TaylorMade has been making TP, or Tour Preferred, versions of their golf clubs for years. Fine tuning their technology for the world's best players.
The 2014 Tour Preferred wedges were classically shaped wedges featuring two grinds to suit the preferences of individual players or conditions. Now, with the release of TaylorMade's EF Wedge, they have been updated with the latest in face technology - Electroformed grooves.
TaylorMade has taken a soft 1025 carbon steel body and embedded into it the highly accurate Electroformed grooves that are made from an extremely hard wearing Nickel Cobalt. The initial precision and toughness of the grooves means that TaylorMade say the EF wedges give long lasting spin.
The face is incredibly thin at just .25mm thick and is created by a process that begins by the ionization of nickel and cobalt in an electrolytic solution. The charged ions are then deposited directly onto a master plate containing the design of the grooved and micro textured surface.
This method is a more accurate method of forming a groove and has allowed TaylorMade to get the grooves performing to similar standards, particularly from dry lies, to the standards that existed before the changes to the groove rules in 2010.
Clay Long, TaylorMade's Director of Product Creation, Putters and Wedges, explains the step change that Electroforming has made to creating grooves:
Electroforming delivers a consistent high-performance groove pattern that delivers incredible spin over the course of thousands of shots.
The whole head has been given a dark smoke PVD finish to reduce glare and TaylorMade has fitted the EF Wedge with the KBS Tour wedge shaft.
The TP choice of grinds are still present in the EF range. The Tour grind is for players preferring a traditional looking wedge with clean lines and features a progressive camber on the sole, increasing in the higher lofted wedges, and a noticeable heel relief. This shape allows players to open the face easily at address, whilst still offering a shape that works well on full and bunker shots.
The ATV, or "All-Terrain-Versatility" shape, has been slightly reshaped from last years Tour Preferred wedge's with a sole that is slightly narrower than in the original ATV wedge. The ATV grind performs best with the face open or from tight lies. with the versatility coming into play with the bounce. On full shots, chips or bunker shots, the ATV grind keeps the bounce lower, whilst increasing when a player opens the face to hit higher shots around the green and from sand.
The TaylorMade EF Wedges are available in 16 different combinations of loft and bounce and have a Golf Pride Tour Velvet Red Cap grip as standard.