I recently purchased Scratch’s JLM 53* and 58* wedges. The JLM is the Off-The-Rack model that Ari and Jeff @ Scratch have come up with. I was lucky to get a pre-release set from Chris at TourSpecGolf. First of all, I have to thanks Chris for his excellent service. He truly understands customer service and stands behind everything he sells (plus has an awesome website). I won’t hesitate to buy Japanese market equipment from him again in the future.

Look:
These are great looking wedges. They have a slightly squarish shape (particularly the 58*), which works for me since I’ve never liked round shaped wedges. Mine are finished in Satin Chrome that matches the finish of my Bridgestone Blades. I have the high bounce models (53/8 & 58/14), but Scratch offers both high and low bounce models. The 53* Grind has Rolled Leading Edge, Little-No Camber, Little Trailing Edge and Heel Relief. The 58* Grind has Rolled Leading Edge, Little-No Camber, some Trailing Edge and a good bit of Heel Relief.

Feel:
These baby’s are soft, just as you would expect from 1018 carbon steel forged wedges! I typically play forged carbon steel wedges (Mizuno, Nike, original Snake Eyes (mid-90’s…) and these feel quite similar to the Nike’s that they’re replacing. They came with DG-S200 shafts which flex more than I typically prefer in wedges. Despite the soft shafts, I really do like the feel, both on full and partial shots and also around the greens. Consistent is the best way to describe the feel, solid and soft on all shots with no real hot or cold spots.

Performance:
So far both the 53* and 58* have been excellent, quite easy to hit a variety of shots with. From the fairway I’ve been able to hit high and low shots, spinners and floaters, slight draws and fades. Around the greens is where the soft, solid feel really shines (as well as the overall wedge design) – whether is a low spinner and high lob. I’ve really like heel relief of the 58* to lay the face open for flops, while still having some of that 14* of bounce available. In the sand (I play mostly from softer, tour-quality bunkers) the 58* works great, particularly on high, soft shots. The 53* has just the right bounce for effective longer bunker shots.

It’s great that Scratch Golf is now offering Off-The-Rack wedges now. I definitely think Ari has a winner here. While I was ready to pull the trigger on custom wedges from Scratch, with the JLM’s I didn’t need to.

Great review Hawk :tsg_smilie_cool:

Clearly, I'm with you. My Scratch wedges give me nothing but confidence & Ari and his team put wood on the ball when it comes to design and feel.

SFGOLFER,

How do you like that UST Frequency Filtered shaft in your putter? I was thinking about reshafting one of my TP Mills handmades with one, but concerned about pulling a Mills' pencil thin shaft for something unknown.

Ari i know these jlm wedges are off the rack, however can you engrave initials etc on them???

That is not a problem. :tsg_smilie_cool:

This post has been edited by FairwayFred: Dec 5 2005, 09:28 AM

PM sent!

Cool ari, il shout you a pm now. i sent you an email yesterday but not sure if you got it or not???

Id love to know what you think of it too. :tsg_smilie_cool:



Email answered!

Here are a couple pics of the prototypes.

very cool ari......what sort of grind is on this wedge?

also i wanted to ask you......ath the moment in ireland the ground is very wet and it means that if i dont catch the back of the ball first the result is a chunk or a stab......ie hitting the ground ever so slightly before the ball and the club sticks! what sort of grind would help with this?

also in the summer in ireland the ground is nearlly the opposite lol, so is there a combo that could work for both conditions or would i need to separate sets of wedges, one for each time of the year?

That is what we call the SLT grind it is the Digger high loft grind. It has high bounce and alot of relief which makes it incredibly versatile for all shots around the green. This would be a very good grind for you right now in the softer winter.

Oregon is the same as Ireland soft and mushy in the winter and rock hard in the summer. To be honest you really need 2 sets of wedges if you want to be able to play with complete efficency. There is no way to build you one wedge that will work great in both conditions unfortunetly.

Not even the great scratch can do it! im sure you will work it out someday lol!

hook up with me on email ari, lets dance! (IMG:http://www.tourspecgolf.com/forum/style_emoticons/TSG_Smileys/tsg_smiley_hula.gif)

ive been wanting a scratch wedge for sometime. maybe ill have to invest in the new jlm series. everyone seems to like them.,