Feel Golf 73 Degree Lob Wedge

A few years ago I posted this article on our sister site which will be taken offline in a few weeks, so I decided to share it with everyone once again. Since this article was written it appears that Feel Golf has also been taken offline, so to speak. I can’t find much evidence of any online presence at least. If they are indeed shuttered, it’s a shame because they made some great clubs. If I find out more about what happened to them I’ll post an update. In the meantime, enjoy the 73 Wedge!

Feel 73 Degree Wedge

3/6/2012 – Feel Golf has been around since 2000, but they actually began making wedges for tour players back in 1985. In fact, Feel Golf can claim several major championships and many tournament victories by players using their irons and wedges. The company recently moved to Sanford, FL and I took some time to meet with Dr. Lee Miller, the company’s CEO. He showed me their entire line of clubs and we spoke at length about the small technological advantages the company has over most of the big OEMs.

Feel Golf is one of the few companies out there that has the guts to reject the USGA’s new groove rule, and I applaud them for it. They are selling irons and wedges with both conforming and non-conforming square grooves. With the vast majority of golfers not playing in high-level USGA or professional tour events, why not allow people to choose which grooves they would rather have? Feel’s square groove wedges are worth a look for anyone who wants more spin around the greens.

Eventually our discussion came to the most popular club that Feel Golf makes – the 73° wedge. And you thought 62° or 64° was a lot of loft! I’ve seen gimmicky wedges in the past with tons of loft, but they didn’t work well because the design wasn’t really thought through. With this much loft, you need time to design a sole grind that works properly. This wedge has that. Obviously when you have 73 degrees of loft, your shot-making options will be limited. This wedge was designed to help players hit a very high, soft landing shot with ease, and it does that.

I was instructed to play the ball back in my stance for most shots and simply let the loft do the work. Moving the ball up in your stance too much makes distance and trajectory control with the 73 very difficult. In my testing over the course of several rounds and at the short game practice area, I found that the best results came when I stood a bit closer to the ball. This club makes flop shots look easy. You can really get the ball in the air with this thing, but some practice is needed to get the distance control down. As with any high lofted wedge, the most important thing to know is when to use it, not how to use it.

This post was originally published on 3/6/2012 at ITGexpress.com and written by John Duval