PXG’s latest release may be a whole new kind of golf club

For players who frequent droughts desert landscapes of the American West and elsewhere, you don’t have to look hard in their bags for evidence

Usually, it will come in the form of big yawns in scoring clubs, affectionately (or regretfully) known as “Desert Red”.

When a foul shot lands in the garbage, forcing the potential for a recovery shot that can add some character to a golf club, it leads to a tough decision: risk a new mark on your prized sand wedge or move on the ball out of danger and risk the ridicule of your friends.

Of course, most of us aren’t playing for millions of dollars, and those who are, have a lot more wedges available if they have to sacrifice one to play a shot. For us regular players, PXG is now offering a new solution to getting your ball out of the desert: A solid club built for it.

“We’ve all been there — you hit a stray car and suddenly you’re fighting the elements to save your shot,” PXG founder Bob Parsons said in a release. “The PXG Desert Golf Club is your God 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 “Desert Club” as an entirely new category of club. At first glance, the PXG Desert Club may look like your typical pitching wedge, but the design is specific to help you get off the roughest lies imaginable without sustaining too much damage.

At 44 degrees, the loft is typical of a stronger pitching wedge in today’s golfer’s distance groups, but the 36.5-inch stock length is more in line with your average 8-iron. The extra length, along with a lighter than normal D0 swing weight promotes faster clubhead speed to help get the ball out of tight situations. The sole blue also has a unique shape, with 10 degrees of bounce claimed to increase agility.

Finally, the Desert Club is made from 17-4 stainless steel, which is much stronger than the 8620 and 431 stainless steel used in Other PXG handcuffs and wedges, making it more resistant to unsightly scrapes and scratches.

Instead of a number on the toe of the club, the Desert Club has a cactus, helping to identify its use, although it is perfectly capable of handling the fairway shot as well. PXG leaves it up to you what club you replace the Desert Club with in your bag, but a wedge loft and 8-iron length seem to suggest it could take the place of a 9-iron in your bag. But there’s also nothing stopping you from adding it in place of a long iron, fairway wood, or wedge.