My First Titleist Vokey Wedge Fitting – What I Learned

A few months ago I had the opportunity to make every golf diehard’s dream come true: I had the opportunity to go to the Titleist Performance Institute to learn the new Titleist Vokey SM11 wedges and go through my first official Vokey wedge fitting.

With my mechanic Brandon by my side, I ended up with a set of four new Vokeys, from pitching wedge to 60 degrees. The final selections were wedges that I probably wouldn’t have picked for myself, but I am excited with the outcome. With that in mind, I want to explain exactly what happened in those tests and how you can repeat the process for your own game.

Starting with the full priorities

Before filming, Brandon and I hit a few shots with my 9-iron to establish carry distances and give him a baseline for what I needed on full swings with my pitching wedge. Vokey’s SM11 is available in 44, 46 and 48 degree options in this range, and we opted for the higher spring 46 degree to prevent the club from digging too aggressively at impact. The 46 degrees came out correctly from my 9 iron, while the 44 degrees produced too much speed. Since I play a steep angle of attack – and the 46 degree loft can only be achieved in one go – the decision came down to bounce alone. The lower bounce option dug sharply into the turf and was difficult to exit cleanly. The higher bounce rate option consistently matched my steep delivery without getting stuck.

We performed the same process with the 50 degree wedge until we found the right match. For my game, the 46 degrees and 50 degrees should perform identically – both are full, square shots with no real variation required. Matching the 50 degrees with the 46 degrees we had already dialed in made this segment quick, which brings us to our first takeaway.

Sometimes it’s okay to let the good be good. Walking into your local PGA Tour Superstore and testing every loft and gravel combination sounds appealing – and I’d be a hypocrite to say it doesn’t – but you can spend your time building a set more efficiently. If two clubs serve the same purpose in your bag, one fitting includes both. Some players use their gap wedge for bump-and-run shots or special pitches where you need to preserve a few options, but that’s not my game. My 50 degrees should do exactly what my 46 degrees do, so we moved on to the sand wedge cage.

Be realistic about what your wedges need to do

When we reached 56 degrees, we decided to stay in the entire recording area of ​​the compound, which was certainly unusual. Full swings are not necessarily the intended use of the 56 degrees, but I always make full swings with it – whether my coach likes it or not. It’s also a pretty big differentiator in my grind selection. Which brings us to my first surprise of the adaptation…

After the full shot segment we had opted for the D-grind… for good. No chips or pitch shots required. At the beginning of the fitting, I told Brandon that I would split my 56-degree wedge about 50-50 between bunker shots and full swings. Once it came down to a few options with the full grass shots, he ended up bringing just the D-grind.

In the bunker we pressed the D-grind a few times and confirmed that this was the right choice of 56 degrees for my game. Left to my own devices, I would never have chosen the D grind. The lesson: Understand the role each wedge plays in your set and test them accordingly. Even when demonstrating wedges at a PGA Tour Superstore or indoor facility, save the photos you really need on the job. You can identify which options are suitable for your delivery and which are not. Don’t let a mat fool you into thinking you can’t learn anything useful. If you don’t have confidence in a bunker-style shot from a mat, you won’t in a real bunker. That sounds counterintuitive, but experience has taught me the difference between confident with a wedge and not – on any surface.

The lobe is everything

Last came the lob wedge, which took by far the most time, and I would encourage you to plan for the same. This is where you earn your money back. Most players need more versatility from their lob wedge than any other club in the set, and for me it anchors my entire short game. From about 100 yards I almost exclusively play my 60 degrees. My coach has feelings about that. The only caveat I gave Brandon was that the 40-yard field and in had to be the priority, and from there I would figure out the full swing — or, as my coach would prefer, stop hitting it completely. So we started on the green side and hit a flag about ten yards away with short chips.

Vokey places a strong emphasis on blind testing. They give you a wedge before you can see it, removing any preconceived bias before you start hitting. If you can bring someone with you to manage the clubs during an in-store test, try to replicate that process. There’s something liberating about not knowing what you have in your hands: you just try to shoot. It also speeds up the session because you are no longer trying to force a result at a club you have already decided you want. I gave multiple options back to Brandon after one swing because I immediately felt something else would be better. The main shot in this leg was a low runner with a toe-down setup. From the chips on the green side we put forward two options, and at that point it was really close.

We went back to about 40 yards and things got interesting. One of the two remaining options started to produce the kind of trajectory – high, soft, turning – that you see on Tour and chase for years. I didn’t want to stop hitting it. Then the other option started working too. For a moment I thought I had found two legitimate choices. The difference came down to speed. One of the options came out hotter than I wanted, creating just enough hesitation in my swing that I felt like I had less control. The other let me swing freely and with more speed.

We settled it in the bunker and the M-grind won. It was also my preferred option because of the chips on the green side and the 40 yard field, which made the decision easy. I set off with confidence in the 60 degree M gravel. In the bunker, the M-grind let me swing aggressively and pop the ball out without being precious about it – a big deal for the way I play. One final note: Pay attention to how your wedge looks in direct light. Take it outside or have someone shine a phone flashlight on their face while you open it. You may strongly prefer one finish over the other depending on how it reflects at address. Personally, the nickel finish is the one for me.

Now available at PGA Tour Superstore!

Vokey SM11 wedges are now available at PGA Tour Superstore. Like I said above, don’t be afraid when people say you can’t make a good purchase by buying wedges at the store. There’s plenty you can do with the resources available at PGA Tour Superstore and hopefully between this article and my last you’ll be armed with the right information to get yourself into a brand new set and get some lower scores. If you haven’t read the pre-cursor of this article yet, you can read it here.

Johnny Wunder also went through a Vokey fitting experience, which you can watch on the Fully Exhausted YouTube channel!

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