Eugenio Saraceni was born to poor Italian immigrant parents on February 7, 1902 in Harrison, New York. Like many future hall of famers, he had to drop out of grade school to help support the family. His new job of caddie at the local golf course would change his life forever, and his sand wedge invention would improve your golf game each time you stepped into a bunker.

Sand wedges have been around since the Scots first started hitting a featherie ball (hand sewn leather pouch, stuffed with goose or chicken feathers) around a sheep pasture in the late 1700s, but today, thanks to Eugenio, the modern sand wedge is a multi-million-dollar industry. As the story goes, Eugenio was a close friend of billionaire Howard Hughes.