Every grind in Bob Vokey’s wedge lineup has a story — the all-new K* included. While the grind is a fresh addition to Vokey’s WedgeWorks lineup, a variation of the popular K Grind has been floating around Tour since 2015 when former major winner Webb Simpson started working with Tour rep Aaron Dill on a modified version of the K.
According to Dill, Simpson liked the forgiveness the K’s wide sole provided but still felt it needed to be adjusted to handle tight lies around the green.
“Webb was not one to make many changes to his wedges,” Dill said. “As conditions shifted on tour and we introduced different soles in our line, Webb was motivated to test additional grind options that could offer some forgiveness. This led to Webb in 2015 testing a 60 K Grind, and while this was a great wedge, it still was missing a key element important to him: versatility from tighter lies. Webb and I worked on the sole, adding relief, testing different bounce angles, and ultimately landing on most of the modifications we see today in the K*.”
Compared to the standard K and low bounce K, the Star version offers a steeper pre-wear on the leading edge, along with heel, toe and trailing edge relief, to deliver an extra level of forgiveness from square- and open-faced positions.
In the square position, the “narrow ribbon” of additional bounce keeps the leading edge from digging into the turf at impact.
From an open position, the heel, toe and trailing edge relief place the leading edge closer to the ground, allowing it to consistently get under the ball. While modifications were made to the leading edge, the wide sole on K* still makes it a good option from the bunker.
Along with Simpson, Justin Thomas offered insights on the final sole angles that resulted in K* eventually becoming a Tour option. Thomas currently alternates between a 60K* and 60T lob wedge depending on course conditions; Rory McIlroy has also used a 58K* to log two victories this year. Throw in wunderkind Ludvig Aberg and bomber Cameron Young and you have a strong Tour offering.
Vokey continues to put a high value on spin with individually cut TX9 grooves. The Spin Milled cutting process, introduced with SM9, tightens tolerances by using a cutter to create the entire scoreline instead of a partial scoreline.
The cutter is now cutting the groove to the end of the parallel texture to give it an even more precise geometry from one groove to the next. Micro grooves individually cut in between each groove add bite on partial shots around the green.
Vokey’s WedgeWorks K* lob wedge retails for $225 and is available in two lofts (58 and 60 degrees) with a raw finish.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
