Bob Vokey Tour Experience

[ajlacombe]

I had the Bob Vokey Tour Experience in May of 2025 and waited until now to post this so that I could test out my clubs once I got them. 

The anticipation of this trip was intense.  I was really looking forward to it and I had a lot of nerves heading in and during the initial discussion with Bob.. The drive in is past a security gate and you know you are going into a secluded place that is in the middle of an industrial park type area, but once you are inside you can not see any part of the surrounding area because of the landscaping.

 

I sat down inside with Bob and Brandon Rheault to talk about what we were going to do during the fitting. Brandon measured the irons that I brought with me (9-P-G-54-60) while Bob and I were chatting.

 

After the discussion we hopped in a big golf cart and headed out to the back right of the property near a large green.
 

To warm up they had me start hitting some chip shots to a green to just ease the nerves. After some chipping, we moved on to full shots to start to get an idea on club distances, general shot shape, and strike.

 

I am an engineer and was really getting into the process of this fitting since it was far more detailed than anything I had ever done in the past.. 

 

The initial idea was to link the new wedges in with my irons. My current set ended in a 48º gap wedge but I also have a 48º Vokey. Do we link starting with gap wedge? 

 

I brought 54º and 60º Vokeys. The gap to the 48º was too big for scoring clubs. The set 48º is 5ish yards longer than the 48º Vokey for me.

 

As we worked Brandon and Bob were feeling like the gaping would not work without another wedge added to the set.

 

I said I carry a 4h and a 7w that are essentially duplicates for me and I could drop one.

 

Bob then suggested we lean towards 46 50 54 58 Vokeys.

 

This group resulted in great gaping. Bob also questioned my ½” over standard and my 1º flat lie. They played with it all and shortened me to ¼” over standard and standard lie.

 

Shortening the length made the lie slightly flatter and changing to standard lie angle in the clubhead compensated for this. The end result was to reduce my pronounced draw to a very slight draw and great contact

 

I play the tensei blue 75 stiff shaft and have done so for a while. My bell striking has gone down over the last two years with these shafts especially in the longer irons. I mentioned that these shafts do not allow me to feel the club. When I can not feel the club I can get quick at times.

 

Bob was working me back to steel. In my last wedge fitting I was hitting steel shafts since they did not have the  tensei shafts. I liked the feel a lot and was wondering if the fitter was going to suggest steel but he did not

 

Bob could see steel was the way to go. We tried a bunch of shafts and ended up with the Nippon 850 GH in R flex. I have the Tensei in an S. 

 

This shaft was super stable for me and I can really feel it. For the most part I can can swing easy and have plenty left to put more into a shot I use the shaft to do more of the work and have a more consistent swing.

 

Bob was worried about insulting me with the R flex and I said I would far prefer better ball striking and do not care how I get there.

 

The shaft change was causing an immediate question in my mind. Can I swing the steel shafts in my wedges and transition into the irons with graphite due to the feel issue and the, feeling so different.  As I went between the steel in the wedges to my irons with the graphite, the answer was a clear no.

 

That question popped into my head far too often during the fitting leading to some bad shots including a couple hosel rockets - resulting in lots of good jokes from Bob.

 

Next up was moving to my problem shots and shots I needed to hit.

 

Tight lies and downhill shots were on the tough shots list then partial shots were the need to hit shots.

 

I hit tons of shots from so many lies and distances while we were narrowing down the shaft and head specs - bounce and grind

It was amazing how the club changes made it easier or harder to cleanly strike shots from different situations. The choices were whittled down as we went and the question after each shot was to rank the remaining clubs until we got down to 2 and an eventual winner for each wedge. 

 

There were times when Bob gave me a small suggestion on a setup change and bingo I would hit one tight. His insight is incredible.

 

Let me just say this fitting was unreal. I have had many many fittings over the years but nothing in the same ballpark as this one.

 

During the Vokey Tour fitting experience if someone holes a shot Bob signs the ball and gives it to the player. Apparently they had been stuck on 89 for a while

 

I am hitting a shot from a greenside bunker and I hit a nice one. Branden said there’s 90. It went in and he got the ball for Bob to sign for me when we were done

 

Early on I almost jarred one on the fly so this was very cool to actually hole one.

 

They had me hitting shots over a bunker to a tight pin with the lob wedge. I could tell they were trying 58 and 60 deg as well as bounce and grind.

 

Once we had some candidates. They said what are hard lob shots that I hit. I said a tight lie on a downhill from 15ish yards.

 

We moved to a sidehill/downhill shot next to a green from incredibly tight grass from about 15-20 yards.

 

This was a tough shot. Bob gave me some more tips and I holed another one. They jokingly asked how did that feel?

 

The 58 was the right way to go. I can open it up but doubt there will be many full shots with it. In general I do not hit  the lob full because of potential 150 yard shots with it 🙂 Bob advocates not hitting the lob full.

 

The wedge heads I ended up with are:

 

46.10 F
50.12 F
54.14F with heel relief and trailing edge relief
58.06 K*

 

All of them are Raw with a Tour Grind (smooth everything out).

 

We went back inside to finalize everything and choose wedge customization.

 

Then I was thinking I could change the shafts in my T150 black irons from the Tensei to the Nippon. I could get the shafts and swap them but then I lose my current gamers.

 

I asked them if they still had the black heads. A guy in the conference room checked right then and said yes they could make me a set. Then they brought in Lucas Bro and he was talking with Branden about whether to strengthen the pitching wedge 2 deg or weaken the 9. He said weakening the 9 would make the bounce similar to the Vokey wedges.

 

Ok let’s do it but this caused another issue my 6i becomes a 6.5 iron and creates a gap to my 5 hybrid. The 5 hybrid is a touch longer than a normal 5i for me so adding a 5.5 (2 deg weak) 5 iron was the choice. They told me to contact them if there are any issues and they would work with me. Everyone I dealt with on this day was incredibly helpful and super nice.

 

Now when you do the Vokey Tour Fitting Experience your order is moved to the front of the line like a tour player.

 

My iron order was completed and shipped in 2 days and the wedges took a few weeks. I also ordered backups of the 54 and 58 so I do not worry about practicing as much as I do.

 

This was an amazing experience. I can not express how thrilling of a bucket list item this was for me. I got pictures with Bob and Bob and Branden at the end. Bob signed the hole out balls and a flag. They also sent me a few Vokey items once I got home.

 

I have all my clubs at this point and am working on getting rid of years of swinging a less agreeable iron.

 

If you can do this and are on the fence my words of advice are - Do It! I will never forget this and I am thrilled that I decided to do it.

 

 

[born4golf77]

Wonderful review. Sounds like you had an amzy experience

[hammergolf]

2 hours ago, ajlacombe said:

I had the Bob Vokey Tour Experience in May of 2025 and waited until now to post this so that I could test out my clubs once I got them. 

The anticipation of this trip was intense.  I was really looking forward to it and I had a lot of nerves heading in and during the initial discussion with Bob.. The drive in is past a security gate and you know you are going into a secluded place that is in the middle of an industrial park type area, but once you are inside you can not see any part of the surrounding area because of the landscaping.

 

I sat down inside with Bob and Brandon Rheault to talk about what we were going to do during the fitting. Brandon measured the irons that I brought with me (9-P-G-54-60) while Bob and I were chatting.

 

After the discussion we hopped in a big golf cart and headed out to the back right of the property near a large green.
 

To warm up they had me start hitting some chip shots to a green to just ease the nerves. After some chipping, we moved on to full shots to start to get an idea on club distances, general shot shape, and strike.

 

I am an engineer and was really getting into the process of this fitting since it was far more detailed than anything I had ever done in the past.. 

 

The initial idea was to link the new wedges in with my irons. My current set ended in a 48º gap wedge but I also have a 48º Vokey. Do we link starting with gap wedge? 

 

I brought 54º and 60º Vokeys. The gap to the 48º was too big for scoring clubs. The set 48º is 5ish yards longer than the 48º Vokey for me.

 

As we worked Brandon and Bob were feeling like the gaping would not work without another wedge added to the set.

 

I said I carry a 4h and a 7w that are essentially duplicates for me and I could drop one.

 

Bob then suggested we lean towards 46 50 54 58 Vokeys.

 

This group resulted in great gaping. Bob also questioned my ½” over standard and my 1º flat lie. They played with it all and shortened me to ¼” over standard and standard lie.

 

Shortening the length made the lie slightly flatter and changing to standard lie angle in the clubhead compensated for this. The end result was to reduce my pronounced draw to a very slight draw and great contact

 

I play the tensei blue 75 stiff shaft and have done so for a while. My bell striking has gone down over the last two years with these shafts especially in the longer irons. I mentioned that these shafts do not allow me to feel the club. When I can not feel the club I can get quick at times.

 

Bob was working me back to steel. In my last wedge fitting I was hitting steel shafts since they did not have the  tensei shafts. I liked the feel a lot and was wondering if the fitter was going to suggest steel but he did not

 

Bob could see steel was the way to go. We tried a bunch of shafts and ended up with the Nippon 850 GH in R flex. I have the Tensei in an S. 

 

This shaft was super stable for me and I can really feel it. For the most part I can can swing easy and have plenty left to put more into a shot I use the shaft to do more of the work and have a more consistent swing.

 

Bob was worried about insulting me with the R flex and I said I would far prefer better ball striking and do not care how I get there.

 

The shaft change was causing an immediate question in my mind. Can I swing the steel shafts in my wedges and transition into the irons with graphite due to the feel issue and the, feeling so different.  As I went between the steel in the wedges to my irons with the graphite, the answer was a clear no.

 

That question popped into my head far too often during the fitting leading to some bad shots including a couple hosel rockets - resulting in lots of good jokes from Bob.

 

Next up was moving to my problem shots and shots I needed to hit.

 

Tight lies and downhill shots were on the tough shots list then partial shots were the need to hit shots.

 

I hit tons of shots from so many lies and distances while we were narrowing down the shaft and head specs - bounce and grind

It was amazing how the club changes made it easier or harder to cleanly strike shots from different situations. The choices were whittled down as we went and the question after each shot was to rank the remaining clubs until we got down to 2 and an eventual winner for each wedge. 

 

There were times when Bob gave me a small suggestion on a setup change and bingo I would hit one tight. His insight is incredible.

 

Let me just say this fitting was unreal. I have had many many fittings over the years but nothing in the same ballpark as this one.

 

During the Vokey Tour fitting experience if someone holes a shot Bob signs the ball and gives it to the player. Apparently they had been stuck on 89 for a while

 

I am hitting a shot from a greenside bunker and I hit a nice one. Branden said there’s 90. It went in and he got the ball for Bob to sign for me when we were done

 

Early on I almost jarred one on the fly so this was very cool to actually hole one.

 

They had me hitting shots over a bunker to a tight pin with the lob wedge. I could tell they were trying 58 and 60 deg as well as bounce and grind.

 

Once we had some candidates. They said what are hard lob shots that I hit. I said a tight lie on a downhill from 15ish yards.

 

We moved to a sidehill/downhill shot next to a green from incredibly tight grass from about 15-20 yards.

 

This was a tough shot. Bob gave me some more tips and I holed another one. They jokingly asked how did that feel?

 

The 58 was the right way to go. I can open it up but doubt there will be many full shots with it. In general I do not hit  the lob full because of potential 150 yard shots with it 🙂 Bob advocates not hitting the lob full.

 

The wedge heads I ended up with are:

 

46.10 F
50.12 F
54.14F with heel relief and trailing edge relief
58.06 K*

 

All of them are Raw with a Tour Grind (smooth everything out).

 

We went back inside to finalize everything and choose wedge customization.

 

Then I was thinking I could change the shafts in my T150 black irons from the Tensei to the Nippon. I could get the shafts and swap them but then I lose my current gamers.

 

I asked them if they still had the black heads. A guy in the conference room checked right then and said yes they could make me a set. Then they brought in Lucas Bro and he was talking with Branden about whether to strengthen the pitching wedge 2 deg or weaken the 9. He said weakening the 9 would make the bounce similar to the Vokey wedges.

 

Ok let’s do it but this caused another issue my 6i becomes a 6.5 iron and creates a gap to my 5 hybrid. The 5 hybrid is a touch longer than a normal 5i for me so adding a 5.5 (2 deg weak) 5 iron was the choice. They told me to contact them if there are any issues and they would work with me. Everyone I dealt with on this day was incredibly helpful and super nice.

 

Now when you do the Vokey Tour Fitting Experience your order is moved to the front of the line like a tour player.

 

My iron order was completed and shipped in 2 days and the wedges took a few weeks. I also ordered backups of the 54 and 58 so I do not worry about practicing as much as I do.

 

This was an amazing experience. I can not express how thrilling of a bucket list item this was for me. I got pictures with Bob and Bob and Branden at the end. Bob signed the hole out balls and a flag. They also sent me a few Vokey items once I got home.

 

I have all my clubs at this point and am working on getting rid of years of swinging a less agreeable iron.

 

If you can do this and are on the fence my words of advice are - Do It! I will never forget this and I am thrilled that I decided to do it.

 

 

REALLY cool experience. Thx for sharing!

[glowchoy]

Thanks for sharing this!  Love hearing about these experiences.

[Arlin964]

I love reading about good fittings. Thanks for sharing!

 

Im headed to TPI in September to try the new irons. I’m trying to decide if I want to do the wedge portion again. Who am I kidding, I probably will lol. 

[ajlacombe]

2 minutes ago, Arlin964 said:

I love reading about good fittings. Thanks for sharing!

 

Im headed to TPI in September to try the new irons. I’m trying to decide if I want to do the wedge portion again. Who am I kidding, I probably will lol. 

 

Haha - love that 🙂  They are first class all the way, I am sure it will be a blast. 

[DooZ]

How do you set this up with Vokey....sounds awesome

[ajlacombe]

20 minutes ago, DooZ said:

How do you set this up with Vokey....sounds awesome

 

Go to their website at vokey.com, and under Fitting, there is a selection for BV Tour Experience.

 

You can call them to see when it will be offered again if there are no current slots.

 

Good luck!