Do these new wedges tear up balls?

[usa1950]

I have an ancient (well, not that ancient --- about 12 years old) Wilson Staff Sand Wedge that has been in the bag for all 12 years, but I can tell the face is worn down a bit.

I adore the club, and have several different shots I can hit with it from about 85 yards and in. Flops, runners, pitches, etc... but it might be time to replace her.

What I want to know is how do these new, spin milled, sharp groove wedges treat golf balls?

I only play medium high to high spin balls, ranging from Maxfli Revolutions and Tour Fires on up to the super soft spinners in the Pro V1 class. I regularly hit crisp iron shots that take one or two hops and sit with the mid to long irons, or perhaps spin back a few feet to a yard or two with my short irons. If you look under my username, you'll see a description of my divots that might give you an idea if I take a descending blow or not...

What I really want to know is do these new wedges shred the cover on balls on full swings?

[Golfer4life]

I have "seasoned" Vokey Spin Mills and they work great. Once they have seen some action they won't kill your golf balls, at least in my experience.

I use Titleist NXT, ProV1s and Bridgestone e6. The cover on the NXT and e6 is pretty durable and the ProV1 holds well also.

I am more of a picker than a digger, so I don't put tons of spin on the ball.

I would give the Spin Mills a try, on the other hand, if your wedge is working why change....Good luck!

[Crossfire]

If your pure, any ball will shred after a few holes. theres the nay-sayers, but whatever. even with my 2 month old wedges, I will shred a pro-v after a pured wedge shot. Spin, is useless unless you can control it. Stick with your wedges if you know them. Chances are you play relativly easy conditions that the greens arent chucking a full wedge off the back and running a 13, so you dont need the new wedge spin.

[SilverUberXeno]

If you do decide to replace the wedge, make sure you get a wedge with a similar bounce angle. That way, you won't lose all your shots.

[Scotty01292]

I'm definately a picker rather than a descending blow taking a huge divot type of guy. I played a couple of rounds with my mate's SM Vokey to see what all the hype was about, and my balls were fine after the round... (Insert witty comment about balls here)

[RickinMA]

the Wishon wedges with the micro grooves seem to generate a ton of spin but without chewing up balls like some of the other new wedges -
Wishon wedges
here's a little write up of how they work
Design Firsts

[warbirdlover]

I've used my (new) 56º SM Vokey for a year now. I've only had it smear a couple balls in that time. I think it depends on how fast you swing using them. I swing pretty easy. And I'm also a picker and not a digger.

[usa1950]

Originally Posted by SilverUberXeno

If you do decide to replace the wedge, make sure you get a wedge with a similar bounce angle. That way, you won't lose all your shots.

And the same loft is a must!! It's a 56, so it won't be hard to replace. The bounce is not listed on the club itself, but when compared to my Titleist 5812 (12 degrees bounce) it looks to have a little less.

So I'm going with a 56 degree loft, 10 degree bounce. The most common combo, I believe.

Thanks for your thoughts everyone. I rarely hit the sand wedge on a full shot anyway, but I HATE hitting a ball with any kind of marks on it at all. Tree, path, etc.... it's OUT of play and into the junk pocket of the bag, waiting to be pulled out again when I hit the par 3 course with the kids. I would hate to do this to a ball after each and every full sand wedge I hit... but it sounds like I'll be ok.

I'm off to the bay, and global golf, for a fancy schmancy new wedge. Picking out one of your own father's day gifts is a good thing!

[usa1950]

Good Lord... that much for a USED Vokey? Might rethink this. I dig the new series Wilson Staff Wedges, but those are $80 a pop. That's two greens fees right there.

[SiberianDVM]

You can always pull the head, mail it to Golfworks, have them regroove and refinsh for $35, and glue it back on.

[usa1950]

I checked out some Vokey's at Dicks today..... they had a N I C E oil can 56 degree with 10 degree bounce. Beautiful club. Then I grabbed the little brochure touting the entire Titleist line (irons, drivers, hybrids, shaft options, loft and lie options, grip options... the works - nice piece of media) to look up the other loft and bounce options, and there it was... right there before me......

"The spin milled grooves offer 10% more spin in dry conditions and up to 85% more spin in wet conditions."

10% more? Well, sh1t.. this is an easy decision now.

The stays in the bag until I can FIND a new deep grooved wedge on the course and bag it after no one claims it at the lost and found. Between $60 to$ 90 for 10% more spin? That is so obviously not worth it......It might as well say C A M E R O N on it in little dancing letters and offer a refinish for $600 in a few years.

[VtDivot]

Vokeys are the same price as Z-Cutters, CG-12 and X-Forged wedges. You must be looking in the wrong spots.

[utahgolf]

I have been playing the Spin Milled for awhile now and everytime I hit a full shot with them they tear up the cover. Even after hitting range balls for awhile, they have stayed pretty sharp.

[usa1950]

Originally Posted by VtDivot

Vokeys are the same price as Z-Cutters, CG-12 and X-Forged wedges. You must be looking in the wrong spots.

But for just !0% more spin.... why spend the cash? I can get 10% more spin by changing balls. (I usually play Maxfli Tour Fire, which spin plenty with my decending, (actually - gougiing, lol) swing path.)

How many people are out there with a few hundred dollars worth of beautiful wedges in their bags... and try to "spin" them with harder cover balls? I guess what I am saying is that I don't need "status symbol" wedges to play well. Admittedly, sometimes I take too much satisfaction in the fact that I have 15 year old irons, a 2-3 year old driver, and a 25 year old putter... and regularly beat most people I play with.

[RickinMA]

has anyone tried the Maltby milled wedges yet?
Maltby Milled Wedge Heads
I've got one on the way for my sister - well, backordered anyway (it was tough to justify the price of the wishon for someone picking up the game) but hadn't seen any reviews