Equipment companies love to bring new gear to PGA Tour events in Las Vegas because it is close to many brands’ headquarters in Southern California and the weather is dependably good during the Shriners Children’s Open, making golf at TPC Summerlin akin to playing in a dome.
Cleveland Golf has brought some new wedges to this year’s event, referring to them simply as “CG Proto,” but the clubs appear to be labeled RTX Tour Rack.
The Cleveland RTX 6 ZipCore wedges were released in January 2023, and have been popular with many of the brand’s staff players, and with the company often updating its wedges on two-year product cycles, Cleveland appears to be introducing its next generation of wedges to tour players now.
Cleveland CG Proto wedges at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Historically, Tour Rack wedges from Cleveand have been made using raw steel instead of a chrome finish. Raw steel is preferred by many tour players because it reduces glare and, if special grind work is needed, the steel will rust evenly, along with the rest of the wedge head after being exposed to the air and to water. Grinding on a chrome wedge creates a raw area that will rust while the chrome portion of the club remains shiny.
Cleveland CG Proto wedge at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas, Nevada.
A close-up look at images of the toe of some of the wedges shows the words “Full” and “Mid,” which likely refers to the amount of bounce in the sole.
Cleveland has not released any official details about the CG Proto or RTZ wedges, but historically the company makes new equipment available in late January or February, after the PGA Merchandise Show concludes in mid-Janaury.
As more details become available, Golfweek will bring them to you.
The WedgeWorks L Grind wedges let skilled golfers hit a wide variety of shots.
Gear: Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWork L Grind wedges Price: $225 with True Temper Dynamic Gold S200 shaft and Titleist Universal grip Specs: Cast stainless steel. 58 and 60 degrees of loft options with 4 degrees of bounce
Who It’s For: Accomplished golfers
The Skinny: With only 6 degrees and extreme heel and toe relief, the WedgeWorks L Grind wedges let skilled golfers hit a wide variety of shots from greenside bunkers, rough and tight lies.
The Deep Dive: For decades, Bob Vokey, Titleist’s master craftsman for wedges, has preached that bounce is the recreational golfer’s friend. Why? A large flange on the back of a wedge that elevates the leading edge can help prevent a club from digging into the turf or sand, and that can lead to greater consistency for most golfers.
However, highly skilled golfers often gravitate to low-bounce wedges because those clubs allow them to hit a wider variety of shots. Plus, there are times when a high-bounce wedge can make things more challenging, like when the sand in a bunker is wet and compacted or when the turf is especially hard. In those cases, excessive bounce can make getting the leading edge under the ball more challenging.
For accomplished golfers who like to open the face of their lob wedge and hit flop shots, high-spin chip shots and other types of short-game shots, Titleist has released a new WedgeWork L Grind wedges.
The Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks L Grind wedges are only available in 58 and 60-degree lofts. (Titleist)
Available only in 58- and 60-degree lofts, the WedgeWorks L Grind wedges have just 4 degrees of bounce, making them the lowest-bounce wedges in the Titleist stable. If you are a mid- or high-handicapper or a golfer who tends to play courses with soft conditions or fluffy, light sand, this club is likely not one you should consider. With its low bounce angle, the L Grind is better suited for firm, links-style courses where moderate and high-bounce wedges will tend to ricochet off the ground and lead to skulled shots and inconsistent contact. It requires players to make a precise strike with a sweeping swing.
That said, the L Grind’s significant heel and toe relief reduces the area of the club that comes into contact with the ground, so low-handicap players can open the face and get the leading edge under the ball from a variety of lies and places around the green.Opening the face and adding loft will automatically increase the “playing” bounce by a few degrees, as it will to any wedge, so the 4 degrees of bounce could behave like 6 or 8 degrees of bounce when you use it and try to hit a high, soft pitch shot or recovery shot.
Among the pros who use an L Grind wedge regularly are 2023 British Open champion Brian Harman, Max Homa, Sungjae Im and Cameron Davis.
The L Grind wedge’s raw-steel finish will rust over time and with exposure to water, and they will be available starting today at select golf shops and on Vokey.com.
The Vokey WedgeWorks Low Bounce K is designed to handle sand and tight lies for low-handicap golfers.
Gear: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks Low Bounce K Grind wedge Price: $225 with True Temper Dynamic Gold S200 shaft and Titleist Universal grip Specs: Cast stainless steel available in 58 or 60 degrees of loft with 6 degrees of bounce Available: April 16
Who It’s For: Skilled golfers who want a low-bounce wedge for chipping and pitching from tight lies that can also perform well in greenside bunkers.
The Skinny: The Low Bounce K Grind wedge allows skilled players to get the leading edge under the ball on tight lies, while its wide sole allows it to be used as an effective bunker option.
The Deep Dive: Low-handicap golfers often envision shots around the green that most recreational golfers should avoid. Their imagination can be an asset, but they need to have the right skills and the right clubs to pull off unique shots. The just-released Vokey Design WedgeWorks Low Bounce K Grind wedge can be a club that allows highly skilled players to try special shots that some wedges simply are not designed for.
Available only as a 58- or 60-degree lob wedge, the WedgeWorks Low Bounce K Grind is made with raw carbon steel, so after the wrapping around the club is removed, the steel will rust with exposure to air and water.
From a design standpoint, it blends a wide sole, a characteristic of all K Grind wedges, with just 6 degrees of bounce.
The wide sole helps the Vokey WedgeWorks Low Bounce K Grind resist digging in the sand, making it an excellent wedge in bunkers. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The extremely wide sole design allows players to open the face in greenside bunkers and play aggressively because the bottom of the club resists digging, even in the softest sand. However, when golfers keep the Low Bounce K Grind in a square position, its extremely low bounce makes it easier to get the leading edge under the ball on chips and pitch shots to create more height and a softer landing.
While all of that versatility sounds great for everyone, using a wedge with so little bounce requires a precise strike and a high level of control, especially in soft or wet conditions around the green. For most golfers, playing a wedge that has 10 degrees of bounce (or more) can make basic short-game shots easier, but a wedge such as the Low Bounce K Grind allows skilled players who can control the leading-edge height to play shots that high-bounce wedges make more challenging.
In comparison to this new low-bounce model, Vokey has for years offered SM wedges with a standard K Grind sole that features 14 degrees of bounce – that’s the model most likely to be found at retail.
According to Bob Vokey, “Several players preferred the K Grind sole but were seeking a lower-bounce version. As a result, we crafted a sole with 6 degrees of effective bounce while maintaining the wide camber that makes the K design so effective for a wide variety of players. As soon as we brought it out on tour, it was immediately accepted and in the bags of multiple players as soon as they had a chance to test it.”
Like the standard Vokey Design SM10 wedges, the WedgeWorks Low Bounce K Grind has a high and forward center of gravity that encourages the face to square on the downswing. Each wedge’s grooves are also inspected to ensure they are as sharp as possible while remaining legal for play.
Below are several close-up images of the Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks Low Bounce K Grind wedge.
Titleist Vokey Design SM10 wedges come in six unique sole grinds.
Gear: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 wedges Price: $189 each Specs: Cast 8620 carbon steel stainless steel. Even lofts from 46 to 62 degrees, six sole grinds and three finishes. Available: Pre-order, February 14; in stores, March 8
Who It’s For: Golfers who want to maximize spin and versatility around the green while enhancing feel.
The Skinny: By changing the way its Spin Milled grooves are added to the face, varying the center of gravity location based on loft and offering six unique sole grinds, Titleist’s SM10 wedges aim to provide the ultimate in shortgame versatility and control.
The Deep Dive: Titleist’s Vokey Design SM9 wedges are the most-played wedges in professional golf, with seven of the top 10 male players on the Official World Golf Ranking using them. Last season, Vokey wedges were used to win the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Women’s Amateur, U.S. Open, British Open and could be found in the bags of 15 Ryder Cup players.
That level of success at the elite level, combined with being the most-popular wedge at retail, means Titleist wedge guru Bob Vokey and his team needed to keep the things golfers liked about the SM9 as they worked to update it and develop its successor. With the release of the new Vokey SM10 wedges, the man they call “Voke” now feels he has a new wedge that can deliver even more spin, feel and control.
In the address position, the SM10 shows a thin topline and just a hint of offset. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
In the address position, sharp-eyed golfers will see the SM10 wedges have less offset and a straighter leading edge, which is the result of feedback from tour players. The pitching and gap wedges (46-52 degrees) have a more-compact shape than the sand and lob wedges, which also feature a higher, more-rounded toe area. At the same time, all the SM10 wedges have the same blade length, which remains unchanged from the SM9.
In the pitching and gap wedges, Titleist shortened the hosel length, which shifted more of the head’s overall weight toward the toe. The result is the faces should not rotate closed as easily in the SM10, so they don’t have a draw bias.
As in previous Vokey wedges, Titleist makes the grooves in pitching and gap wedges deep and narrow, like an iron’s groove, because those clubs are often played with a full swing from the fairway or fairway rough. However, the grooves in the sand and lob wedges are wider and shallower to get water, sand and debris off the face more efficiently on shots hit around the green.
The size and shape of the grooves in the SM10 wedges vary by loft. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Titleist also adjusted how the grooves are milled and spaced in the hitting area. The key was developing a way to cut the grooves to a tighter tolerance. Now, after the hitting area is fly cut and made perfectly flat, Titleist cuts the grooves and a tiny portion of the flat area next to the grooves in a single pass. Then, a series of microgrooves are added between the main grooves. Finally, to keep the grooves sharp, Titleist heat treats each head to increase the hardness of the metal and the durability of the groove edges. The result is a more-consistently manufactured hitting area and sharper grooves closer to the USGA’s legal limits. According to Titleist’s data, the new TX9 grooves generate approximately 300 rpm more spin and help shots launch on a lower trajectory for enhanced control.
Since the release of the SM6 wedges in 2016, the center of gravity (CG) location in Vokey wedges gets progressively higher as lofts increase. While extra mass low in the stronger lofts helps them produce a ball flight that extends a player’s iron set, adding mass to a higher position behind the topline, in the higher-lofted clubs, pulls the CG location up and encourages a lower flight.
The SM10 wedges are available in several different sole grinds. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
While tricky lies, rough and sand can make it difficult to make solid contact, Titleist’s wedge team feels that the ideal hitting area is in the center of the face, between the second and fifth groove up from the leading edge. This region creates the most-piercing trajectory and the most spin, which should help golfers get the most control. To help golfers find that spot more often, Titleist offers the Vokey Design SM10 wedges in six sole grind options so players can work through the turf effectively.
F Grind – Available in lofts from 46 to 56 degrees, the F grind is a straight-sole option best suited for full-swing shots.
M Grind – Available in lofts from 54 to 62 degrees, the M grind has material removed in both the heel and toe areas, making it an ideal choice for players who rotate the club open and closed through their swing and who tend to hit shallow, sweeping shots. The 54-degree M had been available as a limited-edition offering only.
S Grind – Available in lofts from 54 to 60 degrees, the S grind has a full sole with some material removed in the heel area. It has trailing-edge relief and is best suited for golfers who play in firm conditions and who like to hit the ball with a square face.
D Grind – Available in lofts from 54 to 60 degrees, the D grind has heel, toe and trailing-edge relief. It has a thinner sole with high bounce, making it a good option for players who like to manipulate the club and open the face to hit a variety of shots in soft conditions.
K Grind – Available in 58- and 60-degree versions, the K grind is the highest-bounce option in the SM9 lineup. It features the widest sole and significant camber, making it especially good in bunkers and thick rough.
T Grind – Popular on the PGA Tour, this wedge will only be available in a 58- and 60-degree version and takes the place of the L grind as a low-bounce option in the SM10 family. It is designed to provide versatility for skilled players in tight, firm conditions.
The Vokey SM190 wedges are available in Tour Chrome, Jet Black and a new finish, Nickel, which replaces Brushed Steel.
Below are several close-up images of the SM10 wedges.
