Rules changes are never
easy matters for golf equipment
manufacturers, and the decision
a couple of years ago by the USGA
and R&A to limit groove volume
and the sharpness of the edges in
wedges was no exception. Club-makers had to scramble to roll out
models that would conform to the
new “Condition of Competition”
requirements. And that created
some problems.
“Our number-one priority at the
time was to protect our players,”
says Steve Pelisek, general manager for Titleist golf clubs. “We had to
The Vokey Design SM4 wedges come in 21
different loft and bounce combinations,
ensure that 100 percent of the Vokey
wedges used in competition would
comply with the new regulations. So,
we were not able to pursue as ag-
gressively as we might have wanted
the outer ‘line in the sand’ the ruling
bodies had established.”
In other words, Titleist took a
conservative approach the first
time it made Vokey wedges under
the C-C limits. Better to be safe
than sorry.
Now that it has had more time
to figure out ways to work within
those regulatory parameters, how-
ever, Titleist officials say they have
been able to take things right up to
the limits with its wedges. And the
new Vokey Design SM4s are the
result of those efforts.
