By now we’re quite sure you’ve seen the new Vice Golf irons and wedges (and putters).
This is unless you live in a cave or have somehow managed to navigate the worldwide web without accidentally stumbling upon Facebook, Instagram or the short-form social media site formerly known as Twitter.
The direct-to-consumer golf ball company based in Munich, Germany, is officially joining the ranks of DTC club sellers. Vice’s new irons, wedges and putters are creating some buzz on the interweb, but they’re shrouded in a heapin’ helpin’ of mystery. We haven’t received our samples yet but, like you, we’re quite anxious to see what the company has come up with.
We have many questions about the new Vice clubs. Are they any good? Are they priced reasonably? Do they perform? But maybe the most important questions are why would Vice choose to enter the equipment end of the game and how do they plan to differentiate?
We’ll give them a good going-over once the samples come in. And if you head over to the MyGolfSpy Forum, you can enter for a chance to be an official MyGolfSpy tester. But, for now, let’s focus on just what these irons are, how they came to be and why Vice thinks its equipment is ready for “prime time.”
Vice Golf Irons and Wedges: Why?
Why does Vice want to sell golf clubs? Maybe more importantly, why does it think it can be successful?
It can all be traced to Vice’s 2023 merger with HIO, continental Europe’s largest independent club fitters. HIO has 15 years of fitting data in its databases including impact, launch, ball speed and biomechanical information. Vice has used that data to design its 2024 line of golf balls. Now it’s leveraging the info to create irons for us “regular golfers.”
“Vice is known for its creativity,” says Marco Burger, Vice’s Chief Product Officer. “We’re known as being very ‘cool’ on the design side and being disruptive. (The HIO merger) was an obvious opportunity for us to go into this new direction.”
Vice Golf earned its stripes as one of the original DTC golf ball brands. It has hardcore fans and the company thinks those fans are ready for the clubs it has to offer.
“Golfers in the 10 to 25 handicap range, which is the largest target group, many of them are looking for cool looking golf clubs,” says Burger. “If you can say, ‘Here’s a cool-looking club that you can really play and get maximum performance from, that’s a best-case scenario.”
15 Years of Data
Do not make the mistake of dismissing the new Vice irons and wedges as mere “open models.” They’re not. Burger’s seven-person team of engineers and designers worked on the project. The merger with HIO was clearly the driving force behind the new Vice clubs.
“They have launch monitor data and human body data,” explains Burger. “We know what kind of player and what kind of body and we know their technique. We even know what kind of ball was hit and what the outcome was. And we also know what the final club recommendation was.”
After sifting through all that data, Vice developed two distinct iron lines designed for golfers who already appreciate the Vice vibe.
“We think we know those golfers very well,” insists Burger. “We know what makes golf easier for them.
Specifically, they know from their data that a bigger sweet spot is a huge advantage but that’s no big surprise. Perhaps the most noteworthy design feature in both of Vice’s new iron sets is a comparatively lighter overall head weight compared to what you’d expect in a game-improvement or a player’s distance iron.
“We found there are way more people who feel comfortable with a lighter head,” Burger says. “They find it easier to get up in the air, they can close the club face more easily and they can accelerate better.
“For a better player or a Tour player, this might not be a benefit. But we are talking about golfers who might need a little more help on the course.”
Blinded By The Light(ness)
While not XXIO Prime levels of light, Vice Golf irons are relatively lighter. The Vice VG101, a two-piece forged player’s distance iron, features head weights ranging from 241 grams to 286 grams (4-PW). Most OEMs don’t publish head weight but we can confirm the VG101 heads are five to seven grams lighter than the Sub 70 699 V2 Pro heads.
The VG101 is a hollow-body iron. Vice touts the head as being “lighter” without being specific but the iron head does carry all the hallmarks of the player’s distance category: a thin, forged 455 carpenter steel cup face with mass concentrated low and right behind the hitting area. The look gives the VG101 a bit of a muscle-back blade vibe.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Vice Golf product with a dash of color. You can choose either a black, blue, lime, red or white accent. But there is a method behind the chromaticity.
“We put the paint on there for design,” says Burger. “But from a performance aspect, we use it to separate the upper part of the iron from the lower part where we have way more material to get the mass low. It’s what we call an Aston Martin backlight.”
The loft structure on the Vice Golf CG101 is consistent with others in the player’s distance category, if not a tad on the weak side. The irons do feature what Vice calls a “mini grind” behind the leading edge, effectively creating a V-Sole, similar to what you’ll find on a Srixon or Cleveland iron. Our experience with those irons confirms their turf interaction effectiveness. Shots you’d swear you hit fat lose little distance, if any.
The Vice Golf VG102: Game-Improvement Lightness
The Vice Golf VG 102 sits clearly in the game-improvement iron category. It’s a two-piece cast iron but the most noticeable design element is its graphics. The VG102 is a nice-looking stick – no one would dare call it a “shovel” – but what jumps out is the topographical doodads on the upper portion of the back. It’s Vice doing Vice things.
Again, the light-headedness is relative. The VG102 heads (5-PW) are five to seven grams lighter than the standard Sub 70 899 V2 irons but there’s noticeably less offset than you’d expect in a game-improvement iron. That, plus extra mass in the heel to promote face closing, is designed to reduce the right miss.
“It’s a bigger iron (than the VG101) so it’s easier to get mass low because it has a bigger head and a bigger sole,” says Burger. “If you’re making a club for distance, it’s important to still achieve proper launch and peak height, especially at lower lofts.”
With that wider sole comes significantly more bounce than you’ll find on the VG101. This is another area where Vice is leveraging HIO’s 15 years of club-fitting data.
The loft structure is in line with the game-improvement category but not crazily so with a 29-degree 7-iron. Like the VG101, it’s a two-piece, hollow-body iron, although it’s cast rather than forged.
“There’s no disadvantage to casting a club compared to forging a club,” Burger explains. “Casting does have advantages when it comes to details and production.”
The Vice VG102 irons are available in four color accents: Black, Lime, Purple and White.
Vice Golf VGW01 Forged Wedges
In many ways, wedges are an easy reach for a fledgling equipment company. Blade-type wedges are relatively low-tech, with the major differentiators being grinds, bounce and groove technology.
Vice is keeping it simple with its new VGW01 forged wedges. You get three lofts (50, 56 and 60 degrees) and you can get any bounce you want, as long as it’s 10 degrees on the 50, 13 on the 56 and eight on the 60.
The grinds on the three wedges are somewhat progressive and logical. The 50 features standard toe and heel relief, as it will most likely be used for full shots. The 56 features more toe and heel relief for open-face shots around the green and in bunkers. The 60 has the most toe and heel relief to provide the most versatility.
Vice is giving you full-face grooves on each VGW101 wedge because, well, why not? They’re also available in five color accents: Black, White, Blue, Red and White.
Vice Shafts: Gee-Whiz…
Vice is offering a limited shaft menu for its new irons and wedges. Specifically, they’re proprietary shafts made for Vice by True Temper and Mitsubishi, and they’re called “Whiz.”
And the “Gee-Whiz” factor? Vice is prioritizing weight over flex.
“The No. 1 shaft thing a normal golfer can feel is weight,” says Burger. “After that comes stiffness. Most golfers can feel a 10-gram difference in weight between shafts. But to feel a stiffness difference in a blind test can be difficult.”
As we all should know, there is no industry standard for shaft flex. One shaft-maker’s X-flex might easily be another company’s R- or S-flex. The Vice offering includes three Whiz steel shafts made by True Temper. They weigh in at 90. 105 and 125 grams. Each can be ordered in R-, S- or X-flex.
The lighter Whiz graphite line is made for Vice Golf by Mitsubishi. They’re available in 45-, 60-, 75- and 95-gram weights with stiffness ranging from L- and A-flex on the light end to R- and S-flex on the heavy end. They’re also available in three colors – Black, White or Lime – to match the irons and wedges.
Vice Golf Irons and Wedges: Online Fitting
If in-person fitting is the only way you buy golf clubs, this entire DTC thing isn’t for you. However, if you know your specs and order something in the same iron category built to those specs, you can get a solid, if not excellent, fitting set of irons.
But the golf world is changing and a subset of golfers are quite comfortable ordering clubs online. DTC companies embrace that customer base with online fitting tools.
Vice is rolling its tool out slowly. The wedge tool is live now, with the iron portion on the way.
“You give us information about your game, what you’re looking for and what you’re currently playing, and we can define for you what makes sense,” explains Burger. “Should we make the shaft slightly harder or softer? Do we need to change the lie angle? We try to ask the right questions to get all the information we need to build the perfect set.”
The fitting algorithm is built on HIO’s 15 years of fitting data. While it’s true each golfer is an individual, there are data-driven trends and similarities that can be quantified.
“We have the data to back it all up and to drive the questions we ask,” says Burger. “The basic version has maybe 12 questions, the advanced has maybe 25 or 30. When we get the answers, it’s possible for us to define the right specification.”
The wedge fitting tool is very simple. With only one set of wedges, the tool focuses on shaft material, weight and flex. It asks your height and if you miss left or right, which determines possible lie and length adjustments.
Vice’s putter fitting tool is also live. The company expects the iron fitting tool to go live within the next week or so.
Vice Golf Irons and Wedges: Finals Thoughts
We’ll say it again just in case anyone missed it the first time: according to Vice, these are original designs and not open molds with the Vice logo. Depending on where you sit, you could look at this in one of two ways.
First, you could call total BS and claim Vice is making it all up and hoping no one catches them at it. However, the far more likely scenario is these are, in fact, original designs based on 15 years of fitting data.
I know, I know … we’re all wiser-than-wise, super-cynical golf consumers conditioned (by this very blog, irony of ironies) to question everything. But there is a difference between being an eyes-wide-open consumer and a non-thinking naysayer calling bullshit on everything from the comfort of the cheap seats.
As Frank Zappa famously said, the mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it isn’t open. Of course, Carl Sagan said it pays to keep an open mind but not so open that your brains fall out.
As for me, when it comes to Vice Golf’s new clubs, I’m taking the Walt Whitman as told by Ted Lasso approach.
Be curious, not judgmental.
Vice Golf Irons and Wedges: Price and Availability
We’re not saying Vice has uncovered a new and better way to make clubs. We haven’t even tested them yet so we don’t know if they’re any good. But where Vice is walking a thin line is on pricing. The VG101 forged irons start at $169.99 per club in steel, with $10 to $30 per club upcharges for graphite. Midsized Vice branded grips and Lamkin corded grips are also at an upcharge. The cast VG102 irons start at $144.99 per club, with similar upcharges.
The VGW01 Forged wedges start at $149.99.
While these prices are, for the most part, lower than what the major OEMs are charging for their comparable iron sets, they are a tad higher than what we’ve come to expect from DTC companies. But once again, Vice does have its hardcore fans and the company is very confident it will find enough of an audience from that group to make the whole thing worthwhile.
“We want to offer a high-end golf club but at a price point lower than the major OEMs,” explains Burger. “We spend money on things that have performance benefits and we don’t spend money on something that may create a cool marketing story but isn’t really needed.”
The new Vice Golf irons are assembled in Munich. Delivery times range from 14 business days for putters to three to four weeks for wedges and irons. Standard FedEx shipping is $6.99, Express is $16.99.
For more information, visit the Vice website.
This article was written in partnership with Vice Golf.
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