Equipment

Raw Vokey SM6 wedges now available

Published

10 years ago

May 11, 2016

Jordan Spieth plays the same Vokey SM6 wedges golfers can currently buy in stores with one exception; Spieth’s wedges have a raw finish — technically no finish — while off-the-rack SM6 wedges have one of three finishes: Tour Chrome, Steel Gray or Jet Black.

Related: Jordan Spieth WITB 2016

That changes today, when golfers will be able to purchase SM6 Raw wedges that will rust just like Spieth’s. They’ll cost $195 each, and are available on Vokey.com in six different lofts and four different grinds.

A Vokey Hand Ground wedge with a raw finish (above).

A Vokey SM6 wedge in Tour Chrome (bottom) and a Vokey Hand Ground wedge with a raw finish.

“Raw means there is no additional finish applied to the wedge, which is made of 8620 carbon steel,” says Bob Vokey, Masters Craftsman for Titleist. “It has what I like to call a satin appearance that will start to rust after some use. On tour, the raw heads give us the flexibility to grind wedges based on a player’s needs. But guys just love the look of that raw steel – some players like it even more as it rusts, kind of like a trusty hammer or another tool. These are their scoring tools.”

The Lofts and Grinds

50.08 F Grind
52.08 F Grind
54.08 M Grind, 54.10 S Grind
56.08 M Grind, 56.10 S Grind
58.08 M Grind, 58.10 S Grind, 58.12 K Grind
60.08 M Grind, 60.10 S Grind, 60.12 K Grind

Every SM6 Raw wedge can be customized through Vokey’s WedgeWorks program, which allows golfers to choose custom stamping of up to eight characters and one of 12 paintfill colors. Golfers also have their choice from a variety of custom shafts, grips, shaft bands and ferrules.

To learn more about Vokey’s SM6 wedges, read our official review.

Related Topics:Titleist wedges

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23 Comments

MikeA

May 18, 2016 at 10:22 am

The prices of golf clubs have reached the ridiculous point. So we the consumer pay outrageous prices for clubs that provide for multi-millionaire professionals to get their clubs for free. I’m not buying it…

Reply Report comment
Paul Adams

May 14, 2016 at 6:12 am

Or you can buy the black finish, just like the SM5s, and place them in CLR for 3 hours and its takes the finish off, leaving you with a raw wedge. did the same to all of mine. don’t let the Titleist machine take your money folks

Reply Report comment
MP-4

May 12, 2016 at 2:55 pm

What is the point in having only one of your wedges with no finish?
Titleist Raw finish wedges should be offered MOTO in all the lofts and grinds.
No luck if you need 46, 52.12, or K grinds.
Hope you like M grinds.

Reply Report comment
- MP-4
  
  May 12, 2016 at 6:22 pm
  
  oops, they do make them in K grind.
  
  Reply Report comment
Steve

May 11, 2016 at 6:21 pm

Charge more for doing less work. I love this country. Alot here will buy it, have too Spieth uses it

Reply Report comment
- Rwj
  
  May 11, 2016 at 6:24 pm
  
  Exactly, people will buy because the name. More money for no finish
  
  Reply Report comment
- Busty McGoo
  
  May 13, 2016 at 2:36 am
  
  Agreed. Incredible how many products cost more because they have less features or are ‘limited edition’. And yet, they’ll sell like crazy. Like the $89 bikini my girl wants. Got to be what, 7 or 8 square inches of fabric there? I digress. The clubs are nice looking but the golf industry just doesn’t seem to get it if they are aiming to grow the sport and get the poor kids out there.
  
  Reply Report comment
MI6

May 11, 2016 at 4:51 pm

they chunked into the drink on 12 at Augusta so I’ll pass…

Reply Report comment
jgpl

May 11, 2016 at 4:37 pm

I just bought 2 black ones last weekend – sucker

Really annoyed about this and especially the fact raw is not a std option

Solution: this weekend €3 for 2 litres of Coke ans a plastic bucket….it better work!

Reply Report comment
- Bryan
  
  May 11, 2016 at 8:37 pm
  
  I soaked mine in CRL for a couple hours and then used a green scrub pad. The finish comes right off with a little elbow grease and they look great. The black finish is a little more durable than the old oil cans, coke may not work. Hope this helps.
  
  Reply Report comment
- MattM
  
  May 11, 2016 at 11:47 pm
  
  I don’t think the coke will work on the black wedges. The coke is meant to be used for rust since the acidity will help dissolve the metal oxidation which is the rust. The finish on the black Titleist wedge is PVD which is a similar process to chrome but it is meant to wear off to a degree. CLR is a better option to try to weaken the PVD but that still won’t work hence the elbow grease. If he was scrubbing it that hard then I would say the CLR very little. The strongest acid you will get over the shelf and without some EPA permission for non-commercial use is Muriatic Acid which is the same stuff you use in pools to balance the p.H. You can but it at Home Depot or Lowes for about $7-10 per gallon. Soak the wedge in that for a few hours to see if it does anything. Then, take a fine sandpaper (over 200 grit) and start on the sole to see if it will come off easily. I would then use an even finer sand paper on the face. Make sure to rub in the direction of the grooves and never up and down the face. I would then take a re-grooving tool and make sure they are nice and sharp and you are ready to go!
  
  By the way, the oil can finish was to stop the rusting at the stores so people weren’t buying “rusty” clubs. The finish is meant to wear so the final product after a few months was to look like the raw wedges you see on tour. I have a couple of sets of the oil cans that I refinish every season and reapply the oil can look with browning chemical. I have owned the same wedges for 6 years and my numbers on trackman or GC2 or no different than a brand new set of wedges. Once you raw them, you can continue to rehab them back to life. It is a beautiful thing! I hate having to buy new clubs because the finish goes. I think that is one of the reasons why they sell them for more to be honest. Most people who buy raw or oil can wedges buy fewer wedges in the long run because they look the same after 6 months or 3 years unless you hit a massive rock or do something stupid! Titleist has gotta get paid son!
  
  Reply Report comment
  - norcalgolf
    
    May 12, 2016 at 11:06 am
    
    The Jet Black finish is a QPQ treatment, not PVD! The PVD finish was on the last TVD blk ion wedges. You can remove QPQ, but its not as easy as the oil can or blk ox finishes of the past. Also the QPQ finish seems harder and tougher to bend in my opinion.
    
    Reply Report comment
Blake

May 11, 2016 at 1:39 pm

Wow! titleist screwed this one up. this should be a standard option since every wedge is raw originally

Reply Report comment
Offensively priced

May 11, 2016 at 11:14 am

What did the (19)5 fingers say to the face? SLAP.

Reply Report comment
James

May 11, 2016 at 10:41 am

I don’t get it. Every single wedge out of the factory is raw. Why charge more to save them the trouble of adding a finish?

Reply Report comment
Nolanski

May 11, 2016 at 9:24 am

Cant you just buy some black ones and take the finish off?

Reply Report comment
- rechlo67
  
  May 11, 2016 at 1:27 pm
  
  Yes you can, it even says on the shaft band that the black finish will fade and rust over time.
  
  You can strip them easily for under five bucks. put them in a bucket and pour coke and fanta on them and let them sit for a couple of hours.
  
  Reply Report comment
SHANK

May 11, 2016 at 9:20 am

Vokey is insane charging these prices anymore. The oil can that rusted was the same price as their other wedges and they got rid of them. Why? Probably $$$$

Reply Report comment
Beau Foster

May 11, 2016 at 8:57 am

So you cut out the finishing step(s), but are charging $50 more? How many suckers are gonna buy these because they rust?

Reply Report comment
- Steve
  
  May 11, 2016 at 8:07 pm
  
  Way too many
  
  Reply Report comment
Weekend Duffer

May 11, 2016 at 7:56 am

$200 each lmao

Reply Report comment
- David Labbe
  
  May 11, 2016 at 8:31 am
  
  $200 each and I heard they don’t work very well on the 12th hole at Augusta.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - YYCKL
    
    May 11, 2016 at 9:47 am
    
    NOW THAT’S FUNNY!!!
    
    Reply Report comment

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Equipment

Then and now: Comparing Rory McIlroy’s current setup to his record-breaking 2019 Canadian Open victory

Published

2 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Alistair Cameron

In Rory McIlroy’s first appearance at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, he crushed the record books to earn his 16th PGA Tour title in dominating fashion, winning by seven shots over Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson.

McIlroy’s score of 22-under-par 258 is the lowest 72-hole score to date at the Canadian Open, and his closing 61 is also the best final-round score in the history of one of golf’s oldest tournaments. Finally, with his win in 2019, McIlroy became only the sixth player to win the career Triple Crown, adding to his victories at the U.S. Open in 2011 and The Open Championship in 2014, joining Tommy Armour, Walter Hagen, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Tiger Woods in a coveted list.

So, with that, why not compare his current setup to the clubs he used to break all the records?

Driver

2019: TaylorMade M5 (9 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees @8), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7X (45 5/8 inches)

McIroy led the Tour in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in 2019; he’s doing the same in 2026. Between now and then, McIlroy has switched from the Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX (a shaft with slightly more feeling in the tip) to the original Fujikura Ventus Black 7X, having just made the change to the heavier version from playing the 60X.

What’s interesting about McIlroy’s 2019 setup is that the weighting on his driver is actually set in the high-draw setting, using the T-Track weighting system, whereas in the Qi4D, he’s currently using a heavily rear-weighted setup. (Two 13-gram weights in the rear and only two 4-gram front weights.)

The TaylorMade M5 driver he played in during his Canadian Open win was the company’s first head that they claimed to design to initially exceed the USGA’s COR limit, and then injected with tuning resin to bring it back in bounds.

Fairway woods

2019: TaylorMade M6 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX; TaylorMade M5 5-wood (19 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 90 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8X; TaylorMade Qi4D 5-wood (18 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9X

The TaylorMade M6 fairway wood that McIlroy was using during the 2019 season is still in the bag of some of the best golfers on Tour in 2026. Just check out Justin Rose’s winning setup from the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year. This year, though, McIlroy has still been searching for his top-end-of-the-bag setup, having played both the new Qi4D and the Qi10, which he won the Masters with.

The same shaft swap can be seen in the fairway woods as the driver, along with slightly less loft on the 5-wood.

Irons

2019: TaylorMade P750 (4) Buy here, TaylorMade P730 (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0
2026: TaylorMade P760 (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0

The biggest difference between McIlroy’s custom set and the stock P730s is the groove design. While the P730s were constructed with 14 MX-9 grooves on their milled faces, McIlroy’s proto heads instead use the higher-spinning, 16-groove layout of the TW2 grooves. Other big differences between the sets are that McIlroy’s 7- and 8-irons have thinner toplines, are 1 degree stronger in loft, and are 1/4 inch longer than the original P730 builds.

With McIlroy’s 4-iron, the switch from P750 to P760 sees a transition to a two-piece construction with Speed Foam in it, which allows McIlroy to launch the ball slightly higher, with more workability.

Wedges

2019: TaylorMade Milled Grind (48-09SB), TaylorMade MG Hi-Toe (52-09SB, 56-09SB, 60-LB09), Shafts: Project X Rifle 6.5
2026: TaylorMade MG5 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB, 60-08LB @61), Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)

Between 2019 and 2026, McIlroy’s focus on his short game has been much more apparent. It was the reason why he switched back to the TP5 golf ball, to help with launch, spin and control with his wedges leading up to his career Grand Slam victory in 2025. The most apparent changes to McIlroy’s wedge setup are his lofts and bounce. He’s slowly delofted his pitching to a sand wedge, but has increased the loft on the lob wedge, bending his current 60-degree to 61. With that, adding more loft to his lob wedge also slightly increases the bounce and leading-edge sit point, so, as a result, he plays a lower-bounce lob wedge compared to 2019. The MG5 wedges are also softer than the first Milled Grind option from 2019. McIlroy also no longer plays the full-face grooves found on the Hi-Toe.

Putter

2019: TaylorMade Spider X
2026: TaylorMade Spider Tour X

Notice anything similar. Yes, the copper finish on Rory McIlroy’s Spider X putter in 2019 is a slightly more reflective finish than the recently released torched PVD finish. McIlroy was using the True Path alignment system, but now uses only a single white sightline.

Ball

2019: 2019 TaylorMade TP5 (#22)
2026: 2025 TaylorMade TP5 (RORS)

As mentioned above, McIlroy had transitioned from the TP5 to TP5x golf ball since his victory in Canada in 2019, but now is black with the same style of golf ball as his victory at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.

Grips

2019: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
2026: Golf Pride MCC

Interesting, McIlroy actually used Golf Pride’s Tour Velvet Cord grips during his victory in 2019 (it was during a 2+ year switch to the corded TV) as opposed to his usual MCC grips, which he has played for most of his career.

Equipment

From the GolfWRX Classifieds: Titleist Vokey Proto Wedges 54M, 60T

Published

5 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Will Schube

At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @Putt4Dough is selling some prototype wedges from Vokey Wedgeworks. These include a 54 degree wedge with the M grind and a 60 degree wedge with a T grind.

From the listing:

(1) Titleist Vokey Proto Wedge 54M with a Tour Issue DGS400 shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet (logo down). Standard length, lie, and loft. BB&F ferrule. Raw wedge in good condition. No initials. Price is $200 shipped. Buy both wedges for $380 shipped.

(2) Titleist Vokey Proto Wedge 60T with a KBS Tour 130X shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet. Standard length, lie, and loft. Raw wedge in good condition. No initials. Price is $200 shipped. Buy both wedges for $380 shipped.

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules.