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Groovy

This year, PGA Tour pro's are being forced to play wedges with less aggressive V grooves to reward accuracy more and they are having noticeable difficulty, especially with greenside shots, as the ball rides up the face creating these inconsistencies. However, recreational amateurs who will not playing USGA events can continue to play the more aggressive square grooves in their wedges through 2023. However, manufacturers will only be making these square groove wedges through 2010, so you may need to stock up a few extra for the future.

Having clean, sharp square(box) or U grooves in your wedges will help you obtain consistent distance control on your chips, pitches and full shots. With clean, sharp square grooves the ball will stick to the clubface for a split second each time you play which results in a nice consistent trajectory and maximum spin control from shot to shot. When your grooves are worn or clogged with dirt the ball will slide up the club face during contact resulting in unpredictable trajectories with much less and more inconsistent spin rates each time resulting in overall poor distance control. This is especially frustrating when you are greenside in the rough without much room to land and stop the ball. It is just much more difficult to get the ball close with an old worn out or groove clogged wedge as the ball flies inconsistently and rolls out more due to less spin.

So don't get sentimentally attached to that 20 year old forged wedge that has a concave, worn out club face as the 'buy and hold strategy' doesn't work for wedges. The new aggressive milled square grooves in wedges made by such companies as Taylormade, Titleist, and Cleveland will give you better distance and maximum spin control for some more years to come.