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Specialty golf clubs have always been hokey to me. Standalone chippers, super-high-lofted wedges and the occasional spare off-handed emergency club for when a golfer finds himself or herself up against a tree have always seemed wasteful, taking up one of 14 valuable spots in the bag without being needed often enough to be worthwhile.
At the same time, one of my favorite golf clubs of yesteryear is the "rut iron," a heavy, sharp-edged little excavator meant to get 19th-century golfers out of the nastiest lies.
This week, I received a brand-new, 21st-century equivalent of the rut iron: PXG's brand-new Desert Golf Club. With pitching-wedge loft and the shaft length of an 8 iron, it is a product of its environment; PXG is based in Scottsdale, Ariz., where rocks, cacti and gravel lurk alongside most fairways and greens.
I could envision the lightbulb moment: PXG's maverick founder Bob Parsons, annoyed at the prospect of scratching up a shiny wedge as an extra penalty for a wayward shot into the desert at his home Scottsdale National Golf Club.
PXG's Desert Golf Club is built to last and to be abused. It's built different, using raw 17-4 stainless steel that is hardier than the 8620 and 431 steel alloys that comprise PXG's main irons. At just $99.99, it's on the reasonable end of the spectrum for new golf clubs, even niche ones. Instead of dinging up another wedge, golfers can let the Desert Golf Club do the dirty work and wear the next scratch as a badge of honor, delivering instant return on investment. Don't expect the sort of silky-smooth feel that high-end irons deliver, but since the club is built to get beat to hell, does it matter?
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