Golf British Columbia

Find an edge with a wedge

Scratch Golf of Eugene fills a void in equipment market

Taking a break from the rigors of running a young golf equipment business, Ari Techner and some of his partners were watching Tiger Woods dominate the PGA Tour  on a recent Sunday afternoon by bombing drivers and then sticking his wedges close.That was all Tiger had to do that day, driver-wedge.  And the television announcers expounded about how the game was being reduced to just that—drivers and wedges. “We were sitting there watching that tournament and we were saying the exact same thing,” Techner said.
They said it with smiles on their faces, because while companies that specialize in drivers are a dime a dozen, that’s simply not the case with wedges.
Since 2003, Scratch Golf of Eugene, Ore., has concentrated on wedges.
“It’s probably the biggest part of the game that for some reason is completely overlooked,” said Chad Techner, Ari’s brother.
If the choice was hitting the ball 50 yards farther off the tee or five yards closer to the hole with your wedges, golf experts agree that improved wedge play would reduce scores much more significantly.
“It ridiculously true,” Chad said about the impact of wedges, “but people don’t focus on it.”
“Mainly, the reason we started our company, is we saw a huge hole in the market,” Ari said.
“And for some reason nobody is making wedges, and in our opinion wedges are really where you can score.  Getting the ball close inside 100 yards is what turns the 8 handicapper into a scratch golfer.”
Scratch Golf is hoping more and more players discover that path to lower scores.  For its first two years, the company only sold wedges direct to individual clients who wanted strictly high-end, custom-fit, hand-ground wedges. This year, Scratch Golf is offering wedges in the retail market designed to fit every type of golfer. “We have five different grinds, which are designed specifically to fit one of the three main swing styles,” Chad said. “The wedges are designed so people can easily fit themselves into a properly fitted wedge and take it home.”
The main swing types Scratch Golf has identified include the Digger, who has an aggressive steep swing plane and takes deep divots.  Then there’s the Sweeper, who has a shallow swing plane and sweeps the ball off the turf with little to no divot.  Lastly, there’s the Driver/Slider with a moderately steep and aggressive swing through the shot, but with a medium to shallow divot.
The five different grinds produced by Scratch Golf offer various bounce angles, sole width as well as toe and heel modifications.
“We also felt the sole grind of a wedge, which is by far the most important component of the way the club plays, it pretty much largely ignored by everyone else.”  Ari said.
The four general partners in Scratch Golf began toying with the idea while three were attending Ferris State University and its professional golf management program.
Jeff McCoy was one of the three, and he enjoyed testing different grinds on his wedges to see how it might help his own game.  Others saw this, and asked him to do it to their clubs as well.
“That’s how the idea got started.” Chad said.  “He was custom-grinding wedges using hand files and sandpaper.”
“We were noticing just what different people we’re asking us to do with their clubs,” Ari said.
So now, McCoy handles the grinding, the engineering and the design, Paul Friedrich is the director of retail sales.  Ari Techner concentrates on marketing and custom fitting and Chad Techner takes care of advertising and marketing.The company started totally with individually custom-made clubs, which run $249 compared to the $149 suggested price for the five grinds now available at retail stores.  The clubs are made from forged 1018 soft carbon steel.
“The custom-fitting is the ultimate step beyond that, where the customer knows exactly what they want or just wants to be fit into something a little more extensive to assure that the wedge fits them perfectly,” Chad said. “A lot of the custom-fitting I do over the phone and through the Internet, basically e-mail,” Ari added.  “I ask you a series of questions about your game and the wedges that you use, what you’re trying to accomplish, shots that you like to hit, the ground conditions that you play on, and from there we can design a wedge around your game that will work correctly for your swing.”
That’s the ultimate goal for Scratch Golf, providing clubs in the one area of golf where there are not a lot of options, and the one area of golf where there is the greatest potential for improvement.
More information about Scratch Golf is available by visiting www.scratchgolf.com