What happens when you blend modern technology with old word craftsmanship? You get the beautiful design, and high performance that is the Bobby Jones Golf family of products. Not satisfied with his acclaimed hybrids, popular lineup of drivers, and fairway woods, Jesse Oritz, the man behind the curtain at Bobby Jones, has announced a new driver, and a new series of wedges (his first foray into that market).

Given his past success as the brains and muscle behind Orlimar’s tour tested fairway woods, and the afore mentioned Bobby Jones collection, there’s no reason to expect that Jesse Oritiz’s latest designs will offer anything other than class, elegance, and of course, tour level performance.

“It’s against my religion to make ugly clubs.” - Jesse Ortiz

Bobby Jones Workshop Driver

Equal parts work of art, and technological powerhouse, the new Bobby Jones Workshop Driver will be hitting stores later this month. It features a triangular shaped head similar to what we’ve seen in clubs from Titleist (907 D1), and TaylorMade (CGB Max). With clean lines, that Jesse Ortiz says are reminiscent of the persimmon heads of yore (my word, not Jesse’s), the Workshop Driver is designed with a composite crown, and a raised sole plate. It’s a bit hard to describe, but it basically looks like the outer 3rd on each side of the sole has been scooped out, leaving a thicker center area. The design allows for more weight to be placed in the parts of the clubhead that matter most (”volume where it makes sense”).

In addition to the MOI benefits, the raised sole plate gives the Workshop driver an appealing sound and feel.

Don’t expect Bobby Jones Golf to jump on the square clubhead bandwagon anytime soon. Jesse Ortiz asserts that the triangular design allows for a more natural clubhead rotation. Granted, I’m no PGA Tour Pro, or club designer, but I tend to agree. I can’t wrap my head, or my wrists around the square designs.

In addition to the performance benefits, the triangular design of the Workshop Driver works as a visual aid; showing the golfer the proper swing path.

The Workshop Driver is quite possibly the best looking driver I’ve ever seen in my life. I’ll be posting a hands on review as soon as I can get said hands on the club.

The Bobby Jones Workshop Driver retails for $400.

Pelz Series Wedge

I’ve been talking about wedges a lot this year. From C-Grinds (and beyond) to lofts above 60° there’s been plenty for me to be excited about. I’ve been compiling quite a list of wedges I’d like to ad to my bag, and now you can add the Bobby Jones Pelz wedge to that list.

Jesse Ortiz doesn’t tackle a club area until he’s convinced he can make it better. With no real advancement in mainstream wedge technology in in decades, wedge design is long past due for an overhaul, and as you can imagine, Jesse was up to the task.

In talking with short game guru Dave Pelz, Jesse learned that tour players, on average, replace their wedges every 4-6 weeks. Why so often? Because they can. Actually, it’s because the edge of the scorelines wear over time. When they wear down enough, spin, and everything that goes along with it (trajectory, control) suffers. To compensate for all of that wear, tour players are constantly hitting up their friendly neighborhood tour van for fresh wedges.

Guys like you and me don’t have cost-free access to a limitless supply of wedges. The tour van doesn’t stop at my local goat pasture. Instead, more often than not, we simply play with what we have, even if the grooves are less than crisp. Rather than reinvent the wheel, the Pelz Wedge from Bobby Jones golf simply addresses the durability issues of modern wedges.

Using a new face material that’s virtually indestructible, the Pelz series wedge is designed to maintain its edge(s) for years. If feel is a concern (and with wedges it always is), Jesse Oriz has you covered there as well. His new wedges use a 3M bonding membrane to attach the face to the clubhead. The bond itself is stronger than a weld, but more importantly, as the resin in the membrane cures, it remains spongy; providing natural shock absorption and a soft feel.

The clubhead is cast from stainless steel. As part of the design, and prior to attaching the face, cavities are milled on the inside of the head. The removal of this unnecessary material from the face facilitates the creation of a true perimeter weighted wedge (forgiveness people, we’re talking about forgiveness), without sacrificing the classic look required of all Bobby Jones clubs.

Early reviews of the Bobby Jones Pelz Series Wedge suggest it may feel heavier than most (that’s a plus for me). Thus far comments on feel and control have been overwhelmingly positive. I’m looking forward to trying one out as soon as I possibly can.

The Bobby Jones Pelz Series Wedge has an MSRP of $150 and is available in lofts of 52°, 56°, 60°, and 64(yeah baby)° .

Complete information on the entire Bobby Jones line of golf equipment can be found at the company’s website.

You can also watch Jesse Ortiz describe the new clubs on one of my favorite golf blogs, Tony Korologos’ hookedongolfblog.com.

Share This Post