Equipment

Vokey adds SM5 raw wedges to WedgeWorks

Published

9 years ago

Jul 8, 2015

Titleist has expanded its Vokey SM5 wedge line with the addition of a new raw finish, which is a favorite of many PGA Tour players.

[quote_box_center]“Raw means there is no additional finish applied to the wedge, which is made of 8620 carbon steel,” said Bob Vokey, the company’s master wedge craftsman. “It has what I like to call a satin appearance that will start to rust after some use.”[/quote_box_center]

The raw-finished wedges were only available through the Titleist Tour Van or the Vokey Tour Department in the past, but they’re now available to the masses for purchase through the company’s WedgeWorks program on Vokey.com for $180 and up, depending on custom options.

: Photo Courtesy of Titleist

: Photo Courtesy of Titleist

: Photo Courtesy of Titleist

Raw wedge heads are used on the PGA Tour to give club makers the ability to customize the sole, shape and weight of the club to a specific player’s needs, but they’re also preferred by players because of their look and feel. Because there is no finish on the clubs, they will rust over time, creating a unique, glare-free look.

Jordan Spieth uses four raw SM5 wedges. 46F, 52F, 56S and 60L.

[quote_box_center]”Some players like it even more as it rusts, kind of like a trusty hammer or another tool,” Vokey said.[/quote_box_center]

The raw SM5 wedges are offered in four lofts (54, 56, 58 and 60) and three of Vokey’s most popular sole grinds (S, M and K) creating 10 different configurations. Through WedgeWorks, golfers can also customize the wedges with personal stampings and up to six characters, as well as one of 12 paintfill options. A selection of custom grips, shafts, shaft bands and ferrules are also available.

Like Vokey’s retail SM5 wedges, which are offered in three finishes (Tour Chrome, Gold Nickel and Raw Black), the SM5 raw wedges have the company’s Spin Milled TX3 grooves.

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27 Comments

LukasM

Jul 15, 2015 at 6:34 am

Hi admin, i see your page needs fresh content. Daily updates will rank your blog in google higher, content is king nowadays. If you are to lazy to write unique articles everyday you should search in google for:
Ightsero’s Essential Tool

Reply Report comment
Insurance

Jul 10, 2015 at 6:53 pm

Just. No. The price point for this club is way off the mark. High-volume cast-stamped steel with an upcharge finish? The std wedges are already way overpriced for what they are and now this? Come on Titleist. Gives us tour-grade forged wedges and charge $180, we might just take it.

I will say it looks cool. So they got that part right.

Reply Report comment
Clemson Sucks

Jul 10, 2015 at 9:37 am

They’ve actually started offering many different bounce/grind combinations in the SM5’s. And they’re wedges.. What do expect?

Reply Report comment
John Daly

Jul 10, 2015 at 12:41 am

No thanks on $180 wedge that is a rusting pos.

Reply Report comment
Rwj

Jul 8, 2015 at 8:50 pm

Wedge that is $180 a piece. Cast 8620 steel that size is very cheap, the labor price is high, but hand grinding a wedge is not a two hour process, so not significant. The price comes from the titleist name and brand. The company has a large number of senior vp, then vp’s, then directors, then managers, etc. the overhead is outrageous

Reply Report comment
- Matto
  
  Jul 9, 2015 at 6:18 pm
  
  Doesn’t explain the fact that all (now) 4 Sm5’s are made from the same steel. 3 get get a final process, Chrome, Nickel, Black.
  The last of the 4 gets no final process yet somehow costs $50 more.
  It’s a rort, pure & simple.
  This is a wedge that people can have and now think, “yeah, I got one like Adam Scott & Spetih.” (Looks great though!!!!)
  
  Reply Report comment
Matto

Jul 8, 2015 at 7:42 pm

Or you could buy mine, all listed online at the moment. 46,50,54,58.
Ping Glides for me now. ????????

Reply Report comment
Brian T

Jul 8, 2015 at 6:14 pm

Pay an extra $50 for them to not apply an extra manufacturing step? Am I missing something? If anything they should cost less.

Reply Report comment
- Rich
  
  Jul 9, 2015 at 7:31 am
  
  +1
  
  Reply Report comment
jgpl001

Jul 8, 2015 at 5:11 pm

DAMN I just bought 2 Gold Nickel Vokeys last week because I got tired waiting for a raw version…

How could Titleist not offer the raw version retail from day one???

Reply Report comment
Clemson Sucks

Jul 8, 2015 at 3:10 pm

Or, you could save $50 by buying the wedge in raw black, then strip the finish off…

Reply Report comment
- Chuck
  
  Jul 9, 2015 at 2:08 pm
  
  Have you actually done that? I recall the process for easily stripping the “Oil Can” finish off Vokeys some years ago, with household products.
  
  But isn’t the black some sort of anodizing? How do you get that off, if it is electroplated on? Of course one way to get it off would be to hit 5,000 bunker shots with it. And the side benefit is that you’d be the best bunker player in your Saturday morning foursome.
  
  But seriously, how do you strip the black finish off?
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Clemson Sucks
    
    Jul 10, 2015 at 9:33 am
    
    http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/1042473-vokey-sm5-removing-black-finish-down-to-raw-a-how-to-pic-heavy/
    
    Reply Report comment
    - Chuck
      
      Jul 10, 2015 at 12:22 pm
      
      How did I ever miss that thread? It’s brilliant; thanks for posting the link.
      
      Reply Report comment
Steve

Jul 8, 2015 at 2:05 pm

Never liked vokeys, just always felt harsh.

Reply Report comment
- Rusty
  
  Jul 9, 2015 at 11:45 am
  
  Try hitting the ball in the sweetspot. Then they feel like butter 😉
  
  Reply Report comment
Andrew

Jul 8, 2015 at 1:30 pm

Why no 46/48 or 50??

Reply Report comment
John Aiello

Jul 8, 2015 at 12:55 pm

You didn’t say when the were going to become available.

Reply Report comment
- Clemson Sucks
  
  Jul 8, 2015 at 2:57 pm
  
  Says they are coming soon, on the website.
  
  Reply Report comment
Terry Shell PGA

Jul 8, 2015 at 12:53 pm

Finally raw wedges without hand ground price. Now we need the “j” and “e” grinds.

Reply Report comment
me

Jul 8, 2015 at 12:52 pm

So the standard SM5 are $130, but the “process” of NOT adding a finish to the club adds an additional $50 to the price tag?

Reply Report comment
- Matt
  
  Jul 8, 2015 at 3:20 pm
  
  Supply and demand, baby. Supply and demand.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Rwj
    
    Jul 8, 2015 at 8:47 pm
    
    Doubt fits into supply demand concept. I imagine there are plenty who want finished wedges as much as raw, so demand is probably the same. Supply, the raw wedges are every wedge, finish is added to the raw state, so supply is constant
    
    Reply Report comment
- BustyMagoo
  
  Jul 8, 2015 at 10:37 pm
  
  Yah so we’re paying more for less. It does suck but that is indeed supply and demand. Either way, I’m over paying high prices for clubs.
  
  Reply Report comment
- Chuck
  
  Jul 9, 2015 at 2:12 pm
  
  It’s a fair point! Why pay more, for less?
  
  I haven’t bought a Wedgeworks wedge yet; are there things offered with Wedgeworks clubs that can’t be had with other Vokeys? Shafts? Grinds? Stamping?
  
  Reply Report comment
Chuck

Jul 8, 2015 at 12:48 pm

Looks like Vokey is reading GolfWRX.com, and I propose to reward Vokey with the purchase of a raw SM5!

Next up; new Vokey remakes of the 400 series wedges. Let’s do this!

Reply Report comment
- Jon443
  
  Jul 8, 2015 at 7:52 pm
  
  The new sm6 look very similar to the 400 series. You will love them if your a 400 lover.
  
  Reply Report comment

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Equipment

A shocking Backstryke putter appearance + 7 interesting gear photos from the Zurich Classic

Published

4 hours ago

Apr 25, 2024

Andrew Tursky

Welcome to New Orleans, where TPC Louisiana plays host to the 2024 Zurich Classic. In between breakfast beignets and nightly Creole feasts, PGA Tour players are also competing in the unique two-man format at the Zurich this week.

Although the vibes in Nawlins are a bit lighter-fare than the recent back-to-back competitions the Masters and the RBC Heritage signature event), the gear news was no less serious this week.

We spotted some recent changes from Rory McIlroy, a very rare Odyssey Backstryke putter, dove into the bag of legendary New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, and spotted Patrick Cantlay continuing to test new equipment.

Get your beads out and crack your crawfish, because it’s time for an equipment rundown from The Big Easy (meaning New Orleans, of course, not Ernie Els).

See all of our photos from the Zurich Classic here

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Since the end of 2023, Rory McIlroy has had an on-again, off-again relationship with a Titleist Vokey K-Grind lob wedge. In his last start, it was on, and the wedge is back in the bag again this week. We got a great look at the complicated grind that McIlroy uses.

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A full look into McIlroy’s bag above also shows that he switched out of the TaylorMade BRNR Mini Copper that he used at the RBC Heritage, and he’s back into the Qi10 core 3-wood. As we discussed last week, McIlroy will likely keep the BRNR around as a course-specific club, trading it in and out for the 3-wood.

See Rory McIlroy’s full 2024 WITB from the Zurich here

Turning Back the clock

Unless Tommy Gainey is in the field, it’s unlikely you’ll ever see Odyssey’s Backstryke technology make an appearance on the PGA Tour.

But then, when you least expect it, Russ Cochran shows up.

For more than a decade – since the 2013 Sony Open in Hawai’i – Cochran has been stuck on 599 PGA Tour starts. This week will be his 600th.

Cochran is in the field at the Zurich this week playing alongside Eric Cole, whose regular caddie is Reed Cochran, Russ’s son.

The Backstryke putter was first released back in 2010, and its unique design helps shift the axis point of the putter closer to the CG of the head. And, the putter is getting a nod this week at the Zurich Classic, thanks to Cochran’s 600th career PGA Tour start.

The putter is certainly awesome, but don’t forget to check out Cochran’s full WITB from this week.

Drew Brees with a Super Bowl winning Scotty Cameron putter

Drew Brees, a legendary retired quarterback for the hometown New Orleans Saints, made an appearance at the Zurich’s Wednesday Pro-Am, playing alongside Zach Johnson, Ryan Palmer, and current Saints QB Derek Carr.

Brees’ bag included a TaylorMade Stealth2 Plus driver, a BRNR Mini 13.5-degree, a Stealth 5-wood, a mixed set of P-790 and P-760 irons, Milled Grind Hi-Toe wedges, and a custom Scotty Cameron “New Orleans Saints” putter, which Scotty made for Brees following his Super Bowl MVP-winning performance in 2010.

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It should also be noted that Brees has his Venmo QR code as a bag tag.

If you’re gambling with Brees on the course, just know that not having cash won’t work as an excuse.

Brilliant.

See Drew Brees’ full WITB from the Zurich here

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Here’s a better look at Stricker’s flatstick, which he started using back in 2007.

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Patrick Cantlay has opened the equipment-switching floodgates

Over on the PGA Tour’s Equipment Report this week, we covered Cantlay’s recent switch into Ping Blueprint S irons, and a Titleist TSR2 driver.

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And, with that, we say goodbye to the Zurich Classic in New Orleans. Don’t forget to check out all of our photos from this week, including 30 unique photo galleries full of equipment photos.

We’ll see you next week in Texas for the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson!

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