WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Titleist’s wedge team, led by master craftsman Bob Vokey, believes there are three keys to great wedge play: contact, flight control and optimum spin. All three have been addressed in Vokey’s latest creation, the SM11.
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PRICE & AVAILABILITY: The Titleist Vokey SM11 wedges will be in stores across Australia and New Zealand from February 20. Price is $339 per wedge (steel), $364 (graphite), $369 (raw); $NZ369/$393/$409. Three finishes: Tour Chrome, a new Jet Black and Nickel. The raw finish is available through custom order.
3 Cool Things
1. Choose wisely: It would be easy to look at the extensive loft/bounce/grind line-up of Titleist’s new Vokey SM11 wedge line-up – 27 in all – and think that’s the story. There’s more to it than choice, however.
The new SM11 offers six grind options ranging in lofts from 44 to 60 degrees with five grind options in the 58 and 60-degree models.
“Wedges need to be versatile, and every player is different,” Vokey said. “It’s never one size fits all for wedges. That’s why we have many grind options. There is a wedge for every player.”
To wit, there are a number of additions to the SM11 line. The .06K Grind, favoured by world No.1 Scottie Scheffler, will be in the SM11 line-up in 58 and 60 degrees. The .06K provides an alternative low-bounce lob wedge option to the T Grind.
The SM10 lacked a 44-degree pitching wedge offering. Filling that void is the 44.10F, targeted at golfers who prefer the performance and profile of a Vokey pitching wedge but require a stronger loft than 46 degrees to properly gap their set.
Finally, the higher-bounce K Grind lob wedge now comes with 12 degrees of bounce, having measured at 14 degrees previously. The .12K Grind has the same effective bounce as the .12D Grind, but with a different sole design.
2. Dialling it in: Contrary to popular belief, you don’t simply want to hoist your wedges as high in the air as possible. In fact, tour pros prefer a slightly lower flight as it is more controllable from a distance and trajectory standpoint. To help produce the desired contact for such a flight – typically between the second and fifth scoreline – a progressive centre of gravity position, achieved via the use of shorter hosel lengths and a smaller head profile, is employed in the 44 through 52-degree lofts. Tour player feedback also brought about a desire to shift the centre of gravity (CG) on these lofts slightly closer to centre-face to produce a more solid feel while reducing draw bias.
In the higher lofts (58 and 60 degrees) the goal was to also lower flight while helping the clubhead square at impact. By using longer hosel lengths and thicker toplines, Vokey was able to shift the CG up (which creates a lower trajectory) and slightly more forward, which enables the face to square more easily. The 54 and 56-degree wedges have a CG position between the two.
But that’s not what’s new. Previous Vokey wedges had the centre of gravity varied slightly across grinds within the same loft due. With SM11, Vokey engineers worked to create identical CG placements within a given loft, independent of grind. This allows for consistent flight and feel while eliminating a variable in the fitting process.
3. Dialling in spin: For the grooves, a “spin milled” cutting process is employed that uses a cutter that creates the entire scoreline instead of a partial scoreline. The result is tighter manufacturing tolerances for a more consistent scoreline edge radius, allowing for the grooves to be sharper and closer to the R&A/USGA limit.
The edge radius is rounded so the edge lasts longer. That, coupled with a heat treatment process, helps with spin retention. Micro-grooves are then cut between the grooves to add spin on partial shots.
The SM11 employs three distinct groove shapes which vary based on loft. Lob wedge lofts (58 and 60 degrees) boast wider and shallower grooves to better channel debris around the greens and on partial shots. The pitching and gap wedge lofts (44 to 52 degrees) feature narrower and deeper grooves for better performance on full-swing shots. Bridging the gap between designs is the groove on the 54 and 56-degree wedges.
In all, the SM11 Spin Milled grooves feature 5 percent more volume than SM10’s grooves due to improvements in manufacturing and tighter tolerances. For additional grab, a new directional face texture provides increased friction and prolonged ball contact. The texture, angled towards the leading edge, also protects the scorelines and keeps groove edges clean and consistent.
