One thing curious has been taking place in golf tools over the previous decade. What as soon as was a pitching wedge has quietly remodeled into one thing else solely—one thing stronger, longer and more and more disconnected from the remainder of your wedge setup.
Whilst you weren’t wanting, the common-or-garden 48-degree pitching wedge of yesteryear (or maybe yore) morphed right into a muscular 44-, 43- and, in some circumstances, 42-degree membership that behaves extra like a 9-iron with an identification disaster.
And that’s created an issue that wedge makers have failed to deal with till now.
Let me inform you a narrative
As a lot as I’ll defend well-engineered strong-lofted irons till my loss of life, I’ve skilled a few of the complications they’ll trigger.
Not lengthy after I wrote this piece comparing 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 deal with 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) resolution to swap my Vokey for the set-matched PW.
That fastened one downside 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 downside, created one other and within the course of took a membership I actually appreciated out of the bag.
This isn’t what successful 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 received choices once more and so do you.
WedgeWorks 44F – A brand new place to begin
For years, Vokey’s wedge lineup began at 46 levels with the F Grind, a superbly wise entry level should you’re taking part in 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 should 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 sort.
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 useful membership for thus many, Tour gamers and amateurs alike,” mentioned Vokey Tour Consultant Aaron Dill. “With the lofts getting stronger in iron units, we wanted a lower-lofted head to keep away from the sacrifices that got here from strengthening a 46.”
These sacrifices? Extra important than you may assume.
Why “simply bend it” isn’t the reply
Why not simply bend a 46? (you may ask)?
Whenever 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 probably adjustments the whole lot about the way you transition from irons to wedges.
Not only for common golfers
Lest you assume that is only a downside for common hackers like me, I ought to level out that even Wyndham Clark struggled with this precise downside.
Clark wanted wedges that might carry out persistently in gentle, grainy situations.
“When a participant doesn’t have sufficient bounce, typically the vertical impression location might be increased up on the face,” defined Dill. “Wyndham was initially in 46.10F bent robust, which decreased bounce. In softer situations, his strike would are usually increased on the face than optimum.”
Clark tried the brand new 44F, albeit with a twist. He bent it (effectively, 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 preserve 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 end result he was on the lookout for.”
Clark instantly put it in play on the Sentry to start his 2025 season.
Bridging the hole
With 10 levels of bounce (an identical 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 may stick together with your set-matched pitching wedge however these of us preferring the specialty wedge strategy lastly have a viable choice to exchange our jacked pitching wedges.
End Choices, Availability, Pricing
The WedgeWorks 44F is accessible now in Tour Chrome or Uncooked end for each right- and left-handed golfers. As with all WedgeWorks choices, you’ve got 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 various shafts and grips can be found by way of 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 accessible by way of golf outlets and Vokey.com.
The submit Does The Vokey WedgeWorks 44F Solve Modern Golf’s Most Frustrating Equipment Problem? appeared first on MyGolfSpy.
