TaylorMade Milled Grind 3 Wedge Trip Live @ The Kingdom! Follow Along HERE!

[agadawg17171]

Another solid dinner by the lake with plenty of shop talk!

[agadawg17171]

A few shots from The Oconee Course at Reynolds.  Beautiful track in excellent shape!  One of the houses on the course even has their own Rolex clock.  Major flex!  Time to get some sleep before we head to East Lake in the morning!

[madeinguam81]

2 hours ago, TheMoneyShot said:

Which TM fitter was the best today?

Greg Cesario is the man behind the design of the MG3 and he was the one fitting us. His passion and enthusiasm for the wedges and the fitting process cannot be overstated. He was so awesome to work with because he cared. He's a big deal at TM and it would be easy for someone in his position to mail it in, but he didn't. "Cesar" is the man! 

[madeinguam81]

2 hours ago, No_Catchy_Nickname said:

After looking at everyone's WiTB shots, I can see I am going to have to up my head cover game!

Think outside the box and look for smaller companies or even individual Etsy sellers to customize your vision. 

[madeinguam81]

Here's Greg showing me where my club SHOULD be. 

 

Pictures NEVER do a great course justice. Oconee was truly special! It seemed like each hole had a beautiful feature. 
 

I must say that I can't remember the last time I hit so many range balls. While waiting for our turn to be fit, I was crushing practice balls for hours. By the time we got to play at Oconee, I was spent.  I literally shot my highest score in YEARS. I felt like I had absolutely no control or feel of my swing. Having said that, I was still able to take a step back and really appreciate the course and have a great time with my group. 

[jml4]

Loved seeing you guys ripping drivers at a wedge fitting!! True wrx'ers right there!

 

In all seriousness, looks like such an amazing trip. great photos and stories. Enjoy the round tomorrow and keep those pics coming!

[rebby]

31 minutes ago, madeinguam81 said:

I must say that I can't remember the last time I hit so many range balls. While waiting for our turn to be fit, I was crushing practice balls for hours. By the time we got to play at Oconee, I was spent.  I literally shot my highest score in YEARS. I felt like I had absolutely no control or feel of my swing. Having said that, I was still able to take a step back and really appreciate the course and have a great time with my group. 

 

Ditto on the range balls. I haven’t hit that many range balls in a single session in quite some time. Throw in the travel and I was pretty exhausted by the time we hit the course. Fantastic golf course, every hole was a treat and looking back on the round there wasn’t a single hole on that course that wasn’t truly enjoyable. I could easily play there on a daily basis and never tire of it. It would be a great track from any number of the tee boxes and a real beast from the tips! We played it from ~6800 which was about right for me.

 

14 minutes ago, jml4 said:

Loved seeing you guys ripping drivers at a wedge fitting!! True wrx'ers right there!

 

In all seriousness, looks like such an amazing trip. great photos and stories. Enjoy the round tomorrow and keep those pics coming!

 

Absolutely! They were nice enough to fit us for whatever we wanted to hit. I brought a Sim2 with me that I just haven’t been able to get dialed in and it didn’t take long for them to make major improvements in that one for me. I might be benching the G400 after all.

[drvrwdge]

So just to kind of reiterate what everybody else has already said, Greg was our fitter for the wedges. Greg chased the dream for seven or eight years and had his tour card at one point but his love and passion for club design ended up taking him down a different path. Greg has always been super passionate about the short game and wedges and played an intregal part in the design of the MG3 wedge. 
 

Greg gave a brief presentation in the morning about the design characteristics of the MG3 how it differed from the MG2 and why they did what they did design wise with the new wedge. In short the design is all about optimizing launch and spin conditions to make the wedges as accurate as possible. Movement of material and the shape to optimize feel and center of gravity location for the proper trajectory control. Center of gravity which is progressive through the set which is what a lot of people do placing it higher in higher lofted wedges to keep trajectory down and lower in the lower lifted wedges to keep it up. There is a new groove or face feature this year in addition to the raw face. They have actual raised ridges where with the MG2 used laser etching on the face which they realized wore off faster than they wanted it to. With the raised ridges that is not an issue. This was primarily done for additional spin in that less than 60 yard range as opposed to more spin on full shots. There was also some slight changes made to the sole and grinds in the different bounce options to optimize turf conditions as well.
 

For me hands-down the club that absolutely stood out as head and shoulders above the rest and actually took me into a direction I never thought I would go was the 46° pitching wedge. I have never understood playing a non-set pitching wedge especially one that is not the same brand as your iron set but with the way Greg was able to explain the advantages of playing the non set wedge, he was able to change my mindset to looking at the wedges as a set of clubs as well as looking as the irons as a set of clubs but having those be able to be two different sets really convinced me to go this route. And trust me when I say it’s probably the best looking club I’ve ever seen. The lines, the shape, the size, the way the leading edge sits on the ground and the flow of the hosel into the top line it’s just absolutely perfect. And on top of all that it just flat out performs. 
 

I currently play SM8’s and Greg was able to get me into some different bounces than I normally have played which greatly improved my turf interaction on full and partial shots which in turn got me into my optimal launch and spin conditions. And they flat out just feel better than my Vokeys. I have never been able to do a wedge fitting on grass and I can honestly say if you are serious about your game there’s absolutely no other way to do it. For me that was the greatest thing about this trip, because I just don’t have anywhere near me that I could have done a wedge fitting on grass. And I had somebody with the knowledge to fit me properly.

Edited September 1, 2021 by drvrwdge

[Doc420]

Did they fit anybody to a different shaft other than what the stock option is? Fitters are slowly finding out that 128-130 gram wedge shaft isn't best for everybody. Any different options with lower gram weights, like a nippon 115 wedge shaft. 

[drvrwdge]

44 minutes ago, Doc420 said:

Did they fit anybody to a different shaft other than what the stock option is? Fitters are slowly finding out that 128-130 gram wedge shaft isn't best for everybody. Any different options with lower gram weights, like a nippon 115 wedge shaft. 

Greg put me into my iron shafts for my 46 and 50, DG 120 X100. Stock in 54/58. 

Edited September 1, 2021 by drvrwdge

[TheMoneyShot]

Even after the trip is over TM will still take care of you guys with reduced pricing on their current product lines.  I went crazy with buying a ton of TM gear after my trip was finished.  They sure know how to treat Wrxers on these trips right!

[knudson81]

[knudson81]

[Smitty120]

Where is Wade... ?!  🤠

[knudson81]

Just now, Smitty120 said:

Where is Wade... ?!  🤠

[Smitty120]

Legend!  Logging the miles all over the US and working all the time!   👍

[QuigleyDU]

48 minutes ago, knudson81 said:

Sweet bag of candy right there..

[BC33]

1 hour ago, knudson81 said:

Harry Higgs locker being on the bottom is disrespectful...insert sarcasm

 

Where's Tiger's locker?

[TheMoneyShot]

1 hour ago, knudson81 said:

No TW locker?

[CinqueValvole]

16 minutes ago, TheMoneyShot said:

No TW locker?

Tiger gets his own truck? 😁

[PureStrikes54]

3 hours ago, drvrwdge said:

I currently play SM8’s and Greg was able to get me into some different bounces than I normally have played which greatly improved my turf interaction on full and partial shots which in turn got me into my optimal launch and spin conditions.

 

Noticeable increase in spin rate with the MG3's vs. the Vokeys inside of 60 yards? Obviously some would be related to the MG3's being brand new but wondering if you thought these spun more new for new with the raised ridge technology. 

[kyle75]

3 hours ago, TheMoneyShot said:

Even after the trip is over TM will still take care of you guys with reduced pricing on their current product lines.  I went crazy with buying a ton of TM gear after my trip was finished.  They sure know how to treat Wrxers on these trips right!

 

Edited September 1, 2021 by kyle75

[minhjn]

Anyone fit into the Tiger grinds?

[bd59]

Would love to see what grinds each guy fit into and what their swing AoA is… steep / shallow. 

[bobbyclampett!!]

5 hours ago, drvrwdge said:

For me hands-down the club that absolutely stood out as head and shoulders above the rest and actually took me into a direction I never thought I would go was the 46° pitching wedge. I have never understood playing a non-set pitching wedge especially one that is not the same brand as your iron set but with the way Greg was able to explain the advantages of playing the non set wedge, he was able to change my mindset to looking at the wedges as a set of clubs as well as looking as the irons as a set of clubs but having those be able to be two different sets really convinced me to go this route. And trust me when I say it’s probably the best looking club I’ve ever seen. The lines, the shape, the size, the way the leading edge sits on the ground and the flow of the hosel into the top line it’s just absolutely perfect. And on top of all that it just flat out performs. 

Thanks for the thorough review. Can you say more about how the 46 MG3 performed compared to your set wedge? Did you get similar distance on full swings? Did you have as much confidence with full swing MG3 46 as your set wedge? Was it as forgiving as your set wedge? Are you even going to use it for full swings? Or just 3/4 swings and less? Where do you think you will use it most for less than full swings? Like a long, low chip around the green? Or a longer, flighted-down pitch to a back pin? Can you open it up easily, and when would you do that vs. hitting one of the higher lofted wedges (I suppose to expose more bounce for bad lies?) Will this create too big of a gap between your 46 and your set 9, so you'll have to be hitting a bunch of 3/4 9 irons from like 130-145?

 

Have always been curious about the benefits of a 46 wedge rather than set wedge and why someone would choose that over their set wedge. Maybe MG3 solves some of those problems?

 

[Carolina Golfer 2]

Great experience in that Tour Truck,Wade is definitely the man, got meet him back in 2013!   The beard has grown out a bit 🙂

 

[drvrwdge]

23 minutes ago, bobbyclampett!! said:

Thanks for the thorough review. Can you say more about how the 46 MG3 performed compared to your set wedge? Did you get similar distance on full swings? Did you have as much confidence with full swing MG3 46 as your set wedge? Was it as forgiving as your set wedge? Are you even going to use it for full swings? Or just 3/4 swings and less? Where do you think you will use it most for less than full swings? Like a long, low chip around the green? Or a longer, flighted-down pitch to a back pin? Can you open it up easily, and when would you do that vs. hitting one of the higher lofted wedges (I suppose to expose more bounce for bad lies?) Will this create too big of a gap between your 46 and your set 9, so you'll have to be hitting a bunch of 3/4 9 irons from like 130-145?

 

Have always been curious about the benefits of a 46 wedge rather than set wedge and why someone would choose that over their set wedge. Maybe MG3 solves some of those problems?

 

I’m on the road enjoying a nine hour trip home but I will respond later tonight when I have a little bit of time to read your questions. 

[TaylorMade Golf]

Looks like a great couple of days was had by all. Thanks for making the time guys and hope you enjoyed the experience at Reynolds, East Lake and also with Greg and those lovely MG3s.

 

They hit retail this Friday 9/3. 😉

[Bobbo03]

Been awesome to follow you lucky guys on the trip! Have a fitting scheduled myself next Tuesday over here in Sweden for the MG3s, really looking forward to it after playing the same wedges for 5 years.

[rebby]

6 hours ago, Doc420 said:

Did they fit anybody to a different shaft other than what the stock option is? Fitters are slowly finding out that 128-130 gram wedge shaft isn't best for everybody. Any different options with lower gram weights, like a nippon 115 wedge shaft. 

 

Yes, I was fit into the KBS $-Taper 125 for my 46 and 50 and the KBS Tour 120 8-iron for my 54 and 58. There really weren't any limitations on shaft options.

 

2 hours ago, minhjn said:

Anyone fit into the Tiger grinds?

 

I didn't see a single Tiger grind wedge there? Maybe I missed it, there were a LOT of wedges in those bags.

 

25 minutes ago, TaylorMade Golf said:

Looks like a great couple of days was had by all. Thanks for making the time guys and hope you enjoyed the experience at Reynolds, East Lake and also with Greg and those lovely MG3s.

 

They hit retail this Friday 9/3. 😉

 

Unreal experience and I can't thank TM enough for the opportunity. It was an eye opening experience and I look forward to having the time (and energy) for a full "after action report". I'm currently sitting in an airport trying to catch up on some work (again) and won't be home until late tonight. Even though the airlines haven't been the most accommodating it's still been a GREAT trip. Even scored a couple one-of-a kind items from the tour van!