I appreciate your willingness to answer our questions. I have a couple for you: First- when will you offer a forged wedge here in the States? I see some Vokey forged wedges offered in the Japanese market, but nothing so far in N. America. Second- I live in the Mountain West and our course uses very dense sand (due to the winds we get sometimes) that often retains moisture from either rain or watering the course. Which of your bounce and grid options are best suited for this type of bunker situation? Again, thanks in advance for your replies to our questions.

Please tell us what you know now that you didn’t know about wedges when you began your career at Titleist ...

Please tell us what you know now that you didn’t know about wedges when you began your career at Titleist ...

Mr. Bob Vokey,

When you are creating/concepting new wedge designs what are some
of the inspirations that fuel your fire to keep making the best wedges in the world?

Cheers,
Dr. K

Thanks for the great question. Video response above!

Bob: I've heard that professional golfers often get the lie angle on their wedges designed 1-2 degrees flat (vs. standard), because most the shots taken with wedges are less than a full swing with maximum centripetal force. As such, the flatter lie angle makes the sole of the club more parallel (even) to the playing surface with less forceful swings. Is this true?

Many do, yes, however there are so many variables that’s alter lie (not only static and dynamic) and there is not a perfect formula to choosing the lie that best serves you. We will often look at lie and loft numbers on the PGA Tour to see if there is a pattern. This data helps us understand what players are doing and why, and more importantly helps us understand what we are doing in our design to bring the right flight patterns to the world’s best players.

Mr Vokey, I'm 24 and I work at a golf course int the middle of Kansas. I didn't really start playing the game until about 3 years ago and quite frankly I knew absolutely nothing about wedges except that I wanted a couple on my bag. I went to the local golf shop and boight the only two left handed wedges they had in stock which were a pair of 54 and 60 degree spin milled Vokey design used wedges. They'd already had a hard life and I used what little they had left. So in a pinch is went down to that same golf shop and all they had in stock for lefties were the cally jaws and O absolutely hate them and assure you if will be selling them and returning to a set of Vokey wedges soon. No disrespect to Mr. Cleveland at cally but they just didn't have the same feel and inspire the same confinfidence when looking down the shaft. I am by no means a good golfer and am constantly behind the 8 ball but my Vokey wedges have always bailed me out and I cant say the same about the MD5 wedges. My question is simple what was the process from the start of your career making these to now? How do you determine the improvements you chose to make to these wedges between models and how are they tested before being released?

I am a high handicaper should I buy a 60 degree wedge ?

Many players use a high lofted wedge such as a 60°, however if you can effectively stop greenside shots by adding loft with an open clubface then you may consider using a less lofted wedge. The important part here is to consider shot performance from fairway turf, rough and bunkers.

Among all the wedges you've built over the years - is there one that stands out as a favorite? That might have special meaning, might be the best, or might have been the springboard to something special?

SM8 really is the best wedge we’ve ever made, however one very special to me is the 400 series wedges. When I made these I thought they were my best work and of course were the first Vokey wedges in play on the on the PGA Tour. A 456.14 sand wedge to be exact!

Hi Bob
I have noticed some players choking down on their wedges to get what I assume is more/less distance variance between clubs (Justin Thomas). I assume they have their wedges built with a little extra length ( 1/2" to 1" longer). Is this something you see with a lot of tour guys and is it a good way to get +/- 3 to 5 yards by choking down or up on a longer wedge?
Thanks in advance!

Hi Bob, what are your thoughts on wedge shafts? Should they match your normal iron shaft, and/or would you go with a different weight and/or flex. I play a KBS C-Taper Lite in my irons, and my fitter went with that for my Vokey 46 and 50, and the regular C-Taper (10 grams heavier) for the 54 and 60. So far I like the results, as I think I have more feel with the heaver shaft on the shorter shots. Does that make any sense?

Bob:

From all your time working with many tour pros, seeing many different swings and shots, what is the one shot amateurs can benefit more from with a properly fit wedge?

Tyler

Bob , nice to meet you. Is there a wedge with the same bounce as the PW and SW in my AP1 set? I can hit those pretty well but when the 56* comes out of the bag it's a rarity the out come is good.

Bob, where do you see the wedge industry twenty years from now? Do you think there will be any ground breaking advancements, or is the modern wedge near perfection?

Thank you!

I have always loved Vokey wedges. Have played them right from the get go. Seeing Aaron continue the tradition and legacy that has been part of the Titleist family is so nice to see. What a great combo of guys to make the best wedges in the game. Thank you for all you’ve done for my game and confidence knowing I have the right wedge to control my short game

My question for Mr. Vokey would be…After all of the years you have designed wedges, is there one wedge that you still hope to design that just might not have worked out exactly how you hoped? Maybe a “pet project”?

Thank you for your time,
Brian

Hi Bob,

At least in my case, when I was fitted for both the SM7 line and SM8 line, it was recommended that the shafts in the wedges be a softer flex than my regular irons (stiff in irons, regular in wedges). Is this typical and what is the reasoning?

I would love to learn about the advantages/ disadvantages of playing a Vokey pitching wedge vs the pitching wedge that comes with a set of irons. Is there a reason post pros tend to gravitate more to the Vokey PW?

Does having your wedges 2 degrees up have an affect on the bounce at impact to the ground?

Thanks for the opportunity to ask questions.

Darryl

This will allow more of the heel portion of the sole to interact with the ground. In some cases this encourages the leading edge of wedge to sit closed to the ground and visually promote some confidence when the conditions are tight and you need to get under the ball easily. Another thing to remember is the flight and strike patterns when a wedge is upright. The strike locations in some cases will be inside center (closer to the hosel) as well as a more draw biased ball flight that can be lower trajectory and have more spin.

Bob, thank you so much for being part of Team Titleist! What is the average day like in your world? How do you split your time between all the different tours? Where do you fit in time to research new materials/grinds/shapes/groove styles?

While a certain pro does not play Vokey wedges, do you see an advantage or a disadvantage in having the same length shaft in wedges as you have in your 6 iron

Semper Fi

What goes into the decision of the material for the heads to achieve the best performance? As in irons, there is cast and forged, so for wedges could you feel the difference? Also, should you use the same shaft as in your iron setup? Thanks!!