Billy Horschel and Bob Vokey Talk SM10, Wedge Grinds and Short Game Shotmaking

Billy Horschel heads to the range at The American Express to work with the man whose initials are engraved on the back of his NEW #SM10 wedges – Bob Vokey.

Watch as the two talk wedge grinds, his testing process, and his approach to shots around the green.

See Billy’s Titleist setup here: https://www.titleist.com/tour/1910/billy-horschel

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00:00 – Working with The Voke
00:30 – A Trip to the Tour Truck
01:20 – Billy’s Wedge Testing Process
03:39 – On the Range with The Voke
09:00 – Chipping and Pitching with the SM10
13:20 – Using the Bounce
16:00 – Short Game Versatility

I think first you got to talk about the history of the wedges and Bob vogi himself I mean for us at this level we’ve got to believe in in the equipment we got to believe in what we’re playing with and you know with his name on it

And with the history and the success that he’s had with building wedges and the players who’ve used them and won not only tournaments on the PJ Tour tournaments around the world and Majors you know you’re getting a quality product that’s going to produce the results you’re looking for on a regular

Basis working hard in there Aaron yeah it’s a very busy day so far oh I bet how you doing Billy I’m good buddy good to see you nice to see you too thanks for dropping by my pleasure how has uh the start of sm10 been for you yeah it’s

Been easy you guys know me I’m easy you are you’re a little too easy I have to bother you sometimes so for me whenever I get a Voki wedge I know right away that this product is at the highest standard it’s the best in the game of

Golf and it’s going to help my game in the areas I need and then at the same same time when you have Bob and you have Aaron there on a weekly basis being able to work with them to fine-tune the little points that you’re looking for they offer suggestions whether it be

Bounce or whether it be loft or lies or numerous other things it just makes it hard to not have those wedges in the bag I would say I I probably go hit some chips right around the green real quick just to see how they feel like I want to

Feel the feel it be soft like I’m a I’m old school I want to feel soft and marshmallowy because that allows me to be more aggressive I don’t have to worry about that the the ball jumping off the face as much so then I’m just I’m around the

Greens hitting some few shots see how it’s coming off is it coming off too fast is it coming off the way I want you know what kind of spin is it generating and then I come out here I pull out my track man and I’m looking

For when I hit my numbers you know I have a certain spot on each Club where I take it to and it should go a certain distance not too much worried about the distance I’m more or less wor about the launch angle and the dynamic loft is it

Hitting the windows I want so my 62 I’m looking at somewhere around like 29° launch and around 39 degrees of dynamic Loft um maybe you know I can be I can live around 40 41 but I want that to be low because then it comes out flatter I

Can control the distance better the 57 I want that to be around 20 27 26ish uh launch and then that Dynamic will to be around 36 35 and then my 52 I want that to be around 23 to 25 and then I want that Dynamic LOF to about at 30

33 to 32 you want your launch with these clubs to be half whatever the The Loft is so with a 62 it should be around 31 31’s great um anything low is even better anything High then you start getting the ball that sort of rides up

The face doesn’t have the spin so back to testing I’m looking for is it hitting my windows is it coming out launch wise am I having the to work hard to keep it down or is it doing it on its own which then allows me to be able to man

Manipulate the way I want I can hit higher I can hit lower um just based off what my stock normal shot is what I loved about it was that I was coming up my window but as Bob and Aaron have said it took a little bit of that left bias miss out

Yeah um a little bit too much of a draw so which I like I want to be able to see that ball sort of drip right which made it easier for me to drip right I didn’t have to hold on to it as much it sort of

Flew a little straighter and then it would just fall a little right or just stay straight I travel with the V and the T now perfect and what I found is that my basic pitch shots with the T grind yeah I just they just rode the

Face a little bit and I’ve got the V right now yeah cuz I made I made it out of a v yeah all I did is just TI it right in here mhm yep to it off yeah and so I travel with both now as much as our technique

And stuff is is consistent certain weeks we’re a littleit you know how we enter and deliver the clubs a little bit different and so what I found with the t is sometimes the ball would just ride up a little bit High come out with not

Nearly as much Spin and so with the V it just gave me that ability where I could you know when I hit down the bounce sort of engaged a little bit more out lower yeah lower yeah it’s one thing a little bit a little less bounce will do you

Have a tendency to ride chill up that’s why it’s so important to be when we say fitting be fit for the right balance and ground correct for you so I just like to try to contact on the two to five in grooves you know right down there exactly and it’s funny we try

I try it you know I’m sure you’ve worked with so many players and so many um recreational golfers that tell them that you try to hit it lower on the face they understand they don’t understand that they don’t understand that’s where we get the spin and we get that one to come

Out low got to comes out low with spin yeah and they they don’t believe that it comes out can’t you can’t low it spin it’s amazing you know what I’ve always done and I even I fit I love I love sound yeah it’s sound feeling sound you know you can

Tell I can well struck ball I turn right this I say you know you could you can hear do hear the right contact with the ball you know and just poof you know when you know we do clinics and everything and people ask like what

Makes a club how do you decide a club I said one thing it’s got to look good yes it’s got to feel good and it’s got to sound good got to sound good those are the first three things and then I start looking out over here what does ball do

You’re 100% with me on that one I guarantee you because if it if it doesn’t look good and it doesn’t feel good it doesn’t let’s just say it may not instill the confidence yeah or or the trust that you need in the club I love sound sound and

Feel yeah so he said two two to five so there’s two two three four can you hit little little 50 left right yeah I want to want to see difference now the way we place it yeah so that’s 57 yards on my but it’s so it’s 55 yards right there you

Have to have so much speed now to do it but you’re trying not to hit it as far you’re only trying to hit it you know 50 60 yards nice move you you’re a lobber or around green or your sandwich so I vary a lot I like to use different

Clubs this off and I’ve used more my 56 which is 57 I think so cuz my technique’s better and your misses are better I have a 62 you have to be really precise and really perfect with your um technique to get the shot you want so

The 57 allows for a greater room for morein of error yeah so and one thing I had Aaron do last year cuz I wanted to start using more on my 56 I just had them grind down the middle a little bit just so I had a little bit less bounce

Little right in here yeah right at the beginning there do you know that you mm a little uh I call a pro group just so it could get I could get a little it would get under the ball just a little bit easier you take out that camber yeah

Exactly so I can just open it up and just slide it right under there it is nice every player is different you have JT used there a lot of different clubs I think the better players the guys that are really good with a short game have use different wedges have practice with

Different wedges so they have more shots to use around the greens when when it’s called for yeah and that’s the key you can you you want to have like call having the right Tools in your toolbox having the right wedges to be able to hit this variety of shots exactly the

Combination of the two wedges that you have you know they got to be able to be very ver versatile oh yeah listen everyone loves a 60 and everyone loves to have that high lofted wedge cuz you can hit it high and softer but it actually is a little bit more inconsistent if if

It’s not if your technique’s not right and your strike’s not um perfect every time so taking something that has a little bit less Loft allows you to be a little bit less perfect um and be a little more consistent on a regular basis um so for me I like the 56 because

It does a couple things I’m trying to get it to come off as soft as possible but not let the ball right up the face so it makes my technique have to improve to be able to hit the shot I want especially these little short ones um

Now it would be and a tournament depending on the nerves and and how I feel I may just go ahead and choose a 60 because I know I can just open up and be a little more aggressive and and and be um you know get away with it a little

More the 56 you know my tendency is I I’ll Goose it a little bit I’ll give it a little bit more so then it comes off a little bit low a little bit hotter so the 62 is a little bit easier if I do

Goose it I still get away with it CU it comes off a little softer but with the 56 I’m trying to get this when I’m practicing trying to get this to come off as soft as possible on on really short um shots around the greens I mean I use this all around the

Green I’ll go far away close to the green bump and run shots I mean to this pin here I would use a 56 here no doubt to this pin cuz I have plenty of green I can just put it in the middle of my stance and just sort of play a little

Basic little Chip Shot which allows me to be a little more consistent it’s going to check a little bit and release out the 62 I’m going to have to fly that further and even if I do hit it perfect it could land on a spot on the green where it doesn’t isn’t

As receptive and could you know not check and run by or I could land it where I want and be a little bit more receptive and check too much so the 56 just allows it to be a little bit more consistent where I can just sort of land

It I would say 20 ft short of the hole and let it run out I notice you little bit open a little bit which I like you know soort of take the it takes the heel out of the play correct and you know when we get in Florida we get in Bermuda

Born and Raised on that learning how to play off of it you know if we get something into the grain I’ll put it right up on the toe like that you may not get it to come out with a lot of spin sometimes you can sometimes you

Can’t but what it does is it it takes the digging effect out of out of play doesn’t allow the grain to to the wedge and it just it just uh allows the the turf action to be better and actually doing that and because you’re hitting off toe it

Deadens the shot as well too so there may be times where even though I’m not in Florida if I’m here this week I may put it on the toe of this shot right here just to have it come off a little softer just for it to be that dead deadening hit

See that’s those are the ones I practice at home as much as I can practice them at tournaments I got a 57 I’m still opening up a little bit um so relatively I’m probably turn into you know in the mid-60s possibly but my 62 that turns

Into sort of a little 70 plus 70 plus degrees so this still gives me enough Loft to have it get up land soft I think Bill what happens to a lot of I call it the Avid weekend golfer they don’t know what shot to pick correct in

Their mind I think half half the deal I’ve said is pick the shot you know that you know you can hit do a little thinking before you get to the shot the right club and type of shot you want to hit and they they a lot of times they

Just hit the wrong shot yeah you’re exactly right there’s uh there’s a lot of times where in tournaments depending on how I feel and and you know how hard how how fast my heart’s racing you know if I if it’s a Tuesday I mean I’ll take

A 62 here sometimes and just you know open it up little check and spin tournament time it may be a 56 it may be a 52 I’m like you know what I’m just going to bounce it in there a little bit lay in a little short let it

Just lease up on the green it doesn’t have to be perfect it doesn’t have to be the shot that Ione think you should play it’s a shot that you can pull off it’s all all about playing the percentages confidence correct having confidence you can pull that shot I mean same thing I

Mean I got the 62 here like I said I could you know maybe early in week playing with the the buddies and everything I just take a 62 and right up there and just fly and have a little more spin to it or if I wanted to be a little more

Aggressive little cut spinner in there I want everything to be low I want to be low the ball grips the the grooves and then and then stays in contact with the grooves and and it adds spin you want that ball to feel like it stays on

The face as long as you can when you when you chip so it’s obviously creating as much spin as possible so like Bob said two to five is where you’re looking and and another thing that amateurs think you have to do is I think you have to get ball and Club first you

Don’t have to actually you don’t want to that’s what you’re doing you want to use the bounce you want to almost feel like the the the bounce is is hitting the ground before it touches the ball it just allows it sort of to dead in the

Shot and then and and have you know flatten out that little bottom section and comes out with spin so let’s say the ball’s right there I guarantee you my club’s Landing right there and you’re going to see the mark after I hit it so the ball was right there and the

Grass is right here you want that ball to land soft on the greens you don’t want to land firm yes there’s times where we’re trying to get the land a little firmer and Chase out but you want that ball always you want to have be in control of the golf ball

Use a 56 use you know your Sand Wedge even a 52 you can open it up it engages more of the bounce it allows you to be imperfect um and get away with it and then don’t you know don’t try and you know like I said use Le Edge just use

The balance get it back here use the trailing Edge correct and feel like you’re using and hitting it the back of that way um you want to feel like you hear that thump that thump right there thump perfect and just try and recreate that and you have to stay shallow too

Yeah the one thing that I have a tendency of and my technique is my you want your bottom it’s funny you want your your your stiring to be be in front of the ball cuz then that creates your low Point here a little bit and allows

You to be a little shallower and use that use that bounce coming in the shallows you out I get too much where my left shoulder gets high and I get back this way and so then I either I get too bouncy and I get real Scoopy or I start

Leaning the handle ahead because the ball’s riding up and that engages the the Leading Edge so if I’m here I try and feel like my sternum the buttons on my my shirt are just in front of the ball and you just make a stay there and make your normal

Technique allows you to have that low point in front shallows you out doesn’t get you too steep I mean if we get went further away we go back here I can do it with a 62 just have that little buttons in front and I feel

Like I can just it allows me to feel like I hit down on the ball when then I don’t get steep where the Leading Edge takes over too much when it comes to wedges and game and even stuff on the range with the wedges try different shots obviously

Like right here I’ll hit you know a little cut little 56 and and see how it reacts on the green and and how consistent you can be with it you know next one I may all sort of feel like I Hood it and play like a little hook a little draw little

Runner and see how you know the the shots are reacting and how they’re turning out cuz when you get on the course you know you figure out oh wow I can this shot this shot allows me to do what I want here I think too many people

Don’t try enough and and and practice one they don’t practice enough that’s simple but you got to have a little variety you got to have a you know a few different ways of hitting shots um because you just never know how that could turn out and be a little bit more

Consistent I mean last week on number 18 on Sunday I had a shot that I had to hit into the hill was up and over and about 20 ft after it got up on top it ran away to the to the pin I was on uphill pill

Lie which obviously going make the Wall come out higher it was in between a 52 and 56 I felt like the 52 could land a little too far and may not have the grab on the green that I wanted so I just took a 56 and I just you know felt like

I turned the toe in a little bit made the same motion it came out a little bit lower like I wanted it grabbed a little bit and it released all the way back to the pin came up a little short I didn’t release or it didn’t have as much Pace

On the back end as I thought but still got to about 8 ft short of the pin so that was just because I practiced and tried different things and see how it turned out that I was comfortable playing that shot where I just played on

The back of my foot tow in and just made a normal pitching motion it checked a little bit and then it just released all the way back there you know when I see a Chip Shot I can see four or five different ways to play it I’ve got to

Pick which one I feel most comfortable with but I’ve also practiced those shots so I got to have that versatility that you know that I can play you know open the 56 and play little higher little cut little spinner to the pin there and then like I

Just did there I can play maybe not so far back my stance the middle stance and play a little higher little bump and run where it hits and releases out so I’ve got to have that ability to to play different shots and not just have one stock shot because that’s all the wedges

Allowed you know gives me the ability to do you know with the tiess and Voki wedges gives me the ability to to have multiple different shots in in the repertoire to to be able to have out in the golf course when I need them thanks

Bob nice to see you buddy thank you I’m expect a big thank you buddy