sand wedge

A sand wedge, or sand iron, is a type of golf club, an open-faced wedge primarily designed for getting out of sand bunkers. It has the widest sole of any wedge, which provides the greatest amount of bounce, allowing the club head to glide through sand and avoid digging in. After Gene Sarazen had success in 1932 with a new club that he had invented for sand play, its popularity quickly grew. The club can be advantageous in other soft lies—such as thick rough, soggy ground, or mud—and is also used from firmer grass lies for lobs or chips. History Clubs with the loft of the sand wedge can be traced as far back as Young Tom Morris, who used a "rut iron" for play from troublesome lies. Such irons were, however, traditional in construction, without the wider, heavier sole featured on the modern sand wedge. Gene Sarazen began to win tournaments in 1932 with a new club he had invented that was specialized for sand play. He is hailed as the inventor of the sand wedge, though its history goes about 4 years further back than that. Spoon clubs offered varying degrees of loft and allowed players to scoop their ball out of sand traps and deep rough. As manufacturers became more and more innovative with club design, new types of wedges appeared. Some had concave faces, others featured deeply grooved faces, but not all of these designs conformed to USGA and R&A regulations, and many were banned. With the concave-faced wedge having been outlawed in 1931, Sarazen designed his sand wedge with a straight face. Another modification that he made was to add extra lead to the front edge of the club face, allowing it to cut through the sand more smoothly. After he won the 1932 British and U.S. Opens with the help of his new club, its popularity vastly grew. Design The modern sand wedge is often the heaviest iron in a player's bag, with most weighing nearly 16 oz (470 grams}. Traditionally it also had the highest loft at 56 degrees (55–56 being most common), although that distinction now goes to the lob wedge, which often has a loft of 60 degrees or more. It usually has one of the shortest shafts, between and , though in some sets the sand wedge has a longer shaft than the pitching wedge.