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Have you tried your BOLD Wedge?


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This topic is all about what you have noticed with the new BOLD wedge in regards to performance

I've been hitting the bold for a little bit of time now and have some interesting observations. My wife has been playing BOLD's as well and noticing some pretty cool things as well.

Many members have it in hand now and I'm curious as to what your noticing in terms of real world results and performance.

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I am not one for range sessions so I have no range time with it. I have ~3 rounds in the bank with them and as I am not playing for HC yet have been intentionally playing shots short, left and right in order to warrant hitting the wedges under different conditions.

First couple of rounds was the stock build from the Tour Van using Tour Attas 110 X flex PW shafts, so not a special wedge shaft. Todays round, added my standard 44g weight to butt end of the club.

Initially, I seem to be making contact more towards the toe for most shots other than short bump and run/chips. Anything with a longer backswing. This was causing some inconsistencies, especially on full swings. Yes, I am one of those guys that takes a full sing with my wedges. 120-130 with a 50*, 110 isn with a 54 and about 95 with the 60*. I am much more partial to full swings than partial ones. I could not get a consistency with the 54* on full shots, only the 50* was working for me on that. Since dropping in the weights this morning have gotten much better contact and consistency on full swings with the 54*. Spin is good and can get it to back up pretty well with these on the harder swings.

On the short chip and bump and runs, they are like throwing darts and seem to spin like crazy. I have had to adjust my distances with these throwing them longer to avoid the dreaded check up 10' short. They seem incredibly easy to pinch the ball perfectly, especially with the 60*.

So far my biggest challenge, now that the back weights are in is the high flop. There is a little too much bounce for my swing, definitely need to adjust to these for that kind of shot.

As you asked for no comparisons, I will end it there...

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I am not one for range sessions so I have no range time with it. I have ~3 rounds in the bank with them and as I am not playing for HC yet have been intentionally playing shots short, left and right in order to warrant hitting the wedges under different conditions.

First couple of rounds was the stock build from the Tour Van using Tour Attas 110 X flex PW shafts, so not a special wedge shaft. Todays round, added my standard 44g weight to butt end of the club.

Initially, I seem to be making contact more towards the toe for most shots other than short bump and run/chips. Anything with a longer backswing. This was causing some inconsistencies, especially on full swings. Yes, I am one of those guys that takes a full sing with my wedges. 120-130 with a 50*, 110 isn with a 54 and about 95 with the 60*. I am much more partial to full swings than partial ones. I could not get a consistency with the 54* on full shots, only the 50* was working for me on that. Since dropping in the weights this morning have gotten much better contact and consistency on full swings with the 54*. Spin is good and can get it to back up pretty well with these on the harder swings.

On the short chip and bump and runs, they are like throwing darts and seem to spin like crazy. I have had to adjust my distances with these throwing them longer to avoid the dreaded check up 10' short. They seem incredibly easy to pinch the ball perfectly, especially with the 60*.

So far my biggest challenge, now that the back weights are in is the high flop. There is a little too much bounce for my swing, definitely need to adjust to these for that kind of shot.

As you asked for no comparisons, I will end it there...

You had the 52* or 56* bent? 52* to 54* would add some bounce....

Still waiting for mine, at least another week. :(

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I have had my 56 bent to a 54 as well After 2 rounds and several range sessions . I have found that for the moment out of the sand i am taking a much larger amount of sand with the ball then i normally do. This is more to do with the bounce for which I may need to adjust to .Without creating any comparisons to my usual wedge, the Bold has an amazing amount of spin. Out of the Bunker there is almost no roll just dead stop. From around the green the wedge is amazing lands very soft and stays. I have also had to adjust my distances on chip shots as they have consistently come up short. Again this has more to do with spin and stopping power. My 58 degree wedge has been great for the so called flop shot, makes contact with the turf and allows the leading edge to slide through the ball, releasing it high. Overall I am happy with both wedges so much so that I ordered a 50 degree to potentially replace my most reliable club in the bag. As with any new club there is the break in period, which I am still in, I will post my impressions again in a few days.

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You had the 52* or 56* bent? 52* to 54* would add some bounce....

Still waiting for mine, at least another week. :(

I had the 56* and 60* both bent 2* down trying to reduce the bounce. I am more sweeper/swinger than aggressive downward so tend to use/need/want less bounce in my wedges.

Tough not referencing other products...

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I had the 56* and 60* both bent 2* down trying to reduce the bounce. I am more sweeper/swinger than aggressive downward so tend to use/need/want less bounce in my wedges.

Tough not referencing other products...

Start another thread then Steve. I'd like to here your comparisons with your other graphite shafted wedges. Tar.

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Start another thread then Steve. I'd like to here your comparisons with your other graphite shafted wedges. Tar.

Ok let's compare then.

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Ok let's compare then.

Start another thread then Steve. I'd like to here your comparisons with your other graphite shafted wedges. Tar.

Ok let's compare then.

I was referring to bounce and spin, my use of graphite is kinda irrelevant to this. I simply added that detail as at least the shaft is relevant to wedge performance and I am not using the stock shaft.

My comparisons would have been to the Crazy Toyoshima, Yamaha '11, RomaRo SX and Alcobaca, and lastly especially bounce related the Maruman KS Zero...

I can do another thread on graphite iron shafts but that will take a little time… Am still learning the current ones, Recoil and Thump...

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I had the 56* and 60* both bent 2* down trying to reduce the bounce. I am more sweeper/swinger than aggressive downward so tend to use/need/want less bounce in my wedges.

i did the same with mine. i don't like bounce except possibly for the short delicate chips off really soft turf, even the wedge i use for bunker play only has 5* of bounce. so bending my 60 down 2* was a necessity. however, thanks to the narrow sole, even the 9* of bounce that's still there plays much better than other 9* bounce wedges i've tried. so far this is the most versital wedge i've gamed to date for any type of shot from flops to bunkers to chips.

i still need more time with the 52 before i make a final decision but i'm optimistic after what i've seen from the 60.

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Everyone knows I play lighter weight graphite in my irons so I was originally going to go with 850GH in my 50 and 56 but with my iron shafts currently around 65g I thought the nearly 25g increase would not flow well so I decided on 750GH. I pulled the stock shafts and the challenge was keeping the swing weight in check with a nearly 40g drop in shaft weight.

By using a lighter grip I was able to match my irons in the 50 at D1 and the 56 at D2. Living in Japan I have the pleasure of trying pretty much any wedge and my yardsticks for judging have been the Sky Dream Jump D-Tour, RC DB Forged 2011, Vokey Forged and the Labospec W358 Shingo wedge.

The Bolds being forged at Endo feel very similar to the DB Forged (also Endo). The grind is actually similar I feel to the SDJ.

The SDJ were monster spinners (non conforming grooves) and I find the Bold with its milling patter spin better than the Vokey or DB.

As for size, everyone is different but I like the way they look. I feel confident at address and confident when I swing which is exactly what Kobayshi-san wanted when he designed their "look" at address. For me the grinds and bounce are perfect for the courses here in Japan which are soft lush fairways and soft sand. The 50 could be a bit less for approaches but you can just open the face or deloft the club a bit to turn the bounce down thanks to the grind.

I'm not a physically strong player and I tried the Shimada which were way too heavy and its like the wedge swung itself and I was pulling the shots. With the 750, I think the feel is better (for me) and control is certainly improved as I can handle the lighter wedge with a much smoother swing.

Speaking of graphite in wedges, I used only play graphite in my wedges, Axiv in the SDJ, Tour AD in the DB and Vokey. Also tried the Toyoshima with Crazy Black Wedge, Yamaha wedges from every year with Tour AD. I felt graphite was very forgiving and very easy to swing... the reason why I went back to steel was its much cheaper to reshaft all my wedges through out the year. (^_^)

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one weird thing i've noticed with the bold. when i lay the 60 open to play a bunker or flop it makes a whistling sound during my swing. i don't know if it's the channel or the weight porting but i've noticed it on a few occasions. besides that, it's still the best wedge i've played. ;)

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one weird thing i've noticed with the bold. when i lay the 60 open to play a bunker or flop it makes a whistling sound during my swing. i don't know if it's the channel or the weight porting but i've noticed it on a few occasions. besides that, it's still the best wedge i've played. ;)

Dude, you drinkin and golfing? :-)

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I had my first game with the 52* yesterday and I guess the jury still out on this wedge for me. The feel of the face is quite dense and similar to the old Yururi raw. It's definitely not the softest feel of wedges as with my Vokey forged. Since I have been playing a 50, 54 and 58 in my wedges, I have yet to figure out my distance with the 52* Bold as it has to replace either a 50 or 54* (too many clubs in the bag.)

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I had my first game with the 52* yesterday and I guess the jury still out on this wedge for me. The feel of the face is quite dense and similar to the old Yururi raw. It's definitely not the softest feel of wedges as with my Vokey forged. Since I have been playing a 50, 54 and 58 in my wedges, I have yet to figure out my distance with the 52* Bold as it has to replace either a 50 or 54* (too many clubs in the bag.)

Duff, I'm sure you know this ... Just bend it to 50 or 54 depending on your preference for bounce.

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The 52* has 12* of bounce which is quite high already. I use the 54* a lot but have not decide whether to bend the 52 Bold to 51 or 53*.

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Thats probably what I should have done and get the 56* and bend it to 54* instead of 52* and bend it to 54* which would increase the bounce ever more.

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Dude, you drinkin and golfing? :-)

lol, i wish i could blame it on alcohol. it's like walking around in nice shoes that squeak.

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2nd round with them today.

once again the 56 is shinning .. the 52 , was better but still need more time with it. got a cpl really well , and a cpl mehhhhhhh. stuffed them up badly.

out of the courser semi deep sand the 56 was MAGNIFICENT...

form tigh lies it was sensational nad form the rough it was excellent.

ill def say this is my real competitor to the TS marus and yamaha forged.

i really didnt hink they were going to be

but they most def ARE

.

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2nd round with them today.

once again the 56 is shinning .. the 52 , was better but still need more time with it. got a cpl really well , and a cpl mehhhhhhh. stuffed them up badly.

out of the courser semi deep sand the 56 was MAGNIFICENT...

form tigh lies it was sensational nad form the rough it was excellent.

ill def say this is my real competitor to the TS marus and yamaha forged.

i really didnt hink they were going to be

but they most def ARE

.

Stew, did you ever play the Royal Collection DB forged and if so how does the BOLD 56 stack up against?

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Got the bolds

yamaha

fourteen ts

Maru

Yamaha2013 with me for days in hawaii

The answer wil be definitive i assure u by the end of this

There will be some amazing clubs on bst middle of may

I didnt hit the db didnt get on with the shape

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Played with my new Bold 52* for the first full game on Thursday and this is what the leading edge looks like yesterday (Saturday) before my round. Although I purposely clean it after each shot knowing it is raw head on Thursday, rust spots were all too visible by Saturday morning. Perhaps the Bold is more suited to drier North America weather.

post-8082-0-62467600-1367719238.jpg

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Sadly, for the reason above, there is absolutely no way whatsoever i'll be buying any raw finish club - i had some lovely Yururi wedges with that gorgeous raw grain look where you could see the grind etc, and had some black finished Epon heads... and both rust like hell in hot humid Thailand.

Shame, as i saw the Bold wedge at golfcraft... very interesting to see how thick the top edge has to be to get the COG up, even after you hollow out the sole and put tungsten plugs near the top edge.

Fourteen did their wedge in a nitrided finish for a while - S- Yard.... please? The nitriding gives greater corrosion resistance than a chrome plating, yet is NOT a plating so has no measurable effect to the groove dimensions, peformance etc, unlike regular Ni- Cr plate. And the thinness of the nitrided surface layer ensures you still feel the natural forged steel ductility underneath.

Mind you, a Bold wedge with only the S-yard gear logo in the back channel in an Endo copper chrome would be something - matte copper chrome face and back channel, num, num, num.

Goflcraft has a few t388 heads also... and the Xt heads, which are sure to be redesigned asap... ick.

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