Equipment
Renegar Golf: Wedges for the 21st century
Renegar Golf: Wedges for the 21st century
The new Renegar Golf wedges have been 18 years in the making, but 80 years overdue, the company founder said.
Bob Renegar, a former director of research and development for the Ben Hogan Company and Pro Group (Arnold Palmer’s former equipment company), said he conceived of the idea at his mother-in-law’s kitchen table nearly two decades ago. He developed a prototype in 1995 that went through various iterations, including the Solus wedge.
The new Renegar Rx12 wedges evolved from those earlier models, Renegar said, and have achieved what once was thought impossible — lowering the leading edge, while increasing the bounce on the sole.
“The product itself is a complete rethinking of what a wedge product ought to be, from the sole contour to the butt end of the grip,” Renegar said. “After 80 years of the Gene Sarazen sole contour, we’re opening the door to the next generation of wedge category.”
Click here to see more pics and read the discussion in the forums… http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/574825-renegar-wedge-pics/
The bounce that makes a wedge so effective from a bunker, developed by Gene Sarazen in the ’30s, raises the leading edge, which complicates shots around the green. Renegar’s mandate was to “think outside the bunker,” he said.
“The Sarazen-based offerings in the marketplace right now are perfectly acceptable for bunker play,” Renegar said. “There’s nothing wrong with them. But the problem is that that’s only about 20 percent of your short-game play.”
The sole contour of the Rx12 wedges has been designed in a way that lowers the leading edge to less than half the height of traditional soles, the company claims, while actually increasing the bounce and the versatility.
The shafts were developed in collaboration with Aldila and feature a firmer tip and higher flex point. “It’s a fairly heavy composite shaft [105 grams],” Renegar said. “It gives you the ability to control the trajectory.”
The Lamkin grips, too, were designed specifically for the wedges. They’re an inch longer with a larger right-hand diameter to allow for choking down on the club.
Renegar received a utility patent on the sole design in 2009. “That utility patent is the basis on which we’re launching this company,” Renegar said. The wedges are available on the company’s website at renegargolf.com. They sell for $195 each and come in lofts of 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58 and 60 degrees.
The website features a video library with live shot demonstrations, among other features.
— John Strege of Golf Digest
Click here to see more pics and read the discussion in the forums… http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/574825-renegar-wedge-pics/
Neal Shipley survived “Golf’s Longest Day” to qualify for the U.S. Open next week at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, and is set to make his first appearance at his national open since he earned low amateur in 2004. So what better time to be featured in another edition of “Building a Bag.”
It’s also a significant time for Shipley to have a breakdown of his setup featured here at GolfWRX, as the Ohio State alum has been through some substantial gear changes over the past few months to combat one thing – over-spinning the golf ball.
So let’s dive into Shipley’s setup:
Big changes start with the ball
Shipley’s major bag update for this season has been a change in golf balls. Initially, in the Titleist Pro V1, Shipley had to remove loft from his long irons to tackle the fact that he overspins the golf ball. But after testing and transitioning to the Pro V1x Double Dot, he was able to find the right numbers and also launch the ball higher.
“I’ve struggled with spin for a long time and I was battling that, especially in my longer irons and had to take a lot of loft off,” Shipley told GolfWRX. “So I struggled when I got the irons in the right spin rates in the right spin windows, not getting enough height. So I was able to go to this ball and add loft, get the lunch I need, without really adding too much spin.”
The lower-launching and lower-spinning Pro V1x variant is a golf ball that transformed Cameron Young’s game and plenty of players have tested it out on Tour, including Kris Ventura and Jhonattan Vegas.
“It’s been nice to kind of launch the ball a little bit more and get some height more with my launch rather than with the ball downfield,” Shipley added. “So it’s been a nice addition. It’s really good in crosswind. It’s great off the tee.”
Soft stepping experiment
From 5- to 9-iron, Shipley plays Ping’s Blueprint T irons, of which he believes are “one of the cleanest looking blades out there.”
The model has been in his bag even before they even went to retail. What’s most interesting about his iron setup, though, is what he’s doing with the shafts.
Shipley plays Dynamic Gold X100 120 shaft, a pretty common shaft out on Tour. What he and the Ping team have begun experimenting with is soft-stepping, for a few reasons.
“Trying and get a little more, just touch, more height and spin on the ball, a little more deflection,” Shipley said on the process of changing the stiffness of a set of irons by putting the lower-numbered iron shaft throughout the set and changing the distance from the first step in the shaft to the hosel. (ie. The 8-iron shaft is put in the 9-iron and so forth.)
Essentially, the shift makes the shaft slightly weaker by cutting more off the butt end of the club. The change aligns with the ball swap, with Shipley’s freedom now to launch the ball higher with loft without it overspinning. Shipley has also done the same to his i240 4-iron.
No need to de-loft
Shipley plays some of the lowest-lofted clubs out on the PGA Tour. His older Ping G440 LST has just 6.8 degrees of loft – yes, you read that correctly!
Now with the ability to add more loft, thanks to the golf ball change, Shipley’s current driver is at 7.6 degrees. The 9-degree LST head is cranked down on Big Minus on the Ping adapter hosel.
It’s still a stout build, however, as Shipley plays a Fujikura Ventus TR 7x that has been tipped at 2 inches. He also uses the heaviest high-density tungsten back weight available at 35 grams.
More than just the stamps
Shipley was the first to admit that he enjoyed his food while in college. But since his days at Ohio State, he’s slimmed down and earned a PGA Tour Card.
That hasn’t stopped him from having fun with his wedge stampings, though it’s led to some misunderstandings.
On the 54 (degree), we have ‘Big Fudge,'” Shipley said. “It was supposed to be ‘Big Fridge,’ so this happened a little while ago. ‘Big Fridge’ was a nickname between my college teammates and I, with ‘fridge’ meaning stomach, a big stomach.
“We told the Ping guys to put … ‘Big Fridge’ on it, and I think maybe some bad cell service or something, and they thought I said ‘fudge,’ so they put fudge on it.”
On Shipley’s 50-degree he also continues the food theme, this time with his go-to order at the “Golden Arches,” and his stamping “DONS 7.”
“The number 7 meal, the two cheeseburger meal, that was my McDonald’s order, back when I would have McDonald’s frequently,” Shipley shared.
There’s more to just the stamping. He’s stuck with the S159 wedges since graduating from the Korn Ferry Tour, as he feels confident in the head shape.
“I prefer the shape a little bit more of the leading edge, not as rounded of a leading edge, a little bit more straight on,” Shipley added.
The added confidence helps him with adapting to the different grinds needed week-in-week-out on Tour. Shipley is happy to game three different grinds with his lob-wedge.
“Primarily use the T, the H, and then I’ll do a 58S,” Shipley said. “These are actually at 59 degrees. I’ll do the 58 strengthen to take a little bit of bounce off in the S grind and then we’ll shave some trail edge and heel edge relief. Just helps act as like a higher bounce essentially. So kind of stick with those most of the time.”
Heavier the better
The final piece to Shipley’s puzzle is his custom Ping PLD Anser 4D. It’s somewhat of a gentle giant, featuring a heavier-than-usual head, but a custom aluminium insert.
“It’s a little bit heavier, I think this one’s 355 to 360 grams, so a little bit heavier head,” Shipley said. “So the heavier head I feel like has helped me on some of the shorter putts with a little bit of stability.
“But the insert, I think, has been helpful in some of the longer putts. Just kind of slowing the ball down with the softer insert in the grooves.”
Shipley’s one of the few players left on Tour playing an actual Anser blade, having said in the past that he naturally sets up to the right on putts and allows the face to rotate through. Something which he hasn’t been able to mimic with a mallet.
Shipley’s full bag:
Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees @ 7.6)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 7X (45 inches, tipped 2 inches)
Mini driver: Ping prototype
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 8X
3-wood: Titleist TSR3 (13.5 degrees, C2 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8X
5-wood: Ping G440 Max (19 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black VeloCore+ 8X
Irons: Ping iDi (3 @ 19.25), Ping i240 (4), Ping Blueprint T (6-9)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 10X (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold 120 X100 (4-9 soft-stepped)
Wedges: Ping s159 (46-12S, 50-10S, 54-12S, 60 T or H @ 59)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold 120 X100 (46-50), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (54-60)
Putter: Ping PLD Anser 4D
Grips: Golf Pride ZGrip Cord
Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Double Dot
Driver: Titleist GTS3 (10 degrees, D4 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Diamana RB 53 S
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees, D4 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Diamana RB 63 S
7-wood: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees, C1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Designs Tour AD DI-6 SR
Irons: Srixon ZXi5 (4), ZXi7 (5-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Steelfiber i80 CW
Wedges: Cleveland RTZ Tour Rack (50 MID-10, 56 MID-10, 60 LOW-06)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro 980GH D.S.T. R
Putter: Scotty Cameron Xperimental 3.2 Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Z-Grip Cord
Ball: Srixon Z-Star Diamond
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @Slinger24 is selling a tour-issued Ping G440 LST driver head. The item, verified by the club maker, has nine degrees of loft.
From the listing:
First up is a tour issue PING G440 LST 9 degree head. Head-cover included. Has been verified by PING with the serial number and you can see the spec sheet from PING as well. This thing is an absolute spin killer. I just can’t hit it high enough. Asking $380 shipped in the lower 48 UPS for the head.
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules.
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Chris
May 10, 2012 at 9:52 am
WRX User Review here:
http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/654776-renegar-golf-rx12-wedge-review/page__p__4879938__fromsearch__1#entry4879938
Brice Renegar
May 1, 2012 at 9:29 am
I have got to get some of these clubs! All my life I’ve been an avid player and to see that now there’s a company with my name on it I have to get these clubs. Tell that ain’t cool to look your bag and see a set of clubs with your name on them, literaly!
Bob Renegar
Apr 13, 2012 at 9:19 am
GlenH-
It is indeed an interesting concept. What you do not know is that it is also well validated now with more than a decade of usage in PGA Tour golf in the hands of marquis players – including many professional wins.
The “slot” in the sole is actually my utility patent that I have spent 18 years developing and refining – much more than the “grind” that many sole-grinding patent infringers liken it to be. It has many design functions as they are explained on our web site (renegargolf.com), and among them is much improved performance on open faced lob / flop shots when compared to a Sarazen-based wedge from ANY manufacturer.
Our short game shaft development with Aldila is another performance advantage associated with our Rx12 product – offering you improved accuracy and control vs. ANY steel shaft we have tested or any competitor wedge. You have probably noted how steel is no longer an option on ANY drivers . . .
We believe steel shafts would be a step backwards compared to our DTS shaft. Perhaps we are just a little ahead of the competition on this? There is a good explanation of why we chose composites for our shaft on the web site, but you may need to look a little closer to find it.
I would urge you to re-visit our web site to learn more about the very many great performance and technology advantages of our wedges on many different levels.
Thanks for your interest.
Bob Renegar
Designer – Rx12 wedges
GlenH
Jan 25, 2012 at 9:08 pm
Interesting concept. Viewed website for more pictures and closer look at clubs. Pictures show lower edge distance compared to Titleist wedge. However, that slot looks like it would interfere with wide open flop shots as it would expose more of the slot. Looks good for any other shot. Surprised by only shaft choice is graphite, no steel option. Not explained on website why this odd choice. Will wait for steel shaft option.