Nike Golf is capitalizing on the success of its VR Pro forged wedges with the introduction of the highly crafted Nike VR Pro Forged Dual-Sole (DS) wedge.

Available on November 1, 2011, the Nike VR Pro Forged DS wedge is developed with a precise forging process, resulting in a wedge that offers accurate shot-shaping performance and a greater propensity for low scoring. Built for Nike Golf Tour athletes, the VR Pro Forged DS wedge features a Dual-Sole grind, ensuring ideal set-up from sand, fringe, fairway or deep rough.

The Dual-Sole provides two distinct benefits:

For normal square addressed shots, the sole has added leading edge bounce, but the trailing edge is relieved. This allows for utilization of the bounce, which helps to eliminate digging but reduces the contact area so the club glides through the turf. The Dual-Sole also prevents bladed shots.

For open faced shots, a unique relieved heel design comes into play when the face is in an open position. This allows the leading edge to sit low to the ball, especially on short flop shots.

The VR Pro Forged DS wedge features Nike’s high-frequency X3X grooves with a precision laser crosshatch pattern that is applied to the land area between the grooves. This pattern adds three times the surface texture versus conventionally finished faces, creating more spin in all conditions. With Nike’s X3X grooves, there are more grooves (20) that are closer together and deeper on the clubface, which provides more control and consistency in all conditions off of the clubface, while conforming to the USGA and R&A rules.

Availability: November 1, 2011
Finish Options: Satin Chrome; Oxide (NEW); Platinum (NEW)
Loft/Bounce Options: 56/16 dual; 54/24 dual; 60/13 dual (Available in RH)
MAP: $119.99

www.nikegolf.com

Alvaro Quiros, who tied for 6th this week at The PLAYERS, had a vintage Callaway X-Forged 60-degree C-grind wedge (with 10 degrees of bounce) made up in the Callaway tour trailer earlier in the week. The wedge required a little grind work to the sole, pulling the heel and toe area. He also had a personalized touch added in the form of his name in Spain’s colors.

www.callawaygolf.com

The 2010 Open Championship seems like a distant memory, because it was won decisively by South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen. One of the reasons for Oosthuizen dominance was his short game and his Ping Tour-S wedges. We wanted to find out if Tour-S Rustique wedges lived up to their promise of control and feel, in the hands of an average golfer.

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Look and Feel
The Tour-S Rustique wedges have a nice vintage looking matte bronze finish, which will wear off over use, as it tarnishes naturally and rust over time, giving it a non-glare appearance. At address the both the 52 and 56 degree wedges setup nicely, but look more lofted than they are, which confused me at at first. The 52 setup more like a 56 degree, and the 56 degree setup more like a 60 degree wedge.

Made of 8620 steel the machined face of the Ping Tour-S wedges feature conforming groves and a single alignment line. The sole of the Tour-S wedges have been re-shaped to allow for more versatility in your shot selection, and making ability. The Custom Tuning Port (CTP) has been redesigned, which angles towards the back to expand the perimeter weighting for added forgiveness, and better feel at impact.

True Temper Dynamic Gold steel shafts and Ping ID8 grips round out the Tour-S Rustique wedges, which also come in a traditional steel finish. Overall, they are a  nice looking set of wedges.

Performance
According to USGA research, the average golfer hits the green in regulation 13 percent of the time from the rough. With such a low success rate from the rough, spin, control, and feel are very important in your wedges.

What I found from playing both the 52 and 56 degree Ping Tour-S Rustique wedges, is how much more you can feel your shots. I really liked how soft the Tour-S wedges felt on those chip shots and pitches around the green, providing immediate feedback. You can easily tell the difference from a well hit versus poorly hit shot.

Distance control and shot making ability are where the Ping Tour-S wedges shine. The 8620 steel machined face and conforming grooves produced a lot of spin on my shots from the rough and fairway. I also liked how well the Tour-S wedges glided through the sand and rough, with its re-shaped sole. The re-shaped sole made it very easy to utilize the bounce built into the wedges for hitting it out of the sand or deep rough.

Even if you don’t hit your shot flush with the Tour-S wedges, the CPT is angled back to expand the perimeter weighting for more forgiveness on those mishits, with less twisting.

Overall, the Ping Tour-S wedges are great set of wedges that provide excellent feel, shot making ability, and distance control. Even, if you don’t have the skills of Louis Oosthuizen, you can at least increase your percentages of hitting the greens in regulation.

Specs: 52 /12 degrees of bounce & 56/12 degrees of bounce

Ping Tour-S Wedge $119

Let’s face it, practicing your short game (wedges) in the winter is not an option for most golfers unless you live in a part of the country where you can golf year-round or have access to a golf dome. The key to any good short game is practice and ingraining the proper feel and feedback of your shots. How can you do this indoors without damaging anything inside your home or annoying your wife?

The Floppy-Indoor Golf Ball

The answer to this problem is a product I stumbled upon at the 2010 PGA Merchandise Show called the Floppy, which is an indoor practice golf ball specifically designed for the practice of your short game, indoors.

How it Works
The Floppy is meant to be hit off a plush carpet or golf mat indoors. This might be a challenge for homes with hardwood flooring throughout the entire home. The unique Patent Pending design of The Floppy® gives the golfer realistic feedback. Because The Floppy® feels, rolls and spins like a golf ball. Each Floppy ball is hand-made and built to last through thousands of hits.

The Floppy® feels and reacts like a real golf ball but is safe enough to hit into a window or a wall. It offers realistic feedback and keeps your short game tuned when you are away from the course. Now you can have the freedom to practice your golf game when ever and where ever you like.

My Thoughts on the Floppy
My initial reaction to seeing the Floppy is it looked a lot like a hacky sack and I was bit skeptical about how good of a substitute it would make for a golf ball. Once, you get over the fear of hitting the Floppy into a wall or patio door, you’ll enjoy using it to sharpen your shot game. What I liked about the Floppy is the immediate feedback it gives you just like a regular golf ball, but without the risk of breaking anything indoors. If you skull your shot, the Floppy just flies across the ground.

The one thing missing from the Floppy is the sound and feel only a real golf ball will make hit perfectly in the sweet spot, but that’s a trade-off most golfers would be willing to make to practice their short game year-round indoors. Priced at $19.95 for 4 Floppy golf balls may put some people off, but that’s a lot cheaper than paying to fix a broken window or damaged wall.

Are you willing to give the Floppy a try?

www.thefloppy.com

Heavy Putter is known for its putters that feature a higher center of gravity and weighted shaft in the butt-end of the club,  that forces you to use your larger muscles in your putting stroke.

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At the 2010 PGA Merchandise Show, Boccieri Golf introduced its new control series of wedges, called the Heavy Wedge.

Why a Heavy Wedge?
Your short game is one area that you always need to practice to lower your golf score and so many things can go wrong. Taking the same principles of the Heavy Putter, by adding weight in strategic areas and manipulating the balance point  that will improve your wedge game.

The Technology of the Heavy Wedge
The Heavy Wedge, just like the putters feature a Back Weighting system installed in the grip end of the shaft. The 250 gram weight makes the head of the Heavy Wedge only slightly heavier than a conventional wedge. By making the head slightly heavier, you use your larger muscles in your swing for a more consistent and smoother swing.

This also raises the balance point by 37% on the Heavy Wedge, versus a standard wedge which is much closer to the hosel. The higher balance point produced by the back weighting system is the key to improving your body mechanics affecting the swing’s plane, tempo, transition, impact, and balance. The goal is better control and closer shots with your wedges.

Swinging the Heavy Wedge, I didn’t notice the increased head wieght. What I did notice, is how easily it allowed me to set my hands quickly on the takeaway and retained my angle of retention on the downswing and at impact. It would be kind of hard to flip your hands using the Heavy Wedge or break the triangle when chipping. I’d like to see how the Heavy Wedge performs in real course conditions and if it improves my short game in terms of contact and consistency.

The Heavy Wedge is available in the following Lofts/Bounce combinations: 52/08, 56/11, 60/04, 60/07 and come with FST Hi REV tapered stepless design 120 gram wedge flex shaft.

Would you buy a Heavy Wedge?

Heavy Wedge $109.95 available March 1, 2010

The one golf club that gets refreshed every golf season are my wedges. Whether its the sand wedge, gap wedge, lob wedge, etc. A serious golfer knows how important it is to have fresh grooves and wedges that perform when your in the scoring zone of under 100 yards.

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Vokey Design® Spin Milled™ wedges have always been unique products that provide a truly discernible performance option – increased spin. The one thing that seemed to be missing from their product line was the limited number of options in terms of loft and bounce options.

That has changed with the new Vokey Spin Milled wedges that go a step further by offering more choices – a full range of lofts from 48° to 64°, low, mid, and full bounce sole options in many lofts, and three distinct non-glare finishes – to execute more shots from around the greens. And better suit your swing type with your wedges, more on this later.

Look and Feel
Vokey Spin Milled wedges are based on the design of Bob Vokey who has been working with the best players in the world by watching and listening to them, to find out what they want in wedge performance, look, and feel. Bob’s in depth knowledge of wedges and input from Tour professionals have made the Vokey Design wedges the most played on the PGA Tour since 2004.

When you pick up the Vokey Spin Milled wedges you’ll notice that the wedges have a distinct heavy weight and feel to them that feels substantial in your hands. The profile which are created using CAD offer the perfect blend of size, shape, topline thickness with the non-glare satin finish give you the confidence you expect from the hardest working clubs in your golf bag.

All Vokey Spin Milled wedges feature a CNC machine cut face and grooves that have 30% more groove volume than a conventional wedge. This is achieved by using a special circular saw style cutting tool that creates precise grooves with a steeper draft angle and a tight edge radius for increased friction. The more grooves on the face and rough surface created from the Spin Milled process is what gives you that high spin and control from the rough and in wet conditions.

USGA Groove Rules and Regulations
So you might be wondering, how do the Vokey Spin Milled Grooves comply with the new USGA Groove Rules and Regulations?
The new groove rules that take effect next year will change the way groove profile on the Spin Milled wedges. And Vokey just released a smaller grooved version of the Spin Milled Series called C-C (Condition and Competition) that conforms to the new regulations. The new Spin Milled C-C wedges produce a higher trajectory shot, with medium spin, and medium roll, compared to the medium trajectory, high spin, low roll of the Spin Milled wedges.

Vokey will continue to manufacturer the original Spin Milled wedges thru 2010, but beginning in 2011 all clubs will be manufactured to the new groove specifications. The vast majority of golfers, though, will be able to continue playing the “big groove” wedges until at least 2024.

The following is the currently proposed timeline for adopting the new groove regulations for various types of play:
2010 – Adopted as a Condition of Competition for elite professional events (professional tours, US Open (sectional qualifying and championship), Open Championship, etc.)
2014 – Adopted as a Condition of Competition for elite amateur championships (USGA and R&A amateur championships, state amateur championships, NCAA events, etc.)
2024 – Adopted as a Rule of Golf for all play (everyday golfers)

As you can see, everyday golfers like us have a lot of time before changing to the new grooves, unless we start competing.

Performance
I tested both the 52 08 and 56 11 Vokey Spin Milled wedges, and my wife tested the 54 10. Vokey Spin Milled wedges come in a variety of bounces and lofts, and you can select which wedge that works best with your swing type. If your a slider/sweeper of the ball with a shallow angle of attack with the leading edge of the club under the ball, Vokey recommends clubs with a narrower sole, less bounce and more camber. If you are more of driver/digger and use less hand action and steeper angle of attack, its recommended you use a wedge with a wider sole, more bounce, and less camber.

52 08
The setup of the 52 degree gap wedge was very pleasing to the eye with its non-glare satin finish. It doesn’t take a lot of force to get the ball up in the air thanks to its head weight.The performance of the gap/attack wedge was really good, providing ample feedback on shots hit in the sweetspot of the wedge. You know instantly if you hit the ball poorly by the feedback, which is firm. The ball will still go straight, but not as high and without the spin you desire. My approach shots within 100 yards would fly high in the air and stop on a dime. What I really liked is the amount of spin that you could impart on the ball. In tight lies situations around the green and light rough the 52 wedge performed well for chipping. A really good setup for an attack wedge.

56 11
The 56 degree sand wedge, has 11 degrees of bounce that made it very easy to hit the ball out of the sand and deep rough with out any effort. The grooves of the Spin Milled wedge really shined when using the 56, with providing a really high ball trajectory and lots of spin on the ball. Again the weight of the clubhead made it very easy to get the ball in the air and provided the right amount of feedback on my shots. Your short game will appreciate having this club in your bag.

54 10
My wife who never had a quality 54 degree wedge before, had to get used to the type of shots she could produce using the Vokey wedge. For her the backspin and control were the bright spots for her short game. The ability to get the ball up in the air and stop quickly were the types of shots she could not produce before. Vokey does not make a women’s specific wedges, so don’t expect ultralight shafts or women’s flex, which isn’t a big deal. My wife liked the weight and setup of her Vokey 54 and how it didn’t require a lot of effort to get the ball up in the air or through the rough.

Overall, we really liked the new lineup of Vokey Spin Milled wedges and the amount of options available. The amount of backspin and control, wedge setup based on your swing type make the Vokey Spin Willed wedges a good choice for those looking for wedges that suits their game.

Vokey Spin Milled Wedges $109.99