One thing curious has been occurring in golf tools over the previous decade. What as soon as was a pitching wedge has quietly remodeled into one thing else fully—one thing stronger, longer and more and more disconnected from the remainder of your wedge setup.
When you weren’t trying, the common-or-garden 48-degree pitching wedge of yesteryear (or maybe yore) morphed right into a muscular 44-, 43- and, in some instances, 42-degree membership that behaves extra like a 9-iron with an id disaster.
And that’s created an issue that wedge makers have failed to handle till now.
Let me inform you a narrative
As a lot as I’ll defend well-engineered strong-lofted irons till my demise, I’ve skilled a few of the complications they’ll trigger.
Not lengthy after I wrote this piece evaluating set wedges to specialty wedges, I swapped out my set-matched pitching wedge for a 46-degree Vokey SM9. Not solely did I favor the look of the Vokey at handle but it surely additionally gave me a flatter and spin-ier trajectory than I used to be getting from my set wedge.
I used to be completely satisfied (till I modified irons).
My new irons have been a bit stronger and the hole between my 9-iron and PW was unmanageable.
When Titleist fitted me into the T350, we (the fitter and I) made the painful (extra like painfully apparent) choice to swap my Vokey for the set-matched PW.
That fastened one drawback and created one other. The hole between my 9-iron and PW was excellent however the hole between my PW and GW was pushing 20 yards.
Lengthy story brief: we fastened one drawback, created one other and within the course of took a membership I actually preferred out of the bag.
This isn’t what profitable appears to be like like.
When SM10 launched, I swapped my 50-degree for a 48 and whereas that made for completely satisfied little gaps, I used to be nonetheless down a Vokey.
With the announcement of the Vokey WedgeWorks 44F, I’ve acquired choices once more and so do you.
WedgeWorks 44F – A brand new start line
For years, Vokey’s wedge lineup began at 46 levels with the F Grind, a wonderfully wise entry level when you’re enjoying Titleist’s T100 irons or most anything throughout the participant’s iron class. The transition from irons to wedges is seamless, the gapping immaculate.
However what when you’re swinging T150s with their 44-degree pitching wedge? Or T200 or (like me) T350 irons with 43-degree PWs? That first step into Vokey territory turns into an enormous leap—and never the Neil Armstrong type.
And so, for the sake of all mankind, with the WedgeWorks 44F, Vokey has lastly addressed the issue.
“The Vokey 46 has been such a precious membership for therefore many, Tour gamers and amateurs alike,” mentioned Vokey Tour Consultant Aaron Dill. “With the lofts getting stronger in iron units, we would have liked a lower-lofted head to keep away from the sacrifices that got here from strengthening a 46.”
These sacrifices? Extra important than you would possibly suppose.
Why “simply bend it” isn’t the reply
Why not simply bend a 46? (you would possibly ask)?
If you bend a wedge robust, you’re not simply altering loft—you’re basically altering the membership’s DNA. The offset will increase whereas the bounce decreases.
Most of us aren’t more likely to discover a one-degree change however any greater than that and also you’re beginning to mess with the playability of the design.
So, as fashionable golfers with jacked irons, what are we to do?
That’s the place the Vokey WedgeWorks 44F enters the dialog and for these of us preferring specialty wedges to their set-matched counterparts, it doubtlessly adjustments every part about the way you transition from irons to wedges.
Not only for common golfers
Lest you suppose that is only a drawback for common hackers like me, I ought to level out that even Wyndham Clark struggled with this precise drawback.
Clark wanted wedges that will carry out persistently in tender, grainy situations.
“When a participant doesn’t have sufficient bounce, usually the vertical impression location could be greater up on the face,” defined Dill. “Wyndham was initially in 46.10F bent robust, which decreased bounce. In softer situations, his strike would are typically greater on the face than optimum.”
Clark tried the brand new 44F, albeit with a twist. He bent it (properly, somebody bent it for him) barely weak to 45 levels. This counterintuitive transfer elevated bounce and decreased offset, delivering precisely what he wanted.
“It gave him extra bounce and helped maintain his flight down, and we stayed in a profile that match his eye,” mentioned Dill. “It added confidence, as he knew he may aggressively strike the turf and belief that he would get the consequence he was in search of.”
Clark instantly put it in play on the Sentry to start his 2025 season.
Bridging the hole
With 10 levels of bounce (equivalent to the SM10’s 46.10F and 48.10F fashions), the WedgeWorks 44F maintains correct turf interplay whereas filling the hole in your set that these of us with stronger-lofted irons battle with.
Positive, you possibly can stick along with your set-matched pitching wedge however these of us preferring the specialty wedge strategy lastly have a viable possibility to switch our jacked pitching wedges.
End Choices, Availability, Pricing
The WedgeWorks 44F is out there now in Tour Chrome or Uncooked end for each right- and left-handed golfers. As with all WedgeWorks choices, you will have in depth customization choices together with distinctive toe engravings and customized stamping.
The inventory shaft is a True Mood Dynamic Gold S200. The inventory grip is a Titleist Common 360. Quite a few different shafts and grips can be found via customized.
At $225, it prices a bit greater than a median wedge however I suppose that’s the price of fixing an issue (and changing a cumbersome set wedge).
The Vokey WedgeWorks 44F is out there via golf outlets and Vokey.com.
The put up Does The Vokey WedgeWorks 44F Resolve Fashionable Golf’s Most Irritating Tools Drawback? appeared first on MyGolfSpy.
