In the world of golf equipment, wedges are the most homogeneous club from manufacturer to manufacturer. While they have evolved, they still share a fair amount of DNA with Gene Sarazen’s OG sand wedge. A straighter leading edge here, a sole grind there, maybe a bit more weight at the top of the blade to lower the flight. Most wedges share a very similar template.
Tour Edge Exotics Wingman Wedges
The new Tour Edge Exotics Wingman wedges are trying to do something new. And when I say “new”, I mean they are looking to the past for inspiration, creating a wedge with a distinct design trait favored by some of the best golfers of all time.
Modern golfers are indoctrinated to dislike offset. From a young age, we’re told offset causes a hook. In reality, offset is, according to Tom Wishon, a means to help trajectory. “The more offset, the farther the head’s center of gravity is back from the shaft. And the farther the CG is back from the shaft, the higher the trajectory will be for any given loft on the face. In this case, more offset can help increase the height of the shot for golfers who have a difficult time getting the ball well up in the air to fly.”
But there is another school of thought: having offset in the short irons is the way to keep your hands ahead of the clubface at impact, helping to compress the ball and generate more spin.
For a long time, Japanese irons would come with reverse offset, with more in the short irons than the long irons. To the modern golfer, this looks ungainly and awkward but it was a way of keeping the hands in front of the clubface for a cleaner strike.