Monday, October 27, 2008

Titleist Introduces New Vockey Design Spin Milled Wedges

From Pitching Wedge to Lob Wedge, Lofts Range from 48 to 64 Degrees

(Fairhaven, MA) - Building on the proven product success that has made Vokey Design Wedges the most played at every level of competitive golf, Titleist introduces its most comprehensive Spin Milled line ever. Evolving from a rich heritage as the finest individual short game tools in golf, the new Vokey Spin Milled family has been developed as a complete set of high performance wedges. The line includes nine lofts ranging in two-degree increments from 48° to 64°, multiple bounce options, and tour-inspired sole grinds in three player-preferred finishes. These options create a matrix of performance characteristics to fit a wide range of player styles, course conditions and shot-making requirements.

“Being able to hit precise shots from into and around the green requires a full range of wedge choices that provide the player with the proper yardage gaps, turf performance, and the ability to hit it close from the sand,” said Steve Pelisek, General Manager, Titleist Golf Clubs. “It makes perfect sense for better players to dial in their wedge choices with the new Vokey Design Spin Milled line because they can have a prominent effect on their ability to shoot lower scores.”

With continuous input from tour players, club professionals and better playing amateurs, Titleist Master Craftsman Bob Vokey has created new Spin Milled pitching, gap, sand and lob wedges that represent an ideal blend of technology and craftsmanship. All the new models feature CAD-generated profiles that are perfectly sized and blended from one loft to the next. Characterized by progressive toe shapes, the heads feature a rounder profile as the lofts increase, and progressive toplines that instill visual continuity and confidence. CAD designed with precise progressive heel-to-toe sole radius, the higher lofts feature more radius to keep the leading edge low as the clubface is opened. The leading edges are squarer in the lower lofts, serving as a visual aid to achieve better alignment. In the higher lofts, leading edges are more curved, minimizing the likelihood of thin shots. Leading edge entry angles are consistent throughout all lofts to promote consistent and predictable club and turf interaction through impact.

During the tooling process, the sole and back of each Spin Milled wedge was handcrafted on the bench by Vokey and his team, consisting of the industry's finest tool makers. The line features wedges with tour inspired sole grinds, based on the prototype M, T, E and TK grinds that Vokey created when out on Tour. These unique grinds were previously only available to the Tour players, but now all golfers can benefit from the shot-making and performance advantages these grinds provide.

“I'm thrilled that we are now able to bring a full line of hand-crafted, Tour-inspired wedges to all golfers,” said Vokey. “In a manner of speaking, the sole is the ‘soul’ of the wedge. It controls how the club reacts with the turf and dictates what kinds of shots a player is capable of executing with a certain wedge. On Tour, players spend time with me, refining the soles of their wedges to where the effective bounce and playability are in perfect balance. Over the years, we have developed different grinds and identified them by a letter or letters as a kind of shorthand for the most common player preferences that we encounter.”

All Vokey Design Spin Milled wedges are engineered from soft 8620 carbon steel and employ Tour-validated Spin Milled technology. The faces of all Spin Milled wedges are precision milled to be perfectly flat. Spin Milled grooves are CNC-machined using a special circular saw-style cutting tool. The resulting grooves feature a steeper draft angle with maximum allowable depth under USGA rules and provide 30 percent more groove volume. This increased volume increases the amount of moisture, grass and debris that can be removed from the clubface surface at the moment of impact, resulting in cleaner ball-face contact. Spin Milled grooves feature a tighter edge radius that increases grip on the ball, particularly under wet conditions or in heavy, grassy lies. A series of micro-edges are milled into the face of each wedge producing 300 percent higher face friction than polishing. The resulting additional ball spin is particularly advantageous on partial shots, where groove size and depth have much less impact on spin.

Together, Spin Milled grooves and micro-edge face texture combine to provide up to 10 percent more spin in dry conditions and up to 85 percent more spin in wet conditions than a wedge with conventional grooves.

Vokey Design Spin Milled wedges are available in three finishes, non-glare Tour Chrome, Oil Can and Black Nickel. The stock shaft is Dynamic Gold S200. The stock grip is Titleist Golf Pride Tour Velvet.

“I have always said that thanks to Titleist I have the best research and development team in the world, and that is the PGA Tour,” said Vokey. “I am a listener at heart and I listen to and watch what tour players are looking for and work with them until they have exactly what they want. Now, all golfers will be able to benefit from all of the player feedback and testing and refinement that we have done for years.”

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