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Wyndham Clark’s unique reason for using two different bent 59-degree wedges

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Written by GolfWRX

It’s not uncommon for PGA TOUR players to travel with multiple lob wedges that have different bounces. Since weather and grass conditions change from week to week, and sometimes even day to day, many players keep a low bounce option around for firmer conditions, and a higher bounce option for softer conditions.

Wyndham Clark – defending champion at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am – also travels with two wedges, but he achieves different bounce properties on them differently than most.

Instead of using different grinds or bounce offerings entirely, he uses one 60-degree A-grind wedge bent to 59 degrees and one 58-degree A-grind wedge bent to 59 degrees. That means he travels every week with two 59-degree Titleist Vokey wedges, but both have the A-grind Clark prefers. The unique technique saw Clark rank 15th on TOUR last season from Scrambling from 10-20 yards and 30th Scrambling from inside 10 yards.

On Tuesday at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Vokey wedge rep Aaron Dill weighed in on why Clark decides to use both a 58-degree wedge and a 60-degree wedge that are bent to 59 degrees, at a venue where scrambling is so important due to golfers taking on the smallest greens on TOUR, averaging 3,500 square feet.

According to Dill, for each degree that a wedge is bent strong, or weak, the bounce of the wedge will also change by one degree. If a wedge is bent one degree stronger, then it will decrease the bounce by one degree. On the flip side, if a wedge is bent one degree weaker, it increases the bounce of the wedge by one degree. Bounce and loft are a 1-to-1 ratio in this scenario.


A look at Wyndham Clark's Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks 60-degree wedge bent to 59 degrees. (GolfWRX)

A look at Wyndham Clark's Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks 60-degree wedge bent to 59 degrees. (GolfWRX)

A look at Wyndham Clark's Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks 58-degree wedge bent to 59 degrees. (GolfWRX)

A look at Wyndham Clark's Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks 58-degree wedge bent to 59 degrees. (GolfWRX)

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So, bending the 60-degree wedge down to 59 degrees will subtract one degree of bounce, and bending the 58-degree wedge up to 59 degrees will add a degree of bounce. Yes, Clark has two 59-degree A-grind wedges, but they’re actually separated by two degrees of bounce on the sole. According to Dill, bending the wedge creates more consistency between the two wedges, compared to grinding the sole by hand.

This method of bending allows Clark to use his preferred A-grind at 59 degrees, whether he wants to play with higher or lower bounce.

“The A (grind) is a thinner sole, has a little bit of camber on it, but it’s a real fast, low-bounce mover through the ground,” Dill said. “He (Clark) tends to love that feel. If I give him more bounce, he’ll bounce through the turf into the ball, and that makes him uncomfortable. So, for him, it’s all about finding that perfect balance. And I think for his feels, he’s looking for less bounce, thinner, faster moving, and that just frees him up to swing and hit the shots he wants to.”

In a Titleist press release, Clark himself weighed in on the importance of the A-grind to his game: “The most important club for me, probably in my bag, is this A grind. I’m able to – on tight lies, rough, wet lies, firm lies, whatever it is – hit the shot I want, and with the amount of spin I want, trajectory and everything.”

Luckily for equipment fans, Titleist has officially released 58- and 60-degree A-grind wedges into its WedgeWorks custom platform. The A-grind measures 4 degrees of bounce, created originally in collaboration between Dill and 2006 U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy.

“I spoke with Geoff, and we got on the topic of Australian golf courses and how they compared to courses in America and around the world,” Dill said in a Titleist press release. “I asked him some specific questions, which resulted in an idea to design another lob wedge grind option that complemented the firm links-style conditions that players face – not just in Australia and Europe – but globally. Geoff has always been a low bounce player in his 60-degree, so I took his 60 L Grind wedge and removed the ribbon, resulting in a grind that moves through the turf quickly with very little resistance.”

According to Dill, Clark has been using this grind since he joined the Titleist family years ago.

Vokey’s WedgeWorks A-grind wedges are now currently selling for $225 apiece with a raw finish, equipped with stock True Temper Dynamic Gold S200 shafts and Titleist Universal 360 grips.

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