I finally got to play a toy that Frank built for me.

[jimbonecrusher]

For Christmas, my wife asked me what I wanted, and I told her a 50* wedge.  I started looking around and found that Frank of Ace of Clubs sells the 8620 Scratch wedge for $109 plus shipping.  I was sold, as I wanted to try a Scratch wedge.  I started talking with Frank and found out that they only make the 8620 in a 53*, but he could bend it to about 51*.  I figured that would be good for me to try out and see if it worked for my game.  So I had to wait a few days for Frank to get another shipment of 8620 heads, but after he got them it took him two days to get it in the mail for me.  He accommodated every request I had.  He was able to bend it flat by 1* and then bend it to 50.5*.  It measures 35", so it matches all of my wedges.  I received it about 10 days ago, and have had to wait to play it.  It was truly a work of art.  It is a brushed satin finish on it, the milling is amazing and very nice.  The milling is aggressive to say the least.  I can't wait to see how this wears, or doesn't wear.  I got to hit it on Friday during my lunch period, and it filled the gap between my PW, and my 54* perfectly.  I hit it about 125 yards, which is exactly where I needed it.  The milling on these 8620 heads is amazing.  I can't believe how much spin is puts on the ball.  On the range, it was spinning the range balls so hard, that my buddy thought I was hitting cracked range balls.  I finally got to put the wedge into play today.  I started using it on pitch and run shots, as the ball hits and checks up really well, but I like it better than my 54* or 58* for these shots.  Today was a rough day to play as we got over 2" of rain in 24 hours on my course.  The greens were like walking on a sponge.  So I got to hit one full shot from 123 yards up hill (lasered).  I landed the ball dead on line and about 3 feet short of the holle.  It then ended up spinning back over 20 feet.  I was expecting to come up to a ball that was missing half of its dimples, but surprisingly there was not really any damage but just a slight scuff.  I was able to play the ball for the last 7 holes.  I am going to play this wedge for a while longer and see if I want to order a 54* and a 58* to replace the Callaway X-forged that I currently play.  If I do order them, I will definitely give Frank a call.  The quality of work is top knotch and unbeatable.

Frank, thanks for a top quality club.

[mr_divots]

Frank's always great to do business with. If Scratch gets a 50º in the 8620 lineup, they WILL be mine. 
rlheiman's looked great when he had them in the bag. That milling on them is impressive. (Although confusing that they wouldn't offer it on their "top of the line" Tour wedges.)

[jimbonecrusher]

Frank's always great to do business with. If Scratch gets a 50º in the 8620 lineup, they WILL be mine. 
rlheiman's looked great when he had them in the bag. That milling on them is impressive. (Although confusing that they wouldn't offer it on their "top of the line" Tour wedges.)

I wonder if the tour wedges with milling will start to show up, or if they aren't on there because they will wear too quickly with the soft forged metal.

[mr_divots]

I wonder if the tour wedges with milling will start to show up, or if they aren't on there because they will wear too quickly with the soft forged metal.

I think the metal they use for the Tour wedges is almost too soft to mill like the 8620's. Mine had pebble marks from a few swipes from the practice bunker at my home course that were denting/damaging the grooves. They were literally too soft. The 8620's are much more appealing to me, -especially their reasonable price.

[bcheeks]

Sounds like you found a keeper Jim!  How about some pics?   

[jimbonecrusher]

Sounds like you found a keeper Jim!  How about some pics?   

I will take some and post them up tomorrow.  Gotta make sure it is clean and shines real purty.

[drewspin]

Nice review, Jim!

[mainuh]

I started looking around and found that Frank of Ace of Clubs sells the 8620 Scratch wedge for $109 plus shipping. I was sold, as I wanted to try a Scratch wedge.

Jim, like you, at the moment I have one Scratch wedge - JLM-TNC 60°. I could not be happier.

IMO this is one of those companies that gathers much buzz about their product and unlike other companies/products that are the "club du jour", they actually live up to the various forums praise.

Last season I had a brain fade and left my wedge at a course that day about 50 miles from my house. I called the Pro Shop to give them the heads up to keep an eye out for it. Their first response was - ouch, Scratch makes a great wedge and lets hope that the person who picked it up isn't aware of them. Sometimes stuff doesn't make it back as the person knows the quality and decides to keep it.
Now thats interesting to me as for the most part these guys have OEM tunnelvision when it comes to whats in their bags.
My phone rang about an hour later - we got it. 

This upcoming season I'm looking foward to switching out one of my other wedges for a Scratch - just have to think about which one I pull out more often.

rob

ps - Leave it to Frank to tweak the club to your preference and have it work perfectly.

[jimbonecrusher]

I am very satisfied with both my Scratch wedge, and the work that Frank does.  In fact, I will be sending him the new irons that I just got, to have him bend them a few degrees.  I also plan on making an order later this year for matching 54* and 58* wedges.  I am so impressed with attention to detail, and the quality of the products that he uses, that I am going to bag 3 Scratch wedges this year.  Since they are cast, I don't see them wearing too fast, or no producing enough spin. 

I will add one more bit of advice.  Frank suggested that I use the Dynamic Gold Tour Issue shaft.  Even at the upcharge that it is, I am glad that I went with it.  I can definitely feel a huge difference from the DG shafted Callaway X Forged that I use now.  The extra weight and stiffer shaft make a huge difference to me.

It is funny how many people get OEM tunnel vision.  Some friends looked at it, and were thinking that it was some cheap Golfsmith component.  I told them a bit of history about the Company and they were interested.  Then they were impressed with the clubs performance.  They originally laughed when they saw that I had a 53* and 54* in the bag.  I had to explain that the Scratch was bent to 50.5* to fill the gap between my 47* PW and my 54*.

[mr_divots]

Are those the X7 Dynamic Golds that are heavier/stiffer? I was under the impression the DG Tour issues were just weight sorted and otherwise identical (aside from the silkscreened logo) to a "normal" DG shaft??

[jimbonecrusher]

Are those the X7 Dynamic Golds that are heavier/stiffer? I was under the impression the DG Tour issues were just weight sorted and otherwise identical (aside from the silkscreened logo) to a "normal" DG shaft??

I don't know which one it is.  It has a sticker on the shaft that says Dynamic Gold, and then on that sticker that is similar in size to a Project X sticker, it says Tour Issue.  I will take a picture of it and post it tonight.

[rockford35]

I don't know which one it is.  It has a sticker on the shaft that says Dynamic Gold, and then on that sticker that is similar in size to a Project X sticker, it says Tour Issue.  I will take a picture of it and post it tonight.

I think Frank has a pic of them up on the AofCTP site...

http://www.aceofclubstp.com/Featured/

About 2/3 of a way down, left hand side.

No?

R35

[mr_divots]

I don't know which one it is.  It has a sticker on the shaft that says Dynamic Gold, and then on that sticker that is similar in size to a Project X sticker, it says Tour Issue.  I will take a picture of it and post it tonight.

Yeah, that sounds like the Tour Issue DG's which I believe are the same weight as the "nomal" DG X100's @ 130 grams.
(True Temper/Grafalloy sites are down for maintenance, apparently, so I wasn't able to look up the specs on the Tour Issues, but I'm almost positive they are the same weight.)

[jimbonecrusher]

Here you go.  Sorry for the delay.