Titleist Vokey wedges might offer golfers the widest range of sole options to suit any swing type, condition, or shot type out there. Countless professionals use Vokey wedges each week and if you look in the bags at local courses you will see a lot of them in play there as well. While sole options are plentiful, Vokey just released another option, the L grind, for their 58 and 60-degree lob wedges. Listen to the full review, in-depth, on the Club Junkie podcast below or on any podcast platform.
Vokey’s L Grind is a low bounce, 4-degree grind that allows the leading edge to get close to the ground while still offering trailing edge, heel, and toe relief. This sole allows you to get the leading edge of the wedge down on the turf for shots of tight and firm lies. Relief on the wedge is going to allow the player to open the face without that leading edge coming up off the turf so you can hit higher lofted shots easily. This L Grind is only available in Vokey’s Raw finish, so the wedge will rust over time and use.
When you open the box on a Raw Vokey, it is always hard to tell if it is a Tour Chrome as the polish to the raw metal looks that good. Just holding the club in my hand, the L Grind looks a lot like an M Grind with the way they shaped the sole. I won’t lie, I was a bit nervous taking out a wedge with 4 degrees of bounce as I play in Metro Detroit and we rarely find tight and firm lies here. Around our greens is soft and lush with deep rough and bunkers with firmer sand. I tend to get a little steep with my wedges and have always used higher-bounce wedges. This year I was fit into SM10 50.12F, 56.14F, and 60.10S wedges. I thought this L grind was light years from my 60.10S, so I proceeded with caution and took it straight to the course. I had a 58.04L sent to me so I switched up my wedge setup to accommodate that.
Out on the course, I was shocked by the first shot with the 58.04L as it sped through the deep rough, popped the ball in the air, and plopped it into the green. I was short-sided and the ball released past the whole as I expected it to, resting about 8ft away for par. Shots out of the rough, whether partial or closer to full, were easy and drama-free. The L Grind glided through the deeper grass with little extra effort and faster than my S Grind. I rarely got to deep and slid under the ball, but when that did happen the ball came out with some spin and control, holding the green.
Off the fairway is where the L Grind really shined for me as I used it for more shots than I normally would have. I am usually a sand wedge player around the green unless I have to go to the lob for a short sided shot or to carry a bunker. Off the fairway you could just thump the sole of the wedge into the turf and it would quickly slide through, producing a shallower divot than I expected. The divot was honestly not much deeper or bigger than what I see with my 56.14F sand wedge. After the first shot I thought I just hit a good one and I would see additional digging soon, but that wasn’t the case. Partial shots from right off the green to about 40 yards offered great turf interaction. Opening the face was easy and the leading edge staying down gave a poor wedge player confidence to swing a little faster and hit a more solid shot.
Spin, as you would expect from a Vokey wedge, was high and predictable with shots checking up hard upon landing. I really liked playing the ball back in my stance a touch and pressing the wedge forward to hit a low, high spin, shot that checked up hard and then released towards the hole. Out of the trap the L Grind plays well as you can see a good amount of dynamic bounce when you open the face. The float wasn’t as good as my S Grind and if you hit the L Grind fat you could definitely come up short, but the L was very capable out of the firmer traps here.
Overall, the L Grind is a really solid option that is more versatile than its 4-degree bounce description. Players who play in softer conditions or have steeper swings don’t have to shy away from this wedge as I think it plays like a higher bounce sole. I don’t think there is a shot in the book that you can’t hit with this wedge, it is built to do it all.
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