J13's WITB: Update- FUJIKURA AXIOM

[CoachCraigie]

Those wedges are lovely! Good luck on the new adventure!

[J13]

16 hours ago, rburchjr said:

Congratulations on chasing down the dream.  Your contributions to this board have been nothing  but extraordinary.  Your passion for the industry has been tremendous and Edel has gained and incredible asset for there business. 

 

 

Thank you on all accounts!  Happy Thanksgiving!

[J13]

5 hours ago, CoachCraigie said:

Those wedges are lovely! Good luck on the new adventure!

Thank you!

[goheels11]

@J13Quick question, always liked ping drivers but the sound in the 425 is not to my liking.  How much and where are you putting the hot melt to have the biggest impact for sound?  Trying an autoflex, so I have to be mindful of sw.  thanks!

[J13]

On 11/27/2021 at 11:49 AM, goheels11 said:

@J13Quick question, always liked ping drivers but the sound in the 425 is not to my liking.  How much and where are you putting the hot melt to have the biggest impact for sound?  Trying an autoflex, so I have to be mindful of sw.  thanks!

 

For the Ping I would add a minimum of 5g of melt.  Location will be dependent on the player but typically the most bang for your buck for acoustic alteration is the crown.  With that said you don't want to put much melt there for performance reasons.

[J13]

Update on wedges tomorrow, got super busy and for anyone that has kids you know your time is not your own.  Plus gives me time to get another round under my belt before I share.  And just because I've been asked a ton, yes my MMT's are in the Edel wedges now.  I tried the Modus (which i love) and couldn't do it. I started hitting weird shots and had to switch back, MMT's are just amazing for me.

[GoldenBellGW]

Way to go!!! Love stories like this, especially because I think it's a small dream for many of us on WRX. We follow all the stories of those trying to make it pro on the big show, and this is no different other than the end goal and path. So cool and best of luck!

[J13]

On 12/2/2021 at 10:54 AM, GoldenBellGW said:

Way to go!!! Love stories like this, especially because I think it's a small dream for many of us on WRX. We follow all the stories of those trying to make it pro on the big show, and this is no different other than the end goal and path. So cool and best of luck!

Thank you I appreciate the kind words.  So far it's exceeded expectations and I have my hands in some pretty cool projects.  I highly recommend working in golf haha!

 

 

 

[J13]

Edel SMS Wedge review:

As always, I’ll try to keep this short and sweet but before I get into the wedges performance I want to touch on the features and how I was fit. It’s important and will help explain some of the things I’m going to say.

 

 

 

Fitting:

My fitting took place at Edel HQ in Austin, TX. David (Edel) walked me through the concept of the swing match weighting system and explained the different grinds. To be honest I didn’t see how the weights could do much but as they say proof was in the pudding. To start I hit the 54* head in all 4 grinds. It only took about 3-4 shots a piece to figure out which grind worked best for me based on turf interaction. Once that was sorted out, I then hit 5 balls a piece with the heavy weight in each of the 3 locations (heel, center, toe). To say there was a difference would be an understatement.

 

The weight in the toe was not optimal, not even close. In fact, I shanked one and was like “please take this away from me now”. The weight in the center (which I thought would be best) was solid and very similar to what I hit with my current wedges. He then put the weight in the heel, and it was like someone put me on autopilot. My dispersion improved by around 20% and my ball speed jumped by 2mph. This was not something I expected to see. He explained that because of the way I swing the club I benefit from the weight in the heel and the steering force it creates. And the jump in ball speed was just better efficiency and hitting the ball with a squarer face basically compressing the ball better.

 

The last step was getting fit into a shaft.  Edel wedge fitting carts come with not only the heads, weights, and grinds but also 15 different shafts that you can plug in to get numbers.  I’ve been through lots of fittings in my life and this was the first time I got to test wedge shafts instead of whatever stock shaft the company uses. Edel has a proprietary connection system that when you screw the head on it just looks like a normal wedge (see picture below with black background) because it connects where the natural break is in the ferrule. Anyway Edel doesn’t currently carry the Mitsu MMT’s (something I’m trying to change!) so I settled on the Modus 125 which is a great shaft for me and one I’ve played and been fit into.  With that said I tried them for a few rounds but missed the feel of my MMT’s so off to the shop I went and did a swap.

 

At this point I was thrilled about the improvement in my wedge numbers and the fact that I was actually on the clock getting paid to be fit into wedges 😎 I told ya, working in golf is pretty sweet 😁

 

Looks – Love the look. There is a progression with face height from the 48* to the 60* so it blends from irons to wedges.  The previous Edel wedges had an unusual shape to me, so I was pleasantly surprised with the new design. 

Feel- The wedges are Forged Japanese 1025 carbon steel so yeah, they feel great.  The lower lofts you can really feel the difference in forged vs cast but once I get above 54* I don’t feel much of a difference. Some people might but I’m just being honest, I don’t.

Dispersion – With the heavy weight in the heel my dispersion improved quite a bit and I wasn’t missing shots to the right which I tended to do especially on ¾ shots.

Spin- These wedges SPIN. I was getting around 300-400rpm’s more spin that my current wedges. The grooves are extended toward the toe so any shots where you open the face you will benefit.  I also love that my 60* wedge looks like a normal wedge (no high toe) and I have the extended grooves.

Trajectory – Trajectory between weight locations was wild for me. In the toe I was hitting a lowish right shot, in the center it was mid/high trajectory and in the heel, it was a midflight, high spin shot that was perfect. I’m still getting used to the flight but it’s so much better in the wind than what I’m used to.

 

My setup

Edel SMS 50* V grind, heavy weight heel  / Mitsu MMT 125TX

Edel SMS 54* T grind, heavy weight heel  / Mitsu MMT 125TX

Edel SMS 60* T grind, heavy weight heel  / Mitsu MMT 125TX

 

 

 

 

Edited December 3, 2021 by J13

[Cruisin1966]

Dinged up the 60º already I see 😉

[Nic1972]

Great wedges and great review. Can I ask why you prefer the « regular » MMT shafts vs the Wedge shafts?

I would love to go through a wedge fitting, as I feel / know (thanks to Arrcos) that I loose quite a few shots in this area, obviously mostly due to my lack of talent…

I live in the Netherlands but have family in Germany and France. Would you know if in one of those countries an Edel reseller offers a similar fitting experience ? Thanks!

[J13]

2 hours ago, Cruisin1966 said:

Dinged up the 60º already I see 😉

 

Yep.  Ball landed around a creek and little did I know my ball was sitting on grass that grew over a large stone.  I did still par the hole though haha.

 

 

1 hour ago, Nic1972 said:

Great wedges and great review. Can I ask why you prefer the « regular » MMT shafts vs the Wedge shafts?

I would love to go through a wedge fitting, as I feel / know (thanks to Arrcos) that I loose quite a few shots in this area, obviously mostly due to my lack of talent…

I live in the Netherlands but have family in Germany and France. Would you know if in one of those countries an Edel reseller offers a similar fitting experience ? Thanks!

 

I got the wedge shafts when I originally tested the MMT's for Mitsubishi. I'm not sure if they are any different that the wedge specific MMT's other than another wrap of carbon fiber to add 5g's

Best thing you can do is go to Edel's website and click "Get Fit" at the top. I know we have our product in a shop right outside Paris and Munich but nothing in the Netherlands at the moment.

[J13]

Played a quick 9 today and ended up -3.  Wedges continue to get better and better and the putter was on fire despite it only being 40* 🥶

 

Going to try and play possibly Sunday if weather holds so I'll have more feedback then

[Nic1972]

Do you have already an Edel putter in the bag?

 

[J_Tizzle]

Yeah what are the next Edels to go into the bag?  Putter? Irons?

[SBH9458]

Great review above @J13…appreciate you documenting it thoroughly!  

[J13]

On 12/11/2021 at 9:28 AM, J_Tizzle said:

Yeah what are the next Edels to go into the bag?  Putter? Irons?

 

 

Good question, putter is up next and yes it was in the bag for the last 3 rounds. Review on that coming soon, probably after the holidays.  I'm a little behind in my testing though as I just got back from 2022 meetings in TX and man I can't wait to kick off a full year with the Edel team. Major guys in business and the industry coming over, so exciting. 2022 is going to open a LOT of 👀 

[J_Tizzle]

1 hour ago, J13 said:

 

 

Good question, putter is up next and yes it was in the bag for the last 3 rounds. Review on that coming soon, probably after the holidays.  I'm a little behind in my testing though as I just got back from 2022 meetings in TX and man I can't wait to kick off a full year with the Edel team. Major guys in business and the industry coming over, so exciting. 2022 is going to open a LOT of 👀 

 

Just tell them to make a side saddle putter and I'd be VERY happy 🙂 and I can provide input if you want a tester.

 

Very excited to see about the irons when they happen.  The Edel stuff looks so clean to me, always loved the look. I just need the distance/player irons, unless Edel has some of those in the pipeline as well...

[J13]

2 hours ago, J_Tizzle said:

 

Just tell them to make a side saddle putter and I'd be VERY happy 🙂 and I can provide input if you want a tester.

 

Very excited to see about the irons when they happen.  The Edel stuff looks so clean to me, always loved the look. I just need the distance/player irons, unless Edel has some of those in the pipeline as well...

 

haha not sure we will be offering the side saddle putter unless someone on tour gets hot with one and wins a lot.  As for your needs for irons, all i can say is I like what our pipeline looks like.  

 

 

 

Edited December 16, 2021 by J13

[Wardonation]

I had Dave make me a couple years ago, a one off set of blades. They were so good, I wish I would have kept them...

[J_Tizzle]

5 hours ago, J13 said:

 

haha not sure we will be offering the side saddle putter unless someone on tour gets hot with one and wins a lot.  As for your needs for irons, all i can say is I like what our pipeline looks like.  

 

 

 

 

So now its a waiting game if those come out before the i525s 🙂

[J13]

19 hours ago, J_Tizzle said:

 

So now its a waiting game if those come out before the i525s 🙂

 

Obviously i'm biased but I don't blow smoke.  All i can say is they will be worth the wait and at the very least compare them in performance.  TRUST ME 

[J_Tizzle]

1 minute ago, J13 said:

 

Obviously i'm biased but I don't blow smoke.  All i can say is they will be worth the wait and at the very least compare them in performance.  TRUST ME 

 

If I can get the Edels in a raw finish I'll absolutely wait.  The only knock I have on the i500 is the finish wears terribly.

[J13]

On 12/16/2021 at 4:33 PM, Wardonation said:

I had Dave make me a couple years ago, a one off set of blades. They were so good, I wish I would have kept them...

 

Yeah the hand ground stuff Dave does it's amazing.  He's an artist and at HQ we have engraved blades in cases that would blow your mind.  So nice in fact I didn't want to put my dirty mitts on them 🤣

 

 

[J13]

6 minutes ago, J_Tizzle said:

 

If I can get the Edels in a raw finish I'll absolutely wait.  The only knock I have on the i500 is the finish wears terribly.

 

That's why I don't play black irons, as soon as you hit a few bunker shots or anything from sandy fairways and they look awful.  Not sure on finish options on our stuff.  Again if the demand is there we can do some pretty cool stuff.

 

Putter update will be next week, played a quick after work 9 hole money game and also plan on playing over the weekend.  

[J_Tizzle]

7 minutes ago, J13 said:

 

That's why I don't play black irons, as soon as you hit a few bunker shots or anything from sandy fairways and they look awful.  Not sure on finish options on our stuff.  Again if the demand is there we can do some pretty cool stuff.

 

Putter update will be next week, played a quick after work 9 hole money game and also plan on playing over the weekend.  

 

Makes total sense for sure!

 

I'm going to be keeping my eyes on this thread for sure.  Thanks for all the fun info.

[J13]

Quick update:

 

The putter review will be after the holidays.  Got busy and the honey do list is a MILE long which means I won't have time to type up the run down. The upside is I'll hopefully be able to get in another round or two before posting so it's not all bad.

 

Happy Holidays to all !!! 

[OsnolaKinnard]

On 12/3/2021 at 2:38 PM, J13 said:

Edel SMS Wedge review:

As always, I’ll try to keep this short and sweet but before I get into the wedges performance I want to touch on the features and how I was fit. It’s important and will help explain some of the things I’m going to say.

 

 

 

Fitting:

My fitting took place at Edel HQ in Austin, TX. David (Edel) walked me through the concept of the swing match weighting system and explained the different grinds. To be honest I didn’t see how the weights could do much but as they say proof was in the pudding. To start I hit the 54* head in all 4 grinds. It only took about 3-4 shots a piece to figure out which grind worked best for me based on turf interaction. Once that was sorted out, I then hit 5 balls a piece with the heavy weight in each of the 3 locations (heel, center, toe). To say there was a difference would be an understatement.

 

The weight in the toe was not optimal, not even close. In fact, I shanked one and was like “please take this away from me now”. The weight in the center (which I thought would be best) was solid and very similar to what I hit with my current wedges. He then put the weight in the heel, and it was like someone put me on autopilot. My dispersion improved by around 20% and my ball speed jumped by 2mph. This was not something I expected to see. He explained that because of the way I swing the club I benefit from the weight in the heel and the steering force it creates. And the jump in ball speed was just better efficiency and hitting the ball with a squarer face basically compressing the ball better.

 

The last step was getting fit into a shaft.  Edel wedge fitting carts come with not only the heads, weights, and grinds but also 15 different shafts that you can plug in to get numbers.  I’ve been through lots of fittings in my life and this was the first time I got to test wedge shafts instead of whatever stock shaft the company uses. Edel has a proprietary connection system that when you screw the head on it just looks like a normal wedge (see picture below with black background) because it connects where the natural break is in the ferrule. Anyway Edel doesn’t currently carry the Mitsu MMT’s (something I’m trying to change!) so I settled on the Modus 125 which is a great shaft for me and one I’ve played and been fit into.  With that said I tried them for a few rounds but missed the feel of my MMT’s so off to the shop I went and did a swap.

 

At this point I was thrilled about the improvement in my wedge numbers and the fact that I was actually on the clock getting paid to be fit into wedges 😎 I told ya, working in golf is pretty sweet 😁

 

Looks – Love the look. There is a progression with face height from the 48* to the 60* so it blends from irons to wedges.  The previous Edel wedges had an unusual shape to me, so I was pleasantly surprised with the new design. 

Feel- The wedges are Forged Japanese 1025 carbon steel so yeah, they feel great.  The lower lofts you can really feel the difference in forged vs cast but once I get above 54* I don’t feel much of a difference. Some people might but I’m just being honest, I don’t.

Dispersion – With the heavy weight in the heel my dispersion improved quite a bit and I wasn’t missing shots to the right which I tended to do especially on ¾ shots.

Spin- These wedges SPIN. I was getting around 300-400rpm’s more spin that my current wedges. The grooves are extended toward the toe so any shots where you open the face you will benefit.  I also love that my 60* wedge looks like a normal wedge (no high toe) and I have the extended grooves.

Trajectory – Trajectory between weight locations was wild for me. In the toe I was hitting a lowish right shot, in the center it was mid/high trajectory and in the heel, it was a midflight, high spin shot that was perfect. I’m still getting used to the flight but it’s so much better in the wind than what I’m used to.

 

My setup

Edel SMS 50* V grind, heavy weight heel  / Mitsu MMT 125TX

Edel SMS 54* T grind, heavy weight heel  / Mitsu MMT 125TX

Edel SMS 60* T grind, heavy weight heel  / Mitsu MMT 125TX

 

 

 

 

This reminds me of my fitting for my Edel SLS01 irons…great experience and love the irons.

 

I am in the market for new wedges and these are where I am going.  I live in Kerrville so I am only 2 hours away from Edel.

[m3fuz]

Those Edel wedges look freakin’ fantastic!  
 

(I don’t need new wedges, I don’t need new wedges…)

[J13]

On 12/29/2021 at 11:38 AM, OsnolaKinnard said:

This reminds me of my fitting for my Edel SLS01 irons…great experience and love the irons.

 

I am in the market for new wedges and these are where I am going.  I live in Kerrville so I am only 2 hours away from Edel.

 

Yeah you should book a fitting at HQ, shoot me a pm if you want help with that 😉

 

1 hour ago, m3fuz said:

Those Edel wedges look freakin’ fantastic!  
 

(I don’t need new wedges, I don’t need new wedges…)

 

"I dont need" doesn't exist in the golfwrx community hahahaah