Gear: Callaway Mack Daddy CB wedges
Price: $129.99 each with KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 shaft and Golf Pride SG-1 grip
Specs: Cavity-back wedges in even lofts from 46-60 degrees
Available: Sept. 24
Muscleback blade irons are designed for elite golfers who have powerful, repeatable golf swings. They deliver a lot of feel, and for players who have control, they allow for enhanced shot making, but mid- and higher-handicap golfers have no business swinging them.
Golfers who routinely score in the high 80s, 90s or 100s need forgiving irons, so they play cavity-back clubs with wider soles and more offset.
Yet when it comes to wedges, nearly every player uses a muscleback-designed club. For golfers like Phil Mickelson and Xander Schauffele, that choice makes sense, but for many players, Callaway thinks the new Mack Daddy CB wedges could be a wiser option.
The Mack Daddy CB is larger than most conventional wedges, including Callaway’s Mack Daddy JAWS wedges. By giving the club a cavity-back design, shifting more weight to the outer portions of the head, Callaway enhanced the moment of inertia (MOI) and made the clubs more stable on mishits. The perimeter weighting also helps to reduce spin and promote more backspin.
To further increase backspin, Callaway designed the Mack Daddy CB with the same JAWS grooves found in the company’s premier wedges instead of the grooves commonly found in iron sets. In the sand wedges and lob wedges (54-60 degrees), the grooves completely cover the face to create a confidence-inspiring look and better performance when the face is opened.
The Mack Daddy CB wedges have two different sole configurations based on the clubs’ lofts. The pitching wedges and gap wedges (46-52 degrees) have a traditional but wider sole. Players will tend to hit these clubs from the fairway and using a close stance, so while the extra width should make them more forgiving, there is little need for excessive heel and toe relief. The sand wedges and lob wedges (54-60 degrees) have a modified W sole. It is wider still and has extra camber, which is the curvature in the sole, so it should be especially good working through thick rough and sand.