Review: Nike Vr Forged Black Wedges
Rev Up Your Spin
Watching Tiger spin a wedge back to within inches of the pin is amazing to see. Watching his control with his wedges, whether it is a hop and stop, a roll-out or rip back spinner, can be jaw dropping to witness. Clearly, he is the best player in the world; but his VR wedges might create the most spin of any wedge on the market.
The new VR line of wedges have Rev grooves, the Nike version of the new soon to be non-conforming super aggressive grooves. They are aggressive even to the touch. The VR wedges come in either a satin chrome or raw black. I have always been a fan of a black finish on my wedges. I love the look of a dark dull head behind my golf balls. Being a black raw finish it did wear a little, especially on the sand wedge, which is common to any black finish on a wedge.
The first difference between the VR wedges and many of the others on the market is the fact that the VR wedges are forged. They are so soft on impact, but don’t have the dreaded mushy feel or so soft that the ball feels like it slides up the face. Being raw will appeal to many players that like that look and feel, while the black finish looks great and dull.
As much as I love my forged VR wedges, I did encounter the negative on the first round with them. I happened to come up short on an approach shot and just needed a little 60* pitch into the green. A nice easy pitch with a horrifying clang, sure enough, hit a little rock under the fairway and put a nice little ding in the sole. It doesn’t affect the play or grooves, but the ding bothers me aesthetically.
The VR wedges come standard with DG S400 and the VR grips which match perfectly the grips on my VR split-cavity irons. The grinds on this set are really great. I got them all with a mid to high bounce and found that they set up so nicely at address. They all have a fair amount of heel relief. The A wedge or 52* has a fairly aggressive grind for an Approach wedge, which I found to be very useful when using it for lower flight chips. The S wedge or 56* has a high bounce grind as well that made cutting through the Midwest bunkers easy. I found every kind of sand over the 3 Midwest states I played and multiple rounds, and it worked well in every kind, (even chipping in a number of times). The L wedge or 60* has a little extra heel grind, but not quite the full C grind out by the toe. I found it easy to open and flop.
The Rev grooves are the “WOW” factor of these wedges. I am confident in saying that these are the highest spinning wedges on the market. I lost between 5 and 10 yards with my wedges due to higher spin rates. I also needed to aim many shots past the pin because I kept spinning my pitches back off the green. At first it bothered me, but once I started learning how to control the spin, they actually fit my yardage gaps better.
All that spin imparted by Rev grooves, means shredded golf balls. Full shots left big shreds, but even delicate pitches left some cheese grater marks. I felt that after 9 holes I needed to change to a new ball because the cover was getting a little too roughed up. I think it all depends on how many wedge shots you hit, but since just about every single one leaves a mark, it just depends on your comfort level. The premium balls also shred considerably more than range rocks.
If you need more spin and want it paired with a soft feeling, the Nike VR wedges are simply the best on the market. Black or Satin, these grooves will Rev up your spin.
For more information: www.nikegolf.com
Watching Tiger spin a wedge back to within inches of the pin is amazing to see. Watching his control with his wedges, whether it is a hop and stop, a roll-out or rip back spinner, can be jaw dropping to witness. Clearly, he is the best player in the world; but his VR wedges might create the most spin of any wedge on the market.
The new VR line of wedges have Rev grooves, the Nike version of the new soon to be non-conforming super aggressive grooves. They are aggressive even to the touch. The VR wedges come in either a satin chrome or raw black. I have always been a fan of a black finish on my wedges. I love the look of a dark dull head behind my golf balls. Being a black raw finish it did wear a little, especially on the sand wedge, which is common to any black finish on a wedge.
The first difference between the VR wedges and many of the others on the market is the fact that the VR wedges are forged. They are so soft on impact, but don’t have the dreaded mushy feel or so soft that the ball feels like it slides up the face. Being raw will appeal to many players that like that look and feel, while the black finish looks great and dull.
As much as I love my forged VR wedges, I did encounter the negative on the first round with them. I happened to come up short on an approach shot and just needed a little 60* pitch into the green. A nice easy pitch with a horrifying clang, sure enough, hit a little rock under the fairway and put a nice little ding in the sole. It doesn’t affect the play or grooves, but the ding bothers me aesthetically.
The VR wedges come standard with DG S400 and the VR grips which match perfectly the grips on my VR split-cavity irons. The grinds on this set are really great. I got them all with a mid to high bounce and found that they set up so nicely at address. They all have a fair amount of heel relief. The A wedge or 52* has a fairly aggressive grind for an Approach wedge, which I found to be very useful when using it for lower flight chips. The S wedge or 56* has a high bounce grind as well that made cutting through the Midwest bunkers easy. I found every kind of sand over the 3 Midwest states I played and multiple rounds, and it worked well in every kind, (even chipping in a number of times). The L wedge or 60* has a little extra heel grind, but not quite the full C grind out by the toe. I found it easy to open and flop.
The Rev grooves are the “WOW” factor of these wedges. I am confident in saying that these are the highest spinning wedges on the market. I lost between 5 and 10 yards with my wedges due to higher spin rates. I also needed to aim many shots past the pin because I kept spinning my pitches back off the green. At first it bothered me, but once I started learning how to control the spin, they actually fit my yardage gaps better.
All that spin imparted by Rev grooves, means shredded golf balls. Full shots left big shreds, but even delicate pitches left some cheese grater marks. I felt that after 9 holes I needed to change to a new ball because the cover was getting a little too roughed up. I think it all depends on how many wedge shots you hit, but since just about every single one leaves a mark, it just depends on your comfort level. The premium balls also shred considerably more than range rocks.
If you need more spin and want it paired with a soft feeling, the Nike VR wedges are simply the best on the market. Black or Satin, these grooves will Rev up your spin.
For more information: www.nikegolf.com
