We Tried It: Vokey Flight Line Wedges Review

There may be loads of cool gear within the golf gear world that doesn’t at all times match neatly into Most Wanted Tests or Buyer’s Guides. You continue to need to know the way it performs. In our We Tried It sequence, we put gear to the take a look at and allow you to know if it really works as marketed.

What We Tried

At the moment we’re reviewing Flight Traces or, extra particularly, Vokey SM9 wedges with Flight Traces added to the hosel.

Your Flight Traces Tester

Tony Covey. Grind aficionado and all-around wedge nerd with a generally distinctive (and sometimes not-so-much) brief sport.

What are Flight Line Wedges?

Flight Line wedges are, nicely, wedges. Extra particularly, Flight Traces are, because the identify type of suggests, a sequence of three strains milled into the hosel of Vokey wedges. Apologies upfront for the dearth of compelling pictures however, guys, it’s three strains … on a hosel.

If you happen to haven’t heard of Flight Traces—and I think most of you haven’t—you’ll discover them between Toe Engravings and HandGrind within the listing of Vokey Wedge Works customization choices.

Let’s get the ugly half out of the best way proper now. If you happen to determine you need Flight Traces, it’s going to value you an additional $25 per wedge. Three strains aren’t free, folks.

About Flight Line Wedges

The three Flight Traces had been developed by Vokey staffer and PGA teacher Parker McLachlin. McLachlin seen that the perfect gamers on the planet set as much as the ball equally within the brief sport. The target of the three strains is to assist the remainder of us obtain supreme (or a minimum of higher) setup when dealing with quite a lot of greenside pictures.

In follow, Flight Traces are just about so simple as they sound.

The rear-most line encourages ahead shaft lean for bump-and-run pictures. The center line is impartial for pitch pictures. Probably the most ahead line is for flop and bunker pictures. In every case, the strains are supposed that will help you orient the membership face and place the shaft as you’re standing over the ball.

With every of the three strains, the concept is to level it at your nostril at handle.

For the flop shot, meaning opening the face and your stance. The pitch shot line desires a impartial setup. Admittedly, I struggled a bit with the bump-and-run line (extra on that beneath) however you’re simply on the lookout for a little bit of ahead shaft lean with the ball maybe again a bit within the stance.

As I mentioned, that is easy stuff, however simply in case you continue to don’t get it, right here’s a video.

“My” Flight Line Wedges

I’ll degree with you. I had no plans to attempt Vokey Flight Line wedges. I believe I might need seen one thing in a press launch about it nevertheless it’s not prefer it was on my radar or something. In addition to, strains or no strains, I used to be just about dialed in with the wedges I had in my bag (or so I believed).

The factor is, after I ran by means of the Vokey Wedge Fitting App, the algorithm urged an S Grind for my sand wedge (I usually play the D Grind). So, with or with out Flight Traces, the S Grind was on my thoughts.

Quick ahead just a few weeks. A few Vokey wedges confirmed up at my door. That they had the mistaken grips, the mistaken shafts, the mistaken lofts and, so long as I’m nitpicking, the mistaken end—insomuch as a end could be mistaken and I’d argue that something aside from Slate Blue (the perfect end) is kinda mistaken. We’re speaking about wedges that, below regular circumstances, I’d discover solely barely extra helpful than a left-handed chipper however the 56-degree was an S Grind.

As a few of you recognize, I’m a hardcore T Grind man within the lob wedge however with the course enjoying mushy, the 60-degree M Grind Vokey Flight Line wedge that was additionally within the field wasn’t practically as egregious as it could have been in July.

A number of days later, after I seen the three strains (and since I’ll attempt practically something that I discover on my porch), I figured why not take one for the staff (FYI: you guys are the staff) and produce these principally misconfigured wedges to the course to see how Flight Traces work.

Vokey Flight Line Wedges on the Course

After messing round with the Vokey Flight Line wedges within the short-game space and across the greens on the course, I’ve come to think about them as reminder wedges. We have already got reminder grips (GolfPride’s MCC Align, amongst others). I suppose you might describe SeeMore as reminder putters. And whereas I’m pondering of it, Callaway places three strains on golf balls so why shouldn’t we’ve got three-line reminder wedges?

Because it seems, the Flight Traces are literally useful (principally).

Don’t get me mistaken. If McLachlin’s concepts of what a correct setup appears to be like like deviates considerably from the way you do issues, it’s going to really feel bizarre and it’s going to take some getting used to, and that must be advantageous. There’s a case to be made that when you’re not aligned how the wedge says you ought to be, you’re doing it mistaken.

I discovered I typically wasn’t too far off with the flop shot. That mentioned, after experimenting on the vary, I discovered the strains added consistency. The road creates what quantities to a repeatable baseline place. Consider it as your inventory flop shot configuration.

If it is advisable tweak loft a bit from there, that’s advantageous, nevertheless it ought to provide you with a extra exact start line from which to dial in trajectory and distance.

The pitch shot was a bit bizarre for me however that’s as a result of I could be overcomplicating issues on the course. My tendency across the inexperienced is to both go in excessive or attempt to maintain it low. The center line desires you to maintain every little thing easy and sq., and whereas easy isn’t my sport, because it seems, it really works rather well.

A impartial pitch shot isn’t one thing I attempt typically however I pressured myself to attempt it time and again. I hit crisp pitch pictures all day. I suppose that’s the upside of lacking loads of greens.

Possibly it’s the Flight Traces. Possibly I actually am an S Grind man now.

Oddly sufficient, I struggled with the bump-and-run setup. That’s usually a shot I hit moderately nicely (although I have a tendency to make use of my 50-degree greater than the rest). Whereas the directions are completely clear (level the road at your nostril, dummy), for no matter motive (I’m the dummy), I stored making an attempt to govern the wedge such that the bump-and-run line seems to level straight up the shaft. To try this requires an extreme quantity of shaft lean paired with a closed face and closed stance.

So, yeah, don’t try this.

A wise quantity of shaft lean and the ball only a bit again within the stance and every little thing works simply advantageous.

Vokey Flight Line Wedges—Takeaway

Are Flight Traces groundbreaking wedge know-how? In all probability not. They will’t enable you to with weight distribution and Flight Line wedges don’t swing themselves. That mentioned, when you’ve by no means taken a short-game lesson, forgotten a very good little bit of what you’ve discovered throughout your final one or typically end up struggling across the inexperienced (chip yips, anybody?), Flight Traces provide a very easy (and efficient) examine on some key setup fundamentals.

And the factor is, aside from the $25 upcharge, there’s actually not likely a lot of a draw back. If you happen to solely use them a few of the time or don’t find yourself utilizing them a lot in any respect, you’ve nonetheless acquired a wonderfully good wedge (until it has the mistaken shaft, grip, loft and end).

Flight Traces can be found now as a customized possibility on any loft and and bounce configuration by means of Vokey WedgeWorks.