Fifteen years ago Titleist wanted to get in to the high performance wedge business and asked Bob Vokey to head up the effort. Vokey produced a series of classically designed wedges that developed a devoted following…from PGA Tour players to avid amateurs. New England Golf Monthly did an exclusive interview with Vokey and he talked about some of the current topics all club makers are facing.
Two years ago the United States Golf Association decreased in the allowable cross section of grooves in short irons. This was thought to have major long term consequences for players of every level, so that’s where we started.
NEGM: What effect has the USGA rule change regarding grooves had on the wedge play of amateurs?
BV: Well, many amateurs are still playing wedges with pre-2010 grooves, so I would say the effect has been limited at this point. For amateurs, the areas where they may notice the most difference in performance with the condition of competition (C-C) [i.e., those with the new smaller cross section] grooves will be from the rough and wet grass.
NEGM: Is the effect different for professional players and how is it different?
BV: You know, it hasn’t really affected the Tour players at all. In fact, many of them prefer the C-C grooves because now they can get to back pins. There’s a reason why the commercials say, “These Guys are Good.” They simply adapted their game to the new grooves. Tour stats prove it out. Scoring average has stayed the same and it doesn’t seem that there is a much bigger emphasis on driving accuracy from the guys on Tour.
–Vokey’s latest wedge design features “spin-milled grooves,” designated SM4 and we asked their significance…
NEGM: What was the purpose of developing the SM4 grooves?
BV: Back in 2009, the Groove Rule change was a huge deal for us. We had to make new conforming wedges for over 2,000 players across the worldwide professional tours in less than six months. It was an incredible effort. With the C-C grooves, we had to be conservative. We couldn’t risk having some grooves that were non-conforming. So we couldn’t really push the edge radius limit. Fast forward to today, we’ve had two years of working on a new groove configuration. We tested over 50 groove configurations at our Oceanside Test Center with Tour players. This new groove is right up against the USGA limit.
NEGM: How are the new SM4 grooves different from those on previous USGA groove rule conforming wedges?
BV: Like I said, these grooves are right up against the USGA “two circle” conformance test. We developed a new process to 100% inspect every groove. That’s not just on Tour wedges; we are going to inspect every groove on every wedge that we sell. No other company is even attempting to do that. But that way, we know that we are right up against the limit without exceeding it. We’ve also added three score lines to the new SM4 grooves. We went from 14 to 17 grooves on each wedge. Once again, this came from testing over 50 groove configurations. You can’t have too many grooves, because then they won’t be large enough to channel water and debris. We think we found the optimum. The 17 grooves will keep the ball from riding up the face and keep the trajectory down. It’s back to a “tour preferred” trajectory. We also added a durable heat treatment process in the impact area. This process will maintain the life of the grooves for longer, which means over the life of the wedge, you’ll have better spin retention. The heat treatment only penetrates a few millimeters, so it doesn’t affect the feel of the wedge. The SM4 groove is definitely the most advanced Spin Milled process we’ve ever offered. These wedges are like my kids. I’m proud of them!
–Vokey runs a custom, build-to-order shop in Carlsbad, Calif. that has begun to accept business from regular golfers and he obviously feels strongly about interacting them.
NEGM: How did WedgeWorks come about and what do you expect from opening up your custom wedge shop to use by the golfing public? 
BV: WedgeWorks really was a dream of mine for a long time. I wanted to combine R&D, Tour, and Custom into one area, one shop. That’s WedgeWorks. Now I can give the Vokey loyalist the same options that I do for Tour players like Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy. I like to say its Tour treatment, without the card. We recently launched WedgeWorks Services. It lets you send back your Vokey for customization, personalization, TLC. It’s my spa service. We can stamp the wedges, replace shafts, grips, ferrules, laser etch the shaft, even weight port the club to change the swingweight. We’ve got a ton of options our there at Vokey.com.
NEGM: What wedge design advancements are you working on at present?
BV: We’re always working on new things. Without getting into too many details, we’re exploring new grinds, materials and wedge constructions. And I’m always gathering feedback from players on Tour. It’s the best R&D team in the world.
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