. “The extra offset, the farther the top’s heart of gravity is again from the shaft. And the farther the CG is again from the shaft, the upper the trajectory will probably be for any given loft on the face. On this case, extra offset might help enhance the peak of the shot for golfers who’ve a tough time getting the ball properly up within the air to fly.”
However there’s one other faculty of thought: having offset within the brief irons is the best way to maintain your palms forward of the clubface at influence, serving to to compress the ball and generate extra spin.
For a very long time, Japanese irons would include reverse offset, with extra within the brief irons than the lengthy irons. To the fashionable golfer, this seems to be ungainly and awkward but it surely was a method of preserving the palms in entrance of the clubface for a cleaner strike.
Working with Berhnard Langer
Tour Edge has developed the Exotics Wingman Wedge with the assistance of Bernhard Langer, recognized for his pickiness with regards to golf golf equipment. His golf bag is a hodgepodge of random golf equipment however in the very best method. Every membership is there as a result of it’s the greatest for that individual job. Along with his wedges, he wished that offset look he’d all the time cherished.
“I’m all the time on the lookout for a solid wedge with the correct amount of offset and ultimately began to ask the R&D crew at Tour Edge what they thought they may provide you with,” mentioned Langer. “What got here again has astounded me with its efficiency. I put one prototype proper into play the week I examined it as a result of I might simply inform that the design was simply plain simpler to hit and much more constant than my different wedges.”
Wingman Wedge Offset
The Wingman wedge has a three-millimeter fixed offset. To place that into perspective, t a PING Glide 4.0 52 wedge has an 0.8 mm offset, a 60-degree lob wedge is down to only 0.7 mm. To actually ram the message house simply how a lot offset these golf equipment have, it’s greater than a TaylorMade P790 6-iron, which has 2.9 mm offset!
However sufficient in regards to the distinctive look. The Wingman wedge is extra than simply an offset quantity. The cast head options deep undercut pockets containing VIBRCOR TPU which helps dampen the sound and will increase the MOI of the wedge for higher forgiveness.
It additionally allowed the designers to make the strike space 10-percent bigger than a standard wedge to assist support versatility and creativity. A five-gram weight within the heart of the wedge might be adjusted for customized builds and fine-tuning swing weight.
A ‘Winged’ weight pad on the toe creates the next heart of gravity for decrease launch and better spin. It will get thicker because the loft will get increased to keep up ideally suited spin charges. In keeping with Tour Edge, it slows the speed of rotation and retains the clubface barely open at influence which they are saying is preferable for pitch and lob pictures.
Triple-Traction Face know-how makes use of three milled areas on the face: milled grooves, milled micro-grooves in between the scoring traces and milled toe traces. They’ve thrown all of the milling they will at making these wedges spin.
Lastly, the wedges can be found in three milled grind choices. The F/S stands for agency/sweeping and, at 6°/8° bounce, is the bottom bounce choice. M/N or Mid Impartial is the mid-bounce choice at 10° in the course of the bell curve. The S/D grind stands for Mushy/Digger and is ideal for delicate floor or a steeper assault angle, with its 12°/14°.
Inventory shafts for the Tour Edge Exotics Wingman Wedges are the True Mood Dynamic Gold 115 wedge shaft.
This Tour Edge Wingman Wedge makes the right “wingman” to their Wingman putters. They could by no means be the preferred wedge in the marketplace. However kudos to David Glod and his crew at Tour Edge. Whilst you can argue there’s little or no that’s new in membership design, relatively than “revisited” and “refined”, Tour Edge are zagging with this wedge when everybody else is zigging. That is the way you get folks, who could not have earlier than, to strive your product and possibly construct a distinct segment different producers aren’t catering to.
The Tour Edge Wingman will probably be out there on October 2nd, with a retail value of $140.
