Vokey WedgeWorks Finally Gets It (Mostly) Right

Vokey drops five familiar SM11 lob wedge grinds and a surprise 62M through WedgeWorks, delivering the kind of complementary lineup the platform always should have been.

If you’ve been paying attention, you know that while I mostly get excited about Vokey WedgeWorks releases, I have a few ongoing issues with the platform.

The good news is that with its latest WedgeWorks release, Vokey has definitively solved one of them. The less good news is that the other two remain stubbornly, maddeningly intact.

The end of the trickle

For the last several years, Vokey has used WedgeWorks as a vehicle to release a slow trickle of tour grinds that didn’t make it into the company’s already extensive retail lineup. Through quarterly-ish WedgeWorks launches, you might get a low-bounce K Grind (now part of the retail lineup), the occasional V Grind and sometimes something seemingly more exotic like an A*—each one arriving according to some internal calendar that hasn’t always directly addressed the needs (or at least the wants) of Vokey loyalists.

If your preferred grind lived on the WedgeWorks side of the fence, you were stuck waiting. When SM-whatever launched with new tech, you got to watch from the outside while your WedgeWorks grind lingered in last-gen limbo. Was an updated version coming? Eventually, maybe. Also, maybe not. You never knew.

I won’t go so far as to say that being stuck with a prior-gen V Grind was a deal breaker but, at the same time, if you’re telling me that latest version of SM is meaningfully better than what came before it, and I actually believe you, then leaving me with no upgrade path for months is, well, a bummer—and a big one at that.

With SM11, Vokey is doing it differently.

Instead of rationing WedgeWorks grinds as if they’re the only means to survive a two-year product cycle, Vokey is launching five familiar (to some of you, anyway) lob wedge grinds—L, A, K*, A+ and V—along with a 62-degree M Grind, and they’re doing it all at once. All built on the SM11 platform. All are available March 27 on Vokey.com.

That’s not a trickle. That’s sensibly opening the floodgates with the full complement of the grinds you won’t otherwise find on retail shelves.

I love that. And, also, it’s about time.

What you’re getting

Rather than deal with me rehashing the full SM11 tech story, know that every WedgeWorks grind shares the same platform: matched CG positioning across grinds, progressive groove shapes by loft, the new directional face texture, and five percent more groove volume. If you’re buying an SM11 WedgeWorks grind, you’re getting SM11 performance. No prior-gen wait-and-see this time around.

The WedgeWorks grind lineup

Here’s the grind-by-grind list of additions to WedgeWorks.

L Grind (58, 60 | 4° bounce | low)

The L is a narrow-soled, low-bounce grind with heel, toe and trailing edge relief. Think of it as living between the T Grind (narrower, more aggressive relief) and the M Grind (wider, more bounce). It gives you most of the versatility of a T with a little more protection from digging. Best suited for firm to neutral conditions and shallower attack angles. Ludvig Åberg, Brian Harman and Sungjae Im are among the PGA Tour players gaming one.

A Grind (58, 60 | 4° bounce | low)

Born from a conversation between Aaron Dill and Geoff Ogilvy—who wanted something that moved faster through the firm, tight turf commonly found in Australia—the A Grind is essentially an L Grind with the ribbon (the grind lines in the transition between sole and trailing edge) smoothed out. The result is a leading edge that sits closer to the ground and slides through turf with less resistance. A little less versatile than the L, but a little more forgiving. Wyndham Clark, the 2023 U.S. Open champion, is a longtime A Grind player.

K* Grind (58, 60 | 6° bounce | low)

One of the most popular lob wedge grinds on the PGA Tour, the K* is a low-bounce derivative of the .06 (Low Bounce) K Grind. Where the standard K has a full, smooth sole, the K* adds a steeper pre-wear on the leading edge plus heel, toe and trailing-edge relief. Translation: it resists digging on square-faced shots but lets you open the face when you need to get creative. As with all K variations, the wide sole makes it a bunker weapon. Justin Thomas and Cam Young travel with one.

A+ Grind (58, 60 | 8° bounce | mid)

If the A Grind is an L with the ribbon removed, the A+ is an M with the ribbon removed. Same modification, applied to a wider, higher-bounce starting point. It moves faster through the turf than the M Grind but offers more bounce and sole width than the A. Ideal for firm to neutral conditions with players who found the M a touch too bouncy. Adam Scott—another Australian, because of course—regularly games a 58A+ on Tour.

V Grind (58, 60 | 10° bounce | mid-high)

My personal favorite of the WedgeWorks-only offerings. The V Grind is essentially a higher-bounce take on the T Grind—same heel, toe and trailing-edge relief, but with a forward section of increased bounce that adds forgiveness on square-faced shots. It excels in neutral to soft conditions and with steeper deliveries. If you love the T Grind’s versatility but find it wants to dig when things get soft, the V is your answer. Jackson Koivun, the world’s top-ranked male amateur, is a 60V player. Also, me. Sometimes.

62M Grind (62 | 8° bounce | mid)

This is the unexpected surprise of the bunch. The M Grind is Bob Vokey’s favorite sole grind—mid-bounce, exceptionally versatile, great across a variety of conditions. Offering it at 62 degrees gives players a higher-lofted option in a popular, user-friendly grind. If last year’s 64T was a little too aggressive for your taste (and good luck tracking one down at this point), the 62M is probably the safer, smarter play.

All WedgeWorks grinds are available in right-hand models. Left-hand options are available for the 60L, 60K* and 60V. (As is often the case with boutique releases, suck it, Canada.)

Unsolved problems

While finally making a good bit of the grind catalog available early in the product cycle is a significant step forward, I am (as per usual) not without my petty grievances.

Every WedgeWorks grind ships in Vokey’s Raw finish and only in a Raw finish. Sure, a lot of Tour players love Raw. It’s low-glare, some say it feels softer at impact, and if it rusts (which some also think looks cool), Aaron Dill is right there to hand them a new one.

For the Tour, it’s lather, rinse, repeat, several times a year with the lob wedge anyway so rust isn’t much of a concern.

The thing is, you probably don’t have Aaron Dill on speed dial and, if that’s the case, it’s not a stretch to assume that, unlike Justin Thomas, Cam Young and the rest of the Vokey staff, you pay for your wedges.

And that puts me in an awkward position. I’m the guy who has told you repeatedly that rust doesn’t add spin. That rust can actually cause spin decay. And, yet, my V looks like it was pulled from a shipwreck. I try to keep it clean. I do. But raw steel and the same conditions that necessitate swapping the T for the V aren’t exactly a preservation-friendly combination.

Generally, finish adds durability. It’s a literal layer of protection. With wedges starting at $200 (Raw ones inexplicably costing more) and the average golfer not replacing them nearly as often as they should, that durability detail matters. A Tour Chrome or Jet Black or any other option (Slate Blue, for example) wouldn’t just be nice, it would be practical.

Raw makes sense if you love low glare and can pop in to see your Tour rep whenever you need a fresh one. For the other 99.999 percent of us, especially those who believe it when Vokey says high-lofted wedges should be replaced every 75 rounds or so, some additional finish options would be appreciated.

And speaking of missing finishes

I’ve been beating this drum for years. Slate Blue is The Best Finish™. This isn’t opinion. It’s established fact that a (mostly silent) army of Slate Blue loyalists will back me on. We continue to be underserved and, at this point, I’d like to speak to the manager.

What’s particularly galling is that Vokey will apparently do absolutely anything for you if you’re Australian. They’ll create an entire grind from scratch (the A Grind for Ogilvy). They’ll put your countryman’s favorite grind front and center (Adam Scott and the A+). They’ll even put you in charge of product marketing for the brand. With that, we’ll probably get Vegemite-scented, koala skin grips before we see Slate Blue again.

If I were Australian, I’m fairly certain I could get a Slate Blue V Grind hand-delivered by Bob Vokey himself. Instead, all my New York self gets is a Caesar salad (Plain. No fresh shrimp straight off the barbie) and a side of rust.

Can I speak to the manager’s manager?

Better yet, I’m loosely acquainted with Greg Chalmers. I’m making a call. Maybe he can make this happen.

I’ve digressed.

Pricing and availability

All new Vokey WedgeWorks lob wedge offerings will be available through Vokey.com beginning March 27. Retail price is $229 per wedge. Don’t shoot the messenger; it should be obvious by now that I’m not in charge of WedgeWorks. As with all WedgeWorks orders, custom options include stamping, paint fill and your choice of shaft and grip.

The bottom line

Credit where it’s due: this is a smart and, in my estimation, needed evolution for WedgeWorks. Launching a full complementary lineup alongside SM11—rather than dripping grinds out one at a time over the course of two years—is exactly the right approach. It respects the golfer’s time and acknowledges that when you tell people a new platform is better, they should be able to access it without waiting for their grind’s turn in line.

One out of three issues resolved. It’s probably the most important one but I’d be lying if I said the raw-only thing and the continued absence of Slate Blue don’t gnaw at me a little.

Have your say

Are you excited to see a nearly full grind lineup hit WedgeWorks? Let us know what you think—and if you are Australian, maybe put in a good word for us with the Vokey team.