Opinion & Analysis

The Wedge Guy: Musings from the Masters

Published

6 years ago

Nov 18, 2020

Well, another Masters has come and gone and, as always, left me with some observations and ponderings that I thought I would share. I hope you all will add yours to the comments this week, so that we can all get to know one another better.

First, I have to begin by congratulating Dustin Johnson for a masterful display of golf. Setting a new scoring record, playing mostly flawless golf for four days, and taking what Augusta National was willing to serve up. What impressed me the most about his golf for four days is the rarity of a poorly struck golf shot. DJ hit fairways and greens with regularity and precision, and never hit any of “those shots that can lose it for you” that I observed. Congrats, DJ!

Here are some observations that I made . . .

It’s not the great shots as much as the awful ones. To a player, almost all who fell short hit one or more just awful shots that cost them dearly. It was actually amazing to see how far from center they can spray it, actually. Even DJ wasn’t immune, chunking a short pitch to #2. To that end, Augusta National is much like any other golf course, including the ones you play regularly. Solid, not spectacular, shotmaking will keep you “in it”, whether that means winning the Masters or breaking 90. Get rid of your worst shots and the average-to-great ones can shine and save you.

Bunkers are too easy for these guys. The best example of that was DJ on the second hole. Faced with a delicate pitch over a bunker from a tight lie, he chunks it in the bunker. Then he blasts out to two feet or so to save par. These guys are amazing from the bunkers, hitting it close more often than not it seems. Maybe it’s time to remove rakes or something to make bunkers the hazards architects designed them to be, before the invention of the sand wedge.

But they are amazing short game wizards. Watching the best players in the world get up and down from nowhere, time and again, is impressive. The chip that Sungjae Im hit from behind the green on 15 was brilliant. But we saw it time and again from the entire field. The key is that they are all skilled enough to hit a vast array of shots with just the right trajectory and spin, and land the ball very close to the exact spot required. Maybe we should all spend the vast majority of our practice time hitting chips and pitches of all kinds…

Long and middle iron play is almost a relic of a bygone era. You just do not see these guys hitting those clubs very often. Even “Par 5s” are often reached with a short iron nowadays. We are long past the days of Hogan’s famous 1-iron at Merion or Johnny Miller’s precise dismantling of Oakmont in 1973, when he hit 5-iron or longer to at least 13 or 14 greens, and only let the ball get above the hole twice.

Bernhard Langer is amazing. At 63 years old, Mr. Langer ties for 29th, beating more than half the field of players half his age, while giving up 50-75 yards or more to his younger competitors. On Sunday, he hit hybrid or fairway wood to eight of the 12 par four holes, and at least one of the par three holes. And shoots 71! What’s even more remarkable is that less than fifteen of the world’s best players managed to tour four rounds at Augusta National without shooting at least one score higher than Mr. Langer’s two 73s.

Let’s quit “faking it” with par. Mr. Langer’s accomplishments aside, there are really very few true three-shot holes for these players anymore, if they hit a suitable drive. When Bryson DeChambeau declared Augusta National to be “par 67” for him, he was only being genuine. It would be for all these guys if they hit their drives in the right place in the fairway.

Those are my “top six” observations from the rather strange 2020 Masters. What are yours?

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Terry Koehler

Terry Koehler is a fourth generation Texan and a graduate of Texas A&M University. Over his 40-year career in the golf industry, he has created over 100 putter designs and dozens of wedges. In 2014, he put together the team that reintroduced the Ben Hogan brand to the golf equipment industry with his TK 15 wedges and Ft. Worth 15 iron designs. Since receiving a U.S. Patent for his “Koehler Sole” in the early 1990s, he has been challenging “conventional wisdom” in the wedge category. In addition to inspiring multiple companies to emulate this sole technology, the performance of his wedge designs have stimulated all other companies to reposition some mass toward the top of the blade in their wedges. Terry is retired from his role as Chairman and Director of Innovation for Edison Golf, and remains active in the industry as an independent designer and consultant. But his most compelling work is in the wedge category. Since he first patented his “Koehler Sole” in the early 1990s, he has been challenging “conventional wisdom” reflected in ‘tour design’ wedges. The performance of his wedge designs have stimulated other companies to move slightly more mass toward the top of the blade in their wedges, but none approach the dramatic design of his Edison Forged wedges, which have been robotically proven to significantly raise the bar for wedge performance. Terry serves as Chairman and Director of Innovation for Edison Golf – check it out at www.EdisonWedges.com.

9 Comments

Northandleft

Nov 22, 2020 at 8:28 am

Golf is a mostly difficult game that partially due to advancements is becoming mastered at the elite level, but let’s not forget the conditioning, discipline and talent that the top players have achieved. To parlay this thread to the grand debate about the golf ball vs the golf course I fear the average golfer will suffer if either are changed. We all compare ourselves to the best because once or more a round we all hit a shot as good as they do. The average golfer survives the game trying to achieve excellence. Placing an additional barrier between the elite and weekender with bifurcation or monster courses is a shot to the heart of the game. The champion every week shoots 6 under 4 days in a row and I keep trying to break 80. No one shoots 59 every week and Very few repeat victory. Let the masters of the game be dragon slayers and let us all make a few par 5’s in 2. There is a lot riding on it.

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Johnny Penso

Nov 21, 2020 at 10:06 am

It’s true that par is really meaningless but let’s face it, the crowd is going to cheer harder and television announcers are going to freak out much harder for an “eagle” on a 535 yard par “5” than a birdie on the same hole were we to re-par it. Par 5s are never going away.

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Acemandrake

Nov 20, 2020 at 5:17 pm

Bunkers: Just call them all “waste areas” & stop raking them then you’ll see players work to avoid them

Short game practice: Cameron Tringale once said he only practices shots that are <100 yds.

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Evan

Nov 20, 2020 at 4:33 am

Yes Augusta is a generous par 72, but the par 5s, especially 13 and 15, are so iconic and have produced so much drama over the years – and that would be lost if they were long par 4s. They’re brilliant risk and reward 5s- short enough that nearly all the field will take them on in two- a chance for an eagle, but also the risk of a high number too.

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Boyo

Nov 19, 2020 at 4:04 pm

Maybe we should all spend the vast majority of our practice time hitting chips and pitches of all kinds…

Duh!

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Mike

Nov 19, 2020 at 7:57 am

The concept of par really has no meaning for the pros. The player w/ the LEAST number of strokes wins every week. So who cares what the par is at any course they play? The ‘under-par’ concept was a TV invention that made it much easier to show who was in the lead.

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- G daddy
  
  Nov 19, 2020 at 3:32 pm
  
  At the end of the day you’re absolutely correct – but the concept of par has been around since way before TV. And as it relates to the difficulty of the course, it’s interesting to examine and talk about. Do we really want major championships decided at executive course, no of course not.
  
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G daddy

Nov 18, 2020 at 11:18 am

I totally agree with the “par” observation. The PGA tour plays essentially par 66 to 68 courses every week. The US Open is the only course that comes close to a true par, since they usually play par 70 on usually very long courses where the 2 par fives are usually longer than these guys play all year and the par 4’s are usually stretched out. Chamber’s bay was probably the truest to par course the pga tour has played in 10 years – there the par 5’s could all play around 600 yards and the par 4’s were mostly right around 500 yards.

I don’t mind them playing the par 66 to 68 courses, but let’s call it that. Otherwise the concept of par on the PGA tour has no meaning.

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