Extending its line of popular RAC wedges, TaylorMade-adidas Golf is introducing the RAC FE203, an unfinished, chrome-less version designed to rust.
The new wedge, according to TMaG officials, features the same classic shape as the original RAC, as well as the same performance elements as the original rac wedge, including precision-milled Dual-Draft Grooves, whose shape, width, depth edging and spacing together deliver a high degree of backspin with greater consistency than other wedges.
The RAC (which stands for relative amplitude coefficient) design, according to the company, features Feel Pockets milled into the back of the clubhead into precise positions. They act to channel impact energy to strategic areas of the clubhead, controlling feel and delivering a soft-yet-solid impact sensation on off-center hits as well as center hits.
The soles of the RAC wedges, including the FE203, are contoured individually according to loft and honed to handle any and every type of lie and course condition.
Unlike the original, chrome-plated rac wedge, TMaG officials said, the RAC FE2O3 wedge is unfinished so that it will rust (FE2O3 is the chemical notation for ferrous [iron] oxide-rust) when exposed to moisture that naturally occurs in the air and turf.
To prevent the rusting process from beginning before the wedge is put into use, the final steps of production involve subjecting the clubhead to a heat treatment that turns the clubhead to a rich, lustrous bronze. Next, the head is immersed in high-grade oil, and then cooled to room temperature.
This oil-quench process, according to the company, leaves a thin, protective oil glaze on the surface, which prevents the clubhead from rusting before it is put into use. Once the wedge is put into play, TMaG officials said, the glaze quickly wears away and the natural rusting process begins.
This rust creates several distinct performance advantages, they explained. For example, the untouched grooves remain in a clean, perfectly milled state, resulting in sharper edges that grip and "hold" the ball more effectively.
The absence of chrome on an unplated groove leaves more room in the center and bottom of the groove, creating a larger space into which debris and moisture are channeled, permitting the groove's edges to make clean contact with the ball.
In addition, the company said, rust acts as a micro-abrasive coating that improves the groove's gripping power, producing more spin.
Carrying a suggested retail price of $140 per club, the RAC FE2O3 wedges will be available in a wide variety of lofts and bounce angles, including right-handed 48.06 (loft/bounce angle), 50.06, 52.08, 54.10, 54.12, 56.12, 56.14, 58.08, 58.12, 60.07 and 60.12; and left-handed 48.06, 50.06, 52.08, 54.10, 54.12, 56.12, 56.14, 58.08, 58.12, 60.07 and 60.12.
