2023 Best new wedges – Syndication Server

Tour Edge Exotics Wingman wedges

Tour Edge’s new Exotics Wingman wedges have a high-toe design, offset and polymer inserts to soften the feel.

Gear: Tour Edge Exotics Wingman wedges
Price: $139.99 each with True Temper Dynamic Gold 115 Wedge shaft.
Specs: Forged stainless steel with polymer inserts and an adjustable weight. Even lofts from 50 degrees to 60 degrees in three sole grinds with five different bounce options
Available: Oct. 2

Who It’s For: Golfers who want a softer feel and more forgiveness on shots around the green.

The Skinny: Tour Edge designed a high-toe wedge with weight removed from the back flange, then added thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) to soften the feel.

The Deep Dive: Elite golfers rarely want to look down at their irons and see a significant amount of offset because the more offset an iron has, the more challenging it can be to curve the ball intentionally and shape shots. However, back in the day, wedges were designed with offset, and many golfers who were elite in the 1980s and ’90s still love to use wedges with offset because it can help them keep their hands in front of the leading edge and promote solid contact on chips. Bernhard Langer is among them, and he recently asked Tour Edge to make him some wedges that had extra offset. The company’s R&D team got to work and developed wedges that pleased the German Hall-of-Famer, and now those clubs, the Exotics Wingman wedges, are being released.

Tour Edge Exotics Wingman Wedge — The Exotics Wingman wedge’s offset pushes the leading edge back so your hands stay forward at impact. (Tour Edge)

Each Exotics Wingman wedge is forged for an enhanced feel and features a new Triple-Traction face design. After Tour Edge mills the main grooves into the high-toe-shaped hitting area, microgrooves are milled between each main groove to add surface roughness and increase friction. The combination of the high-toe and multi-groove pattern on the face is designed to allow golfers to get more spin on a wide variety of shots and increase their ability to be creative around the greens.

To further enhance the feel, Tour Edge removed some of the stainless steel in the heel and toe areas of the back of the heads and replaced it with a polymer called Vibrcor. The material soaks up excessive vibrations and softens the feel of impact.

Removing the steel on the bottom of the heads, and adding more material high in the toe area, pulls the center of gravity (CG) location up. Combined with the addition of the offset, Tour Edge feels that golfers should benefit from solid contact and a lower, more-controlled flight on approach shots and pitch shots.

Golfers will see an adjustable weight on the back of the Exotics Wingman wedges. It is not meant to be changed by players, but fitters can swap the standard 5-gram weight for other weights to adjust the club’s swing weight based on its length and golfer preferences.

Finally, the Exotics Wingman wedges will be offered in three different sole grinds:

M/N Grind (Medium Turf/Neutral Path): Available in lofts from 50 to 60 degrees, this wedge grind is highly versatile and has 10 degrees of bounce.
F/S Grind (Firm Turf/Sweeping Path): Available as a sand wedge or lob wedge in lofts from 54 to 60 degrees, this low-bounce option (6-8 degrees) is designed to get the leading edge under the ball on tight lies.
S/D Grind (Soft Turf/Digging Path): Ideally suited to golfers who play in soft conditions or who have a steep angle of attack, this high-bounce option (12-14 degrees) should help players keep the club moving through impact in fluffy sand and thick rough.

Mizuno T24 wedges: Discover how they create more spin and versatility

See how Mizuno T24 wedges combine more spin and greenside versatility.

Gear: Mizuno T24 wedges
Price: $180 each with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts and Golf Pride MCC grips
Specs: Forged 1025 carbon steel infused with Boron. Available in even lofts from 46 degrees to 60 degrees in three finishes (Raw, Soft White Satin, Denim Copper) and in five sole configurations.
Available: September 14

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Who It’s For: Golfers who love a traditional-looking wedge designed to enhance feel, consistency and spin.

The Skinny: The combination of a thinner topline, shorter blade length, loft-specific grooves and five different sole grinds makes the T24 wedge family the most versatile in the brand’s history.

The Deep Dive: Over the past several seasons, Mizuno has tried several innovative ways to help golfers get better performance around the greens, going so far as to offer the larger, hollow-bodied ES21 wedges. The release of the new T24 wedges blends several different features and design elements in a classic-looking wedge that has been made to appeal to a wide range of players.

The T24 wedges are made using grain flow forged 1025 carbon steel that is infused with Boron. Mizuno has added Boron in some irons since 2014 because it makes the carbon steel harder without sacrificing the soft feel. In wedges, that means the edges of the grooves should be more durable, so spin deterioration will not happen as quickly.

Compared to the T22 wedges they replace, the T24 wedges have a thinner topline and a more compact shape. The pitching wedges and gap wedges (46-52 degrees) have iron-style looks and are slightly-more angular than the sand wedges and lob wedges (54-60 degrees), which have a more-rounded shape. All the T24 wedges and have extra mass designed behind the top of the hitting area to elevate the center of gravity location, which should make it easier to flight approach shots down for more control.

The Mizuno T24 has extra mass located high in the back of the head, but golfers cant’ see it when they address the ball. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

Mizuno was the first manufacturer to design different grooves for different wedges based on their lofts, and that benefit is found in the T24. Pitching wedges and gap wedges (46-52 degrees) have thinner, deeper, iron-style grooves because golfers tend to use those clubs from the fairway as extensions of their iron set. Sand wedges and lob wedges (54-60 degrees), however, get wider, shallower grooves to help channel water and debris off the hitting surface and protect spin. In the T24 wedges, the grooves themselves have been modified to be sharper, to create more spin, while staying in the USGA groove rule restrictions.

Mizuno has also changed how many grooves each T24 wedge has, with pitching wedges and gap wedges now having 17 grooves packed tightly on the face while, like an iron. At the same time, the sand wedges and lob wedges have 15 grooves. According to Mizuno, having numerically fewer grooves on the higher-lofted wedges allows them to grab the golf ball’s cover more effectively and generate extra spin.

Between each groove, Mizuno has added a microgroove pattern to increase friction. The microgrooves are under the chrome plating, so you can’t see them, but they are visible on the Raw finished wedges. Keeping the microgrooves under the chrome plating increases their durability.

The T24 wedges are available in five different sole grinds, with each designed to excel in different conditions and ideally suited for different styles and shot types.

S Grind (46-54 degrees): Think of this as a standard, straight sole with some heel relief the S Grind will perform like an extension of a player’s iron set, but the heel relief should allow it to be used on chip shots more effectively.
D Grind (54-58 degrees): A versatile grind with heel and toe relief and moderate bounce in the center of the sole for players who want traditional versatility around the greens.
C Grind (56-60 degrees): Thin offering combines the heel and toe relief of the D Grind but with less bounce for players who sweep the ball or who are faced with firm conditions and wet, packed sand.
X Grind (58-60 degrees): For skilled players, this is the lowest-bounce option among Mizuno’s lob wedges. It has extreme heel and toe relief to help golf clip the ball off tight lies. The X Grind is the widest sole, making it a good option for players who struggle in bunkers.
V Grind (58-60 degrees): A new grind for Mizuno, the V is a high-bounce option with trailing edge relief. A seam running from heel to toe creates a V-shape on the bottom of the club to help this wedge pop out of sand and turf more easily.

Below are several close-up images of the new Mizuno T24 wedges.

Discover how TaylorMade MG4 wedges create more spin

TaylorMade MG4 wedges excel in wet conditions and generate loads of spin.

Gear: TaylorMade MG4 wedges
Price: $179.99 each with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue 115 Wedge shaft and Lamkin Crossline 360 grip.
Specs: Cast 8620 carbon steel with a raw-steel hitting area and seven different milled sole grinds. Even lofts from 46 degrees to 60 degrees.
Available: NOW

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Who It’s For: Golfers who want more shortgame spin, especially in wet conditions, along with several sole grind options.

The Skinny: TaylorMade designed a new surface-roughening pattern to the raw steel face of the MG4 wedges to help golfers create more spin, especially in wet conditions. That spin, combined with more sole grind options, should create more shortgame versatility for golfers.

The Deep Dive: While TaylorMade’s driver designers work hard to create low-spinning options to help golfers hit straighter, longer tee shots, wedge makers constantly seek ways to increase spin. Around the greens, the more spin players can generate on chips, pitch shots and approach shots, the more control they have over the golf ball. With the release of the new MG4 wedges (Milled Grind 4), TaylorMade feels that it has the highest-spinning, most versatile family of wedges yet, which should lead to more short-game options for golfers.

Each MG4 wedge ships with a sticker that covers the hitting area. It is designed to be peeled off after you buy the club because, while the chromed back and hosel are exposed, the raw steel hitting area will start to rust with exposure to air and moisture.

The MG3 wedges that TaylorMade released two years ago featured Raised Micro-Ribs between each of the main grooves. Those are gone, replaced in the MG4 with a new surface-roughening pattern that TaylorMade calls Spin Tread. TaylorMade uses a laser to etch the design at a 45-degree angle to the central grooves, and if you rub your thumb back and forth over the hitting area, you can feel how scratchy the hitting area is compared to the smooth chrome areas of the head.

TaylorMade MG4 wedges — The Spin Tread is designed to get water off the face more effectively, to protect spin in wet conditions. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

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However, the Spin Trend design’s most significant advantage is revealed in wet conditions. The laser-etched pattern allows water to get off the face more effectively, so on shots you play from fairways that are damp with morning dew and from wet rough, the MG4 is designed to help you generate more spin. Compared to the MG3 wedge it replaces, TaylorMade’s research showed the MG4 creates a nearly-identical spin rate on 56-degree pitch shots but almost 1,000 rpm more spin in wet conditions with a slightly lower launch angle. That means the ball slides up the face less in wet conditions and retains more spin, which should translate to more control and consistency.

TaylorMade’s research also showed engineers that the Spin Trend helped increase spin durability compared to the Raised Micro-Ribs in the MG3.

To enhance feel, TaylorMade thickened the back flange, the lower portion of the head directly behind the hitting area and removed mass from high in the toe. The tweaks are subtle, but staff players like Collin Morikawa and Rory McIlroy said the impact feels softer, deeper and more solid when compared with MG3.

Finally, TaylorMade is still milling the sole of each MG4 wedge to increase the manufacturing consistency from club to club, but now the brand is offering several more sole-grind options.

TaylorMade is still offering its standard four sole grind options, along with three new sole grinds:

Low Bounce: 56-60 degrees of loft with 8 degrees of bounce
Standard Bounce: 46-60 degrees of loft and 9-11 degrees of bounce
High Bounce: 54-60 degrees of loft with 12-14 degrees of bounce
Tiger Woods Grind: 56 and 60 degrees of loft with 11-12 degrees of bounce
(NEW) Standard Bounce C-Grind: The new SBC comes as a 58- and 60-degree lob wedge with 9 degrees of bounce. It is designed with extra bounce and curvature (camber) in the middle, with heel, toe and trailing-edge relief.
(NEW) Low-Bounce V Grind: Available as a 58- and 60-degree lob wedge, the LBV has 7 degrees of bounce and is ideally suited to players with a shallow attack angle and who play in firm conditions. Scottie Scheffler and Tommy Fleetwood have tested this model, and it requires precision.
(NEW) High-Bounce W Grind: The HBW comes as a 58- and 60-degree lob wedge with 13 degrees of bounce. It has the widest sole of any MG4 wedge, making it the most forgiving choice in soft conditions, greenside bunkers and deep rough.

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Here are several close-up looks at the new TaylorMade MG4 wedges.