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Vokey releases SM6 V Grind on WedgeWorks

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Last July, I had the opportunity to be fit for wedges by Bob Vokey, the wedge guru behind Titleist’s Vokey wedges. It was an incredible learning experience, which I detailed in my in-depth review of the Vokey’s SM6 wedges. Vokey decided the best lob wedge for me was a V Grind, which I had to custom order through Titleist since it wasn’t part of the retail SM5 line. So Vokey’s decision to release a V Grind SM6 wedge through WedgeWorks has personal significance.

V-Grind-54TC-60OC

Like other SM6 wedges, the SM6 V Grind has the company’s new progressive center of gravity design to improve consistency. As I’ve learned since my fitting, there’s legion of golfers who prize their V Grind wedges more than any other club in their bag — both amateurs and Tour players. What makes the V Grind work so well for them and me is its dual-bounce design, which has a high measured bounce forward on the sole. On square shots, it keeps the leading edge from digging, which is great for golfers with steeper attack angles. On open-face shots, however, a V-Grind plays like a much lower-bounce wedge, with a heavily relieved heel, toe and trailing edge areas to help golfers hit lobs and flops from tight lies.

Vokey V Grind 60° TC RH

“The forward bounce of the V Grind is essential in helping players lower ball flight on full and square faced shots,” says Vokey Tour Rep Aaron Dill. “The grind in the back of the wedge allows players to open the wedge and hug the ground a little easier for tight lies around the green. Tour players are always looking for lower flight, but still need to have options around the green when hitting off of firm, tight turf.”

According to Bob Vokey, the decision to release the V Grind to the public was prompted by requests from the Tour. Many players like the shape of the M grind, which is a stock option, but desired more bounce.

Vokey V Grind 58° OC RH

“It got me thinking about one of my original grinds, Vokey said. “The V Grind is one design that provides more bounce forward on the sole, with enhanced relief in the heel, trailing edge and toe. It’s a really versatile wedge around the green.”

Whether you’re a V Grind candidate or not, keep in mind that added bounce on a wedge tends to lower impact point on the face, which lowers trajectory and increases spin. For drivers, that’s usually a bad thing, but for better players, it’s a great thing for their wedge game.

Vokey V Grind-1

The V Grind wedges ($195 each) are available in two finishes (Brushed Chrome and Oil Can) and lofts of 54 (RH only) 56 (RH only), 58 and 60 degrees. As part of WedgeWorks, the V Grind wedges can be customized with personalized stamping up to eight characters and one of 12 paint fill colors. Golfers can choose from four toe engravings with custom paint fill options, as well as a wide selection of custom shafts, grips, shaft bands and ferrules. Learn more at vokey.com.

Titleist Tour players currently using the Vokey V Grind include Robert Streb, John Peterson and Ben Crane.

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14 Comments

14 Comments

  1. mitch

    Jun 16, 2016 at 2:21 pm

    I will stick with edel!

  2. Joshuaplaysgolf

    Jun 16, 2016 at 12:19 pm

    I’m not really understanding. It’s pretty frustrating that they are slow-releasing grinds when they already had them at their disposal. Probably would have been a really good fit for me, but I already dropped $500 on 3 new vokeys this year. No way I’m about to run around and drop $195, plus custom shafts to get this grind. Why is it $45 more than the other grinds? Does it cost more to produce this grind?? (Honest question, not rhetorical) I’ve been a Titleist guy for years, but this doesn’t make much sense to me. Not a lot of people are shopping for golf clubs in the middle of the season.

  3. Rand

    Jun 15, 2016 at 5:56 pm

    Cheap, hard 8620 cast by the thousands for way too much money. Unfortunately callaway feel into this with the MD3 line. If the fan boys wouldn’t buy vokeys for the name they would lower the price.

  4. Chuck D

    Jun 15, 2016 at 4:47 pm

    +1 Nolanski!

  5. Juan Carlos

    Jun 15, 2016 at 11:24 am

    Looks like the Clevelands that were leaked last week.

  6. leon

    Jun 15, 2016 at 11:04 am

    Way over priced and feels harsh. The wedges from mizuno, bridgestone or other forged ones from Japan feel much much more softer, aliveness and responsive. And they perform exactly as good as Vokey’s

  7. Jafar

    Jun 15, 2016 at 10:50 am

    So which grind does the v grind compare to ?

    • Zak Kozuchowski

      Jun 15, 2016 at 11:06 am

      It’s similar to an M Grind, but with more bounce and more aggressive relief.

      • Jafar

        Jun 15, 2016 at 12:25 pm

        Is it a good club for sand shots? or would I be better off with a k grind rather then a V.. Thanks for the response

  8. CW

    Jun 15, 2016 at 10:09 am

    Oil can for the love of all that is sacred!

  9. matt_bear

    Jun 15, 2016 at 9:34 am

    nice job leaving the lefties out…again. :-\

  10. Grinding

    Jun 15, 2016 at 9:30 am

    $195? Whatever. Just re-release the oil can and get this to the public for the same price as all the other grinds. Give the people what they want!

  11. Nolanski

    Jun 15, 2016 at 8:30 am

    Cool but pricey. I play super soft fairways so the S grind will suffice for my game.

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Whats in the Bag

Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)

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Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX

Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4

More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.

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Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.

The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?

Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.

When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.

To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.

Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.

“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.

“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”

Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.

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Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird

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With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.

On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.

Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?

Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’

So that’s why I went back.

 

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A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)

OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?

It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.

Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.

It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.

Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.

Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.

So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?

Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.

Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play? 

Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.

There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.

It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.

Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.

And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?

Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’

If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’

My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’

I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”

And you’re going with it this week?

Hundred percent.

Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week. 

Thanks, man.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

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