Life without a dedicated sand iron

[NiftyNiblick]

At the age of 63, I have been enjoying some of my best ball striking in recent years. With a USGA index of 8.3 and a home course handicap of 8, I'm presently enjoying a period of playing over my head. Now I'm taking a few lessons on the clock matrix wedge system as espoused most famously by Dave Pelz. This requires more turf wedges and entails giving up something on which I've been dependent for fifty seasons of golf, the dedicated sand iron.

I have a collection of sand iron type wedges that are virtually turf useless, but with their very curved leading edges, are infinitely superior to the all purpose wedge in greenside bunkers. These include a Lovett Tour Standard, an NGC Condor, a Moe Norman Sandy, and even the infamous Alien wedge! If you don't use a dedicated sand iron like one of these, you perhaps don't realize how much less resistance that they meet in the sand as their curved leading edges part it as the hull of a boat parts water. A standard layed open turf-useable wedge feels like it's excavating a cavern in comparison, even though merely spashing a very shallow cushion of sand.

Thus, in addition to screwing around with this clock matrix system, I've got to learn sand play all over again. It wouldn't normally be prudent to mess with one's own game when playing well, but I'm retired without a hell of a lot else to do. Also, i enjoy the challenge of learning a new short game system with the wedge set, but I'm getting help with that while making the sand adjustments on my own. So far, distance control on bunker shots seems much more difficult. I can get the ball to pop out, but I feel as though I'm swinging much harder and the ball is not sailing out as far.

My custom turf wedges are 50-6, 55-8, 60-4°. Even layed open, none have a lot of bounce--I really don't like bounce from the turf--so I have to control depth of entry in the sand with my swing itself.

If it becomes necessary to return to my sand iron, I will probably have to give up my dedicated driving iron and develop confidence in my 4-wwod on tight driving holes.

Now, having gotten all that out of the way, I find the Miura wedges to perform very nicely on my club's turf. The biggest problem is not duplicating lengths with the longer swing of a weaker wedge and the shorter swing of a stronger one. Getting the matrix down is not as simple as it might seem. I think in the end, the clock matrix wedge distance system will not completely replace look and feel golf. It just gives you someplace to go when a look and feel stroke is just not coming to you under pressure.