Ask the Expert: Roger Cleveland's Answers to Your Questions

I got lots of good questions sent to me on Twitter, as well as from readers of the Shop Blog, for Callaway's Roger Cleveland. I spoke with the wedge guru on Friday, and here are his answers to some of the most interesting submissions.

How you would compare and contrast the designs and technologies used in Callaway's wedges with those from other major brands. What makes the Callaway wedges different?
A lot of people copied the wedge designs we developed at Cleveland Golf years ago, like the 588 wedges, but I didn't want to do that. I wanted to do something a little bit different.

When I had the opportunity to get back into club making, and start making wedges for Callaway, I wanted to use the purest form of making irons, and that means forging. I also wanted to use the softest material to give golfers the most feel, and that's 1020 carbon steel. Then, I wanted to have the best forging house in the world, which is in Japan, make the wedges. After putting all those things together, we've been having a great time making irons and wedges here at Callaway.

But what makes our wedges really different from other manufacturers' is the aggressive groove we have developed in conjunction with Phil Mickelson.

Phil always tests a new wedge by hitting 40-yard shots, and he hit that shot pretty hard. The first shot he hit using a a super-aggressive groove we created for him made a white trail of cover material up the face of the club. He looked down and said, "Yep, that's my Mack Daddy groove." We loved that, and so we named our groove the Mack Daddy.

With the new JAWS wedges (above), I wanted to reduce the silhouette of the wedge when you're looking down at address, and I wanted a smaller head. I think that gives golfers a feeling that they can get the leading edge under the ball more easily. We also implemented a very aggressive C-grind in the sole which makes it very versatile.

For the amateur, how would you go about trying and picking a particular sole grind for wedges?
It all depends upon how much you practice and how many different shots you want to be able to hit with your wedge, especially a high-lofted wedge.

If you're the type of player who likes to open the face and hit higher, softer-landing shots, then look for a grind that supplies heel relief but doesn't add too much bounce in the process. Opening the face automatically adds bounce, but some grinds create more than others.

If you don't practice that often, going with the grind that supplies more bounce will help you get out of the sand more easily.

Every wedge needs to have some positive amount bounce so it can slide, rather than dig, through the turf. Remember, you never want to hit a wedge shot using your leading edge, you always want to use the sole as the contact point to the ground.

Ask the Expert: Roger Cleveland Answers Your Questions

Roger Cleveland, Callaway Golf's resident wedge expert, is the man behind the company's Mac Daddy grooves and X Series wedges. He also makes the short-game tools of choice for staff players like Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els.

In the first interview in our new Ask the Expert series, you get to be the reporter. Submit your questions for Roger Cleveland in the comments area below and check back with The Shop over the next few days to read his answers.

If you'd like to see a video of Cleveland explaining what makes the new Callaway X Series JAWS wedges unique, click here.

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Callaway Debuts New Tour i(s) Golf Ball at HSBC Champions

Ernie Els got a little help from Callaway Golf in Shanghai at the HSBC Champions, where he finished second after shooting 63 on Sunday.

"I started playing a new golf ball that Callaway made," Els said. "This is what I've been looking forward to, is this golf ball. It would have been unbelievable if I could have won with this ball. It would have been great for Callaway and myself. I'm looking forward to the future now, and I think my equipment is now spot on."

Els was referring to the new Callaway Tour i(s). Ryan Moore, who finished third, also used it.

The Callaway Tour i(s) is a four-piece ball that Steve Ogg, Callaway's vice president of ball R&D, called "the most highly-engineered golf ball product we have ever come out with."

According to Ogg, the Tour i(s) is the softest ball Callaway has produced, but what makes it special is a large degree of spin separation, which makes it possible to put a lot of spin on iron shots and very little spin on drives.

"The ball has a high core compression differential," he said. "That is the difference between the compression of the inner core and the outer core. When you have a high-compression outer core, the ball holds it shape better when you're hitting wedge shots so you can give it more spin."

The greater force of a driver, he said, will penetrate the outer core and compress the soft inner core. That reduces spin and creates greater distance.

"It morphs to the shot that you want," Ogg said, "yet retains all the distance of the previous Tour i golf balls." The Callaway Tour i(s) will be available in mid-January for about $43 per dozen. In the video below, Ogg talks more about the ball.

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(Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

Phil Mickelson's Presidents Cup Clubs

Here is a list of the clubs that Phil Mickelson is using at Harding Park Golf Club:

DRIVER: Callaway FT-9 (7.5°) Tour hosel with Mitsubishi Fubuki 73 X shaft
FAIRWAY WOOD:  Callaway Big Bertha Diablo (15°) with Mitsubishi Fubuki 73 X shaft
HYBRID: Callaway PM prototype (18°, 22°) with Mitsubishi Diamana Thump X shaft
IRONS: Callaway X Proto (5-PW) with Rifle Project X 7.0 shafts
WEDGES: Callaway X Tour Forged (56°, 60°, 64°) with Rifle Project X 7.0 shafts
PUTTER: Odyssey White Hot XG #9 PM Blade
BALL: Callaway Tour ix

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Phil Mickelson's Tour Championship Winning Clubs

A lot of golfers on the PGA Tour use custom-made clubs, but Phil Mickelson's 18° and 22° Callaway hybrids are truly unique.

When I asked him about the 18° in June prior to the start of the U.S. Open at Bethpage, he told me, "This is a special club I actually made, taking the back part of the hybrid out so that I can open it way up and get through that thick rough."

No other player on Tour has one, although a few Callaway staff players have tried one at the company's headquarters in Carlsbad, Calif.

But don't hold your breath hoping that Callaway is going to make a version of the club available anytime soon. Justin Timberlake, who is a paid member of the Callaway Golf staff, also tried a Mickelson-spec hybrid at the company's test center and loved it. After asking Callaway representatives if he could have it, he was politely told no.

Hey, if a guy who has dated Britney Spears and Cameron Diaz can't score one ...

Here is a list of the clubs that Mickelson used to win at East Lake:

DRIVER: Callaway FT-9 (7.5°) Tour hosel with Mitsubishi Fubuki 73 X shaft
FAIRWAY WOOD:  Callaway Big Bertha Diablo (15°) with Mitsubishi Fubuki 73 X shaft
HYBRID: Callaway PM prototype (18°, 22°) with Mitsubishi Diamana Thump X shaft
IRONS: Callaway X Proto (5-PW) with Rifle Project X 7.0 shafts
WEDGES: Callaway X Tour Forged (56°, 60°, 64°) with Rifle Project X 7.0 shafts
PUTTER: Odyssey White Hot XG #9 Blade
BALL: Callaway Tour ix

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(Photo by Chris Condon/Getty Images)

Callaway Releasing New X Series JAWS Wedges

Roger Cleveland, Callaway Golf's wedge designer, wants to put as much spin into your short game as possible.

To do that, Callaway is set to release the new X Series JAWS wedge in early November.

Like previous X Forged wedges, the JAWS models will feature Phil Mickelson-inspired Mac Daddy grooves, which Cleveland says are as large and sharp as USGA rules allow.

"The capacity of the grooves, the width, is the max," Cleveland said. That helps to wick away moisture and debris, which should help the groove edges bite into the ball more effectively for increased spin.

Professional golfers and elite amateurs who attempt to qualify for events like the U.S. Open will not be allowed to use wedges with Mac Daddy or other high-spin groove patterns starting on Jan. 1, 2010. Weekend players, however, can use wedges like the Callaway X Series JAWS until 2024, even during rounds played for handicap purposes.

The new JAWS wedges, like their predecessor X Forged wedges, come standard with a C grind along the sole. This means that some of the bounce (the flange that dips below the level of the leading edge) in the heel and toe areas has been removed to create a C-shape along the bottom of the club. This process makes it easier to open the face and use the clubs effectively from tight lies.

The new JAWS wedges will be available in both a chrome finish and a darker "vintage" tone that will naturally wear in spots where shots are often struck. The wedges will be available with steel shafts and 85- or 95-gram graphite wedge shafts made by Fujikura.

Below is a video of Cleveland talking about the new X Series JAWS wedges, which will retail for $119.

Acushnet wins new trial in Titleist ProV1 patent case

In a new development in the long-running patent dispute between Acushnet, the parent company of Titleist, and Callaway over the ProV1 golf ball, a court of appeals today granted Acushnet's request for a new trial. The press release from Acushnet is below: 

"Acushnet Company, the golf business of Fortune Brands, Inc. (NYSE: FO), announced that on August 14, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted the company’s request for a new trial and issued other favorable decisions in its patent dispute with Callaway Golf.

In its opinion, the Court of Appeals’ three-judge panel found that the inconsistent jury verdict holding one patent claim invalid and others not invalid was irreconcilable and could not stand. As a result, the Court of Appeals overturned the judgment and injunction entered by the District Court in November 2008 and sent the case back to that court for a new trial. The court also found that the trial court erred in rejecting an important Acushnet defense before the trial and in not allowing certain evidence supporting that defense. Acushnet now will be able to assert that defense and the supporting evidence, in addition to its other significant defenses, in a new trial before the District Court. The ruling also confirms that all Titleist Pro V1 products can be sold, bought and played with confidence and without any threat of disruption in service."

Read the complete release at titleist.com.

Mickelson Will Carry Custom Hybrid Again at Hazeltine

CHASKA, Minn. — Earlier this season, Phil Mickelson used a Callaway FT hybrid. But in the months leading up to the U.S. Open at Bethpage, Mickelson and the club makers at Callaway Golf created a very unique hybrid.

When I asked him about it in June, Mickelson said, "This is a special club I actually made, taking the back part of the hybrid out so that I can open it way up and get through that thick rough."

The photo on the right, taken during the U.S. Open, shows the club in detail.

Although the rough here at Hazeltine is not as deep—and certainly not wet like it was at Bethpage—Mickelson told me today that nothing has changed in his bag.

"This is the same setup I had at the U.S. Open, and that I've had most of the year" he said. "It is the same hybrid. I think that it has performed very well out of this rough, and I expect to able to recover because of that club."

He went on to say that when he misses fairways, he'll depend on the club to help him advance the ball.

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(Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

Phil Mickelson's clubs for 2009 U.S. Open

I had a chance to speak with Callaway Golf club designer Roger Cleveland in the company's massive tour truck this week. Cleveland mentioned that Phil Mickelson is using a new hybrid this week. Still in the prototype phase, the club was designed and conceived with significant input from Mickelson himself.

Mickelson has previously used a Callaway FT hybrid in some tournaments.

Cleveland would not go into detail about the club or specific technologies used in its creation, but Mickelson himself told reporters, "This is a special club I actually made, taking the back part of the hybrid out so that I can open it way up and get through that thick rough." (Click on the image for a better look at the club.)

Like all prototype clubs, there is no guarantee Phil's new hybrid will ever make it to the pro shop. Here is a complete list of the clubs he is using at Bethpage:

DRIVER: Callaway FT-9 (7.5°) Tour hosel with Mitsubishi Fubuki 73 X shaft
FAIRWAY WOOD:  Callaway Big Bertha Diablo (15°) with Mitsubishi Fubuki 83 X shaft
HYBRID: Callaway PM prototype (18°) with Mitsubishi Diamana Thump X shaft
IRONS: Callaway X Forged (3-4), Callaway X Proto (5-9) with Rifle Project X 7.0 shafts
WEDGES: Callaway X Tour Forged (56°, 60°, 64°) with Rifle Project X 7.0 shafts
PUTTER: Odyssey White Hot XG #9 Blade
BALL: Callaway Tour ix

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(Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

Update: Ernie Els Sticking with Traditional Driver at Bethpage

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Ernie Els experimented with a significantly-heavier shaft in his driver on Tuesday afternoon at Bethpage, but he has decided not to use it during play at the U.S. Open.

According to Callaway, the company that makes Els' FT-9 Tour Authentic driver, the two-time U.S. Open winner with use a 79 gram, 45 ½-inch Fujikura Speeder 757 shaft.

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