Vokey SM6's

[borris224]

Mine arrived today!

[Golfin01]

Question for those who have hit the SM6. I play the SM5 50, 56 (bent to 55) and 60. I notice I have a very hard time compressing the ball with them. I play the PV1-x. I hit my 46 degree wedge (CB 714) 150 yards in normal conditions but can only comfortably hit the 50 approx 120. At 125 I start to really feel like I have to go after it. I did not recall having this issue with prior vokey models but prior to the SM5 I was playing the 200 series. I understand it could be me, the ball, me, the clubs, all of the above but just thought this was odd. I have a 1.4 handicap and am not a scooper so I just thought it was strange to lose that much distance. Back to my question, has anyone else experienced this and what was their resolution? Did the change in COG in the SM6 help?

[Morety]

Mine arrived today!

 

Ordered mine with the 610 Wedge shafts as well. So anxious for them to arrive. Nothing today. Fingers crossed for tomorrow or Friday. Put a late order in two weeks ago at Discount Dan's so not sure if they will be on time or not.

[2zlinks]

Mine arrived today!

 

Ordered mine with the 610 Wedge shafts as well. So anxious for them to arrive. Nothing today. Fingers crossed for tomorrow or Friday. Put a late order in two weeks ago at Discount Dan's so not sure if they will be on time or not.

 

Give DD a call and they will give you the update and if they've shipped, a tracking number.

[keith723]

 

 

Got mine today - they look awesome. Best S-Grind by Vokey to date. Very versatile for shots around the green without sacrificing turf interaction for full shots

 

Can't wait to get them on the course Saturday

[FOOTJOY16]

I saw 2 boxes full of new Vokeys today. Great looking wedges

[MarkFromTheUK]

Just read that Vokey recommends you buy new wedges every 60-70 rounds. Yikes.

 

 

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Just read that Vokey recommends you buy new wedges every 60-70 rounds. Yikes.

 

That's pretty much the same as DeBeers saying you have to buy your beloved a diamond engagement ring.

[Pure745]

My review from TPI thread:

 

http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/1268814-pure745s-titleist-tpi-fitting-716-irons-d4-sm6-added-310/page__st__270#entry13169370

 

TPI SM6 WEDGE FITTING REVIEW

 

My wedge game, specifically from 95-130 has been becoming more and more of an issue for me. I can hit the ball far enough off the tee where I have a lot of shots in the yardage range mentioned above. The problem for me has been that my max yardage gaps for my wedges leave gaps to where I either have to hit the full shot that goes high and spins, or the take off shot that I just don't have complete control of and can get inconsistent for me under pressure. It really is disheartening when I hit a great drive and hit a very mediocre wedge shot into a green. I really need to be able to take more advantage of my length and set myself up for better scoring opportunities and better birdie looks.

 

Recently I have worked with an instructor on my swing which has shallowed my swing out a little, it has helped my 55-85 yards shots significantly, but I still haven't found anything comfortable for the 110-115 and the 120-125 shot. It isn't so bad having those yardages, but having them as often as I do and not really loving either option is a problem that I need to fix and be comfortable with the setup I go with.

 

My Goals/Questions:

 

- First and foremost, will adding a wedge help me? How much? Or do I need to just get better? :)

- Identify my actual wedge gaps on Trackman, what are my strengths and weaknesses and how can I make them better

- Where would I add the wedge and what club do I take out from the top end of my bag?

- Get fit for my grinds on all wedges, and find optimal grinds for bunker, around the greens, and from the fairway

 

Current Wedge Setup:

 

- 716 MB PW 46 - 140 yards

- SM5 TVD K 53 - 120 yards

- SM5 Hand Ground V-Grind 59 - 100

 

Yardages listed are my comfortable/smooth full shot distance I can squeeze probably 5 yards out of each one, but really rarely ever try to add distance, I usually try to take more and swing easier.

 

The Process

 

I requested Dino who fit me for my irons to do my wedges, I can't say enough about how good Dino is. Everyone is very professional, and I don't think you can go wrong with any of the fitters there, but having Dino fit my irons I knew he would have even more feedback for my wedges.

 

First off, TPI conditions right now are IMMACULATE. I had recently rained, but conditions were perfect out there, not a ball on any green I was hitting to. They also have the very latest Trackman, Dino mentioned they had just got them in recently.

 

I was warming up with my 60 degree hitting from the tee area to a full sized green with a flag at about 60 yards and about 75 yards. The tee area is big enough that you can move up 15 yards up or back to really adjust to the actual number you are trying to hit. It's really cool to be able to move Trackman and fire at pins for the exact number you are trying to dial in and see the actual performance of the ball when it lands. To me this part of adjusting for specific numbers and seeing exactly what the ball does when it lands is the most valuable part of this fitting.

 

 

Part 1 - Full shots from the tee area

 

We started with my PW. Specs are checked by the fitter before you start so you know exactly what you've been hitting and how it might have influenced your previous experiences with the club. For instance my 54 is supposed to be bent to 53, but it was actually 54, situations like that. I started hitting my PW at a target at 140, the main thing we noticed was how much higher I was hitting my MB PW vs the SM6. Right off the bat the SM6 was instantly better. The CG placement was very noticeable, and in my opinion the SM6 feels fantastic. You can really feel how solid the weight placement makes the club feel, this is a recurring theme for all clubs, I love the way the SM6's feel. For the full shots, he really liked the "window" the SM6 had me in, said it was more in line with how tour pro's are flighting their wedges.

 

From there - we went to 120 yards, one of my nemesis yardages :) Typically I'm taking off a PW for a shot I want to control spin with, and hitting a 53 hard to a pin that needs more spin. We started with the take off PW shot, I told him that I have been spinning the crap out of this shot and it's one of the reasons why I want to find a wedge for this gap specifically. At this distance we started seeing some tendencies, most were a leaky shot right, or sometimes a pull, and also a pure shot that is just right of target with lots of spin. He noticed that on my take off shots, I was getting steeper and adding spin at the bottom. He said it's a good move, but with the conditions I play in, not ideal. The SM6 was better for this shot, but same tendencies, but a much tighter dispersion.

 

Enter the 50 degree SM6. Very counterintuitive, but my full swing 50 degree spun less than my take off 46. Full swing 50 degree could go around 125 and I can also flight it down to cover the 115 yard shot which was also giving me problems. The 50 degree seemed to be exactly what I was looking for! Also, I had concerns over the grind bounce on tightly mowed and harder firmer conditions. Dino took me to a spot on the range with a very tightly mowed area and I hit about six shots from there to the actual green to see real life performance from a lie I had concern with.

 

We then moved to 105 and 115 shots. This is where I typically use my 53 degree. I really like my TVD K, so I hit some good shots with it, the trend was that I tended to hit it pretty high. Dino was explaining to me that the K grind has trailing edge relief which makes the club sort of rock back when it enters the turf, thus kicking the ball up and launching it higher. We went into the SM6 F grind with the higher bounce, full sole, and no trailing edge relief. He explained that the grind difference would keep the head stable through the turf and not let the club rock back and keep the head more stable and flight it lower. Basically the changes in the 53 were to take the SM6 54F and bend it to 55, the grind and SM6 CG placement helped keep the ball down and the grind kept the face a little more stable for me.

 

For the 60 we focused more on 85 yard and 65 yard shots. My V-Grind is held in high regard by Dino, he says it is very popular on tour because the grind offers a lot of versatility, so he was a big fan of this wedge going into it. My dispersion with this wedge was solid all day at these yardages, the SM6 was good, I tried the M and L grind, with the M grind being slightly better on the full shot, but not much. I could play either from the full shot.

 

Part 2 - short game, bunker area

 

We started with about a 35 yard shot from tightly mowed fairway to a pin about 10 paces over a bunker. I hit my normal shot which is mid height and checks and releases. I started with the L grind and literally lipped the first one out, the 2nd was about 1 foot and third was about 2 feet. I told Dino that I'm really not this good so wait for the real me to show up and skew the dispersion :) I must have had an out of body experience, because I really hit some nice shots from there, the V-Grind was really good from this distance and lie and hit 3-4 more shots 2 almost in and the other 2 were within 5 feet. The M-Grind was the worse from this distance.

 

We then went to the bunker and hit a variety of shots with the 60, the L grind was really good out of the sand, and the V-Grind right there with it. The M just wasn't getting along as well as the L for me. For the 60 Dino said the L would be good, but doesn't see any real gain with it over the V and that a V grind SM6 is coming. I will say, again, the SM6 feels better to me, so I will get the SM6 V when it comes out.

 

We also hit long bunker shots with the 60 and the 54 bent to 55, this was about a 20 yard shot with a lot of green to work with so we could see how much release the ball was getting with the 55. Very cool to have the option to hit all of these shots and really knowing what these wedges do when you leave.

 

Final Recommendation

 

SM6 46.08 F (140 yards)

SM6 50.12 F (125 yards)

SM6 54.14 F bent to 55 (110 yards)

Hand Ground 60 V (100) - to be replaced by SM6 V when it comes out

 

Other things worth mentioning:

 

-TVD program is done but Wedge Works is still alive with special edition wedges

-Raw SM6's are on the horizon, ETA is not known

-SM6 V grind is coming

 

 

Final Thoughts . . .

 

Thoroughly impressed with this fitting. It was similar to the Oven tour fitting, but the SM6 variety of loft/grind options are second to none. Dino was really good and REALLY knows his stuff. He was working with Adam Scott when he was in town for the Northern Trust, so he can apply feedback from Titleist tour guys and give insights on what players tend to like what grinds etc. The SM6's feel great, much better than the wedges I brought there which I was completely content with prior to my fitting! The CG placement is very noticeable for me and the head shape looks really good! Much better than the SM5 in my opinion, it has a more rounded toe closer to the TVD but a little thicker top line. I left with the feeling that this was time very well spent, we accomplished everything I had hoped to accomplish and really went into great detail for any questions or feedback I had.

[Morety]

Looks like I ordered just a little too late. Just got my tracking number and mine won't arrive until Monday. :stink:

[MI517]

Picked em up just now. Now to strip, paint and grip

[Mkoz14]

Caint wait mine should be here tomorrow.

 

52F 56M and 60M all in tour chrome!

[bladehunter]

Question for those who have hit the SM6. I play the SM5 50, 56 (bent to 55) and 60. I notice I have a very hard time compressing the ball with them. I play the PV1-x. I hit my 46 degree wedge (CB 714) 150 yards in normal conditions but can only comfortably hit the 50 approx 120. At 125 I start to really feel like I have to go after it. I did not recall having this issue with prior vokey models but prior to the SM5 I was playing the 200 series. I understand it could be me, the ball, me, the clubs, all of the above but just thought this was odd. I have a 1.4 handicap and am not a scooper so I just thought it was strange to lose that much distance. Back to my question, has anyone else experienced this and what was their resolution? Did the change in COG in the SM6 help?

 

 

Very much curious about this too. I had the same issue with the sm5. Had to play a 50 and 56 instead of 52 58 to get same distances. My md3 now are 52 58 And are actually slightly longer than the 50 56 sm5. Same exact shafts. I too played 200 series before the sm4 briefly without this issue. Wondering how the sm6 will do ?

[kiddoc]

Mine are under construction at Cool Clubs right now...Custom KBS Grey shafts again....Club Championship this weekend.

[JBuer]

Just picked mine up! :taunt:

 

 

 

Picked em up just now. Now to strip, paint and grip

 

What are you stripping on them?

[Breezy-3-]

Tai, thanks for sharing your experience at TPI with us! I will be thinking long and hard about making the trip down from OC for a wedge fitting as the SM6 line has my attention. I have two questions for you. What are your thoughts on how the CG transition impacted partial and full shots. And secondly, I was surprised at the F grind for your 54 bent to 55. I hear a lot about this grind being best suited for square faced shots. Did you open it up at all, what is the versatility of this grind?

[VJCLERC]

They look absolutely beautiful, so tempted

[MI517]

Not the best light, but made the SM6's into the USM6's. I like the look that nobody else's have.

[2zlinks]

Picked em up just now. Now to strip, paint and grip

 

If you were going to strip why didn't you go with the Balck finish? I would think that would be easier to remove than the chrome.

[MI517]

Picked em up just now. Now to strip, paint and grip

 

If you were going to strip why didn't you go with the Balck finish? I would think that would be easier to remove than the chrome.

 

Just stripped the paintfill so I could repaint them the way I wanted.

[2zlinks]

Ah gotcha

[jtmagic]

Not the best light, but made the SM6's into the USM6's. I like the look that nobody else's have.

 

Looks good.

[keith723]

Not the best light, but made the SM6's into the USM6's. I like the look that nobody else's have.

 

Very nice - they look great

[tigerfan23]

I went in the store expecting to buy Black 52F 56F and 60K.

 

Walked out with Grey 52F and 58S lol. Start the season with a simpler setup and see what happens. The Grey looks simply amazing.

 

 

[checkswing]

Very interested in the 60V. Any clue on the release date?

[Pure745]

Tai, thanks for sharing your experience at TPI with us! I will be thinking long and hard about making the trip down from OC for a wedge fitting as the SM6 line has my attention. I have two questions for you. What are your thoughts on how the CG transition impacted partial and full shots. And secondly, I was surprised at the F grind for your 54 bent to 55. I hear a lot about this grind being best suited for square faced shots. Did you open it up at all, what is the versatility of this grind?

 

I don't use the 54 for many open faced shots, and rarely out of the sand, only if I have a long bunker shot that needs release. Most of the time I'll be using that wedge is for a full shot, I did hit bunker shots with it and it performed well out of the sand, just not as nimble as my 60V. If you use this club out of the sand a lot, I'd try a few different grinds just to be sure. For my needs, it works well, but I use my 60 most of the time around the greens.

[JBuer]

Picked em up just now. Now to strip, paint and grip

 

If you were going to strip why didn't you go with the Balck finish? I would think that would be easier to remove than the chrome.

 

Just stripped the paintfill so I could repaint them the way I wanted.

 

They look good!

[ago33]

Tai, thanks for sharing your experience at TPI with us! I will be thinking long and hard about making the trip down from OC for a wedge fitting as the SM6 line has my attention. I have two questions for you. What are your thoughts on how the CG transition impacted partial and full shots. And secondly, I was surprised at the F grind for your 54 bent to 55. I hear a lot about this grind being best suited for square faced shots. Did you open it up at all, what is the versatility of this grind?

 

I don't use the 54 for many open faced shots, and rarely out of the sand, only if I have a long bunker shot that needs release. Most of the time I'll be using that wedge is for a full shot, I did hit bunker shots with it and it performed well out of the sand, just not as nimble as my 60V. If you use this club out of the sand a lot, I'd try a few different grinds just to be sure. For my needs, it works well, but I use my 60 most of the time around the greens.

 

Random question but what club did the fitter suggest you take out?

[chair]

I went in the store expecting to buy Black 52F 56F and 60K.

 

Walked out with Grey 52F and 58S lol. Start the season with a simpler setup and see what happens. The Grey looks simply amazing.

 

 

 

wow those look great

[SwingBlade]

Question for those who have hit the SM6. I play the SM5 50, 56 (bent to 55) and 60. I notice I have a very hard time compressing the ball with them. I play the PV1-x. I hit my 46 degree wedge (CB 714) 150 yards in normal conditions but can only comfortably hit the 50 approx 120. At 125 I start to really feel like I have to go after it. I did not recall having this issue with prior vokey models but prior to the SM5 I was playing the 200 series. I understand it could be me, the ball, me, the clubs, all of the above but just thought this was odd. I have a 1.4 handicap and am not a scooper so I just thought it was strange to lose that much distance. Back to my question, has anyone else experienced this and what was their resolution? Did the change in COG in the SM6 help?

 

I switched to Vokeys when the SM2's came out. Have been pleased with them since. But I have to agree that I had distance issues with the SM5's, particularly on full shots. I finally had my club fitter check them. Before he even started, he explained that the SM5's have an abnormal amount of hosel alignment issues. Hard to see with the naked eye, but he convinced me that it was likely the problem. I should state that he is a completely truthful guy who is neither arrogant nor pushy and has won numerous awards,

 

We checked the lofts and lies and they were spot on. He then did his magic after which we checked the lofts and lies again. No change in lofts or lies from the previous check. Then I went out to hit them. The distance inconsistencies were gone and dispersion was much truer. I then had him check my MP-64's and they were only a little off on a few of them. Much less so than the Vokeys. I should add that he did not charge me for any of this.

 

I recently had him check the hosel hang on my new MIURA CB57's when he did the lofts for me and he said that their hosels were spot on ... they eeded no manipulation.

 

After hitting the new SM6's, I plan to buy them in the next few months. But, I will have him check the hosel hang.