Equipment

Callaway Mack Daddy 4 wedges boost spin not with one or two more grooves, but a total of 84

January 09, 2018
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The Callaway Mack Daddy 4 wedges make the case that more grooves milled into the face not only yield more spin, but more consistent spin. How many grooves? Well, instead of the typical 16, the Mack Daddy 4 wedges have what amounts to 84 grooves.

Obviously, that’s overstating the case, but perhaps not entirely. Thanks to a new process for milling a specific surface roughness pattern on the flat area between each groove, the Mack Daddy 4 wedges have more spin and twice the spin consistency on shots from the rough compared to prior wedges, according to Alan Hocknell, Callaway’s senior vice president for research and development.

“We came up with an entirely different philosophy for creating grooves and texture within the grooves,” he said. “These are essentially serrations creating more friction with the ball.”

Hocknell said what’s unique about the surface roughness between the grooves is the way they get there in the first place. Instead of using a laser milling process to produce micro-grooves in between the full grooves after the full grooves have been cut, Callaway manufactures the face by using one milling tool to cut the tiny rows of micro-grooves into the face than uses another cutter to drop the main grooves deeper into the face. The result is what Callaway is calling a “micro-positive” feature elevated above the flat areas between grooves. The end result, according to the company, is 84 combined grooves and micro-grooves.

Hocknell said the refinements in the manufacturing process of the micro-positive face features were at the level of one-thousandth of an inch. For perspective, that's about one-third the thickness of a human hair.

“Consistency was noticeable but total spin was noticeable as well, especially from the rough and wet conditions,” he said.

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The Mack Daddy 4 also features a new main groove pattern that features a 20-degree sidewall in the low lofts and a steeper five-degree sidewall in the higher lofts. Also, there’s an extra half-groove near the leading edge that was developed through tour input. That groove is designed to improve spin on short shots, especially from tight lies and impacts low on the face.

The new shaping on the Mack Daddy 4 features a slightly smaller overall shape and a slightly straighter leading edge compared to the MD3. The Mack Daddy 4 is the result of the most tour testing of a wedge design in company history and will feature four sole grinds. Those include the traditional C (more heel relief), S (moderate heel relief), and W (wide sole) grinds, along with a new X Grind, which features a narrow, high-bounce crescent sole aimed at moderate to steep attack angles and medium to soft course conditions.

The Mack Daddy 4 wedges will be available in 21 loft-bounce combinations, ranging from 46 to 64 degrees. There are two finishes (platinum chrome and matte black). The wedges will be available for pre-order January 12 and in stores January 26 ($150).