Welcome to Fully Fit 2026, GOLF’s new platform for providing you with real-golfer insights into what 2026 gear might be best suited for your game. To this end, we assembled six GOLF content creators of varying abilities and ran them through the gauntlet of six full-bag fittings (driver to putter!) at six major club manufacturers in Phoenix and Carlsbad, Calif. Our hope: that you might see shades of your own game in one of our panelists’ and take some learnings and inspiration from their fitting experiences. In this installment (below), Maddi MacClurg details the one club she can’t live without from Fully Fit 2026, her Vokey SM11 wedges. You may browse each of our panelists’ full 2026 dream bags here:
I’ve never been one to chase gains through endless equipment tweaks or obsess over specs. My instinct has always leaned on a familiar expression you’ve probably heard on the range or during a friendly match: a poor craftsman blames his tools.
More often than not, that philosophy worked for me — until one day, it didn’t.
I’ve always understood the importance of getting fit and playing equipment tailored to your game, yet I still assumed most of my shortcomings were purely skill-based—a gap I could close with enough reps.
That belief shifted during a wedge fitting at the Titleist Performance Institute. It wasn’t one club in particular that stood out to me. Rather, I was surprised by how much I’d been leaving on the table by relying on “off-the-rack” wedges. I’d been fit before for basics — shaft, length, loft, lie — but I hadn’t experienced a true wedge fitting. For me, the difference was significant.
After testing the full range of grinds in the SM11, I settled on an F-Grind for my 52-degree, a D-Grind for my 56, and an S-Grind for my 60. For context, I had previously played more standard, one-size-fits-all wedge grinds that weren’t truly matched to how I use each club around the green. With this change, the improvement was immediate — especially with spin and distance control, which had been a challenge for me.
Wedge breakdown
The first piece of my wedge setup felt comfortably familiar. My 52-degree — used primarily for full swings rather than touch shots — stayed in an F-grind, maintaining a sense of continuity. It’s one of the most predictable clubs in my bag, producing a consistent flight and dependable yardages without much need for manipulation. If anything, that reliability has become more noticeable. Time and again, it’s the club I lean on for short approach shots because it just does what I expect it to do.
Where things really started to shift was with the 56-degree D-grind, which brought a clear step forward in both versatility and forgiveness. The added bounce and sole relief made an immediate difference on softer lies and in the sand — especially compared to my previous, more standard grind setup. Just as important, I saw a noticeable increase in spin. Shots that once released unpredictably were now checking with intent, stopping quicker and doing so with more consistency, even from less-than-ideal lies.
Then came the 60-degree (S-grind), and with it, my short game really opened up. It’s quickly become the most versatile wedge in my bag. Designed for players who like to create shots from a variety of lies and conditions, the S-grind gave me the freedom to be more imaginative around the greens without sacrificing stability. Like my 56-degree, it also produced noticeably more spin, bringing a new level of predictability to both landing spots and rollout. I’m no longer choosing between creativity and control—now, the two work together. With this club in hand, I feel confident over every greenside shot, even under pressure.
What stood out most after putting these into play wasn’t just how each wedge performed on its own, but how naturally they began to work together. I still have a go-to club around the green, but now there’s a clear structure to the set.
With that structure came clarity. There’s less hesitation or second-guessing around the greens now—just a clear picture of the shot I want to hit. What I once saw as a purely skill-driven part of the game now feels like a blend of skill and setup, where the right tools don’t replace practice, but allow it to show up more reliably when it matters.
In the end, it’s not about chasing equipment for the sake of it. It’s about recognizing when the setup is starting to limit you and being willing to adjust.
