[pitbull808]

Chikara Designs by Carl Prototype Wedge

The first club is a limited edition custom prototype wedge. The wedges feature a custom grind by master grinder, Carlton Masui. These hand-made clubs are one of the first in the world to use a unique forging process which softens the feel of the hit while still delivering all the same power as regular clubs. Other features include S25C head material, double punched grooves, and a 5 cut sole for cleaner ball contact and multiple shot play.

The prototypes come in lofts of 52°, 57°, and 60°.

[alpha_pro]

absolutely the best wedge I have ever owned! do I need to post my pics here too?!?!

[pitbull808]

alpha_pro, on Aug 10 2007, 05:41 PM, said:

absolutely the best wedge I have ever owned! do I need to post my pics here too?!?!

Why not show off those orange beauties!

[Spoon]

i am not the type to join the bandwagon or try to keep up with the jones' BUTt i got a set of the chikaras becasue i simply liked the look of it. i am also a cheapskate BUT got it anyway becasue it was made by a craftsman who took the time and effort to handmake these beauties.

Let me tel you that the pics dont do justice to the actual items. they are just beautiful. images of ninjas, stealth bombers and jack the ripper all come to mind:) i am not the best wedge player but this thing just worked in all kinds of lies. i got my first birdie ever with the chikara and i was at an awkward 45 degree downhill lie with turf completely covering the ball pin 20ish yards away. 57* chikara made soft work of it and it tracked to the hole.

[pitbull808]

Well since I've been asked more then a few times regarding the Chikara wedges, I figured it's about time I submit a review. I apologize in advance for the length but when I believe in something, I like to be thorough in my explanation of it.

BACKGROUND
I've known Carl for quite a while now. He's been my regular club maker. He's had the tireless duty to build me numerous clubs. He's also had a tireless duty to listen to my wishes for the perfect club every time I've used his services. Once I found out about Carl's past duties at Gauge Design as their wedge designer and saw a few of his creations, I knew I had to get a few made for myself. A few of those were shown in post here……

DIARY OF A WEDGE GRIND

and

FLAMED NIKE WEDGES



Carl has succeded where many other wedges have failed. He's stopped my wedge ho'ing instantly. In the past, I've played numerous Tour Vokeys, Proto Vokeys, Tour Clevelands, Tour Taylor Made, Tour Callaway and a multitude of JDM wedges. One afternoon sitting with Carl and discussing his grind and why he did what he did convinced me that what I needed was a wedge from him.

The first wedges I had Carl do for me were the Vokey Spin Milled's. I was initially nervous taking a wedge brand new in the plastic and having him pull the head only to see sparks flying all over the place in seconds. My trepidation was rewarded with a fine playing wedge.

When I noticed the success I was getting with my TBC/Tuned By Carl wedges, I always encouraged Carl to start his own line. When Carl finally told me that he was going to take a big step and put something out with his name on it again, I was thrilled and eagerly put in my order for a 52* and 58* with him without knowing what they would look like, how they would be made or even what they would cost. I trusted Carl knowing his anal issues with perfection and his consummate attention to detail that whatever he produced would work well for me.

I was fortunate to be able to play pre-proto Chikara's. When I say pre-proto's, these were heads that Carl initially ground for testing and review. A handful of Carl's close associates were able to play and test these wedges to give him feedback. I was chosen because I'm pretty blunt. I will not give something a glowing review if I think it's lousy. I know Carl well enough that I can tell him exactly what I think of pretty much anything without holding anything back. After the data was collected by the intial reviewers, Carl headed back to Japan to create the 300 hand ground Prototypes for his dedicated old customers as well as his new found ones.

I have now been able to get in a few round with my new Prototype Chikara's as well as some long range sessions. The following are my results.

APPEARANCE
Initially when I first saw the Chikara pre-proto, I mentioned to Carl how mechanical they looked. Much more angular then what I had expected from his TBC wedges he had done for me. Carl explained it as being visually different but actually having the same playing characteristics. He wanted to create something with a different look yet still have a lot of playability. He believes that a wedge is a great weapon in the bag and wanted his wedge to have that "stealth" look to show purpose and aggressiveness. I believe with the black oxide finish and grind, he truly achieved his goals. The black DG S400 installed in the head really sets this wedge off from all others as well.

The look definitely has purpose to it. The grind is an interesting thing. On first glance you would just think there's a channel in the sole. It's when you really start looking at it from different angles, you notice the degrees and purpose to the grind of the sole. Carl calls it a five cut sole. It's very different then normal retail offerings and extremely different from custom offerings with their obligatory heel, toe and trailing edge grinds.

The head shape is my preferred look as well. Probably more similar to a Cleveland 588 than a Vokey. The wedge appears to have a miniscule amount of offset yet upon closer look at the base of the hosel, the heel of the wedge turns rearward at the same time the leading edge extends out and is still in line with the hosel. I asked Carl about it and he told me he wanted to have a traditional player look yet still offer some forgiveness to his wedge.

The topline grind, a trademark of most of Carls previous handgrinds is one of my favorite looks. It definitely gives the Chikara a different view from above. Almost knifelike.

FEEL PERFORMANCE
The feel on the Chikara Prototypes really stands out. It's not clicky yet it's also not spongy. Its sound and feel fit perfectly. When I say that, I mean there are some wedges where it feels hard and clicky no matter how hard or far you actually hit a ball. With the Chikara, the sound and feel are equal to what you would expect in distance. From initial play, there seemed to be no learning curve to them. I found this to be very odd because no matter what wedge I've ever used, there was always a learning curve on distance as well as feel. I even remarked to Carl after my first round with them that they felt like an "old friend" in my hands.

Performance was not much of a surprise to me. I've played Carl's grinds and I knew what to expect. Carl's grind in my opinion always play to a higher loft and a less bounce then what they actually are. I've argued many times with Carl that I don't like a wedge with high bounce. Needless to say, Carl has usually won those arguments explaining to me that with his grind, I will achieve better contact and without the added bounce, I'd be sliding under the ball too easily. This is where the channel cut stands out. No matter what the lie, I'm able to get good contact. From thin, short grass, or bare ground, my Chikara is able to get good clean contact. Whereas with other wedges with thicker soles, I've always felt like I bottomed out when I contacted the ground on those lies. I'm able to pick a ball cleanly when I need to with little to no effort. Yet when I'm in the thicker stuff greenside or off in the rough 50 yards from the green, I'm able to dig out a ball without digging in too deep and getting stuck. The sole grind helps to make it feel effortless. In sand traps, I also feel that even on shots where I want to splash the sand and let out a soft-landing roller, the Chikara excels in getting through the sand with ease. The heel grind on my 58* is fantastic. I usually get 60* wedges and bend them to 58* because I like the sole/heel grinds on 60*'s. Carl urged me to get his 57* and bend it to 58* because I'd get a much more playable wedge. One that could do the high flops of a 60 yet allow me to get more distance/playability when I needed it.

Spin is also excellent on these wedges. Actually much better then the Pre-Proto's that I initially tested. Carl actually had to tame some of the spin off on the Proto line. The ball will come off spinning but playable. I didn't find myself backing up outrageous distances but where I wanted to hit it and have it stop, it did it's job.

CONTROL
The forgiveness in the Chikara's is very noticeable. The sole allows me to actually miss hit a shot yet still allows me to get good contact. It will not perform miracles though. A fat shot is still fat but it seems to allow me to glide through shots better then with other wedges. It easily set me up for two par saves and a birdie in my last round with it. I couldn't help but yell out to my three playing partners who also had Chikara's after my first shot with it stuck two feet from the pin and sucked back "CHIKARA!!!!".

NEGATIVES
I don't have any. Well on second thought I guess probably the only one I initially had was that it was too pretty. Almost "art-like" in construction. I know I grimaced the first time I was in a bunker with it. For me it's perfect but I'm sure like any other club though, there will be people that it won't work well for. I know there has been talk about durability of the finish but for those who chose to buy the prototype, they went into it knowing the black oxide finish would wear off in time. This wedge unless oiled will rust and the finish will wear off especially when you're hitting it up to a 100mph into a bunker or hardpan. For those who worry about rust maybe the retail model in tour satin chrome with the raw face will be more up their alley. I've noticed people get surprised at the price. I for one am used to paying a higher price for "tour" and Proto wedges. The Chikara Prototype is made to "tour" qualities and standards. It's hand ground by the designer and made in a limited number of 300. The exact same wedge you can purchase has already had play on the PGA by Tadd Fujikawa. It's also currently in the hands of at least ten Japan Professional Golfers. I don't know of any other "tour" wedge that can be so easily had by making a simple phone call. The retail models will also be at a higher price then normal retail wedges but in my opinion, if it saves me shots and ends my new purchasing immediately, that's a lot of dollars saved.

CONCLUSION
I love this wedge. I have tried many wedges in the past years but this one fit me like a glove from the first round out. There is not a shot that I like to use that hasn't been better with a Chikara. I don't know if it's the answer to everyone's woe's but for me, there is nothing better. It fits my game perfectly. I highly suggest trying a Chikara Design wedge to all golfers. I know I've got my retail wedge set on order already.

[Spoon]

have used the clubs in 2 9 hole rounds and it ahsnt skipped a beat. ive made a couple of shanks and mistakes but tahtw as attributable to my swing. havent been in a situation wherein the chikara has failed me. except for a bunker play wherein i baby'd my swing to help me save someof the oxide finish:) will be testing them again tom.

reid i know what you mean. it looks like artwork. first time i saw it i couldnt stop looking at it and have been making every effort to keep it brand spanking new although i know i will have to use it more often. in fact i purchased neoprene iron covers, something i would never imagine myself doing. ive also been hesitant to use in bunkers, ive even opted not to take some of my bunker shots in friendly games on account of the wedge, now i regretfully am wearing the oxide finish in the bunkers but thats what is intended of the wedge, i at times opted to use my pitching off the sand just to save myself from slamming the chikara on rough sand. no more of that and i will try to baby my wedges less, hard job though.everyone thast seen my wedges all get stopped in their tracks and go start saying the F#$@#$N WORD!!! its really that beautiful, but this beauty and all just for looks it actually works.

you are correct to in saying that the chikara has killed my passion for any other wedge and it actually saved me a few bucks by killing my wedge lust. maybe til another chikara comes out. cant wait for there other products. hard to win me over but im a sold loyal customer for life.

[golf80808]

Just got mine. Haven't taken it to the course yet, only on carpet at home down a hall.

Best looking wedge, period.

[808golfer]

What can I say about these wedges but, AWESOME! I had these for about a month and I noticed the ease of hitting through different types of situations. I also noticed from watching other owners of these Chikara wedges, that most of all the shots I seen they bounce once then stop on a dime! Gotta love that...just have to change my shot process! ha ha ha Over all, this new design in a wedge is going to be a HOT item thanks to a great designer...Carl!!! Keep up the AWESOME work!

[idrive]

I would like to second pitbull808's review.

My short game has improved and quite frankly couldn't be any better since putting these wedges in my bag. I am hitting shots I previously could not make happen. I have gone as far as buying a back up set for when I finally wear out the ones in my bag.

Outstanding wedge, best I have ever played - Period (and I've played them all)

[Viking Golfer]

I'm kind of interested in buying a set of the new retail Chikara's in my preferred finish, satin.

I have a hard time believing anything will perform better than my new custom made Scratch wedges, but I'm an open minded guy, and I also LOVE the looks of these Chikaras.

Beautiful work and great head design on the Chikaras - I must own a trio of these to test them up versus my custom Scratch - I guess from other peoples opinions, both wedges will perform at the very top and be very hard to beat performance and design wise. Just wish Carlton made them in standard 52/56/60 lofts.

Is the deep grind groove on the sole difficult to keep clean after every pitch shots ?

When I get a trio of these Chikara's and have my Scratch's to compare them up against, I think I might have the two best wedges makers in the business, and I kind of like that

[Konakid67]

Good reviews, are they worth $380 bones?
Kevin

[Spoon]

Konakid67, on Sep 28 2007, 08:58 PM, said:

Good reviews, are they worth $380 bones?
Kevin

they certainly are. i was so close to selling my chikara wedges recently but i decided to persevere with them for a little more time. continued to work on my swing and was finally able to get the wedges to work for me much better than before. now i finally understand and appreciate the added advantage these wedges offer as opposed to others. for me im not the type of consumer that falls for marketing BS and all that sort, also nothing stays in my bag very long. so far these wedges have been in my bag since i first got them with no inetention of changing them anytime soon.

for those that find the $380 a tad expensive you can alwayts get the retail versions for $250 a pop and tehy will perform just as good as the protos. cant go wrong.

[oukk]

Claus, on Sep 28 2007, 07:56 AM, said:

I'm kind of interested in buying a set of the new retail Chikara's in my preferred finish, satin.

I have a hard time believing anything will perform better than my new custom made Scratch wedges, but I'm an open minded guy, and I also LOVE the looks of these Chikaras.

Beautiful work and great head design on the Chikaras - I must own a trio of these to test them up versus my custom Scratch - I guess from other peoples opinions, both wedges will perform at the very top and be very hard to beat performance and design wise. Just wish Carlton made them in standard 52/56/60 lofts.

Is the deep grind groove on the sole difficult to keep clean after every pitch shots ?

When I get a trio of these Chikara's and have my Scratch's to compare them up against, I think I might have the two best wedges makers in the business, and I kind of like that

I can't wait to see the head-to-head comparison review!!!!!
cause I'm considering those two wedges.

btw can the retail chikara be customized? loft? bounce? finish?

[pitbull808]

oukk, on Oct 11 2007, 06:34 PM, said:

btw can the retail chikara be customized? loft? bounce? finish?

No...not from Chikara. Retail being the key word. If you want to adjust the loft/lie you would have to go to your club maker. As for finish options, it's only offered in Satin. The Prototype was offered with custom loft/lie/paintfill options. I believe there are a handful of 52 and 60 prototypes still available but the 57's are sold out.

[oukk]

[/quote]
No...not from Chikara. Retail being the key word. If you want to adjust the loft/lie you would have to go to your club maker. As for finish options, it's only offered in Satin. The Prototype was offered with custom loft/lie/paintfill options. I believe there are a handful of 52 and 60 prototypes still available but the 57's are sold out.
[/quote]

Thank you!!
I got another question if you don't mind.....
I understand(if I'm right) that chikara has different grind on each wedges.
If so, which grinds does each wedges have?

Thanks again~

[racingdc9]

I just got the 56* and 52* production satin silver wedges and played them for the first time today. Amazing wedges!!!! They make the ball check up on the green everytime. With the heel relief in the 56* I chip alot better now. The only thing is, these wedges tear up the balls. Every ball I hit today, the cover would either get scuffed or torn up. I used Srixon URS, TM TP red 06', and Titleist Gran z balls and non of them were immune to the sharp grooves of the Chikara's. EVen a buddy of mine that was playing with me asked if these grooves were USGA legal, hehe.... They are right? lol!

The only sad part about today was when I had to hit a bunker shot with my 56*, I guess a little rock/pebble got caught between the ball and the club face and it put a small nick on the bottom groove near the hosel, that just made me hurt all over after I saw that. I already emailed Carl to see what tool he recommends to try to fix the damage.

If you're reading this and you're trying to decide if you want to get these wedges all I have to say is I'm an 18 hcp'r and trust me, if these wedges can help me check and spin the ball, these wedges are incredible and are worth the money.

Btw Carl is one cool guy, it was a pleasure doing business with him.

-Tommy

Here is a pic of the damage

[pitbull808]

racingdc9, on Jul 11 2008, 12:24 PM, said:

I just got the 56* and 52* production satin silver wedges and played them for the first time today. Amazing wedges!!!! They make the ball check up on the green everytime. With the heel relief in the 56* I chip alot better now. The only thing is, these wedges tear up the balls. Every ball I hit today, the cover would either get scuffed or torn up. I used Srixon URS, TM TP red 06', and Titleist Gran z balls and non of them were immune to the sharp grooves of the Chikara's. EVen a buddy of mine that was playing with me asked if these grooves were USGA legal, hehe.... They are right? lol!

The only sad part about today was when I had to hit a bunker shot with my 56*, I guess a little rock/pebble got caught between the ball and the club face and it put a small nick on the bottom groove near the hosel, that just made me hurt all over after I saw that. I already emailed Carl to see what tool he recommends to try to fix the damage.

If you're reading this and you're trying to decide if you want to get these wedges all I have to say is I'm an 18 hcp'r and trust me, if these wedges can help me check and spin the ball, these wedges are incredible and are worth the money.

Btw Carl is one cool guy, it was a pleasure doing business with him.

-Tommy

Here is a pic of the damage

LOL..grooves are very legal. They were actually backed down from the Prototype versions that were sold. Carl says...it's not the grooves but the sole that helps you have good contact with the ball. The end result is spin. As for your ding...from my experience "crying" to him....he's just told me to "suck it up and play them. they're supposed to be used..not hung up on the wall. " If you ever saw his wedges and have seen him hit a ball off a cart path with them...you know he's not kidding.

[racingdc9]

Yeah, i got his email reply and he told me to just leave it alone, the ding won't affect anything. Then he told me to avoid scuff marks, to use Spalding golf balls then he laughed, haha.... What a great guy. I'm trying to convince my wife to do a Hawaii vacation next year, and if we do, i'll definitely need to drop by and meet Carl.

-Tommy

[Riuzzi]

A while back I finally took the plunge and purchased my first Chikara wedge. After having it in the bag for a good amount of rounds now and having practiced with it on the range, I think it's time to do a little review.

Background

I’ve been intrigued by these wedges ever since Reid/Pitbull808 showed me some pics of the first prototypes, and told me about Carl. I’ve played a 54*/60* (used a Vokey SM before) set-up for a couple of years now, and I was pretty comfortable with the yardages I was getting with this set-up, so I really wanted to get a 54* Chikara. As you may know Carl hasn’t made any of the wedges in 54 degrees as of yet, so I after talking to Reid I decided to go with a 52* bent to 53*.

Looks

In my humble opinion, this is how a wedge should look. I think I remember Reid telling me that Carl got some inspiration for the address look from the old Cleveland 588 wedges, and having played both the Clevelands and now a Chikara, I can see that Carl has really fine-tuned the look. I’m a big fan of the straight leading edge, I just like how it looks behind the ball. The topline is thinner than what you usually see on wedges, and looking at it in pictures I didn’t really get the idea behind it – who really notices the topline on a wedge like this? But again, it just shows that Carl knows exactly what he’s doing. The topline grind really adds to the overall appearance of the wedge at address, and it’s actually one of the first things you'll notice when you look down at the wedge for the first time.




The black oxide finish is going to wear off, but I’m actually pretty impressed with its durability. It’s starting to wear off on the sole and on the bottom of the face, but that is to be expected. I actually like the worn grayish look, so I have no problems with it, and don’t intend to apply anything to it other than oiling it a little once in a while.

New:



Used:




Performance

Well I guess this is really where you want your wedges to perform. Who cares if it looks great, if you can’t hit it close to the pin? Luckily the Chikara plays just as good, if not better than it looks. Every time I play a round I get more and more comfortable with this wedge, and the shots just get better and better. It feels very stable through impact and through the turf, and the feel is very very nice, not clicky like the Vokey I played before, but soft and solid.

There’s been a lot of talk about the grooves, and why Carl chose to double stamp the grooves, instead of having sharp box grooves milled in. Honestly, I’m glad he went with the double stamped grooves, I think this wedge would spin too much if it had any bigger of sharper grooves and it would get hard to control.Trust me though, they’re still sharp and will take a bite out of your ball.

Like I said, every time I play I get more and more comfortable with this wedge, and have already had quite a few of the famous “CHIKARAAA!!!” moments (see beruo’s thread here for an explanation). Just the last time I was out playing, I was around 50-60 meters out in a bunker. I hit a nice low bump and run shot that ends up 2 inches left of the hole – tap-in birdie. This was on the 6th hole, my next shot with the Chikara was on the 8th. Around 90 meters out, hitting into an elevated green, I hit a nice solid shot with that went in high and soft. It felt good, but it was hard to see how close it was because of the elevated green. It had landed a little long of the hole, and to the right, but had spun back around 2 meters, and was pin high, around 2 meters to the right of the hole. The putt went in for my second birdie of the day, both after hitting my approach shot with the Chikara…it doesn’t get any better than that.

Overall

Overall I’m really happy with my purchase, and love practicing with it. I’m about to order a 60* as well, but I’m unsure if I should get a V1 or V2, but as soon as I decide I’ll place an order. I also really hope that Carl will release a Chikara PW in the near future, as I would love to add that as well – they’re just that good. Sure they’re expensive, but IMO they’re well worth it, and this wedge really is the best wedge I've ever played.

[omeletpants.]

I picked up one of the production satin 60* wedges a few weeks ago. Very nice set-up. Good spin and feel. Good out of the sand. The 5 grinds make for a versatile wedge that can be played from tight lies or rough. Just a nice wedge.

[tagermo]

I bought my first Chikara (57) about a year ago and liked it but didnt spend enough practice time with it so went back to my Callaway forged wedges. A couple of weeks ago I pulled the Chikara out of the backup bag and started practicing with it, wow am i glad i did!
The weight of the head coupled with the S400 shaft is perfect for allowing the club to almost swing itself, take it back and it seems to drop into the slot. Shots out of heavy greenside rough, sand shots and even tight lies are a breeze with this club.

I just purchased a 52 degree to complement the 57 and am looking forward to spending some quality practice time with the club to learn different shots with this awesome grind.