EQUIPMENT: Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Releases Equalizer II Forged Wedges

Forged irons and wedges provide feedback and feel that cannot be replicated. Additionally, forged irons and wedges can be adjusted (loft & lie angles) significantly more than their cast counterparts. Unfortunately, forged wedges often command a price that make it difficult to justify over the alternative options.

Fortunately, however, Ben Hogan has answered the void in the marketplace and released a new iteration of the Equalizer II forged wedges, which continue the Hogan tradition of clean, classic and elegant styling and have been engineered to provide exceptional performance around the greens to help lower scores.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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“We found that most golfers don’t spend nearly as much time, effort and energy selecting their wedges as they do, say, their driver or irons,” said Scott White, President and CEO of Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company. “That is an oversight and can lead to many lost shots and higher scores. With the Equalizer II line, we’ve tried to simplify the selection process and develop the best-performing and best-feeling wedges in the game.”

As with all Ben Hogan irons and wedges, the Equalizer II wedges are forged from soft 1025 carbon steel to provide feel and feedback that investment cast wedges simply cannot. The size of the clubhead has been enlarged slightly from previous generations of Equalizer wedges to provide a larger effective hitting area. Most importantly, discretionary weight from the perimeter of the clubhead has been removed allowing Ben Hogan club designers to optimize the progressive Center of Mass.

“The vast majority of wedges on the market today simply load as much weight as possible near the sole to create very high and uncontrollable trajectories,” continued White. “With Equalizer II wedges, we’ve managed to reposition more weight than ever before at different, precise locations in the various wedges to maximize performance. In the lower-lofted gap wedges, the Center of Mass is located much higher on the face to create more penetrating, controllable trajectories. Then it moves lower in the sand and lob wedges to provide progressively higher trajectories. It’s a simple concept, but one that is very difficult to execute from a design and manufacturing standpoint.”

Equalizer II wedges incorporate a modified and improved version of the Company’s proprietary V-SOLE technology which combines a high-bounce leading edge with a lower-bounce trailing edge. This creates exceptional turf interaction and minimizes the impact that side hill or downhill lies have on loft. Additionally, select certain lofts (50°, 54° and 58°) of the Equalizer II wedges will be available with a special “Texas Grind” sole.

“The Texas Grind sole was inspired by some of the better players in our office and around Fort Worth,” stated White. “They play in Texas’ windy and dry conditions which tends to create very hard fairways. The Texas Grind incorporates extreme toe and heel relief making it extremely easy to pick shots clean off tight lies and allows the clubhead to be laid wide open to virtually eliminate chunked shots.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Right-handed Ben Hogan Equalizer II wedges will be available in even numbered lofts from 48° through 62° in both traditional nickel-chrome and Diamond Black Metal (DBM) finishes. Left-handed models will be limited to 50°, 54° and 58° lofts with the nickel-chrome finish only. Likewise, the sole will be limited to right-handed 50°, 54° and 58° lofts with nickel-chrome finish.

The Equalizer II wedges will be available for order immediately on the Ben Hogan website (here), though they will not be shipped nor available for demo until late April. Equalizer II wedges will be priced at $125.00 each for those with the nickel-chrome finish, and $130.00 each for the Diamond Black Metal finish.

All Equalizer II wedges are available with a variety of steel shafts from KBS and True Temper, and UST Mamiya Recoil graphite shafts. Additionally, ALL Equalizer II wedges will be built to the individual golfer’s specifications with free lie and length customization as the Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company does not offer ‘stock’ products.

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