If you’re already considered the best in class, releasing a replacement release isn’t necessarily about reinventing the wheel. It's more about making subtle, minor refinements to make a great product just that little bit better. Which brings us nicely to the new SM11 wedge.
The Vokey SM10 dominated wedge counts across the major professional tours, so I was eager to take the Titleist Vokey SM11 wedges out onto the golf course to see what changes had been made and if there were performance gains to be had (you can watch me go through the fitting process in the video above).
The SM11 makes a strong first impression when in your hand, with Titleist making some subtle but impactful changes to the aesthetic that made the SM10 arguably the best golf wedge on the market.
The most obvious update is moving the ‘SM11’ branding from the back to the hosel, which really cleans up the 'in the bag' look of the club, creating a more minimalist look that I love.
Furthermore, the refined banner strip across the back is a clear nod to previous Vokey WedgeWorks models. It gives the club a more sophisticated visual and the contrasting color works well against whichever of the four finishes you choose on these wedges. Whether you choose the Tour Chrome, Jet Black, Nickel or the raw finish that rusts over time (my personal favourite), the shelf appeal is undeniable.
The SM11 frames the ball perfectly with a beautifully-crafted profile we’ve come to expect from Vokey, one that I think will appeal to a wide range of golfers.
Under the hood, Titleist has once again focused on progressive CG placement. In previous models, the CG could vary slightly between different grinds of the same loft. With the SM11, Vokey engineers have centralised the CG to make it identical across all grinds within a given loft. Theoretically, this helps eliminate a variable during fitting, so, for example, if you switch from an S grind to an M grind in your 56°, the feel and flight characteristics should remain consistent.
The grooves have also seen a fairly large overhaul, whereby a new directional face texture angled towards the leading edge has been implemented to increase friction, alongside Spin Milled grooves that have 5% more volume than the SM10. This increase in volume is designed to channel debris and moisture away more effectively, maintaining spin in wet or rough conditions.
I can’t say through my initial testing I saw any real evidence of this on the golf course, but with the heat treatment applied to these heads to supposedly double the durability, it will be interesting to see if this is more notable when I start to typically see spin and control drop off when the grooves usually wear down.
I tested the SM11 extensively, putting it through its paces on full shots, tight nip-checks, and bunker play as well on a Foresight Sports GC3 launch monitor at the Golf Monthly Performance Lab to gather some standardised data for a 50-yard pitch.
The feel is sensational off the face is what you would expect from a Vokey - soft and as though you have full control on the spin. The flight control is where the progressive CG really shines. I found the lower lofts (46°-52°) launched well, with a controlled trajectory that transitioned seamlessly into my irons, while the higher lofts (54-60°) actually came out a touch lower than I expected. But after clipping a few away, I quickly began to like the fizzing ball flight on offer.
However, I have to be honest regarding the spin and raw stopping power. Despite the claims regarding the new face texture, heat treatment, and larger groove volume, I can’t say I saw any notable performance differences compared to when I tested the SM10 wedges last year, or any other I have tested over the past 12 months.
As you can see from the data above, I saw a decent amount of spin (7213 rpm) on a 50-yard pitch shot with a 54° wedge, comparable with (but not better than) the recently launched TaylorMade MG5 (7158 rpm) and Callaway Opus SP (7199 rpm) in testing.
The check on the second bounce is aggressive and predictable, but if you are currently gaming a set of SM10 wedges and you haven’t played more than 50 rounds of golf or so with them, you aren't going to find a magical 500rpm jump in spin here. The improvements are in the consistency of the flight and a few new grind options, although, as I have previously mentioned, these are fairly minimal changes.
I’d imagine the Titleist Vokey SM11 will once again dominate tour counts and conversations on the best wedges, but with the former it could be more of an excuse for fresh grooves rather than switching for a performance bump. The small refinements that have been made are unquestionably additive, but for many golfers they will be too suble to notice. That said, Bob Vokey and his team have taken a winning formula and refined the aesthetics to create arguably the best-looking wedge they have ever made.
