Equipment

GolfWRX Insider: Viktor Hovland dials in his Ping i210 irons

Published

6 years ago

Jul 15, 2020

The best players in the world are at “Jack’s place” this week, and coming into the Memorial very few players are as hot as Viktor Hovland. With top 25 finishes in every event since the return to play and a solo third last week at the Workday Charity Open, the Oklahoma State Cowboy is on the cusp of a win—maybe even multiple wins fast—if this pace keeps up.

However, the tweaking never stops on tour. This week, Viktor was looking for a “bit more height” and “a bit more” spin without sacrificing any distance. That means “I want to hit this i210 7-iron 174 yards, with this shaft, and this loft, BUT I want a bit more height and a bit more spin.” Not a ton of areas for adjustment in that scenario. So you want it to spin more, go a bit higher, but we can’t change anything? OK. Challenge accepted.

Why? is probably your next question. I mean, the guy is red hot.

The fact that he is red hot is the reason. In this case, with as well as Hovland is hitting the ball, he feels like new opportunities (i.e. birdies) could become possible if the ball could stop a little quicker when it hits the green. Crazy how dialed these guys get. He’s hitting it so well that the ball stopping even two feet quicker is the difference between 17 and 20 under.

For Ping tour rep Kenton Oates, this ask requires some serious savvy. Viktor is a shallow path “picker” of the golf ball. Not only does he not put a ton of spin on the ball, but he also doesn’t interact with the ground all that much. It’s in that turf interaction (or lack thereof) that Kenton found the answer.

“Viktor came to us wanting to add a slight about of height and spin. We discussed our options and decided to try to get the club into the ground more to create more height was the best option as we were not too keen on changing major variables (length, shaft, or loft).

“Our hope was he would see an increase in launch and spin due to the reduced bounce/camber of the sole (four degrees of bounce taken from each iron) and after testing for a few hours on TrackMan, that is exactly what happened (gained approx 1 deg launch 150-250 mph of spin and a 1.5-2 [degree] steeper landing angle) and an added bonus it improved the feel of the irons for Viktor giving him even more confidence.“

These guys are so good.

See Viktor Hovland’s full WITB here.

See Viktor Hovland’s full WITB here.

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10 Comments

Chuck

Jul 16, 2020 at 10:54 pm

That is an astonishing number; removing 4 degrees of bounce. That has to have been fully half, of more, of the total bounce angle per each iron. And what; it was ground off like working with wedges? What happened to all of that swingweight?

I am not doubting what was done; I am just wondering about the explanation of it.

Reply Report comment
- KO
  
  Jul 17, 2020 at 8:35 pm
  
  Hand ground each head. About 80% of longest iron down to about 33% of pw. Head weight easily restored with CTP weight in back cavity.
  
  Hope this helps
  
  Reply Report comment
jgpl001

Jul 16, 2020 at 6:08 am

I can believe there is 4 deg bounce taken off these soles?
The soles are clean, but wow they are wideee
Personally, as a sweeper and picker of the ball the soles I would have a mental block looking at the width of these, you could land a 747 on them…
Still great article and insight on how these great players think and work, more of these articles please

Reply Report comment
- Nick
  
  Jul 16, 2020 at 3:36 pm
  
  I feel the same way. I’m a picker and I have a hard time playing the I series. I had i25s and went into the i500 because of the thinner sole as I could actually take a divot and get better numbers
  
  Reply Report comment
Evan

Jul 16, 2020 at 5:39 am

Why would less bounce = higher launch and spin?

Reply Report comment
- Dave
  
  Jul 16, 2020 at 6:37 am
  
  Evan – the ball will usually strike the face a touch higher with less bounce, popping the ball up a bit more. With the club going into the ground a bit steeper the ball will likely stay on the face a bit longer too, getting that extra friction and spin.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Evan
    
    Jul 16, 2020 at 5:36 pm
    
    Thanks, that makes sense.
    
    Reply Report comment
- matt
  
  Jul 16, 2020 at 9:41 am
  
  it shouldn’t. yes it should increase launch, because the club is sliding lower under the ball. Impact (or exit point)will come a bit higher on the face due to more skidding up the face. This will reduce spin though. Something else was going on in that fitting. Less bounce almost always equals higher launch and less spin
  
  I’d also say I think playing with turf interaction is a pretty massive variable..
  
  Reply Report comment
Karsten's Ghost

Jul 16, 2020 at 5:31 am

Now THAT is a classy looking iron.

Maybe you can order them “Hovland-style” from PingWRX?

Reply Report comment
Josh

Jul 15, 2020 at 9:31 pm

Pretty clean soles (ie no iron #) now that they ground the bounce off. Nice touch adding the iron # on backside of each club.

Reply Report comment

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Equipment

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

Published

15 mins 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.

Whats in the Bag

Ryan Palmer WITB 2026 (June)

Published

17 mins ago

Jun 11, 2026

Will Schube

Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (9 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX 60 TX

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS T1100 70 6.5

5-wood: TaylorMade SIM2 Max (18 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 80 TX

Irons: Srixon ZXiU (23 degrees), Srixon Z785 MB (5-PW)
Shafts: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 100 6.5 (4), KBS Tour 130 X

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (50-08F, 54-10S, 58-04T @59)
Shafts: KBS Tour 130 X

Putter: Odyssey Dual Force Rossie II

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Check out more in-hand photos of Ryan Palmer’s clubs here.

Equipment

Slab city on the Korn Ferry Tour — Lead Tape Report

Published

21 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

This week, we have our Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, on the ground at the OccuNet Classic at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas, for the 14th event of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season. With that, we see some great things in the Lead Tape Report as we roll into Amarillo.

Joel Thelen

Monday Qualifier, Joel Thelen is in the field this week. He has played on the Korn Ferry Tour for a full season in 2023, and he is back in action this week. A couple of clubs caught my eye this week in his bag.

First off: His trusted Titleist 816 H2 hybrid. This club came out in October of 2015, and it still remains strong in the bag. Also, take a look at this Odyssey White Hot OG 7, putting a capital S in the 7S model. This custom neck has some impressive lean for an arm-lock-style putter. The bottom of the putter is covered in tape for optimal weighting.

Mitchell Meissner

Taking a look at Mitchell Meissner’s bag this week, we have some great lead tape coverage. Top to bottom working from fairway metals, irons, and wedges. We can see on the short irons and wedges that there is tape at the base of the grip, adding a little counterbalance. Along with that, some tape on the short irons and wedges as well. Moving to his putter, he rolls the Odyssey 7 Bird putter. Meissner putts left-handed and strikes the ball right-handed.