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Callaway launches new PM Grind 2019 wedge

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Callaway Golf’s newest wedge, the PM Grind 2019, hits the shops next month, with the wedge having been co-designed by Phil Mickelson and Roger Cleveland.

Mickelson’s efforts in improving the PM Grind revolved around his belief that there are three essential shots that every golfer needs to possess with a wedge in hand. The knockdown, the hit-and-check and the flop-shot.

The latest PM Grind will feature Callaway’s Groove-In-Groove technology, which was first introduced in their Mack Daddy 4 wedge last year. The technology entails four micro-positive ridges machined into flat parts of the face, parallel to the grooves, creating 84 points of contact with the ball.

For the PM Grind 2019, however, alterations, suggested by Mickelson were made. This year’s PM Grind has seen the micro-grooves machined into the face at a 20° angle, making them perpendicular to the target line when you open the face, with the aim of promoting more spin than ever before on lob shots.

The PM Grind 2019 also features an increased amount of offset which is designed to make it easier for the player to move the ball back in their stance and position their hands ahead of the ball.

The club also contains a higher toe, which was achieved by removing weight from the sole, and aims to promote a lower trajectory and create more space high on the face of the club by pulling the centre of gravity location upward.

The C-Grind sole on the wedge offers extra relief at the heel and toe, with the aim of promoting crisp, clean contact from a variety of greenside lies.

Speaking on his experience building the new PM Grind 2019 wedge alongside Phil Mickelson, Roger Cleveland stated

“Working with Phil on the PM grind wedges has been a fantastic experience. His insights are always spot-on, and implementing them to create something innovative like the PM Grind 2019 is incredibly satisfying. This wedge is going to help a lot of players hit shots they couldn’t hit before.”

The PM Grind 2019 contains the KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 steel wedge shaft, designed to deliver a balance of feel, spin and control, and possesses a Lamkin UTX grip in black with green highlights.

Loft/bounce combinations for the PM Grind 2019 include (all available in right-handed and left-handed)

  • 54º/14º
  • 56º/14º
  • 58º/12º
  • 60º/12º
  • 64º/10º

The PM Grind 2019 comes in a choice of Platinum Chrome and Tour Grey, both containing a PM Grind medallion on the back of the club. The new wedge from Callaway will be available from retail stores on February 15, and costs $159.99.

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12 Comments

12 Comments

  1. Richard

    Jan 6, 2019 at 9:40 am

    Cool, can’t wait to try these. The previous model was awesome and these look like they’ll be even better with the C grind and some camber on the sole!!!

  2. CaoNiMa

    Jan 6, 2019 at 1:58 am

    It’s the PM Grind F2 wedge Face Forward! lmao

  3. Scheiss

    Jan 6, 2019 at 1:57 am

    What’s with the cheap coin badge
    Why do they keep adding stuff like this that just has a tendency to fall off and annoy

  4. Chip

    Jan 5, 2019 at 9:58 pm

    I don’t like the higher toe

    Hahahahaha

  5. Travis

    Jan 5, 2019 at 11:50 am

    Why is everyone saying they don’t like the high toe or the grooves? These look identical to the old PM grind except in a different finish. Do people forget the old PM grind already and thing this is a new thing? This concept has been around for years and years now…

  6. SwingMan

    Jan 5, 2019 at 10:24 am

    Like everything about ii except for that high toe is a no go. Most players are not Phil and don’t need that high toe. I’ll stick with the Ping Glide Stealth 2.0. Just can’t get over the bulky look of that head and PM toe. The rest of it is genius.

  7. Tom

    Jan 4, 2019 at 6:08 pm

    Score lines extending all the way to the edge of the face looks “cheap” they have no function there because nobody hits the ball out there….looks like an old “Pal Joey” model from the early eighties….low quality image

  8. Speedy

    Jan 4, 2019 at 2:36 pm

    Don’t like the looks of it (higher toe).

  9. Big "O"

    Jan 4, 2019 at 1:41 pm

    I liked these in high loft (60deg) and played 2 off and on over a couple of seasons. But the offset looks like a deal killer to me in the pictures. I will have to see it in hand but me and offset don’t get along.

  10. HDTVMAN

    Jan 4, 2019 at 11:56 am

    YES! A 54°! On my second set of PM Grind’s, and will switch to the 2019 models. Best wedges on the market.

  11. Rich Douglas

    Jan 4, 2019 at 10:57 am

    If the grooves are optimized for hitting shots with an open face, would it also be true that they are NOT optimized for hitting shots with a square clubface?

    I suspect it doesn’t really matter a lot–marketing hype, likely. But if it is a real thing, you’re faced with making that choice.

  12. Ryan

    Jan 4, 2019 at 9:34 am

    Is Callaway planning a new MD4 or Forged wedge?

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Whats in the Bag

Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)

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Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX

Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4

More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.

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Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.

The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?

Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.

When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.

To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.

Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.

“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.

“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”

Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.

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Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird

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With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.

On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.

Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?

Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’

So that’s why I went back.

 

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OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?

It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.

Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.

It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.

Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.

Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.

So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?

Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.

Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play? 

Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.

There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.

It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.

Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.

And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?

Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’

If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’

My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’

I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”

And you’re going with it this week?

Hundred percent.

Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week. 

Thanks, man.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

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