Check out Golfweek’s list of the best golf wedges available to purchase in 2024.
Wedges are the most confusing and intimidating golf club category because there are so many options to choose from and many players don’t really understand how to properly use wedges to hit chip shots, bunker shots, flop shops and pitch shots. They hear terms like bounce, sole grind, heel and toe relief and camber and nod, but in the back of their minds they are thinking, “What the hell does that mean?”
To make matters worse, iron lofts have become stronger over the last decade, with many game-improvement sets coming with a 9-iron that has a loft of around 38 degrees and a pitching wedge at 42 degrees. If a recreational golfer has a 56-degree sand wedge, which is typical, that’s a 14-degree gap between wedges, which can put you in between clubs on lots of short game shots.
To reduce the intimidation factor and help golfers find the right wedges more easily, many manufacturers have developed online fitting tools. With just a few clicks to tell these systems about your game and the conditions you encounter on the course, they can provide you with club, loft and sole grind recommendations.
Of course, the best way to discover your ideal wedges is to work in-person with a custom fitter who can evaluate your performance with several different wedges.
The list below is intended to act as an educational starting point and help you get familiar with the most popular wedges and the clubs you will likely see in pro shops and golf specialty stores right now.
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
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.
Grooves in the Mizuno T24 san wedges and lob wedges are wider and shallower to move water and debris off the hitting surface. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
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.
Mizuno T24 wedges come in five different sole configurations. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
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.
These wedges are for those who want more stability and spin with custom-grind options for greenside versatility.
Gear: Mizuno S23 wedges Price:$160 each with KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 115 shafts and Golf Pride Z Grip Specs: Forged 1020E mild carbon steel infused with Boron. White Satin or Copper Cobalt finishes in four sole grind options. Lofts from 45-62 degrees.
Who It’s For: Golfers who want more stability and spin with custom-grind options for greenside versatility.
The Skinny: The S23 wedges were designed to have their sweet spot be in the center of the hitting area, and by offering every loft from 44 to 62 degrees and wedges in four different sole grinds, finding the perfect distance and short game tool should be easier.
The Deep Dive: The ideal place to hit muscleback blade irons is not really in the middle of the hitting area. It’s just to the heel side. Why? The weight of the hosel shifts the center of gravity (CG) toward the heel, so the sweet spot gets pulled in that direction too. The same thing happens on most conventional wedges, so Mizuno designed the new S23 wedges in a new way to put the ideal hitting area in the center of the face and improve performance.
Removing mass from the center and heel area and shifting it to the toe pulls the center of gravity away from the hosel. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
In the address position, the S23 wedges have a classic tear-drop shape, but a significant portion of the back has been removed in the center and heel area. You don’t see it as you prepare to hit a shot, but by removing that mass and shortening the hosel, the CG location shifts away from the heel side and more into the center.
While Mizuno is not touting the S23 as a game-improvement wedge, shifting more weight to the toe also increases the moment of inertia (MOI) and the stability on off-center hits, so the S23 wedges should be more forgiving.
Each S23 wedge is forged from a piece of 1020E mild carbon steel, for a soft feel. However, the steel has been infused with Boron, which is an exceptionally hard material, The addition of Boron helps to improve the durability of the grooves, so they retain their sharpness longer.
The S23 wedges’ grooves vary by loft. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The main grooves (Quad Cut) are narrower and deeper in the pitching wedge and gap-wedge lofts (44 to 53 degrees) to make them behave like extensions of a golfer’s iron set, but the grooves area wider and shallower on the sand wedges and lob wedges to help channel water and debris away on shots hit around the greens.
Between each groove, Mizuno has added its Hydroflow microgrooves, which are a series of laser-etched grooves that cover the entire hitting area. The microgrooves add roughness and increase friction for added spin. The pattern of microgrooves changes based on the club’s loft, with the pattern getting more tightly packed in the sand wedge and lob wedges (54 to 62 degrees).
The S23 wedges come in four sole-grind options, with the S Grind having a straight design and the D Grind having relief in both the heel and toe areas. The C Grind has more aggressive heel, and toe relief and the X Grind has the most material removed from the sole in heel and toe areas for golfers who want to maximize versatility around the greens.
Mizuno’s newest wedges have enhancements to improve feel and spin.
Gear: Mizuno T22 wedges Price: $159.99 each with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Wedge shafts and Golf Pride Z Grip at Carl’s Golf Landand Dick’s Sporting Goods. Specs: Forged 1025 boron steel with milled grooves and four sole grind options. Lofts from 45 to 62 degrees. Available: October 14
To create muscleback and cavity-back irons for elite golfers, Mizuno has used a special forging process and specific materials for years, subtly tinkering with the shape of things like the leading edge, the topline and the sole width. However, from one generation to another, the clubs tend to look very similar because that’s what college golfers, aspiring pros and golfers with powerful, repeatable swings tend to like.
When it comes to wedges, Mizuno has traditionally followed the same recipe. Sure, the Japanese company has tinkered with blue-finished wedges, but there has always been a satin chrome option, a traditional teardrop shape and groove technologies to enhance spin that don’t distract golfers in the address position.
With the release of the T22 wedges, Mizuno continues to bring spin and control enhancing features to the short game in a package that should appeal to those who love the look of classic wedges.
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Mizuno’s newest wedge has a hollow-bodied design that shifts the sweet spot more into the middle of the face for more spin and control.
Gear: Mizuno ES21 wedges Price: $200 each with KBS Hi-Rev 110 Black Wedge shaft and Lamkin ST Hybrid grip Specs: Forged 1025, boron-infused carbon steel faces attached to hollow-bodied 431 stainless steel body with a wide sole and a standard sole option. 54, 56, 58 and 60 degrees. Available: Sept. 17
The hosel of a golf club does not necessarily affect how much spin a wedge shot produces, but its weight can shift the center of gravity toward the heel and affect how shots feel at impact. The bigger and heavier the hosel, the more the center of gravity shifts, pulling the ideal hitting location out of the center of the face.
Mizuno’s newest wedge, the ES21, is designed to keep the sweet spot in the middle of the face, enhance spin and give golfers more control around the green.
While the black ion plating is eye-catching, it’s what you don’t see that makes all the difference with this wedge. It’s hollow, with the grain flow forged boron-infused carbon steel face and neck portion welded to a 431 stainless steel body. The boron blends with the carbon steel to make it harder, which should prolong the grooves’ sharpness without sacrificing the soft feel.
Making the ES21 wedges hollow and removing material from the heel side helped shift the ideal hitting location into the middle of the score lines. (Mizuno)
However, Mizuno said, it is the hollow-body design that makes the most difference. It allowed designers to remove material from the heel area inside the head and shift more weight toward the toe. That offsets more of the hosel’s weight and, combined with the higher toe design, pulls the center of gravity into the middle of the hitting area.
Mizuno said the sweet spot also was pulled back and elevated relative to previously released wedges, and that should help increase spin.
To hide the extra mass designed high in the heads, Mizuno made the topline thinner and curved the back of it.
To further boost spin, the ES21 wedges were designed with Quadcut grooves that are CNC-milled for precision and feature HydroFlow microgrooves that run up and down the face. The microgrooves help pull water away from the hitting area for increased consistency, especially from the rough.
Mizuno ES21 wedges come in a standard sole (left) and wide sole. (Mizuno)
The ES21 wedges come in two sole configurations, standard and wide. The standard sole has a constant width with ample heel and toe relief to allow players to open the face and hit a variety of greenside shots. The wide sole has 20 percent more width, which translates to more effective bounce, making it especially useful in bunkers and in soft conditions.
