Titleist Vokey 60, low bounce, which one and where?

[dejf]

Hi guys,

so I've got this old, medium quality (not basic, around 40 GBP 8 yrs ago, but nothing superb) 60 LW wedge that I play everything within 100 yards with. And it is not a bad club, but couple of years ago I bought this Titleist Vokey 52 wedge and found out that it has extra grooves on the club face (besides the common grooves). I'm not sure if that is called grooves, but you know what I mean (and if you don't, feel free to skip this post or see e.g. this picture http://www.club-clean.ie/images/general/club-head-vector.jpg ).

Anyway, the spin generated with that 52 every time I hit it is far superior to that with my old LW (which does not have those extra grooves). Not a big surprise I guess ...

So, I am looking to replace my LW with Titleist Vokey 60, but which one? I've noticed that there are like 3 models that you can get now, most common is now SM6, but it is still possible to find SM5 and sometimes even SM4. I am not sure about differences except that my 52 wedge is SM4 and the extra grooves there are of different design than SM6. I am not sure about SM5.

On SM6, the extra grooves are straight, on SM4 they are not. I seem to like SM4 more in this as to me, it seemed that it spins better, but I am not entirely sure about that.

Then there is this new thing (to me) called grind. From what I read on Titleist web page, L or M grind seems to what I am looking for (source http://www.vokey.com/nav/wedge-selection.aspx).

So, I guess I want 60 with 4 bounce and L or M grind.

My questions:

SM4, SM5, or SM6?

New or (very slightly) used - i.e. how much are these extra grooves sensitive to wear off?

Club shop has it for 120 GBP, that seems to be a standard price, but eBay has it for 85 GBP, and used for 60 GBP. Or any other place you would suggest to buy that from?

Does the club head finish affect the spin (e.g. chrome, black and steel gray are offered for SM6)?


Please note that I am fully aware that it is also the swing technique that affects the spin, I am now currently looking to increase the spin without changing the swing.

Cheers!

 

[Region3]

The main differ nice between SM5 and SM6 is that the 6 has more weight higher up the back of the club, so those shots that catch high on the face and go nowhere now go much closer to the distance you wanted it to go.

I think the extra grooves you mention is what they call milling. It's just roughing the face up a bit, but they wear out far quicker than the normal grooves.
Whichever model you choose, I'd go for new if possible because of that.

 

[Siren]

If you can afford the SM6 then I would go for that due to the fact the grooves will be newer and the higher CG placement compared to the SM5/4 etc...

There is no difference in performance between the various finishes. I had the black in the SM5 and they looked terrible after a few months imo.

 

[SugarPenguin]

Not sure why but the shape of the SM6 is more rounded than the SM4/SM5. I use combination of SM4 and SM5 and there is literally no difference. SM5 probably looks a little nicer.

Regarding the finishes the black looks amazing but makes address look smaller. I have all the finishes because I couldnt choose but the satin in my SM4 is my favourite