New SM7's

[avg_joseph]

I understand supply and demand wrt "Raw" wedges, but also, they are not having to pay to have them plated... that's got to be a few dollars they are saving off the cost of production....

[chisag]

I do like the wedges. I think they perform well, and no doubt they look fantastic, but making people pay more for a raw version of a club when the manufacturer could just make an actual forged wedge in black oxide and you'd have what you're looking for after 5 min of steel wool and some naval jelly.

 

Maybe that option exists and you have to pay $250 a wedge for it? Idk.

 

A great wedge is worth the cost, no matter what it might be, IMO, I just also think that the major up charge for aesthetics, which actually probably cost the company less money to produce (just pick a few out of the assembly line here and there before the finish is done) and they charge MORE for that?

 

"Hey Bob! Check out my new Mustang! It's the RAW version. Only 75% price increase to get it without the paint!"

 

... Many years ago I met John Ashworth at the Ashworth HQ. I was doing a review of his new clothes that at the time, soft cotton shirts cut larger than most, were very popular. Nice guy and he let me pick out 3 shirts, some vests and sweat shirts. What I found interesting was although I just got to walk the assembly line and pick out the clothes, I was not able to have any if them at that time. From the order to the finished product, they are bar coded, accounted for and packaged. They had to start a new order/bar code and it had to go thru the process. He said his accounting/shipping dept would crucify him if he just pulled clothes out of the assembly line, even finished in plastic and ready to be packaged at the very end of the assembly line.

 

... So Titleist would have to institute a whole intensive program to account for raw wedges, and I have been told at the PGA Show there just isn't enough of a demand to make that profitable. Having everything already in place and profitable, attempting to add a raw wedge which would change production, sky's, accounting, shipping, etc would just be cost prohibitive, especially when you take into a count many of their retail outlets would have no use for a raw wedge and could not sell them. I think it is just a case of if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Even though us forum golfers would love the raw option.

[MattyO1984]

Evolution rather than revolution but the SM7's certainly look good from behind.

 

The decision for me now is do I pick up some SM6's or wait for these to come out.

[GC70]

What’s the price on the SM7’s , $175??

[Carson33]

I do like the wedges. I think they perform well, and no doubt they look fantastic, but making people pay more for a raw version of a club when the manufacturer could just make an actual forged wedge in black oxide and you'd have what you're looking for after 5 min of steel wool and some naval jelly.

 

 

I have used naval jelly on a black oxide Vokey SM6 wedge and stripped it using naval jelly, and I have purchased a true raw SM6 wedge. They do not feel the same at all. I do not know why this is. I thought it might be a "placebo" effect so I gave both wedges to a friend to hit and did not tell him anything about them or why I wanted him to hit them. After he hit them, I asked him, "Do they feel different to you"? His response, "Yes, this one (the previous black oxide wedge) feels harder and clicky, and this one (the raw) feels softer". Now mind you, by this point, both wedges looked almost identical due to no paint and slight rusting.

 

Does anyone on here know why this might be?

[PostandGhost]

I do like the wedges. I think they perform well, and no doubt they look fantastic, but making people pay more for a raw version of a club when the manufacturer could just make an actual forged wedge in black oxide and you'd have what you're looking for after 5 min of steel wool and some naval jelly.

 

 

I have used naval jelly on a black oxide Vokey SM6 wedge and stripped it using naval jelly, and I have purchased a true raw SM6 wedge. They do not feel the same at all. I do not know why this is. I thought it might be a "placebo" effect so I gave both wedges to a friend to hit and did not tell him anything about them or why I wanted him to hit them. After he hit them, I asked him, "Do they feel different to you"? His response, "Yes, this one (the previous black oxide wedge) feels harder and clicky, and this one (the raw) feels softer". Now mind you, by this point, both wedges looked almost identical due to no paint and slight rusting.

 

Does anyone on here know why this might be?

 

One wedge could be heat treated differently? That's a complete guess, I don't know for sure in regards to the Vokey wedges, but certain heat treatments can lead to softer feel from metals.

[bladehunter]

Here you go Guys

 

 

Found the pics. Wonk wooonnk! Hope there's a finish that makes that look more appealing. Looks bigger than sm6 ?

[bladehunter]

I do like the wedges. I think they perform well, and no doubt they look fantastic, but making people pay more for a raw version of a club when the manufacturer could just make an actual forged wedge in black oxide and you'd have what you're looking for after 5 min of steel wool and some naval jelly.

 

 

I have used naval jelly on a black oxide Vokey SM6 wedge and stripped it using naval jelly, and I have purchased a true raw SM6 wedge. They do not feel the same at all. I do not know why this is. I thought it might be a "placebo" effect so I gave both wedges to a friend to hit and did not tell him anything about them or why I wanted him to hit them. After he hit them, I asked him, "Do they feel different to you"? His response, "Yes, this one (the previous black oxide wedge) feels harder and clicky, and this one (the raw) feels softer". Now mind you, by this point, both wedges looked almost identical due to no paint and slight rusting.

 

Does anyone on here know why this might be?

 

Don't know but I've had some tour issue raw 200 series and sm4 wedges. And regretted selling them ever since. Why ? Stripping the black retail ones never feels or behaves as well as the others. Placebo ? Maybe. But it's a strong one if it is.

[conan007]

I do like the wedges. I think they perform well, and no doubt they look fantastic, but making people pay more for a raw version of a club when the manufacturer could just make an actual forged wedge in black oxide and you'd have what you're looking for after 5 min of steel wool and some naval jelly.

 

 

I have used naval jelly on a black oxide Vokey SM6 wedge and stripped it using naval jelly, and I have purchased a true raw SM6 wedge. They do not feel the same at all. I do not know why this is. I thought it might be a "placebo" effect so I gave both wedges to a friend to hit and did not tell him anything about them or why I wanted him to hit them. After he hit them, I asked him, "Do they feel different to you"? His response, "Yes, this one (the previous black oxide wedge) feels harder and clicky, and this one (the raw) feels softer". Now mind you, by this point, both wedges looked almost identical due to no paint and slight rusting.

 

Does anyone on here know why this might be?

 

I am not surprised at all. The process that is used to coat the BOX wedge must harden the wedge. That is exactly one reason I decided to not go w/ a BOX. One more reason why I'll wait for raw SM7s to sell on voke's website.

[jjl]

Here you go Guys

 

Definitely evolutionary rather than revolutionary. The cutline in the back is now curved the opposite way than the SM6 - concave rather than convex. The shape looks more teardrop to me as opposed to the squared off look of the SM6. And yes if raw was a retail option I would jump on them..I play the Jet Black SM5 and SM6 because I can't get myself to pay an extra $100/wedge for the true raw finish, out of principle.

[scott_Donald]

interesting what finish would be the softest if BOX would Harden it....

[conan007]

interesting what finish would be the softest if BOX would Harden it....

 

Tour Chrome.

[Curt_]

cannot wait for these to drop. I always get one wedge in each color, so I'll probably do a tour chrome 50, steel grey 56, and a jet black 60. Kind of crazy, but at least I never grab the wrong club.

[lawrencedc1]

So what'w the difference between the "F" grind vs the newer "D" grind?

[dciccoritti]

Face Pics 58L

 

 

 

 

Nice!! Dying to get some info and pics on the new D-Grind.

 

Congrats :-)

[BearQ]

Uh oh SM4s are in danger. That face pic has my heart

[BearQ]

Oh dude several wrx members just fainted. Gorgeous

[cvhookem63]

I'll play devil's advocate here for a minute. One issue with bringing raw wedges to standard retail is how to prevent wedges rusting before they get in the consumers hands. If they are rusted on the rack, the average golfer isn't going to buy them. Nike had a hard time moving their Engage wedges in golf shops because of this. They tried to coat them in wax the first go 'round and it was a pain for all parties involved, but if it was taken off the wedges started rusting - and if left sitting there long enough it was pretty much impossible to get off. They finally started covering them with a thick plastic wrap and it worked much better, but that was well after the product had been out for a while. That being said, I think Titleist (and other companies - looking at you TaylorMade) could sell a good number of them without ever putting that finish on a physical store rack. List them on your website for custom order (not marking them up 100%) and watch the orders come in.

[USGA22]

Great thanks for the PIC. And BTW, Wally just hung up with the IRS, enjoy the extreme audit coming your way. He thought you earned it for daring to show a great club to group of people probably interested in buying it before the embargo was lifted. At least he called off you being droned.

[born4golf77]

Real reason for no raw option is the quicker wedges show wear the sooner consumers replace them, whether they are actually worn or not.

 

Black finish irons and wedges look worn quick and likely are replaced sooner by the average player. Same thing for pings terrible finishes lately. You could play a set of unplated stainless eye 2’s forever without feeling a need to replace more than one or two irons. Now the iblades look worn very quickly

[conan007]

When do this drop?? After the PGA show?? I wish Titleist would deliver this in the fall with the new woods. and irons.

[tyro]

Those do look nice and hopefully as much like the SM4 in real life as they do in these pics.

[Marlockey]

A friend was good enough to send me pics, can’t wait for these wedges to be released

Hopefully we won’t have to wait long.

[Bravcon]

A friend was good enough to send me pics, can’t wait for these wedges to be released

Hopefully we won’t have to wait long.

Oh yeah? Show me

[Marlockey]

A friend was good enough to send me pics, can’t wait for these wedges to be released

Hopefully we won’t have to wait long.

Oh yeah? Show me

 

Suggest you look at my posts above

[TK3309]

Those wedges look great. Love that they moved the list of the grind to the toe to make the back of the wedge look cleaner.

[the beest]

Like the look as these a lot!

[nochct1]

Regarding raw Wedges. I remember when Cleveland RTG was popular. All of the good players had raw and very few used chrome. That was for the ams.

When good players switched to Vokey they wanted to keep the chrome.

 

But then satin finish started showing up on tour. Everyone on these boards wanted satin finish or tour chrome. They would talk about how much better they were. They would pay $300-$400 per Wedge just to have that finish. Vokey recognized that and started brining those to market. Other companies followed.

 

But now we have the clowns on these boards saying "I would use these, but I really need a raw Wedge". Give me a break. You just want something that is different than what everyone else has.

[boxerjoe2011]

anyone have a pic of the steel grey finish?

[Bungle]

I have heard that the jet black finish is exactly that, it's all black, paintfill and all, proper stealthy look