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Vokey opens its Tour Department to the public

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Call it WedgeWorks on steroids.

Titleist has announced that the custom wedge grinding services it offers to its tour players will be available to the public starting June 19.

Titleist calls the program “WedgeWorks Hand Ground,” and it will allow consumers to order 58- or 60-degree wedges in custom grinds that have previously only been available to tour players.

The wedges will retail for $350, and will be hand ground by the same master craftsman on the same grinding wheels as those made for Steve Stricker, Zach Johnson, Adam Scott, Jason Dufner and many other PGA Tour winners.

Can’t get up and down? It might be s sole problem. Click here to read our about our visit to see Bob Vokey and his team. 

The Hand Ground wedges will be available in the following tour-only grinds:

comparing_grinds_Vcomparing_grinds_E62_07_T_Grind

  • V Grind (left): Its crescent-shaped sole has plenty of bounce in the front to prevent digging. But it has a narrow sole and minimal camber that allows versatility around the greens. According to Vokey.com, the V Grind is great for players with steep angles of attack, or those who play in soft conditions.
  • E Grind (middle): Its medium-width sole has a straight relieved trailing edge. It also has a slight heel camber that allows it to be played in the opened position, and additional heel relief can be added by request. Its forgiving sole is great for medium-to-steep angles of attack, and is most effective in soft conditions.
  • T Grind (right): The T Grind was inspired by Champions Tour player Tom Pernice. Its crescent-shaped, thin flat sole has ample relief in the heel, toe and trailing edge sections. It also has a narrow forward bounce section and a medium amount of camber that plays well in tight, firm conditions, and is great for players with shallower angles of attack.

Vokey’s M Grind, which is available on Vokey retail models 54-11, 56-11, 58-12 and 60-10, is another option through the Hand Ground program. It’s one of Vokey’s most versatile soles, with a medium amount of camber and bounce and ample relief in the heel, toe and trailing edge areas.

More exclusives

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Above: Hand Ground wedges being made for tour players in the Vokey Tour Department. Click here to see more photos from the Vokey Tour Department and WedgeWorks.

Each hand ground wedge will come in a tour-only raw finish, which allows wedges to be shaped in nearly any way. Golfers can choose to have their wedges made with a square toe, straighter leading edge, beveled top line, pre-worn leading edge, or a pro-groove — a subtle channel in the center of the sole that is used by Webb Simpson on his 58-degree Vokey TVD-M wedge.

According to Vokey, the pro-groove moves the contact point of the wedge slightly forward, which allows golfers to more easily use the bounce on short pitches to prevent digging.

Like Vokey’s WedgeWorks program, golfers can choose to have their wedges customized with different stampings — eight different letter/number combinations in “straight,” “freestyle,” “staircase” or “snow” — and 12 different paintfill colors. All the shafts, grips, ferrules, weight porting and shaft bands offered through Vokey’s WedgeWorks program will also be available.

Golfers will also have the choice of the following WedgeWorks Hand Ground exclusive stamps: “Prototype 2013,” “Hand Ground, “Special Grind” and “BVHG” (Bob Vokey Hand Ground). They can also choose “Spin Milled,” the name for the high-friction grooves that are milled into each Vokey wedge.

Wedges that are ordered through the Hand Ground program will have a hand-stamped hosel code, and the grinder’s initials will be stamped on the wedges as well. For example, wedges ground by Vokey Tour Rep Aaron Dill will be stamped “AD,” while wedges ground by Vokey himself will be stamped “BV.”

According to David Neville, Vokey marketing manager, the company will call every customer who makes an order through WedgeWorks Hand Ground to make sure they know exactly what wedge grinds they’ve ordered and confirm that it will work for them.

Titleist expects that turnaround time on orders to be between two and three weeks.

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16 Comments

16 Comments

  1. Dino

    May 30, 2013 at 2:22 pm

    They’ll just be grinding up tour reject heads…Titleist left out the most important factor. Quality of metal tour players get versus what these heads will be made of. I have a couple tour wedges that have amazing feel and the outside looks like everyday chrome…well the chrome flaked away and underneath is pure copper. Hmmm

  2. jb

    May 29, 2013 at 8:15 pm

    Well what is so different about these wedges then the Scotty Camreon putters? Aren’t those the same people Titleist is targeting now? I think they’ll sell more than enough!

    • Curt

      May 29, 2013 at 9:03 pm

      Putters can last a lifetime, wedges last one or two seasons depending on play, so not a good comparison.

  3. J

    May 29, 2013 at 5:07 pm

    JP Wedges cost that much and you definately get a unique wedge for that much

  4. Todd

    May 29, 2013 at 3:57 pm

    The best part is that for $350 Vokey may or may not grind it himself. Hell, for this price you may as well just charge $800 for him to do it and $350 for the other guy nobody knows. Anyone crazy enough to pay $350 is willing to pay $800.

  5. Ben

    May 29, 2013 at 11:29 am

    Miura Golf is holding on line 1…

  6. Bob

    May 29, 2013 at 11:26 am

    I bought 3 Vokey’s custom 1 inch longer and 3 up. Swing weight as received, E-5. They would not adjust swing weight. I sent them to Hot Stix to be adjusted. For what these cost, custom work should be better, easier and less expensive.

    • danny

      May 29, 2013 at 3:55 pm

      But Bob Vokey might walk by while your club is getting worked on here, that’s a great experience that your club will have for a lifetime. He might event touch it which will give you 3 extra hole outs over an off the rack Vokey.

    • Mick J

      May 29, 2013 at 4:36 pm

      You must be 8′ tall

  7. danny

    May 29, 2013 at 10:54 am

    For the record, I have 3 Vokey wedges in my bag, but I see no value in having to pay $350 for Bob Vokey (or maybe his dude) to possibly grind my wedge.

  8. Mike D.

    May 29, 2013 at 9:56 am

    Or serving a niche market segment, who feel the $350 is justified….

    • Kevin

      May 29, 2013 at 10:48 am

      Great move. There is definitely a market for this.

  9. Danny

    May 29, 2013 at 12:14 am

    Lol $350. They have to be joking or arrogant

    • Curt

      May 29, 2013 at 9:15 am

      +1 – that is rediculous, unless they give an “up and down” guarantee along with it! Sorry, no need to overpay, just to over feed my ego!!

    • Dave

      May 29, 2013 at 1:40 pm

      Definitely just paying for the experience so you can say “these were hand ground”. I’m sure people will jump all over it though. I’d rather have them done at a custom shop though.

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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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Equipment

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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