Behind the Wedge: Gene Sarazen
In the 1930's the legendary Gene Sarazen was winning golf tournaments with a new club he had invented, this club has become known as the 'sand wedge'. Prior to Sarazens invention however, an estimated three years earlier there was a club known as a 'Spoon', this offered different lofts and lie angles enableling players to scoop the ball out of sand traps. As the years went on club manufacturers became more innovative i the club design department and new wedges were appearing frequently. The early wedges had numerous different and interesting design styles, some with con-caved faces, deeply grooved faces, and more. However, these wedges were not conforming to the USGA or the R&A regulations for clubs. For instance the con-caved style design was banned from play in 1931, thus when Sarazen then designed a sand wedge with a straight face. He also modified the sand wedge more by adding extra lead to the leading edge of the club face, of course allowing it glide through sand more smoothly. After Gene Sarazen won the 1932 British Open & US Open, with the help of his new club of course, the sand wedges popularity quickly grew. And that is how the wedge was born.
Now you can find many different modifications of the 'wedge', there are pitching wedges (47 - 50 degrees of loft), gap wedges (51 - 53 degrees of loft), sand wedges (54 - 57 degrees of loft), and last but not least the lob wedge (58 - 62 degrees of loft).
Now you know more about the history of the wedge.
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