For golfers who frequent the dry desert landscapes of the American West and other places, you don’t have to look hard in their bags for evidence
Usually, it will come in the form of large gouges in the scoring clubs, affectionately (or spitefully) known as “desert rash.”
When a wayward shot lands in the junk, forcing the potential for a recovery shot that could add a bit of character to a golf club, it leads to a bit of an awkward decision: Risk a new mark on your prized sand wedge or move the ball out of danger and risk your buddies’ ridicule.
Of course, most of us are not playing for millions of dollars, and those that are, have plenty more pitching wedges at their disposal should they need to sacrifice one to play a shot. For us regular golfers, PXG is now offering a new solution for getting your ball out of the desert: A tough club built for it.
“We’ve all been there—you hit a stray drive, and suddenly you’re battling against the elements to salvage your shot,” PXG founder Bob Parsons said in a release. “The PXG Desert Golf Club is your ‘Lord help me or God save the King’ recovery tool so you can play it where it lies without thinking twice about damaging your favorite club.”
The company is hailing its new “Desert Club” as a completely new club category. At first glance, the PXG Desert Club may look like your typical pitching wedge, but the design is specific to helping you escape the roughest lies imaginable while not sustaining too much damage.
At 44 degrees, the loft is typical of a stronger pitching wedge in today’s players distance sets, but the stock length of 36.5 inches is more on line with your average 8-iron. The additional length, along with a lighter-than-normal D0 swing weight promotes faster club head speed to help extract the ball out of difficult situations. The sole grind is also uniquely shaped, with 10 degrees of stated bounce to increase versatility.
Finally, the Desert Club is made from 17-4 stainless steel, which is much harder than 8620 and 431 stainless steel used in PXG’s other irons and wedges, making it more resistant to scratches and unsightly gouges.
Instead of a number on the toe of the clubm the Desert Club sports a cactus, helping identify its use, although it’s perfectly able to handle shot from the fairway too. PXG leaves it up to you what club to replace with the Desert Club in your bag, but a pitching wedge loft and an 8-iron length would seem to suggest it could occupy the 9-iron slot in your bag. But there’s also nothing stopping you from adding it in place of a long iron, fairway wood or wedge.
As alluded above, this isn’t a club you should expect to see out on the PGA Tour anytime soon, but for just $99 and numerous custom options to fit any player, PXG is banking on the club saving not only your ball, but your other clubs too.
