Stephen,

My SM7's are approaching their 4th season and due for an upgrade. While at St Ives in October I tried the SM8's and the differences in flight and feel were apparent to me. Obviously spin rates were up over the 7's due to wear and the carry distances were also slightly up.

Fitter said that same specs for bounce and grind were good as I hadn't changed course or my angle of attack. Only variable might have been the gapping to my wedge but that would only be a degree or possibly 2 in loft.

If you can hang on and get a fitting I would recommend it as there are so many combinations of bounce and grind getting the right ones can make a significant improvements on your short game.

Sorry can't help with the black finish

Ant

Stephen,
The wedge options available have increased significantly since SM4 - There are loads more bounce and grind options now, so you are missing an opportunity if you don't get fitted. It's a great experience - how often do you get the full, undivided attention of an enthusiastic pro (with all the modern equipment) to guide your decision?

Don't know about the jet blacks - I have the Brushed Steels and love them to bits, though they have worn a little around the face. I'll guess someone on the forum will have them and will let you know.
JT

Thanks both, I’ll definitely hold out for a fitting when the new “normal” is in full swing (no pun intended).

Stephen

As the guys before said, I would wait for a fit if you can. I ended up with a different shaft (same as irons) in the 50 than in 54 and 60 which i would not have guess (full shots vs mainly partial). There are so great new grinds out so it you can wait it would be worth it.

I have always played the Jet black finsh and it has improved since SM5. They do mark up over time (especially from bunker play) but this dulls the finish which i quite like. The Black vokey wedges are 100 times better than the PVD finish applied to the limited edition T100/T200 and AP2's before - that used to wear down straight away.

I would definitely recommend a fitting if possible. I tend to impart too much spin on my wedges but not in a good way as I tend to flick my wrists a bit just before impact - a slow motion camera really highlighted this.

For my SM8 - by changing the bounce the fitter was able to reduce this a fair amount.

In terms of the black finish - I had the SM7 black and would say the wear is not excessive, although you should expect your bunker club to wear a bit quicker. I actually think they look great with a bit of wear.

I have attached a pic of my SM7 lob wedge which I got pretty much when they were first released.

I would deffo go get fitted, and at least you can get them gapped into your set of irons you game. You dont want to see a big gap or no difference going from your irons to your wedges

As with all clubs, I think that a proper fitting is 100% worth it.
Not only will it help with the usual factors like shaft, grip, lie angles etc it will also ensure a seamless progression down from your irons. So you’ll be able to determine how many wedges suit your game and if that fits in with your whole bag. Then you’ll hit a variety of shots to work out the best bounce option for each wedge.
I’ve had a black finish wedge in the past and the finish did wear a fair bit. That was some time ago though, so durability may well have been improved.

Thanks chaps!

Roll on spring when fitting centres can reopen (hopefully...!)

@James, thanks for attaching the pics. They certainly haven’t worn as much as I would’ve thought

to echo others - definitely worth a fitting, but not just for full shots though, that's important for gapping and stock yardages, but the real joy is in chips and pitches. If you go to St Ives it'll be worth spending some time with different loft / bounce combinations at the chipping green too, for me this is where the fine tuning really matters, not so much in terms of shaft or even length, but loft / lie / bounce can massively change the characteristics and playability.