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Titleist has just announced the release of the 60-degree Vokey Design SM9 A Grind through its WedgeWorks program, a club that is rooted in Australia but has become a go-to short game tool for 2023 U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark.
Bob Vokey, Titleist’s wedge guru, has said for years that bounce is your friend and that most golfers need to have more bounce in their wedges. Bounce, the back flange that extends below the leading edge of the club, helps a wedge avoid digging in turf and sand, adding a level of forgiveness. However, in some specific instances, having too much bounce designed into a wedge can be detrimental. For example, if the ground is hard, or the sand is compacted, the bounce on the back of a sand wedge or lob wedge can make the club ricochet off the ground and result in thin contact.
The A Grind wedge, offered to the public for the first time, has 60 degrees of loft and just 4 degrees of bounce.
Titleist’s PGA Tour rep for Vokey wedges, Aaron Dill, developed the A Grind after discussing classic Australian courses with Geoff Ogilvy.
“I asked him some specific questions which resulted in an idea to design another lob wedge grind option that complemented the firm links-style conditions that players face, not just in Australia and Europe, but globally,” Dill said. “Geoff has always been a low bounce player in his 60-degree, so I took his 60.04L wedge and removed the ribbon, resulting in a grind that moves through the turf quickly with very little resistance.”
The ribbon Dill referred to is the seam in the metal that divides one area of the sole from another. Taking it out of Ogilvy’s 60-degree L Grind wedge resulted in a wider sole with a smooth bottom that retained its low bounce. So, on tight lies, in bunkers with little sand or very hard, compacted sand, skilled players can still get the leading edge of the A Grind lob wedge under the ball and achieve cleaner contact.
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Wyndham Clark is among the players on the PGA Tour who routinely carry an A Grind wedge.
“The most important club for me, probably in my bag, is this A grind,” he said, noting that its versatility allowed him to use the club on tight lies, in wet conditions and hard lies to create the trajectory and spin he needed.
Max Homa used an A Grind at last season’s British Open at Royal Liverpool and Tom Kim has used an A Grind in his PGA Tour wins.
The Titleist WedgeWorks A Grind is only available in a right-hand version in a raw-steel finish and can be purchased for $225 at vokey.com.
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