Titleist Vokey SM4 58.06

After much debate and experimentation I decided to go with the proven winner.  I put the S300 shaft in the wedge.  Danny Kupfer grinded the heel of the club some.  Through my experiments I noticed that the wedges with even slightly more bounce gave me trouble in the bunker and on tight lies.  In the bunker I felt like I could not get as much spin on the ball.  With this club, low bounce, I can "pick" the ball out of the sand and spin it.  In the following photos you will notice how low the leading edge is to the ground.  The picture was taken on bermuda grass that was tightly mowed.

The right wedge for you, more importantly for me.

When you are comfortable with your wedges you can hit shouts without doubt.  Confidence.  On the PGA tour those guys are confident with their wedge shots.  I am still trying to get their.

After reading the post below I have spent some time hitting the Taylormade ATV wedge.  I like it.  At impact i feel the common Taylormade "crunch".  It seems to go through the turf easily.  I used multiple shot selections and felt very comfortable with this wedge.  The big question remains:  what shaft to use?  The wedges are all so similar, you just need to find the right shaft.

I thought it was interesting to read how the grooves were less important to spin than the milling on the face of the wedge.  The milling on the Vokey wedges comes off in about a month but I am still capable of producing spin on the ball.  I guess the Trackman would answer the question of how much less spin.

Off to Roger Dunn to get the Vokey 58.12.  Maybe I will pick out a Taylormade ATV as well.  Roger Dunn has a 90 day return policy so I can try equipment from large manufacturers.  I wish Scor had some wedges at Dunn.

Ultimate Spin Wedge Shootout

My teacher Billy McKinney sent this article. Ultimate Spin Wedge Shootout The Line Up We should all be looking to spin the ball around the greens. Which of the current crop of wedges will give us the best chance to do that? If you have read any of my previous research on wedges you will know that friction between the face and the ball plays a huge role, not only in generating spin, but also in lowering trajectory – both vitally important forcontrol. Milled Face The most important part of the clubface of any wedge is not the grooves, but the texturing of the flat areas between thegrooves. Keep in mind that the primary purpose of grooves is to channel “matter” away from being caught between the flat areas and the ball – they are not in place to create spin. When you look carefully at the flat areas between the grooves of your wedge you should see some fine milling which looks like corduroy to me. Most club manufacturers will mill the clubface of their premium wedges and it makes a massive difference to the control and ball flight. The idea behind the test was to see which wedge generated the better grip between face and ball. I had four very new 58 degree wedges available for the test: Titleist Vokey SM4 with a DG Spinner shaft – conforming grooves with standard mill pattern on face Ping Gorge Tour with a DG Spinner shaft – conforming “gorge” grooves with standard mill pattern on face Callaway X Series Jaws CC with a stock steel shaft – additional conforming grooves with no apparent milling on face TaylorMade ATV with a KBS shaft – conforming grooves with two-way mill pattern on face You may notice that the wedges had differing shafts – I obviously would have preferred to have had all the clubs built to the exact same specs, but that was not feasible for this test. Apologies to all Cleveland Golf fans – would love to have had a Cleveland wedge in the mix, but did not have a new version. I had four golf professionals each hit four shots with each wedge. All shots were hit off a mat in order to limit friction being interrupted by matter being caught between face and ball. Titleist ProV1 golf balls were used and each shot had to land somewhere between 40 and 60 yards (ideally at 50 yards). The clubface was cleaned often even though it never appeared to need it. The “normalize” feature on TrackManwas off. Here are the results: TaylorMade ATV 58 Titleist Vokey SM4 58 Ping Gorge Tour 58 Callaway X Series Jaws CC 58 ATV 7365 rpm average Vokey 7210 rpm average Gorge 7193 rpm average Jaws 7163 rpm average As you can see the ATV wedge led the way in generating the highest spin of the four – albeit by a slender 2%. If I was a betting man I would have bet the ATV would generate the most spin as I have always loved the two-way milling treatment on the face. I would also have placed the Jaws wedge at the bottom of the pack, as no matter how many groove edges come in contact with the ball, there is way more flat surface area contacting the ball and it should be milled. If you do take one thing from this research let it be the following: A fresh wedge with a clean, milled clubface will allow you to generate more spin and a lower trajectory – both important factors in controlling your golf ball around the greens.  Thanks to Zack, Mark, Rick and Joe for your help with this article!

Matt Kuchar??

Mr. Nice Guy?

We all believe that Kuchar is Mr. Nice Guy but I recently heard a story about him that suggests otherwise.  This story comes from a very good source but it is second hand.

This year there was a tournament in which one round was played at Cypress Point.  Matt went to play his practice round.  Before the round he heads into the pro shop and asks for a yardage book.  The head pro was behind the counter and says something like this, "Hi Matt, we don't have those fancy yardage books you guys get on tour for free.  All we have are these ones, which provide good information but are mainly for the guests that play our club."  Matt says ok, I will take one.  The head pro says they cost $20 bucks.  This is when Matt shows his true colors:  "TWENTY BUCKS"  wha, wha, wha, I'm matt kuchar do I really have to pay for this.  HP:  Yes Matt, very sorry.  So the kuch throws a wadded up twenty on the counter and walks out shaking his head.  What a Prick.  This is when somebody like Phil Michelson would break out a grand ($1000) and say:  "here man, take care of your staff."  It gets worse.

Five hours go by and the kuch comes back in the shop.  He takes out the yardage book, now with folded up corners and an overall used appearance, and says:  "Dude, this thing sucks, give me back my twenty bucks."  The head pro, with a shake of his head, pulls out his own wallet and gives him a twenty.

Maybe the kuch was having a bad day.  I believe that when a person is under stress there true colors fly.  That was opportunity for the kuch to stay off the radar and just shut the hell up.

When I am up there for the California State Am next month I have a 50% chance of playing Cypress Point.  Please, please, please, please...make it happen.  If I get in there I am going to the head pro to get the skinny on this story and will report the news when I return.

Do you have any dirt on our beloved tour pros?

Vokey Wedges

I heard from a good source that Vokey wedges jumped past Cleveland wedges in sales last year.  Is that due to marketing or do they make a better product.  I am sure everyone has there opinion about that.  I have played both wedges.  My favorite Cleveland wedge was the DSG made with the 588 metal.  I think that came out in 2005.  I have Vokey wedges in the bag now and I have been playing with them for a few years.  I am always experimenting with other wedges and bounce/grind configurations.

Scor wedges look interesting.  I have used there 60*.  It feels good but ultimately it has too much bounce.  There "V Sole" technology has a low bounce on the leading edge and then 28* of bounce on the back end.  I like the idea of the wedge and would like to experiment more with them but at the moment I am going to stay with the Vokey.  Vokey has many bounce options.  The last 6 months I have been using the 58.06 and I grinded the sole some more.  I did a very amateur job on the grind.  It looked uneven but the wedge performed great.  This week I am going to experiment with the 58.12.  I feel like I hit many different wedge shots...what bounce is best?  It varies depending on lie and shot selection.  So the question is what bounce/grind configuration gives me the most versatility and the least possibility for error?  Experimentation.

I qualified for the 2013 California State Am which will be played at Monterey Peninsula CC in June.  I think the courses in that area will be soft.  If that is the case the experts suggest using a wedge with more bounce.  I will take both wedges and decide what to use after the practice rounds.  I wish I was on  tour and Bob V. would just build me a few.

I am only particular about my 58* wedge.  I also play a 52* and a 48*.  They are basic since I am not usually opening up the club face on shots with those clubs.  I sometimes use the 52* for long bunker shots (20-30 yards of carry).

I have been experimenting with wedge shafts for years as well.  In my wedges I have used s200, s300, s400, DG spinner and KBS wedge.  My irons have x100 shafts and I think they feel great but I have not played x100's in the wedges.  I currently have s300's in the wedges now.  I like the feel with the 58 but seem to get a lot of spin on the 52.  When I had the s400 in the 52 it seemed that I lost yardage with that club, over 5 yards of carry and it had much less spin.  The 2 shafts are so similar on paper that I just can't wrap my head around why this occurred.  the weight difference is 2-3 grams.  The frequency was supposed to match up as well but I did not build them.  Must have been a difference in flex.  More experimentation needed.  Any input on wedge shafts would be appreciated.  I know a few tour players who match wedge shafts with their iron shafts.  A lot of guys on tour use the s400's in there wedges.  Bobby V, will you come to costa mesa and fit me for some wedges?  I will come to you!