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GolfWRX Spotted: Titleist Vokey SM8

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In what is not unusual in today’s media age, Titleist gave the golf world a heads up that tour seeding of the all-new 2020 Vokey SM8 wedges would begin this week at the RSM Classic on the PGA Tour.

Although Vokey isn’t giving us the full rundown of the technology that is being implemented into the new SM8 wedges, there are a few things from the pictures so far that have us speculating on what those changes could be.

Titleist Vokey SM8 wedges: What we know

Refined Vokey Grinds: Titleist Vokey wedges are driven by tour feedback from the best players in the world. There’s no question there have been some tweaks to the grinds that many players know and love. These subtle teaks are all about keeping up to the demands of the modern game and turf conditions. Technology in turf management is just as advanced as modern golf club manufacturing and as we continue to see it change, the short game tools like Vokey wedges will continue to evolve with it.

New Milling Techniques for Grooves: We are keen to hear the details on how the Vokey wedge R&D team approached this new SM8 face and groove design, especially considering how good the SM7s already performed.

Titleist Vokey wedges have utilized variable groove shaping based on loft to maximize short game performance in the past and we’re ready to hear how the Vokey team looks to improve on that.
If we draw potential comparisons to recently released wedges like the new Callaway MD5 JAWS, tool changes and draft angles can now bring each and every face right to the limit of conformity and increase control, as long as companies work with machine shops to constantly check parts. Titleist’s quality control is already one of the best in the business, so to see how they have improved it once more will be interesting.

Mass Shifting & Feel Improvements: Feel comes from sound, and sound comes from vibration. In previous Vokey designs, engineers have moved mass vertically in the head to change the center of gravity and improve ball flight and spin control. With the SM7s, that mass shifting was well pronounced with a large “scoop” or channel in the back of the higher-lofted wedges. With the new Titleist Vokey SM8, it appears that the SM7 style channel is gone and replaced with a traditional flat back—but looking closer it’s easy to see how the top half of the higher lofts are still thicker than lower loft options, and this could be about feel.

As mentioned, feel is sound, and as any piece of metal gets thinner it can start to vibrate at a higher pitch, and in golf clubs that higher pitch and be considered an unpleasant “feel.” It looks like designers may have solved this with the SM8s by continuing to shift mass but also replace some of the lost thickness from the previous SM7 to improve sound and feel without sacrificing control.

Join the discussion to see what golfers are saying about the all-new Titleist Vokey SM8s wedges in the GolfWRX Forums

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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.

13 Comments

13 Comments

  1. Trevino

    Dec 3, 2019 at 4:53 pm

    The satin finish looks amazing just like my 620MB. Definitely will buy these.

  2. Ryan

    Nov 19, 2019 at 9:25 am

    I think the look is for stamping. There is all that empty free space on the back to stamp sayings, logos, etc. That seems to be an ever growing trend and it doesn’t surprise me that Vokey designs a wedge to maximize that.

  3. Moses

    Nov 19, 2019 at 6:47 am

    I love Ping Glide Wedges.

  4. Srksi

    Nov 19, 2019 at 6:23 am

    The progressive center of gravity technology from the 6 and 7 series is gone? Is there an explanation? Odd.

  5. M

    Nov 19, 2019 at 4:25 am

    Epic fail in the looks department.. No tech for wet spin… time to buy Ping

  6. CrashTestDummy

    Nov 18, 2019 at 9:52 pm

    I have had pretty much every version of the SM series. The SM7 they made it more of mid-size wedge. Not fond of it. With the bigger head, it has very different feel and doesn’t swing as freely as the older smaller headed versions. Hopefully, they made these ones with smaller head and get back to more of a player’s wedge size.

  7. Big Donkey

    Nov 18, 2019 at 9:46 pm

    M Kuchar sucks.

  8. JThunder

    Nov 18, 2019 at 7:03 pm

    “Feel comes from sound” … “Feel is sound”.

    Both statements are FALSE. This is a complete lack of understanding in the golf world, likely related to poor education and the inability to understand words properly.

    Feel and sound ARE related – it is difficult to separate them.

    SOUND is the vibration of an object that causes compression and rarefaction in the air – sound waves / acoustic energy – which is picked up by our ears and sent to our brains through our sense of hearing.

    FEEL is the vibration of an object that is picked up by the nerves in our hands (in the case of a golf club), transmitted to our brains through our sense of touch.

    Deaf people can feel vibrations. We can hear pitch without touching an object.

    The two things are separate – let’s not dumb down the world any more by saying they are the same thing.

  9. jgpl001

    Nov 18, 2019 at 6:47 pm

    Don’t agree with any of the comments
    They look fresh and modern with a smaller more rounded profile like the ping glide forged.
    I’ll be the first in the queue when released
    I do hope there is a raw or black option

  10. Tom Long

    Nov 18, 2019 at 6:15 pm

    I hope they change style. They look like Taylor Made p-790 irons, the ugliest irons out there. Say it ain’t so Bob.

  11. Jerryal Ingram

    Nov 18, 2019 at 4:59 pm

    Thy look too much like Taylormade wedges

  12. DJ

    Nov 18, 2019 at 4:48 pm

    vokey needs to bring back the black nickel.

  13. [email protected]

    Nov 18, 2019 at 4:36 pm

    UGLY

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Whats in the Bag

Chesson Hadley WITB 2024 (March)

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Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 70 TX

3-wood: Titleist TSR2+ (14.5 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

Irons: Titleist T200 (3), Titleist 620 CB (4, 5), Titleist 620 MB (6-PW)
Shafts: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 105 X (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-PW)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG 2-Ball
Grip: Odyssey

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Check out more in-hand photos Chesson Hadley’s clubs here.

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Whats in the Bag

Gary Woodland WITB 2024 (March)

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Driver: Cobra Darkspeed X (8 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TZ5 70 M5

  • The white circle that appears at the top of the face a removable sticker that’s used for launch monitor tracking, and Woodland removes it for competition!

3-wood: Cobra Darkspeed X (14 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TZ5 GW100 Prototype

7-wood: Cobra LTDx LS prototype (20 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TZ5 GW100 Prototype

Irons: Wilson Staff (18 degrees), Cobra King MB (4-PW)
Shafts: KBS Tour C-Taper Limited X

Wedges: Cobra SB (48), Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-08F, 56-14F), Cobra King (60)
Shafts: KBS Tour C-Taper Limited X (48 degrees), KBS Tour V-Ten 125

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Tour 3.0P

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord

See more in-hand photos of Gary Woodland’s WITB in the forums.

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Q&A: Martin Trainer on his Bobby Grace “Greg Chalmers” putter, 6.5-degree driver, and “butter knife” 2-iron

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As unbiasedly as I can put it, Martin Trainer has one of the coolest club setups in professional golf. (At some point soon, I’ll put together a top-10 list of “coolest club setups on Tour,” but I know that Trainer will be in the top-10)

What a lineup. He plays a 6.5-degree Wilson prototype driver, a 13-degree Wilson prototype 3-wood, a true blade Wilson Staff Model 2-iron, and a Bobby Grace “Greg Chalmers Commemorative” putter!

 

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A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)

I mean, look at this 2-iron from address…

To quote the great author R.L. Stine: “Goosebumps.”

On Wednesday at the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open, I caught up with Trainer to learn more about his bag setup.

Here’s what he had to say:

You have the Internet going crazy over your bag setup, and your putter. Where’d you pick the Bobby Grace-Greg Chalmers putter up? How long have you had it?

MT: This was from when Bobby Grace came to my course in California: Cal Club. And for whatever reason, they just started having them in the shop. So then I took my buddy’s, started using it, and made, like, a million putts in a row, which is how every putter story begins, I guess.

And then, I bought a couple of my own, used it for years, got to the Tour with it, won on Tour with it (the 2019 Puerto Rico Open). Then, about a year later, started using another putter, did that for a couple years, but now it’s back in the bag.

When did it come back in the bag?

MT: December of this past year. So a few months ago.

What year would you say was the first time you threw that in the bag, or, like, when you bought it?

MT: God…Probably, 2016, maybe? 2018?

Do you remember how much you paid for it?

MT: I don’t know, actually. Maybe $100-150 bucks or something. I think that’s the only golf club I’ve bought between high school and now. Well, two, since I bought two of them.

The driver is interesting, too. What went into the prototyping process?

MT: That was a version of the current driver, but it was the prototype that they first came out with for Tour guys to try. And for whatever reason, I just never switched out to the new one.

It’s just 6.5 degrees, right?

MT: Yeah. Very low loft, yeah.

What kind of ball speed do you have with that these days?

MT: Like high 170’s.

Yeah, that’ll work. And then a 2-iron blade? We’re seeing fewer and fewer of those out here.

MT: Yeah. The butter knife.

Very cool thing to have in the bag. Have you done any testing with driving irons? 

MT: Yeah, I used to have a thicker one, but it was a little offset, and I never hit it that well. And then finally, I started messing around with the butter knife. And I remember the first time I looked down at it, I was terrified. And then I ended up getting used to it, putting it in play, and it’s been in place since. It’s a pretty good club for me.

How far do you carry that? 

MT: Like 235.

A good little wind club, I’m sure.

MTL Yeah, exactly. I can hit it very low. It’s great.

I love it. You have people shook looking at that. Thanks for the time, man. 

MT: Absolutely.

To see more photos and discussion of Trainer’s bag, click here.

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