How do you find the perfect wedge setup? This Titleist Vokey Tour rep is here to help

For more than a decade, Tour rep Aaron Dill has been Bob Vokey’s right-hand man at Titleist. It’s a role he relishes, learning from one of the best to ever design a wedge while working on the PGA Tour week in, week out with some of the best players in the world. Time spent with Vokey, Adam Scott, Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth and other high-profile names has afforded Dill with invaluable insights into what makes the scoring clubs tick.

Dill’s vast wedge knowledge has led elite players to lean on him heavily during the testing process, particularly when it comes to locating the ideal wedge combo. Recent PGA Tour winner Max Homa and J.T Poston have both credited Dill with making them smarter about their wedges.

“What I love about Aaron was I told him, ‘I think I need more bounce.’ And he said, ‘Okay, why?’ I gave him a whole reason of what I thought about for a couple of days,” Homa told GOLF.com last year. “He came back to me and said, ‘You know what? I think the exact opposite.’ I love that he’s not a yes-man in that regard; he gives true, honest opinions. Of course, he was right, which is awesome.”

With a multitude of options in Vokey’s new SM8 lineup, Dill forces players outside their comfort zone to try bounce and grind options they otherwise wouldn’t have considered. It’s a process Dill suggests recreational players embrace as well when searching for a new set of wedges.

“When Bob designs [wedge] lines, he designs them for everybody,” Dill said during a recent interview on GOLF’s Fully Equipped podcast. “He would always say in the early stages, ‘We don’t have enough, we gotta do this, we gotta change this.

“As the years have gone by and I’ve watched him do these different things, you realize and learn over the years of traveling that there are so many different golf courses, grass types, soil types, conditions — whether they be wet or dry — whatever it may be, you need to have a variety of different tools, bounces; things that will give anyone in the world who loves the game of golf, and wants to play a Vokey wedge, the opportunity to get wedges in their bag that work.”

When it comes to locating the perfect grind and bounce for each wedge in the bag, Dill suggests conducting blind testing. No, you don’t have to hit balls with your eyes closed. Simply be open to the idea of trying every conceivable grind instead of defaulting to what you’ve played for years.

“I always tell people to put yourself in a situation with someone who has all the different wedges and try them,” he said. “If you have someone you trust, who’s a good fitter, go see that person. Get some insight. Have someone blindly fit you — you don’t go in biased — because when you leave a fitting, you realize, man I’m leaving with three or four wedges I didn’t even think I’d use. You begin to understand the reasons why, because you’re not invested mentally in four wedges you think you might take.”

Will the process take time? Of course. But given the amount of time most golfers spend around the green during a round, it’s important to have wedges that not only fit your strengths but the grasses and conditions you typically play on at your home course.

As for where you should conduct testing, Dill suggests finding an outdoor area that makes it easy to track some important variables.

“Go to a place that’s outdoors, so you can watch ball flight, and test and try,” he said. “You decide. Test different grinds and realize, I really like this, don’t care for this. Not only do you walk away with what you need, but you’re more educated about things you didn’t know. Every single year, a Tour player I work with goes, ‘I’ve never really been fit like this before, and I’m leaving with all this new knowledge.'”

If Tour players are finding success with Dill’s fitting approach, chances are you could benefit from it as well.

To hear more gear insights from Jonathan Wall and True Spec’s Tim Briand, subscribe and listen each week to GOLF’s Fully Equipped podcast: iTunes | SoundCloud | Spotify | Stitcher