Equipment

Why does Aaron Beverly’s wedge have holes in it? A wedge expert explains

Published

2 years ago

Feb 16, 2022

Aaron Beverly received this year’s Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption from tournament host Tiger Woods to play in the 2022 Genesis Invitational. Before even making his PGA Tour debut, Beverly is already making a splash in our GolfWRX forums with his unique wedges.

On Tuesday ahead of the event, we spotted Beverly with a unique set of wedges. Each of his Titleist Vokey SM9 wedges (52, 56 and 60 degrees) have two holes in their back cavities; one on the toe portion and one on the heel.

With our GolfWRX forum members speculating why the holes are there, I wanted to get the real answer. For that, I went straight to Titleist’s Vokey Tour rep Aaron Dill – the man who worked on Beverly’s wedges himself – to get the inside scoop.

According to Dill, there are two main reasons for drilling out, or “porting,” holes in his wedges:

“The first reason would be to reduce swing weight,” Dill explained. “He’s a little bit long, he’s a half-inch over standard length, but he likes standard swing weights. And it’s really tough at a half inch to get him down to D5 and D3, so that’s the first reason.

“The second reason is because it looks cool. Part of it is, yes, we want to balance up the weight. Whatever we’re going to pull from it I want to make sure it’s even on both sides. The other part of it is I don’t want to disturb the BV wings. I’m trying to stay out of there and have a little respect for The Man (master craftsman Bob Vokey, for which the wedges are named). But, other than that, it’s really more about hitting the tolerance and the specs that [Beverly] wants us to hit, and in order for us to do that accurately, we have to port them.”

For those of us who like to experiment with custom club building for ourselves, take Dill’s work as a valuable lesson. For every action there’s a reaction with club building, so make sure that when you change the length of your club setup that you keep an eye on swing weight and make the proper weighting adjustments. You don’t want to drastically change one variable when you’re trying to change another variable in isolation.

Beverly’s wedge set, as you may notice, doesn’t have a uniform finish throughout; he uses a Jet Black 52 and 56 degree wedge, but his lob wedge has a chrome finish. Dill explains why:

“The cool thing about [Beverly’s] set is he actually has a black gap wedge and sand wedge, and then the lob wedge is chrome. I asked him, ‘What’s up with that?’ He’s just like ‘This is what I like.’ I thought that was cool. That’s kind of his thing. Most guys would maintain the same finish throughout, and the majority of guys out here use raw. But for a handful of guys like Cam Smith, Callum Tarren, etc., there’s a handful of guys that really love the darker finish and go with the Jet Black.”

That’s the fun part of customizing your wedges: You can make them functional and practical, while still expressing yourself with things such as custom stampings, the finish, or even ported holes.

Check out all of our photos from the 2022 Genesis Invitational here.

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Andrew Tursky

He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

10 Comments

LUFC Fan

Feb 23, 2022 at 2:38 pm

Minor third thing is it raises the swing weight higher in the wedge which can help achieving a lower flight and increase spin. Definitely helps with players who want lighter swing weight though.

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drumdude96

Feb 20, 2022 at 12:00 pm

I guess the guys in the Titleist tour van have never heard of deburring. He Aaron Dill, every seen a countersink before?! Someone’s going to get their fingers cut on the burrs and sharp edges of those port holes. Terrible workmanship.

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drumdude96

Feb 20, 2022 at 11:57 am

I guess the guys in the Titleist tour van have never heard of deburring? Someone’s going to get their fingers cut on the burrs and sharp edges of those port holes. Half-a$$ed work, if you ask me. Hey Aaron Dill, ever heard of a countersink?!

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ericsokp

Feb 18, 2022 at 1:22 pm

Yeah, that must be what’s wrong with my game … my wedges are at D5 instead of D3! I believe that equates to a whopping 6 grams of club-head weight? 🙂

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burner accnt gianni sux

Feb 17, 2022 at 6:01 pm

“The second reason is because it looks cool. Part of it is, yes, we want to balance up the weight. Whatever we’re going to pull from it I want to make sure it’s even on both sides. The other part of it is I don’t want to disturb the BV wings. I’m trying to stay out of there and have a little respect for The Man (master craftsman Bob Vokey, for which the wedges are named). But, other than that, it’s really more about hitting the tolerance and the specs that [Beverly] wants us to hit, and in order for us to do that accurately, we have to port them.”

two words, get real

Reply Report comment
Eric

Feb 17, 2022 at 10:13 am

This is huge. They should offer this. I play +.5 and struggle with my vokeys. I always leave them at stock length because of the swing weight issue. I’ve felt Vokey’s +.5″ and they are nearly unplayably heavy. So I just squat more when I have wedges in hand.

Reply Report comment
- Joe
  
  Feb 17, 2022 at 1:29 pm
  
  Get raw wedges and pick a couple grinds on Wedgeworks, that should drop the SW to about right..
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Eric
    
    Feb 18, 2022 at 10:26 am
    
    I play Vokey 60.08 M as one of my wedges, as an example. Ordering that wedge raw has no impact on swing weight and Im not interested in other grinds.
    
    But even if I were, grinding has almost no impact on swing weight. I would need 6 grams ground off the wedge to meet my needs at +1/2. Aaron Beverly has 2 x 3gram holes drilled in his wedges. You can see how much metal needs to be removed.
    
    Reply Report comment
- drumdude96
  
  Feb 20, 2022 at 11:53 am
  
  This is nothing new. People have been porting wedges since forever. You can easily do it yourself if you have any mechanical ability at all and a few basic tools.
  
  Reply Report comment

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Equipment

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

Published

15 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

Rory’s on-and-off lob wedge

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

Stricker’s unrecognizable putter

Steve Stricker has made numerous upgrades to his bag recently, including a new TSR3 driver and T100 irons, but his longtime Odyssey White Hot No. 2 putter is still going strong. It’s the most recognizable unrecognizable putter ever.

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.

Cantlay hadn’t switched irons for about seven years, so the iron switch he made at The 2024 Masters came as a shock to the norm. He simply isn’t one to change gear very often, so anytime Cantlay makes a switch, it’s news.

It seems the floodgates of equipment testing have opened up a bit for Cantlay, who was also spotted testing a custom Scotty Cameron blade putter on Tuesday this week. By Wednesday, Cantlay was back practicing with his familiar Scotty Cameron T5 Proto mallet, but it’s certainly something to keep an eye on going forward.

Daniel Berger’s custom Jailbird site lines

Berger, who’s currently using Odyssey’s Ai-One Mini Jailbird mallet putter, has a unique 3-dot, 2-line alignment on the crown of his navy-white-navy-white mallet putter. Looking down at the putter, it’s easy to see why this alignment system would help; it just seems impossible to set up to the ball off-center, or misaligned to the target.

Also, for anyone worried, you can rest easy. Yes, he’s still playing the 2013 TaylorMade TP MC irons, which we highlighted in our recent “Modern Classics: Old vs. New” video testing series.

FitzMagic teams back up

Brothers Matthew and Alex Fitzpatrick are teaming up once again at the Zurich this year, and Bettinardi Golf hooked them up with some festive “FitzMagic” headcovers to match this week.

See what else is in Alex Fitzpatrick’s WITB here

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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