It’s important to understand that the actual benefits of RAW Face are two-fold. To be sure, misconceptions about RAW Face and raw wedges are abundant and, previously, TaylorMade didn’t go too far out of its way to add any clarity.īecause of that and plenty of other mythology, a good number of golfers buy raw wedges because they rust, believing that rust adds spin. Fortunately, according to Price, the TaylorMade MG3 Wedges have a single setting, “spin cycle.” About That RAW Faceįor TaylorMade, the spin story starts with its patented RAW Face technology. Needless to say, creating a wedge that can both appeal to and work for an audience that broad is no easy thing.įor average golfers, a good bit of what we want from our wedges can be summed up in a single word: spin. Nearly every element of the TaylorMade MG3 wedge design speaks to the reality that, as TaylorMade’s Bill Price says, “You only get one wedge.” With allowances for the occasional game-improvement wedge, the point is that any company’s most mainstream wedge needs to appeal to every type of golfer-plus handicaps all the way to your 20-somethings. With the MG3 Wedge, the company hopes more of its wedges will move from the conversation into your bag. The success of MG2 put TaylorMade in the conversation. In some countries (probably not one where you live), TaylorMade is No. There aren’t any expectations that TaylorMade will challenge Vokey anytime soon but, for the first time I can remember, the company has momentum in the wedge category. It’s the fastest-growing brand in the wedge category and, while the company acknowledges it was starting from little more than nothing, growth is growth. The point is that TaylorMade has finally broken through. Even if the realities behind its benefits often got lost in translation, golfers want spin. For sure, it doesn’t hurt when circumstance allows you to stamp the letters TW on a golf club but RAW Face technology was different. With the MG2 line, TaylorMade began to make some headway. That makes sense given that TaylorMade is, first and foremost, a Tour brand, but at some point, even Tour brands need to create products that average golfers want to buy. Within the big picture, TaylorMade’s efforts mostly spoke to the needs of PGA TOUR pros. More recently, TaylorMade has leveraged milled sole grinds for greater manufacturing consistency. The xFT wedge with its replaceable faces was either overly ambitious or just ahead of its time. In a category that demands little and offers few opportunities for innovation, TaylorMade has given it the old college try. TaylorMade’s comparative lack of success in the wedge market isn’t for lack of trying. Over the years, our testing has found numerous competent alternatives but the reality is that the majority of the market is plenty content with those three options. 1 while Cleveland and Callaway battle for second. In the years since, Vokey has become the undisputed No. Vokey was only beginning to Spin Mill grooves but the prevailing wisdom at the time was that those were the only two wedge brands that mattered. I played them for a year, switched to Cleveland and haven’t bagged a TaylorMade wedge since.īy reputation, Cleveland was still THE brand in the wedge category. RAC Black-52, 56, 60-as was the standard progression in those days. The new designs pair clean lines with existing RAW Face and Milled Grind technologies.With the new TaylorMade MG3 wedges, the company looks to continue its momentum in the category.
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