We had four very lucky GolfWRXers who got to take a trip down to TaylorMade’s Kingdom at Reynolds Lake Oconee to get fit for the new Milled Grind 3 wedges (which arrival at retail today). And as if that weren’t enough, the fortunate forum members also got to take a trip to the Tour Championship at East Lake for a peek inside the TaylorMade truck and a look at Wade Liles’ beard in the flesh, or…hair.

While there are plenty more observations and a full gallery of photos in the forum thread, we wanted to highlight recaps from a couple of the four WRXers (@drvrwdge, @madeinguam81, @agadawg17171, @rebby).

@drvrwdge

So just to kind of reiterate what everybody else has already said, Greg was our fitter for the wedges. Greg chased the dream for seven or eight years and had his tour card at one point but his love and passion for club design ended up taking him down a different path. Greg has always been super passionate about the short game and wedges and played an integral part in the design of the MG3 wedge.

Greg gave a brief presentation in the morning about the design characteristics of the MG3 how it differed from the MG2 and why they did what they did design-wise with the new wedge. In short, the design is all about optimizing launch and spin conditions to make the wedges as accurate as possible. Movement of material and the shape to optimize feel and center of gravity location for the proper trajectory control. Center of gravity, which is progressive through the set, which is what a lot of people do placing it higher in higher lofted wedges to keep trajectory down and lower in the lower lifted wedges to keep it up. There is a new groove or face feature this year in addition to the raw face. They have actual raised ridges, where with the MG2 used laser etching on the face which they realized wore off faster than they wanted it to. With the raised ridges that is not an issue. This was primarily done for additional spin in that less than 60-yard range as opposed to more spin on full shots. There was also some slight changes made to the sole and grinds in the different bounce options to optimize turf conditions as well.

For me hands-down the club that absolutely stood out as head and shoulders above the rest and actually took me into a direction I never thought I would go was the 46° pitching wedge. I have never understood playing a non-set pitching wedge especially one that is not the same brand as your iron set but with the way Greg was able to explain the advantages of playing the non-set wedge, he was able to change my mindset to looking at the wedges as a set of clubs as well as looking as the irons as a set of clubs but having those be able to be two different sets really convinced me to go this route. And trust me when I say it’s probably the best-looking club I’ve ever seen. The lines, the shape, the size, the way the leading edge sits on the ground and the flow of the hosel into the top line it’s just absolutely perfect. And on top of all that it just flat outperforms.

I currently play SM8’s and Greg was able to get me into some different bounces than I normally have played which greatly improved my turf interaction on full and partial shots which in turn got me into my optimal launch and spin conditions. And they flat out just feel better than my Vokeys. I have never been able to do a wedge fitting on grass and I can honestly say if you are serious about your game, there’s absolutely no other way to do it. For me, that was the greatest thing about this trip, because I just don’t have anywhere near me that I could have done a wedge fitting on grass. And I had somebody with the knowledge to fit me properly.

…We hit shots from 70 yards with a 58/60 the full shots. We then went to the short game area for chips and pitches. Honestly the spin, launch and carry numbers didn’t different a huge amount from my current SM8 58M, Greg actually said my numbers were ideal and almost to the number the same as Collin’s (humble brag). What I did find was that they were more consistent getting away from the M grind. Turf interaction was much cleaner, and you could really feel the club enter and exit much quicker. And as I stated previously, the feel off of the face was much better. Softer and more solid.

Where I really think the raw face technology and the raised ridges shined was chips and pitches. Was easily able to hit the 20-yardd one-hop stop pitches with the MG3 where I wasn’t able to with the SM8. Keep in mind some of that may be related to the bounce as well. Cleaner turf interaction = cleaner contact = more spin.

@agadawg17171

I’m a 100 percent club ho and try just about every wedge that comes out. Over the years I’ve played them all. But I’m the end I go back to Vokey. They’re consistent and I like the more classic look. The MG3’s grabbed my eye as soon as I saw them on the forums for the first time. Then I got to see one in person at PGA SS and was even more intrigued. They just looked so good!!! The shapes were traditional with incredible lines. I knew right away I wanted to try them. I actually had a fitting scheduled until I got the email that I was selected for this experience.  Once I got the email, I knew I had to make it happen!

After hitting a few balls with my current gamers Greg put the MG3’s in my hand. These wedges are ??. My spin was up. The descent angle of the ball was better as well. The ball flight was great. But the thing that impressed me the most was the turf interaction. These wedges glide through the turf and do not dig! The CG and weighting has been moved up and out of the heel which makes them feel much more balanced and stable through the shot. The sound and feel are also much improved over the MG2.

I’ve always wanted a wedge with higher bounce that sits flat on ground at address. Greg and his team have made that happen without having to get a custom grind which is $$$ and tough to get your hands on. It allowed me to hit a bigger variety of shots, especially with my 54.

After running them through the gauntlet on the range, we went to the short game area. Things got even better down there! We took a few different bounce options and my gamers and dialed things in. The chip shots were drop-and-stop from a variety of conditions. Again the sole set perfectly behind the ball for my eyes and glided through the turf without digging. Even on mis-hits the ball was still close to the intended landing area. I was very impressed. At that point, I was pretty much sold but wanted to try it in the bunkers. Took the 60 into the bunkers and started with short shots to a tucked pin. I was able to get the ball up quick over about a 4-foot lip and onto the green. When the balls hit the green, they had a controlled spin and very little roll out past my target. After the bunker work, I knew I wanted them no matter the price!

The combo I went with is below.

• 46 bent to 45 with steel fiber 110 CW
• 50/8, 54/13, 60/12
• Modus 125 Wedge
• Went 1* Flat and 1/4” long. Can’t wait to get them in hand and will post more.

Check out the full thread here for more!