TaylorMade xFT Wedges - The Morgan Cup Staff

[biggsy]

Were the spinners available to you guys? Correct me if I'm wrong, but all of you have the KBS shafts right?

Spinners were not specifically on the shaft list and I am not sure if any of the TM staffers requested them. Since TM deals with True Temper, they might have been able to get them. Some of the others will have to chime in on their availability for the xFTs.

This is the list of the custom shafts. So we could have got Nippon (not sure if they have wedge flex or not), Dynamic Gold or Project X steel shafts for the wedges. Again, I am pretty sure everyone went with the hi-revs because of how well they work together with the xFT.

http://www.taylormadegolf.com/fitting-and-demo/custom-shafts

 

[9-Iron Man]

Spinners were not specifically on the shaft list and I am not sure if any of the TM staffers requested them. Since TM deals with True Temper, they might have been able to get them. Some of the others will have to chime in on their availability for the xFTs.

This is the list of the custom shafts. So we could have got Nippon (not sure if they have wedge flex or not), Dynamic Gold or Project X steel shafts for the wedges. Again, I am pretty sure everyone went with the hi-revs because of how well they work together with the xFT.

http://www.taylormadegolf.com/fitting-and-demo/custom-shafts

Thanks for the link biggsy. I went looking for it the other day on the TM site and for the life of me couldn't find it. Great info, thanks.

 

[coolbreeze]

Spinners were not specifically on the shaft list and I am not sure if any of the TM staffers requested them. Since TM deals with True Temper, they might have been able to get them. Some of the others will have to chime in on their availability for the xFTs.

This is the list of the custom shafts. So we could have got Nippon (not sure if they have wedge flex or not), Dynamic Gold or Project X steel shafts for the wedges. Again, I am pretty sure everyone went with the hi-revs because of how well they work together with the xFT.

http://www.taylormadegolf.com/fitting-and-demo/custom-shafts

I didn't really even think about a different shaft really. I have liked the KBS Hi-Rev shafts every time I have hit them and I'm not dissapointed at all now that I've been playing with them. I do notice they put a lot more spin on the ball than a standard wedge shaft, and a higher ball flight than the Spinners which I'm also happy with as I find the spinners can bring my ball flight down a little lower than I would like.

 

[biggsy]

I didn't really even think about a different shaft really. I have liked the KBS Hi-Rev shafts every time I have hit them and I'm not dissapointed at all now that I've been playing with them. I do notice they put a lot more spin on the ball than a standard wedge shaft, and a higher ball flight than the Spinners which I'm also happy with as I find the spinners can bring my ball flight down a little lower than I would like.

Yeah, me either. I've been very happy with them. I know some of the guys liked spinners, I wonder if they were available.

 

[SW]

Since I was held captive by rain today I looked around for wedges again. There is one wedge that I like, but not sure if I'm ready to give up the aggressive grooves just yet. I like the 58/12 xft wedge but its showing as a c grind. How would this affect playing it from a greenside bunker, ie would the bounce be negated by laying the face open. Sorry if its a dumb question but I've never used that grind before so I don't know what it brings to the table.

--
tapatalk

 

[10YardDraw]

Since I was held captive by rain today I looked around for wedges again. There is one wedge that I like, but not sure if I'm ready to give up the aggressive grooves just yet. I like the 58/12 xft wedge but its showing as a c grind. How would this affect playing it from a greenside bunker, ie would the bounce be negated by laying the face open. Sorry if its a dumb question but I've never used that grind before so I don't know what it brings to the table.

--
tapatalk

I dont have any problem playing the C-Grind out of the sand, its a very versatile grind IMO, so easy to hit on tight lies and open the face etc.

 

[adwillingham]

Just got back from my maiden voyage around the links with the xFT wedges. As a reminder, I received 54.12 and 58.12 with KBS Hi-Rev shafts. I got to chip around while waiting to tee off, but those were the first balls I had hit with either club since receiving them last Friday.

Before I get into results, let me give a short history of the adwillingham wedge game. I generally love to hate wedges. I traditionally struggle with full swings with wedges, either hitting it fat or incredibly thin. I will typically carry only one real wedge (normally a 56 with mid-bounce) and only use it for chipping or sand. Even as I was making equipment decisions for the Morgan Cup, I really struggled with the wedge choice. Finally, I decided to keep consistent loft gaps and get the 54 and 58 xFTs and I plan to get the AW that matches the iron set that will probably be 50 deg. To be honest, I figured I would use the 54 as my main chipping club, and just hoped that I would be able to use the 58 since I have never had success with a 60 deg lob wedge.

Anyway, back to today. As I said, I pulled that 58 out and started chipping around the practice green. I was amazed by the results to be honest. The ball just popped right out of the grass and landed soft...it was a wonderful thing. Anyway, out on the course I go, and the first approach shot I have is from like 85 yards. Since I'm seeing what these wedges can do, I grab the 54 and hope for the best. I take a full swing and the ball flies perfectly straight and high...over the green about 5 yards. Not a perfect result, but very encouraging that I could take a full swing with it. Anyway, I grab the 58 for the chip, knock it to 4 feet and make the putt. Second hole, 20 yard chip over a mound, knock it to 6 feet with the 58 again. Fifth hole, again off the green on a tight lie, chip the 58 to a foot. Sixth hole, try to take a full swing with the 58 (feeling cocky with the wedges now) from 70 yards. Predictably leave it 5 yards short, but great flight and online. Chip up to a few feet.

I am really impressed with these wedges. They seem like the heads are heavier than what I am used to, but the feel awesome. I now see myself using the 54 more for full shots and using the 58 as my primary chipping club. I just love the high chip and soft landing.

 

[biggsy]

Since I was held captive by rain today I looked around for wedges again. There is one wedge that I like, but not sure if I'm ready to give up the aggressive grooves just yet. I like the 58/12 xft wedge but its showing as a c grind. How would this affect playing it from a greenside bunker, ie would the bounce be negated by laying the face open. Sorry if its a dumb question but I've never used that grind before so I don't know what it brings to the table.

--
tapatalk

It's already a lot of bounce and when you open it up, you don't need that entire sole for the bounce. So you get the best of both worlds and there is still some bounce.

I think 58 is a lot of club for out of the bunkers. Is that what you've always been using?

adwill...really good and positive report on the wedges for you. Great stuff.

 

[SW]

It's already a lot of bounce and when you open it up, you don't need that entire sole for the bounce. So you get the best of both worlds and there is still some bounce.

I think 58 is a lot of club for out of the bunkers. Is that what you've always been using?

Thanks biggsy for the explanation. The 58* is what I played until recently when I had the 588 bent and starting to only use 1 wedge. I've messed with the 56 but it seems I like to thin the heck out of it, no clue why. The 54/12 + 58/12 seem to be most consistent for me, plus both can be used in the bunker.

Really need to get a few on some grass/sand again and make up my dang mind.

--
tapatalk

 

[arydolphin]

Thanks biggsy for the explanation. The 58* is what I played until recently when I had the 588 bent and starting to only use 1 wedge. I've messed with the 56 but it seems I like to thin the heck out of it, no clue why. The 54/12 + 58/12 seem to be most consistent for me, plus both can be used in the bunker.

Really need to get a few on some grass/sand again and make up my dang mind.

--
tapatalk

SW,
I spent some time practicing in the bunker before my round today with my new XFT wedges, configuration is 54.12 and 58.12. I found that I didn't have any issues with the 58.12 digging into the sand, it had enough bounce on it to be used well out of the sand. In the past, I've always used a 54 degree wedge as my primary sand club because I never had a 58 or 60 degree wedge with a good amount of bounce on it. Now that I understand better how bounce works, I decided to go with 12 degrees on the 58 degree club, and that's going to work well on short range bunker shots. If I need to carry the ball a long way or have more room for the ball to roll out, I can still use the 54 degree wedge. Feel free to ask me any other questions about these wedges, as it sounds like you're thinking about going with the same setup as I have.

 

[SW]

Thanks ary! That setup made sense in my mind, but its nice to know I wasn't the only one thinking of that make-up. Our thoughts are exactly the same in terms of when to use whatever club...spooky dude!

Bonus is that the xft comes stock with a shaft that I like a lot.


--
tapatalk

 

[coolbreeze]

Great updates guys, I'm still getting used to these wedges on chipping, but I have them dialed in with pitches and full shots. Each of these wedges is about 5 yards longer than my old wedges on full shots, and I'm not sure what to relate that too but they are, KBS shafts maybe? Either way, the 51* is about 115 carry, 56 is 100 carry, and 59 is 85-90 yards carry. Pitching is a coolbreeze with these wedges, you just put a nice move on the ball, and the shaft and club head takes care of the rest and puts ample spin on the ball. Today when I slipped out for a practice 9 holes, I was in three deep bunkers and used the 59 twice and the 56 once. I put each one of these touch bunker shots within 6 feet which I was very pleased with, they are fantastic out of the sand. Chipping I am still getting used to with these wedges, and it is mostly the lack of spin I am getting out of the rough. I think another round or two and I'll start to get it dialed in. Love the xFT wedges so far.

 

[arydolphin]

Great updates guys, I'm still getting used to these wedges on chipping, but I have them dialed in with pitches and full shots. Each of these wedges is about 5 yards longer than my old wedges on full shots, and I'm not sure what to relate that too but they are, KBS shafts maybe? Either way, the 51* is about 115 carry, 56 is 100 carry, and 59 is 85-90 yards carry. Pitching is a coolbreeze with these wedges, you just put a nice move on the ball, and the shaft and club head takes care of the rest and puts ample spin on the ball. Today when I slipped out for a practice 9 holes, I was in three deep bunkers and used the 59 twice and the 56 once. I put each one of these touch bunker shots within 6 feet which I was very pleased with, they are fantastic out of the sand. Chipping I am still getting used to with these wedges, and it is mostly the lack of spin I am getting out of the rough. I think another round or two and I'll start to get it dialed in. Love the xFT wedges so far.

CB,
It seems like we have pretty similar distances. I haven't hit a bunch of full shots with my 54, but I did have a shot of 90 yards with my 58 today. With my prior set of wedges, my 58 degree wedge was my 85 yard club. I decided to hit the 58 on that shot because there was a downslope past the hole so I didn't want to hit the 54, and I actually had it hit around pin-high and spin to 5 feet away from the cup. It was only one shot, but I'm thinking that my distances may now be 105 carry with the 54 and 90 carry with the 58. It may be shaft-related here as well, as I've had the KBS Tour shafts in my irons since last summer, so the transition is easier to the KBS Hi-Rev shafts as opposed to the Dynamic Gold wedge flex shafts I had in my previous set of wedges.

 

[biggsy]

Thanks biggsy for the explanation. The 58* is what I played until recently when I had the 588 bent and starting to only use 1 wedge. I've messed with the 56 but it seems I like to thin the heck out of it, no clue why. The 54/12 + 58/12 seem to be most consistent for me, plus both can be used in the bunker.

Really need to get a few on some grass/sand again and make up my dang mind.

--
tapatalk

What was the bounce on the 56? It really makes a difference. You are a digger like me, so more bounce is going to be your friend. If you can take out a couple or even hit mine, I'll bring them all, we can get it figured out for you. When are you free next?

 

[SW]

What was the bounce on the 56? It really makes a difference. You are a digger like me, so more bounce is going to be your friend. If you can take out a couple or even hit mine, I'll bring them all, we can get it figured out for you. When are you free next?

It was 56/14, I liked it for fullish (not to be confused with foolish) shots but couldn't get the hang of it on those little touch shots. Almost got the feeling it was getting hung up, which had me concerned. I'll see about checking out some demo's and talk shop with you. I'm free next W/Th, back to a normal schedule finally!

--
tapatalk

 

[biggsy]

It was 56/14, I liked it for fullish (not to be confused with foolish) shots but couldn't get the hang of it on those little touch shots. Almost got the feeling it was getting hung up, which had me concerned. I'll see about checking out some demo's and talk shop with you. I'm free next W/Th, back to a normal schedule finally!

--
tapatalk

I'll make some time and we'll go out to the range, just shoot me a message a day before. A little trick with those touch shots is to open your hips to the target, narrow your stance, choke down on the club, stand closer to the ball and take an abbreviated swing. You can adjust the length of that shot by taking the same swing, but opening and closing the face. It sounds like a lot, but it takes a lot of the thinking out of it.

Try and get something with a lower bounce too. I had some, but I passed them on to my brother, so I just have mid and high bounce wedges.

 

[White Rhino]

Since there is a bit of a wedge/shot game discussion going on here a question to those paying attention. In your opinion is it "better" to have one wedge for most of your shots within say 100 yards ( like a 56* wedge) or have multiple wedges, 52, 56, 60 or 50, 54, 58 or some other combination, to cover the shots?

 

[coolbreeze]

Since there is a bit of a wedge/shot game discussion going on here a question to those paying attention. In your opinion is it "better" to have one wedge for most of your shots within say 100 yards ( like a 56* wedge) or have multiple wedges, 52, 56, 60 or 50, 54, 58 or some other combination, to cover the shots?

I'm of the opinion that you need to have multiple shots with multiple clubs within a 100 yards. For instance if there is no trouble between me and the flag from say 30 yards I'll hit a lower more running type chip with a 50* wedge, obviously if there is something between me and the hole I'll need to carry the ball a certain distance, but is the pin back or front. If its front then I'll need to hit something with a 58, back and I can hit a 56 or 54. Ect.... I like to have a lot of shots I can go to.

 

[White Rhino]

I'm of the opinion that you need to have multiple shots with multiple clubs within a 100 yards. For instance if there is no trouble between me and the flag from say 30 yards I'll hit a lower more running type chip with a 50* wedge, obviously if there is something between me and the hole I'll need to carry the ball a certain distance, but is the pin back or front. If its front then I'll need to hit something with a 58, back and I can hit a 56 or 54. Ect.... I like to have a lot of shots I can go to.

Makes sense, playing devils advocate here, could you not do the same thing with one club? Opeing the face, closing the face, 1/2 swings etc..

 

[biggsy]

Since there is a bit of a wedge/shot game discussion going on here a question to those paying attention. In your opinion is it "better" to have one wedge for most of your shots within say 100 yards ( like a 56* wedge) or have multiple wedges, 52, 56, 60 or 50, 54, 58 or some other combination, to cover the shots?

For me, I like having the different wedges to give me different shots. I spend a lot of time on the short range, chipping range, just hitting different shots from different lies and having all of those weapons help me do that, just helps me get up and down more. If I find a shot isn't working, I find another way to do it. I would try to chip with a 52 and it never worked, then someone (AHA) showed me how to use a SW to do that and then I integrated in a PW and 9i chip shot. You just expand your game and I like having those lower clubs to help with those shots.

If I find I am not using one of them, which I am not, I would take it out of my bag and work in something else so it's not a wasted space.

 

[biggsy]

Makes sense, playing devils advocate here, could you not do the same thing with one club? Opeing the face, closing the face, 1/2 swings etc..

I can't, can you? Between trying to hit a finesse bunker shot with a short-sided pin and a hundred yard shot, I just like to have some more weapons to do that. It's easier to get a ball to run out with a knocked down 52 than a 60 with the same yardage.

 

[White Rhino]

I can't, can you? Between trying to hit a finesse bunker shot with a short-sided pin and a hundred yard shot, I just like to have some more weapons to do that. It's easier to get a ball to run out with a knocked down 52 than a 60 with the same yardage.

Biggsy , in all honesty my short game sucks and it is what is keping me from becomming the golfer I know I am. I appreciate you and CB offering advice and suggestions and maybe I have ben looking at the <100yd game the wrong way all this time, I was thinking KISS with the wedges, as in have less thoughts and choices might make things easier.

 

[coolbreeze]

Biggsy , in all honesty my short game sucks and it is what is keping me from becomming the golfer I know I am. I appreciate you and CB offering advice and suggestions and maybe I have ben looking at the <100yd game the wrong way all this time, I was thinking KISS with the wedges, as in have less thoughts and choices might make things easier.

You can keep it simple to a point and its good to have a go to shot that you know you can hit more often than not, but in the short game I think its important to have multiple shots in your bag. Plus if you think about it, it's almost simpler, you can make the exact same swing with a 50, 54 and 58 and get three different shots without even making a different swing.

 

[arydolphin]

Makes sense, playing devils advocate here, could you not do the same thing with one club? Opeing the face, closing the face, 1/2 swings etc..

Everyone is different, but I would much rather change my club and make the same type of swing as opposed to trying to hit a bigger variety of shots with one club. That is a recent change for me, as I used to use my 54 or 56 degree wedge (depending on what was in my bag) for basically everything around the greens and inside of 50 yards or so. For example, for a long chip shot, I had to take a big swing in the past with a 54 degree wedge and judge how far to fly it onto the green. Now, I just use a pitching wedge or 9-iron with a short chipping motion, and just rely on the loft of the club to give me more roll-out and distance. In terms of chipping and pitching, having multiple clubs to use can help you with hitting high shots when you have little green to work with versus lower shots when you can run it on the green more. Finally, I'm not all that great with half-swings, so that's why having more clubs to use works for me.

 

[White Rhino]

Hmmm I think I am seeing the light here... CB , Ary and Biggsy I appreciate the guidance.