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Bob Vokey hand ground 50 “Vokey Signature” 56-degree wedges

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Before the existence of 60-degree lob wedges, which are now commonplace in the bags of amateurs and professionals alike, golfers relied on 56-degree sand wedges to hit all of the necessary shots around the green. While those days are mostly in the past, Titleist says there are still golfers who prefer to use a single wedge for all shots; bump-and-runs, low spinners, flop shots, bunker shots, and any other shot you may face.

Ahead of the Open Championship, Bob Vokey personally hand ground 50 wedges — they measure 56 degrees in loft and have 12 degrees of bounce — that have heel, toe and leading-edge relief to maximize versatility. That means the soles are designed to work in a variety of setup positions, including square, open or toe down, according to Titleist. There’s also a “pre-worn leading edge” for cleaner turf interaction.

BobVokeySignatureWedge

“It’s the ultimate 56 degree [wedge],” Bob Vokey says. “When I was learning about wedges from some of the best short-game players, they could manipulate the face to execute all the shots they needed. This wedge was inspired by those players, with a sole shape to enable a variety of shots.”

The philosophy of playing a variety of short-game shots with the same club will be especially prevalent this week at The Open Championship. Whereas many American courses lend themselves to high-trajectory shots around the green, Open-style courses often require more lower-trajectory shots that can mitigate the effects of the wind.

The Vokey Signature wedges have a “Diamond LC” finish, and they will sell for $400 each. Custom shafts, grips, ferrules and shaftbands are offered. There are only 50 wedges available in total, and this a U.S.-only release.

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16 Comments

16 Comments

  1. Donald Trump

    Jul 19, 2017 at 9:56 pm

    I’m waiting for PXG to come out with a $3,000 wedge made of the finest materials……..

  2. Lloyd

    Jul 19, 2017 at 6:22 pm

    Why would anybody pay Titleist $400 for a wedge with Vokey’s name engraved on it. For that price they should engrave my name on the wedge.

  3. Bryan

    Jul 19, 2017 at 3:38 pm

    Honestly, $400 for a 1/50 hand ground wedge by Vokey himself seems like a pretty good deal. OTR already retails for $150

  4. JD

    Jul 19, 2017 at 2:49 pm

    That’s why whenever I buy a new wedge, I drag them on the asphalt on my walk to the car. Gotta pre-wear that leading edge.

  5. Roger in NZ

    Jul 19, 2017 at 2:10 pm

    The comments on only One Wedge for all money shots is realistic.
    If your Titleist 681 set had a 50 degree PW then the next club was
    the Sand Wedge, likely a 56 that you loved…and likely a 588 Tour Action with a Worn Edge !!!

  6. Ben Jones

    Jul 19, 2017 at 12:51 pm

    I have two Cleveland wedges with leading edges that are really “pre-worn” and look great, so are they worth $400 a piece?

  7. Tom54

    Jul 19, 2017 at 12:21 pm

    I can see several hundred dollars for a putter cause with proper care it’ll last forever but spending that kind of money for a limited edition wedge that will wear out quickly makes not much sense

  8. PXG PRO

    Jul 19, 2017 at 11:27 am

    What a cheap, pedestrian item at $400! Only real pros play PXG! GO PXG GO!

  9. Joe

    Jul 19, 2017 at 11:06 am

    the same ole same ole…. people complaining about pricing. Can’t afford it? That’s ok, really. I would say if you really wanted it you could get another job to pay for it… but that would probably be narrow-minded of me…. kind of like complaining about expensive clubs

    • LD

      Jul 19, 2017 at 12:15 pm

      I would say it is narrow-minded stating that everyone complaining about price is unable to afford it.

    • Matt

      Jul 19, 2017 at 1:45 pm

      You really expect to put out a $400 wedge and not get comments on the price. Come on dude. Obviously those of us who realize how short a wedges life span is aren’t going to pay that. There’s a reason they only made 50, they know the pool of buyers for it is infinitesimally small.

    • RG

      Jul 19, 2017 at 11:34 pm

      I know what you mean! These jokers on here just dont get i

      • RG

        Jul 19, 2017 at 11:38 pm

        it! Oh and by the way I have a brand new limited edition jar of dirt for sale for $200. I know what youre thinking, but this is special limited edition dirt! Oh, to expensive? Well go get asecond job you bum!

  10. MikeyB

    Jul 19, 2017 at 10:48 am

    Gee, ONLY $400 a wedge? Pffft. Obviously meant for the lunch pail hauling, beer swilling Muni course hacker. The guy who would have to hide clubs from his wife, and try to convince her she made a mistake balancing the bank account this month.
    Talk to me when you buy Honma ‘Five Star’ clubs that cost $5,400….EACH. Yes a full set of 14 clubs cost $76,000 dollars three years ago!
    Varying degrees of cost can be found on mostly Japanese hand made products such as Miura which fall into the same $300/400/500 a club range. PXG, and now creeping up in price Callaway Epic Pro at $250 a club.
    Just another boutique club for nothing more than the $ the nameplate generates.

  11. ComeyforPresident

    Jul 19, 2017 at 8:11 am

    Someone should buy all 50 and then sell them for 1000 bucks each.

    • Teaj

      Jul 19, 2017 at 9:49 am

      That could work given that it is a US only product you could sell them in different countries. Now if I only had $20,000 laying around.

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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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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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