ST. GEORGE — Local golfers got a firsthand look at a new golf club and got to take practice shots with it at a demonstration Saturday morning at Southgate Golf Club.

St. George resident and ProTouch Wedge Inventor/Designer Carlyle Potter told St. George News that he was inspired to create the new club after years of working with golfers.

“I used to run a golf school here, and everybody was challenged with bunker shots,” Potter said. “There’s a reason for that: you don’t hit the ball, you hit the sand. Every other shot, you hit the ball. So that all of a sudden is saying, ‘Alright, this is going to be different.'”

Potter went on to indicate the rake-like tines on the bottom of the clubface on the new ProTouch Wedge.

“These are what we call sole channels. This is the sole of the club, like the bottom of your foot,” Potter described. “Well, normally it’s all filled in. What we have done is we eliminated resistance by creating these channels for the sand or grass or whatever to flow through.”

“So now when I swing this thing the club head just slides underneath the ball and pops it out,” he added. “It creates less resistance. The ball stays on the club longer, gets more backspin, and backspin is good because that means the ball is going to stop.”

Southgate golfers came by the practice green to get tips from Potter about how to best use the club. St. George resident Gene Matthews took several swings with it.

“You can still have a bad shot, but that’s usually on you,” Matthews joked, noting there isn’t a golf club in the world that is going to hit a perfect shot every single time.

“So far, it’s interesting. I think I hit it more consistently than I’ve hit my other wedges,” Matthews said. “Less resistance in the sand.”

Potter agreed that there’s never really a miracle club.

“No, you still have to execute the shot,” Potter said. “It just makes it easier and it reduces the margin of error. You’re able to have greater shot accuracy and results, even though you’re not hitting it perfect.”

In the gentlemen’s game, following protocol is paramount and proper equipment regulations cannot be ignored.

“Everyone wants to ask if the club is legal,” Potter said. “This has been approved by the PGA. Actually, it’s approved by the USGA (United States Golf Association), the regulatory body of the PGA. It’s legal to play in any PGA sanctioned event, and that applies for amateurs as well.”

Potter said he’s heard hundreds of testimonials, from amateurs especially, about the effectiveness of ProTouch Wedges.

“It really helps them,” Potter said. “People are saying, ‘I’ve lost a little touch on my game. I’m a little older. I’m not quite as strong.’ Whatever the case, now you’re able to swing and hit a ball around the green with much greater ease.”

Potter is eager to have fellow golfers try out his new club.

“One of the most important things when a person sees this is, they get it,” Potter said. “They don’t need an engineering degree. This is going to be less resistance. Now in their brain they’re thinking, ‘Wow, I’m probably gonna hit this.’ It’s as simple as that.”

“Swing like you do at a normal shot out of the bunker, out of the rough, tight lies doesn’t matter,” he added. “It really works.”

Potter is working with Utah Tech’s Atwood Innovation Plaza to help incubate his business model. He said no professional golfers are currently using the club on the PGA Tour.

“Not yet,” Potter said. “We are brand new. We’re a startup company. We’re basically doing a launch in July. We hope to have this on the Golf Channel, and hopefully, people will see it on a regular basis and want to give it a try.”

“It’s simple because it looks so different, but it looks easier,” he added. “It’s not a hard sell. It kind of sells itself.”

Potter encouraged anyone interested in trying one of the new clubs to visit the ProTouch Wedges website.

Photo Gallery

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.