Equipment
Raw Vokey SM6 wedges now available
Jordan Spieth plays the same Vokey SM6 wedges golfers can currently buy in stores with one exception; Spieth’s wedges have a raw finish — technically no finish — while off-the-rack SM6 wedges have one of three finishes: Tour Chrome, Steel Gray or Jet Black.
Related: Jordan Spieth WITB 2016
That changes today, when golfers will be able to purchase SM6 Raw wedges that will rust just like Spieth’s. They’ll cost $195 each, and are available on Vokey.com in six different lofts and four different grinds.
“Raw means there is no additional finish applied to the wedge, which is made of 8620 carbon steel,” says Bob Vokey, Masters Craftsman for Titleist. “It has what I like to call a satin appearance that will start to rust after some use. On tour, the raw heads give us the flexibility to grind wedges based on a player’s needs. But guys just love the look of that raw steel – some players like it even more as it rusts, kind of like a trusty hammer or another tool. These are their scoring tools.”
The Lofts and Grinds
- 50.08 F Grind
- 52.08 F Grind
- 54.08 M Grind, 54.10 S Grind
- 56.08 M Grind, 56.10 S Grind
- 58.08 M Grind, 58.10 S Grind, 58.12 K Grind
- 60.08 M Grind, 60.10 S Grind, 60.12 K Grind
Every SM6 Raw wedge can be customized through Vokey’s WedgeWorks program, which allows golfers to choose custom stamping of up to eight characters and one of 12 paintfill colors. Golfers also have their choice from a variety of custom shafts, grips, shaft bands and ferrules.
To learn more about Vokey’s SM6 wedges, read our official review.
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Equipment
Why Rory McIlroy will likely use the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper at the RBC Heritage
Although we spotted Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper last week during practice rounds at the Masters, he ultimately didn’t decide to use the club in competition.
It seems that will change this week at the 2024 RBC Heritage, played at the short-and-tight Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head.
When asked on Wednesday following his morning Pro-Am if he’d be using the new, nostalgic BRNR Copper this week, McIlroy said, “I think so.”
“I like it,” McIlroy told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday regarding the BRNR. “This would be a good week for it.”
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According to Adrian Rietveld, the Senior Manager of Tour at TaylorMade, the BRNR Mini Driver can help McIlroy position himself properly off the tee at the tight layout.
Here’s what Rietveld told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday:
“For someone like Rory, who’s that long at the top end of the bag, and then you put him on a course like Harbour Town, it’s tough off the tee. It’s tight into the greens, and you have to put yourself in position off the tee to have a shot into the green. It kind of reminds me of Valderrama in Spain, where you can be in the fairway and have no shot into the green.
“I’m caddying for Tommy [Fleetwood] this week, so I was walking the course last night and looking at a few things. There’s just such a small margin for error. You can be standing in the fairway at 300 yards and have a shot, but at 320 you don’t. So if you don’t hit a perfect shot, you could be stuck behind a tree. And then if you’re back at 280, it might be a really tough shot into the small greens.
“So for Rory [with the BRNR], it’s a nice course-specific golf club for him. He’s got both shots with it; he can move it right-to-left or left-to-right. And the main thing about this club has been the accuracy and the dispersion with it. I mean, it’s been amazing for Tommy.
“This was the first event Tommy used a BRNR last year, and I remember talking to him about it, and he said he couldn’t wait to play it at Augusta next year. And he just never took it out of the bag because he’s so comfortable with it, and hitting it off the deck.
“So you look at Rory, and you want to have the tools working to your advantage out here, and the driver could hand-cuff him a bit with all of the shots you’d have to manufacture.”
So, although McIlroy might not be making a permanent switch into the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper, he’s likely to switch into it this week.
His version is lofted at 13.5 degrees, and equipped with a Fujikura Ventus Black 7X shaft.
See more photos of Rory testing the BRNR Mini here
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Equipment
Spotted: TaylorMade P-UDI driving iron
It seems like the RBC Heritage is full of new gear to be spotted, and you can add TaylorMade’s P-UDI utility irons to that list.
We spotted a 17-degree P-UDI 2-iron in Nick Dunlap’s bag yesterday, and now have some photos of both the 3- and 4-irons. Nick has his P-UDI 2-iron setup with a Project X HZRDUS Black 4th Gen 105g TX shaft.
From what we can tell, this new P-UDI utility iron looks to have some of the usual TaylorMade technology as we can see the Speed Slot on the sole of the club for additional face flexibility. A toe screw is usually used to close off the hollow body design that will probably be filled with a version of TaylorMade’s Speed Foam that is present in the current iron lineup. This hollow body, foam-filled design should offer additional ball speed, soft feel, and sound, as well as an optimized CG for ball flight.
“Forged” is etched into the hosel, so we can assume that either the face, body, or both are forged for a soft and responsive feel. The club looks good from behind and at address, where we can see just a little offset and a topline that I would consider medium thickness. We don’t have the full details on what is under the hood or how many loft options will be available yet.
TaylorMade P-UDI 3-iron – 20°
TaylorMade P-UDI 4-iron – 22°
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage
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Whats in the Bag
Collin Morikawa WITB 2024 (April)
- Collin Morikawa what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage. More photos from the event here.
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 LS (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 60 TX (45 inches)
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (13.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX
5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX
Irons: TaylorMade P770 (4), P7MC (5-6), P730 (7-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Mid 115 X100 (4-6), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (7-PW)
Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 (50-SB09, 56-LB08), TaylorMade MG4 TW (60-TW11)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: TaylorMade TP Soto
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Tour 2.0
Grips: Golf Pride Z-Grip Cord
Ball: TaylorMade TP5x
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MikeA
May 18, 2016 at 10:22 am
The prices of golf clubs have reached the ridiculous point. So we the consumer pay outrageous prices for clubs that provide for multi-millionaire professionals to get their clubs for free. I’m not buying it…
Paul Adams
May 14, 2016 at 6:12 am
Or you can buy the black finish, just like the SM5s, and place them in CLR for 3 hours and its takes the finish off, leaving you with a raw wedge. did the same to all of mine. don’t let the Titleist machine take your money folks
MP-4
May 12, 2016 at 2:55 pm
What is the point in having only one of your wedges with no finish?
Titleist Raw finish wedges should be offered MOTO in all the lofts and grinds.
No luck if you need 46, 52.12, or K grinds.
Hope you like M grinds.
MP-4
May 12, 2016 at 6:22 pm
oops, they do make them in K grind.
Steve
May 11, 2016 at 6:21 pm
Charge more for doing less work. I love this country. Alot here will buy it, have too Spieth uses it
Rwj
May 11, 2016 at 6:24 pm
Exactly, people will buy because the name. More money for no finish
Busty McGoo
May 13, 2016 at 2:36 am
Agreed. Incredible how many products cost more because they have less features or are ‘limited edition’. And yet, they’ll sell like crazy. Like the $89 bikini my girl wants. Got to be what, 7 or 8 square inches of fabric there? I digress. The clubs are nice looking but the golf industry just doesn’t seem to get it if they are aiming to grow the sport and get the poor kids out there.
MI6
May 11, 2016 at 4:51 pm
they chunked into the drink on 12 at Augusta so I’ll pass…
jgpl
May 11, 2016 at 4:37 pm
I just bought 2 black ones last weekend – sucker
Really annoyed about this and especially the fact raw is not a std option
Solution: this weekend €3 for 2 litres of Coke ans a plastic bucket….it better work!
Bryan
May 11, 2016 at 8:37 pm
I soaked mine in CRL for a couple hours and then used a green scrub pad. The finish comes right off with a little elbow grease and they look great. The black finish is a little more durable than the old oil cans, coke may not work. Hope this helps.
MattM
May 11, 2016 at 11:47 pm
I don’t think the coke will work on the black wedges. The coke is meant to be used for rust since the acidity will help dissolve the metal oxidation which is the rust. The finish on the black Titleist wedge is PVD which is a similar process to chrome but it is meant to wear off to a degree. CLR is a better option to try to weaken the PVD but that still won’t work hence the elbow grease. If he was scrubbing it that hard then I would say the CLR very little. The strongest acid you will get over the shelf and without some EPA permission for non-commercial use is Muriatic Acid which is the same stuff you use in pools to balance the p.H. You can but it at Home Depot or Lowes for about $7-10 per gallon. Soak the wedge in that for a few hours to see if it does anything. Then, take a fine sandpaper (over 200 grit) and start on the sole to see if it will come off easily. I would then use an even finer sand paper on the face. Make sure to rub in the direction of the grooves and never up and down the face. I would then take a re-grooving tool and make sure they are nice and sharp and you are ready to go!
By the way, the oil can finish was to stop the rusting at the stores so people weren’t buying “rusty” clubs. The finish is meant to wear so the final product after a few months was to look like the raw wedges you see on tour. I have a couple of sets of the oil cans that I refinish every season and reapply the oil can look with browning chemical. I have owned the same wedges for 6 years and my numbers on trackman or GC2 or no different than a brand new set of wedges. Once you raw them, you can continue to rehab them back to life. It is a beautiful thing! I hate having to buy new clubs because the finish goes. I think that is one of the reasons why they sell them for more to be honest. Most people who buy raw or oil can wedges buy fewer wedges in the long run because they look the same after 6 months or 3 years unless you hit a massive rock or do something stupid! Titleist has gotta get paid son!
norcalgolf
May 12, 2016 at 11:06 am
The Jet Black finish is a QPQ treatment, not PVD! The PVD finish was on the last TVD blk ion wedges. You can remove QPQ, but its not as easy as the oil can or blk ox finishes of the past. Also the QPQ finish seems harder and tougher to bend in my opinion.
Blake
May 11, 2016 at 1:39 pm
Wow! titleist screwed this one up. this should be a standard option since every wedge is raw originally
Offensively priced
May 11, 2016 at 11:14 am
What did the (19)5 fingers say to the face? SLAP.
James
May 11, 2016 at 10:41 am
I don’t get it. Every single wedge out of the factory is raw. Why charge more to save them the trouble of adding a finish?
Nolanski
May 11, 2016 at 9:24 am
Cant you just buy some black ones and take the finish off?
rechlo67
May 11, 2016 at 1:27 pm
Yes you can, it even says on the shaft band that the black finish will fade and rust over time.
You can strip them easily for under five bucks. put them in a bucket and pour coke and fanta on them and let them sit for a couple of hours.
SHANK
May 11, 2016 at 9:20 am
Vokey is insane charging these prices anymore. The oil can that rusted was the same price as their other wedges and they got rid of them. Why? Probably $$$$
Beau Foster
May 11, 2016 at 8:57 am
So you cut out the finishing step(s), but are charging $50 more? How many suckers are gonna buy these because they rust?
Steve
May 11, 2016 at 8:07 pm
Way too many
Weekend Duffer
May 11, 2016 at 7:56 am
$200 each lmao
David Labbe
May 11, 2016 at 8:31 am
$200 each and I heard they don’t work very well on the 12th hole at Augusta.
YYCKL
May 11, 2016 at 9:47 am
NOW THAT’S FUNNY!!!