In the past, there were basically two ways to get your hands on a customized wedge from Titleist master wedge designer Bob Vokey. You either had to be a touring professional, or trust your local club maker to give your wedge some Vokey-styled custom flair. For those that suffer from custom-club affliction (most of us GolfWRXers), those options weren’t enough. We wanted our clubs built and customized in the same shop that has produced countless major championship-winning wedges. Thankfully, the people at Vokey took notice.

In the summer of 2010, Vokey.com launched WedgeWorks, which allowed the masses to purchase Vokey Tour Van Design (TVD) wedges directly from the source in Mr. Vokey’s facility in Carlsbad, Ca. Special grinds, exclusive finishes, limited releases Tour-issue heads and unique engraving also became available to players that weren’t named McIlroy or Scott.

“We had an overwhelming amount of requests from people that wanted the Tour treatment for themselves,” said David Neville, marketing manager at Vokey. “With WedgeWorks, we opened up Voke’s Tour department to the public. The response has been tremendous.”

According to Neville, it was Mr. Vokey dream to expand the Tour department to consumers.

“He’s an unbelievable guy and an incredible craftsman,” Neville said. “It’s amazing – he has his name on six million wedges and he has no ego. He’s as nice to the average golfer as he is a Tour player.”

GolfWRX photographer Greg Moore was lucky enough to spend time in Vokey’s wedge department, which combines the Tour department, WedgeWorks and Titleist’s research and development facility.

Click here to see pictures of the 24k gold-plated wedges Vokey creates for major winners, special Ryder cup wedges and much more, including the laser-etched wedges Vokey made for the Folds and Honor Foundation. Also, see pictures of the Tour player wedges Vokey keeps on file.

WedgeWorks is unlike the Scotty Cameron custom shop, in that it is not just a place to send a club for reconditioning or customization, although those services are available too. Through WedgeWorks, Vokey.com is able to release many prototype and special edition wedges to the public, as well as exclusive models that cannot be purchased at most stores.

“For those kind of releases, we usually only have 125 or 150 pieces,” Neville said. “They sell out very quickly. But for the WedgeWork exclusives, we try not to sell those out. We usually have enough inventory.”

Through WedgeWorks, Neville said he and the Vokey department have learned a great deal about what consumers desire in a Vokey wedge. For example, the great demand for high-lofted wedges that many anticipated after the PGA Tour groove rule change is something that has not been echoed in purchases.

“A 62 or 64, those wedges are hard to hit,” Neville said. “We’ve seen more growth in the pitching wedge side of our wedges. By swapping out the pitching wedge from their iron sets, players are getting more spin. They see a 46, 48 or a 50 as another a scoring tool.”

To accommodate those requests, WedgeWorks began offering models such as the 246-06 (read 200 Series wedge with 46 degrees of loft and six degrees of bounce), the 248-06 and 250-08. While the 200 Series is an older Vokey model, it is still widely played on Tour, and has been demanded by consumers. Vokey also expanded the pitching wedge offerings in its 2012 line of SM4 wedges, now offering a 46-degree model, and higher-bounce options in 48-degree and 50-degree wedges. The Vokey crew has also kept an eye on what toe engravings, paint fills and stampings consumers request, and have incorporated them into recent releases.

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WedgeWorks’ most recent release, the Spin Milled 460 wedges with an indigo finish, sold out in a matter of days. Like many of the wedges offered through WedgeWorks, its inspiration came from the Tour.

Vokey Tour rep Aaron Dill was working with Mr. Vokey on new finishes. He used a blowtorch on a wedge with a raw finish, and liked the blue look it created. But when he blow torched a chrome wedge, it created a beautiful iridescent blue finish. Blow torching a large supply of wedges wasn’t practical for a WedgeWorks release, however, so the Vokey team came up with a different approach. They used a PVD finish (physical vapor deposition), the same finish used to create the black crown on Titleist’s 910 driver series, for the indigo wedges.

The PVD indigo finish is a little different than the dip method that is used to create the popular “Black Ox” finish available through WedgeWorks. It is plated, and then sprayed the blue color, meaning that the color will fade to a light blue or grey with use. It will not rust like the Black Ox finish, however, which will fade to a raw finish over time.

WedgeWork exclusive wedges start at $140, and can accommodate as many as eight character stampings of your choice. Stampings can be made in straight or “dancing” characters, as well as in the “Snow Effect” stamping made popular by Ricky Fowler. There are three different toe engravings available, four different Vokey exclusive shaft bands, three choices of ferrules, seven shaft models and nine grip choices. Lofts, lie angles, lengths and swing weight can also be customized. Wedge restorations start at $35. Visit Vokey.com for more details.

Click here to see a photo gallery from our tour at the Vokey Factory
Click here to see a custom ordered wedge