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WRX Spotted: TaylorMade Milled Grind 2 wedges

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3M is all about innovation, and this week at the 3M Open, there’s another company showcasing a new innovation. Behold: TaylorMade Milled Grind 2 wedges.

We don’t have an official comment yet from TaylorMade, but based off of the pictures we have so far, we can draw a couple of conclusions about these new wedges (hopefully) coming soon to retail

  • There appears to be some type polymer-filled cavity in the back of the wedge. It’s not a big cavity, and we’re not quite sure what its purpose might be, but it could be for a couple reasons: To remove mass, and direct the center of gravity, and/or to improve on the feel (and acoustics)
  • Speaking to CG: There seems to be a shifting pad along the back of the wedges with increased thickness in certain areas. Again, this could be to change the feel and move the CG depending on the loft. Doing this can increase spin and trajectory control, which is something everybody wants.
  • New face: Heres the give away that this wedge is very close to coming to retail: full-blown finished retail marketing material on the clubs. Anytime a club (any club) shows up with marketing material on the face, means that is has gone through a lot of different people and steps to get there. OEMs don’t put that kind of time into a face sticker without the product being close to hitting shelves.

Speaking to that sticker, TaylorMade is introducing raw-faced wedges. As it has been proven many times, a raw face won’t actually increase spin, but it will reduce glare…and also create a look preferred by many players. Taking a page from the old Nike playbook (remember the coated Engage wedges?), these stickers will keep the faces from rusting on shelves before they go into players’ bags.

The Milled Grind wedges have been a big winner for TaylorMade along with the Hi-Toe wedges, and if this is a sign that raw wedges are coming, then TM is going to have another winner on its hands…and in bags of tour pros and regular golfers alike.

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Ryan Barath is a club-fitter & master club builder with more than 17 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. He is the former Build Shop Manager & Social Media Coordinator for Modern Golf. He now works independently from his home shop and is a member of advisory panels to a select number of golf equipment manufacturers. You can find Ryan on Twitter and Instagram where he's always willing to chat golf, and share his passion for club building, course architecture and wedge grinding.

8 Comments

8 Comments

  1. Gary Thompson

    Jul 4, 2019 at 9:02 am

    RB…You wouldn’t have issue with leaving the sticker on the face would you? Its not like stickers left on clubs are a pet peeve of yours right? Hahaha…

  2. Clay

    Jul 3, 2019 at 7:18 pm

    The look down looks good. The rest? Too much “stuff”! Time will tell, good luck!

  3. Jim

    Jul 3, 2019 at 12:04 pm

    The face reminds me of some of really old clubs with the odd face pattern when you look down at it. I really like the current model so hopefully these will be as good. But that face isn’t the best looking.

  4. dat

    Jul 3, 2019 at 9:01 am

    pass. Make one without a raw face for the mass market, as most people will complain about it after two months when they didn’t clean the face to begin with. Their loss, but the customer will blame TM.

    • Travis

      Jul 26, 2019 at 9:15 pm

      The customer won’t complain. Plenty of OEM’s have raw wedges now. It’s becoming more normal and there’s a giant sticker telling you what’s going to happen to the face.

  5. Jarnio Bubly

    Jul 3, 2019 at 8:20 am

    It looks kind of Hi Toeish already which is nice.

  6. JP

    Jul 2, 2019 at 10:53 pm

    Just release the hi-toe with the flat leading edge and no gooseneck looking hosel. The one DJ carries. Give me that and I’m a buyer!

  7. Brandon

    Jul 2, 2019 at 10:49 pm

    That is up there with the ugliest wedges of all time, even though the face is kind of cool looking.

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Equipment

Putter Roundup: 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans

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We always get some great photos of some phenomenal putters at tour events and love to share them. Here are a few from the 2024 Zurich Classic that caught our eye and seemed interesting. (And as a reminder, you can check out all our photos from New Orleans here)

MJ Daffue’s Scotty Cameron T-11 Prototype

MJ is going with the new Scotty Cameron T-11 Prototype this week. The putter is a multi-piece mallet that puts an emphasis on stability with the wings on the back. Daffue’s putter does have a design that differs from retail with a monotone finish, which eliminates the black paint on the aluminum parts that we see at retail. He also has a half siteline milled into the top and an L-neck welded on for some additional toe hang. The face features a deeper milling that should offer a softer feel and slightly quieter sound.

Scotty Cameron T-7.5 Prototype

We spotted a few different Scotty Cameron Phantom models with modified rear flanges. It looks like the straight black flange was cut into a half circle for a little softer look at address. On this T-7.5, you can still see the raw aluminum from the back view, so this might have been a last-minute job to get them out on tour. The semi-circle also has a white line on it, maybe to frame the ball differently.

Alex Fitzpatrick’s Bettinardi SS16 DASS

Alex’s SS16 is made from Bettinardi’s famous D.A.S.S., or double-aged stainless steel, for a softer and more responsive feel. The face has a unique diamond pattern milling and features a logo that I feel like I have seen before, but can’t put a name to. The putter is a classic mid-mallet style with a simple, single white siteline on the top. The sole is clean with just the SS16, DASS, and a green triangle logo on it.

Steve Stricker’s Odyssey White Hot No. 2

This putter has made some amazing putts in its long career! Stricker’s White Hot No. 2 might be in the top 10 of most famous putters in golf. When you see all the dents and lead tape, you know the heel will be up and it will be sinking putts! The soft White Hot insert looks to be in good shape and has less wear on it than the rest of the putter. We don’t know how much lead tape is on the sole, but it has to be multiple layers compacted down over the years.

Doug Ghim’s Scotty Cameron T-7 Prototype

This T-7 should win the award for “best color finish” in this list with its deep chromatic bronze. It looks like Scotty added a cherry bomb dot to the heel of the deep-milled face and filled it with a very dark blue paint. The rest of the putter looks pretty stock with its single site line on the topline and twin site lines down the “fangs” of the putter. Twin 5-gram weights are installed in the sole and the putter is finished off with a gloss black double bend shaft with a fill shaft offset.

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Equipment

Spotted: Project X Denali hybrid shaft

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Project X’s Denali wood shafts have been seen in more and more golf bags this year as we start off the season. As a refresher, Denali Blue is the mid-launch and mid-spin model while Denali Black is for players seeking lower launch and spin.

Denali combines great feel with stability and increased ball speed. Currently, Project X only offers Denali Blue and Black in wood shafts, but we spotted a hybrid shaft in Daniel Berger’s bag at the 2024 Zurich Classic.

The shaft looks to be a Denali Blue 105G – HY in TX flex. No word on details from Project X yet but we can assume that this is a mid-launching shaft that weighs around 105 grams in Tour X-Stiff flex.

Berger has this shaft in his TaylorMade P770 3-iron, likely for some added launch and spin to hold the green from longer distances.

Hopefully, this means we will see some more shafts coming under the Denali name in the future, as I think many of us would like to try one in a hybrid or utility iron!

 

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Whats in the Bag

Daniel Berger WITB 2024 (April)

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  • Daniel Berger what’s in the bag accurate as of the Farmers Insurance Open. More photos from the event here.

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

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X

6-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 Tour (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X

Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3), TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC 2011 (4-PW)
Shafts: Project X Denali Blue 105 TX (3), Project X 6.5 (4-PW)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (50-12F), Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (56-14F), Callaway Jaws Raw (60-08C)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (50), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (56, 60)

Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Mini DB
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy PistolLock 1.0

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Wrap

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Check out more in-hand photos of Daniel Berger’s clubs in the forums.

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