Taylormade XFT Wedge

So many have been waiting to see this one in hand and in action. Well here it is. Taylormade was kind enough to send over a few samples of their new wedges. Rather than describe exactly what they do, here are some pictures.

if you have questions, feel free to ask. If you want any other pictures, you can ask for those as well. We have already hit these for quite some time now and should be able to answer your questions.

Here is the review on these.

The Hackers Paradise Taylormade TP xFT Wedge Review

Pretty cool technology. Does each new face come with new screws?

How's the feel? Spin?

Smallville said:

Pretty cool technology. Does each new face come with new screws?

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That is a good question. Sent to TM

Kaboodle said:

How's the feel? Spin?

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The feel is soft. Very soft in fact. The spin is extremely good. Up there with the Clevelands of the world and others.

I have never found a TM wedge that I really liked, but these have a different kind of performance. I thought going in that 2 things would occur.

1. They would feel hard or "off" due to the plate and screws. Definitely not the case. Feel is great.

2. That the plates would cause a different kind of performance. Not the case either.

I have said it before and I will say it again. It is nice to see a product that is based to help the consumer. Every other company wants you to buy new wedges every year. Heck, TM is the most guilty of this of anybody. But now they are saying save the money and buy a new face plate. That is good for the consumer in my mind.

Forgive me for being "out of the loop" on this, but what is the purpose of the removable face? Is it solely for players to be able to replace the grooves without purchasing an entire new wedge and/or resharpen the grooves? Am I correct in assuming that there will not be "different" types of faces with different grooves that you can choose from?

interlooper said:

Forgive me for being "out of the loop" on this, but what is the purpose of the removable face? Is it solely for players to be able to replace the grooves without purchasing an entire new wedge and/or resharpen the grooves? Am I correct in assuming that there will not be "different" types of faces with different grooves that you can choose from?

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I think that is part of it. I also think that it will give players the ability to go from conforming grooves for tournament play to non-conforming grooves for regular play without having to purchase different wedges.

However the USGA and I may disagree on this.

JB said:

That is a good question. Sent to TM




The feel is soft. Very soft in fact. The spin is extremely good. Up there with the Clevelands of the world and others.

I have never found a TM wedge that I really liked, but these have a different kind of performance. I thought going in that 2 things would occur.

1. They would feel hard or "off" due to the plate and screws. Definitely not the case. Feel is great.

EDIT- You should do a contest for one of these wedges!

2. That the plates would cause a different kind of performance. Not the case either.

I have said it before and I will say it again. It is nice to see a product that is based to help the consumer. Every other company wants you to buy new wedges every year. Heck, TM is the most guilty of this of anybody. But now they are saying save the money and buy a new face plate. That is good for the consumer in my mind.

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Whoa! I did not expect that answer! I was thinking it would feel very harsh. I forgot, does it come in 64 degree?

Kaboodle said:

Whoa! I did not expect that answer! I was thinking it would feel very harsh. I forgot, does it come in 64 degree?

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I believe it will come in the 64* but it is not definite yet. Kaboodle, I also thought it would be very harsh. But the back of the plate is rubber like and gives a great soft feel. When playing it, you cannot tell at all that it is an insert.

JB

These look sweet and I am on board with the technology. I think it great from TM. Quetions: Release date? Cost? Comparable to the CG15's?

Release Date: TBD - A lot will be determined in the next 7 days on that. But we are hearing 2/1.

Cost - The same as just about every other premium wedge out there. We have been told everything from $110 to $140. Im hearing $119.

Comparison to CG15 - Too early to tell yet. But very good.

Thanks Jb

Very interesting idea and technology. Im all for new tech. Besides all the tech its a nice looking wedge too.

Kevinâ„¢ said:

Very interesting idea and technology. Im all for new tech. Besides all the tech its a nice looking wedge too.

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Those were my thoughts as well. Much better looking than I thought it would be.

Another Cost Question...

Another Cost Question...

Sorry if I missed this somewhere earlier in the thread...

Any idea of face replacement/spare face cost?

Nice

Nice

Great photos. Thanks!

AHAurand said:

Sorry if I missed this somewhere earlier in the thread...

Any idea of face replacement/spare face cost?

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The face replacement cost is about $40

We will have quite a bit of testing with this wedge going on today.

Thanks for the pics. Like the replacable face idea.

Breaking news

TaylorMade Wins USGA Appeal on Wedge Face Plates - The Shop Blog

TaylorMade's new TP wedges with xFT (Exchangeable Face Technology) allow golfers to unscrew a face plate that contains the club's grooves and replace it with a new plate in about a minute.

TaylorMade had planned to sell face plates separately so golfers could play with fresh grooves more often, but the USGA informed TaylorMade in October that it could not sell face plates with the company's Z grooves—which will soon become non-conforming for professionals—in 2010. However, TaylorMade could sell a whole TP wedge with Z grooves and face plates with a conforming groove.

TaylorMade appealed the ruling, and on Wednesday the USGA reversed itself, saying that TaylorMade will be able to separately sell Z-groove face plates, which will cost about $45, in 2010.

Dick Rugge, the USGA's senior technical director, refused to comment on the case on Friday morning.

Before the ruling was announced, Benoit Vincent, TaylorMade's chief technical director, said the root of the USGA's initial dispute wasn't with the interchangeable face technology. In his mind, the real question the USGA had was, "Are the additional faces that might be sold in 2010 a threat to the clean-up goal that the rules [and deadlines for implementation] intrinsically have?"

According to Vincent, the USGA is hoping that wedges and other clubs with U grooves will naturally start coming out of amateur golfers' bags as they get worn out. By the time weekend players need to start using the conforming V grooves in 2024, it is hoped that the vast majority would already be replaced with equipment that conforms to the new guidelines.The interchangeable face plates, presumably, would make it possible for golfers to stockpile non-conforming grooves.

TaylorMade will not be able to sell or ship wedges or face plates that contain non-conforming grooves after December 31, 2010. However, pro shops and retailers will be able to sell their remaining inventories until they are depleted.

Will these wedges be available in left hand?


I'm guessing not for some reason. (lefty pessimism)

flowrider said:

Will these wedges be available in left hand?


I'm guessing not for some reason. (lefty pessimism)

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According to my sheet, they will be.

Right now we have just the ZT wedge face which is the conforming grooves. The Z face is on its way and those are the grooves we are all used to.

We look forward to doing some testing with both.

Here is the official press release that has just come out from Taylormade Golf in regards to the xFT.

TaylorMade Golf has introduced the TP wedge with xFT (Exchangeable Face Technology), which allows players to easily remove a worn clubface and replace it with a new one to maintain peak performance in terms of spin and control.

"Though the face of a typical iron is sturdy, it isn't impervious to wear," said Bret Wahl, senior director of iron, wedge and putter development. "A wedge's face wears from contact with the ball and from the dirt and sand that's often sandwiched between the ball and the face at impact. Every time you explode from sand with your wedge it's like rubbing a piece of sand paper on your clubface. Over time the face wears down and the edge-radius of the grooves becomes dull. In addition to the normal wear and tear a face suffers from normal play, it can be nicked and damaged in a variety of other ways such as when clubheads bang together when you put your bag down or when you walk or drive your cart, or when you hit out of waste areas, or when you unintentionally scrape the clubface against debris when hitting the ball from poor lies off the fairway."

The negative effect is three-fold: 1) The groove's edges lose the ability to grab the cover, reducing spin. 2) The groove loses volume into which moisture and debris once were channeled. Less groove volume means that more substances will come between the ball and the clubface, further reducing the amount of spin that can be imparted, especially from the rough. 3) The texture on the surface of the face (from milling or sandblasting) is reduced, which limits the face's grip on the ball.

How quickly does the face of the average wedge show signs of wear? TaylorMade studies indicate that after about 1,000 shots the edge-radius of each individual groove changes and the roughness of the face surface is worn away. For players who play with reasonable frequency, 1,000 shots add up pretty quickly; they add up even faster for players who practice between rounds.

Tour Pros and "Fresh Grooves"
Tour pros are exceptionally mindful of the importance of wear on their wedges, and because of that they replace them frequently to get "fresh grooves" and a rough face surface for the maximum spin they deliver. Certain pros, including those in the top-tier, put new wedges in play every week, while some players change every three or four tournaments. Two members of the TaylorMade Tour Staff, Dustin Johnson and Jason Day, ask for a new 60° wedge every month. Other tour pros trade out at least three or four times per year.

One popular reason why many pros don't retire their wedges more often is because they've become accustomed to the club's look, weight, feel and sole grind, which influences the way the sole reacts with turf, rough and sand. And sometimes they have great confidence in a particular wedge that they've performed well with under pressure. Yes, such pros would like fresh grooves, but they don't want to give up the wedge they've become attached to. Occasionally you see a pro with a wedge so well-used that the lower-middle part of the face is worn almost smooth; a clear case of sentimentality keeping the club in the bag.

Meanwhile myriad amateurs would like to put new grooves in play with greater frequency, but can't justify the expense of buying new wedges once or more per year.

xFT: Keep the Clubhead, Exchange the Clubface
xFT is a simple, cost-effective way to give tour pros and amateurs fresh grooves while allowing them to keep the same clubhead. Our new Exchangeable Face Technology (xFT), which is incorporated into our newest TP wedge design, allows you to quickly and easily exchange an old, worn wedge face with a brand new one. The xFT face is held in place with two screws located on the back of the clubhead that can be loosened and tightened with a white R9 torque wrench. Simply loosen the xFT screws to remove the old face and tighten the screws to lock in the new, fresh face. Each xFT face is backed with a thin layer of Poron®, which is a soft, urethane, microcellular foam to facilitate a tight fit within the clubhead and to cushion the face from metal-on-metal contact, and which also promotes superior feel. The clubhead and particularly the wedge face and the pocket the face fits into are precision-milled to fit snugly and securely together. The tolerances in terms of length, width and depth have to be extremely tight to ensure a tight fit, so that the TP xFT wedge feels the same, sounds the same and performs the same as a traditional one-piece clubhead.

Each TP xFT wedge face is forged from soft 304 stainless steel, then completed with a four-step CNC precision-milling process. First, the surface of the face is milled flat. Second, the back and perimeter of the face are machined to ensure a precise fit into the pocket in the clubhead. Third, texture is milled onto the face surface. Fourth, the grooves are milled into the face with care taken to ensure that the depth, shape and edges are perfect.

TP xFT Wedge and the USGA Rules Change on Grooves
Two types of xFT wedge faces will be available for purchase, either with our new ZTP groove design that conforms to the USGA's new rules change, or with our current Z groove that conforms to the pre-2010 rule on groove design. (Older groove designs will be disallowed in high-level professional competitions starting January 1, 2010 by ruling of the USGA. However, recreational golfers aren't required to adhere to the groove-change rule until 2024). In 2011 and beyond, xFT wedge faces will incorporate only grooves that adhere to the new USGA rule, such as the ZTP groove.

"In a nutshell, the rules change stipulates that new groove designs must have less cross-sectional area and their edges must be less sharp," says Wahl. "Most players won't experience a dramatic reduction in spin from dry fairway lies, but will see a decrease in spin by up to 50% from the rough. All the more reason to keep the clubface of your wedge fresh and at peak performance. Our new ZTP groove is the most aggressive, spin-inducing design we have that conforms to the new USGA rule."

Each TP xFT wedge head is fashioned in a classically beautiful teardrop shape made of stainless steel and milled for precision, including the pocket into which the clubface fits. The clubhead is plated in nickel-chrome for durability, then given a beautiful pearl finish to reduce glare. Availability in stores and online will begin December 1st with the 56° loft and 12° bounce only, with nine more combinations to follow in mid-February, 2010 -- 50.09, 52.11, 54.12, 56.16, 58.09, 58.12, 60.06, 60.10, 64.06. The 58.12 and 60.10 both incorporate TaylorMade's new C-grind sole, which was developed by our tour technicians and which is highly praised by tour pros for the multitude of greenside shots it permits you to play.

TP xFT wedges are equipped with KBS High-Rev shafts, which are slightly heavier and feature a slightly longer tip parallel region compared to other wedge shafts. KBS' data indicates that the High-Rev shaft promotes increased spin because of its weighting, its kick and the way it presents the head to the ball. The High-Rev is new, making us the first brand to use it. We expect it to be played on tour, especially since the change in the groove rule will have players anxious to find ways to keep their spin-rates as high as possible. Because the shaft's unique design promotes additional spin, we expect the TP xFT wedge to gain wide acceptance on the PGA Tour.

Each TP xFT wedge will sell at a street price of $129 per club and will come equipped with a Z groove face (conforming to the pre-2010 USGA rule). Individual xFT wedge faces with either the Z groove or ZTP groove (conforming to the new 2010 USGA rule) will be sold separately at a street price of $39.

I have to agree with the logic behind these wedges. Why buy a whole new wedge when you can just buy a new plate or face. Wonder if this idea will catch on and spread through the other manufacturers. Could be the start of a whole new thing in wedges or something in a few years we talk about and laugh.

Kevinâ„¢ said:

I have to agree with the logic behind these wedges. Why buy a whole new wedge when you can just buy a new plate or face. Wonder if this idea will catch on and spread through the other manufacturers. Could be the start of a whole new thing in wedges or something in a few years we talk about and laugh.

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I agree Kevin. From the consumer standpoint it could be a good thing if people replace their wedges yearly. THey must perform as advertised as well.

We have 4 people taking them to the course today to see about the performance.