Equipment companies love to bring new gear to PGA Tour events in Las Vegas because it is close to many brands’ headquarters in Southern California and the weather is dependably good during the Shriners Children’s Open, making golf at TPC Summerlin akin to playing in a dome.
Cleveland Golf has brought some new wedges to this year’s event, referring to them simply as “CG Proto,” but the clubs appear to be labeled RTX Tour Rack.
The Cleveland RTX 6 ZipCore wedges were released in January 2023, and have been popular with many of the brand’s staff players, and with the company often updating its wedges on two-year product cycles, Cleveland appears to be introducing its next generation of wedges to tour players now.
Cleveland CG Proto wedges at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Historically, Tour Rack wedges from Cleveand have been made using raw steel instead of a chrome finish. Raw steel is preferred by many tour players because it reduces glare and, if special grind work is needed, the steel will rust evenly, along with the rest of the wedge head after being exposed to the air and to water. Grinding on a chrome wedge creates a raw area that will rust while the chrome portion of the club remains shiny.
Cleveland CG Proto wedge at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas, Nevada.
A close-up look at images of the toe of some of the wedges shows the words “Full” and “Mid,” which likely refers to the amount of bounce in the sole.
Cleveland has not released any official details about the CG Proto or RTZ wedges, but historically the company makes new equipment available in late January or February, after the PGA Merchandise Show concludes in mid-Janaury.
As more details become available, Golfweek will bring them to you.
Gear: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks V Grind wedge Price: $225 with True Temper Dynamic Gold S200 shaft and Titleist Universal 360 grip Specs: Cast raw steel heads with either 58 or 60 degrees of loft and 10 degrees of bounce
Who it’s for: Golfers who play in soft conditions or who have a steep angle of attack and who want more greenside versatility.
What you should know: The Vokey WedgeWorks V Grind wedge has moderate bounce positioned forward in the sole, along with heel and toe relief, to allow players to use it on soft turf from a square position without digging or from an open-face setup.
The Deep Dive: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks V Grind
Back in May 2023, Titleist’s in-house boutique wedge division, WedgeWorks, released a limited edition Vokey Design V Grind wedge, a club that had previously only been available to tour players. That club is back and is now being offered as a full-time option through WedgeWorks.
Like many other WedgeWorks clubs, the V Grind was created by Bob Vokey and PGA Tour rep Aaron Dill, who collaborated with players and developed a wedge to suit their specific needs.
Cast using 8620 carbon steel for a soft feel, the V Grind is not chromed, so the raw steel head will rust over time and with exposure to water and air. Like other SM10 lob wedges, the V Grind, which will only be available in 58- and 60-degree versions, has an elevated center of gravity location to help golfers create a lower, more-piercing flight on full swing shots while also generating more spin for enhanced control.
The V Grind has 10 degrees of bounce, but the low point is further forward than in many wedges, and there is significant heel and toe relief. (Photo: David Dusek/Golfweek)
The V Grind comes with 10 degrees of bounce, but the lowest point of the bounce is designed more forward, just behind the leading edge, which should help golfers who make a steep swing or golfers playing in softer conditions.
However, the V Grind also has aggressive heel and toe relief, so if a player chooses to open the face to get the ball up quickly, the V Grind should be able to get the leading edge under the ball in many situations.
The WedgeWorks V Grind is only available with 58 or 60 degrees of loft. (Photo: David Dusek/Golfweek)
Among the golfers who routinely carry a V Grind are Ludvig Aberg and Billy Horschel.
Gear: TaylorMade Hi-Toe 4 wedges Price: $179.99 each with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue 115 shafts and Lamkin Crossline 360 grips Specs: Cast and milled 8620 carbon steel body with raw-steel hitting area, five sole grinds, and lofts from 50 to 60 degrees Available:NOW
Who it’s for: Golfers who want more spin and more versatility on greenside shots.
What you should know: TaylorMade is now offering its high-toe wedges in five sole grinds, so golfers who like the copper finish and the idea of a larger hitting area on open-face shots can also find a sole grind that matches the conditions they typically confront.
The Deep Dive: There was a time when a wedge with an extra-high toe section raised eyebrows and was seen as a novelty, but those days are long gone. Over the last several seasons, many of the game’s elite players have added a high-toe wedge (or two) to their bags to handle unique conditions, and recreational golfers have accepted high-toe wedges too.
TaylorMade debuted its first Milled Grind Hi-Toe wedges back in 2018 and has updated them regularly. With the release of the fourth generation of Hi-Toe wedges, the Carlsbad, California-based equipment maker is now coupling the design benefits of high-toe wedges with more sole grinds than ever before.
TaylorMade Hi-Toe 4 wedges have grooves across the entire hitting area. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The advantage and appeal of a high-toe wedge for many golfers is the ability to open the face and slide the leading edge under the ball while having an extra portion of the hitting area available. It’s confidence-inspiring, and with a hitting area covered from heel to toe by 20 grooves, TaylorMade feels it can give players of every level more options and shots around the green.
Each Hi-Toe 4 wedge is cast using soft 8620 carbon steel and given an aged copper finish that will mature and patina over time. However, the hitting area is un-chromed and unfinished, so the raw steel is exposed. Over time and with exposure to water and air, the face will rust and create a natural anti-glare coloring that many golfers love. The grooves extend over the entire hitting area in the 56, 58 and 60-degree wedges, but to make the hitting area appear more iron-like in the 50 and 52-degree gap wedges, the grooves do not extend to the end of the heel and toe areas.
Between the grooves in the raw steel face are Spin Trend microgrooves that help get water off the hitting area (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Between the main grooves, TaylorMade has added a new laser-etched Spin Trend microgroove pattern. In dry conditions, the Spin Trend does not do much, but in wet conditions, it adds more places where water can be removed from the hitting area to increase spin consistency.
The Hi-Toe 4 gap wedges, sand wedges and lob wedges each have a hollowed-out area low in the back heel, with the mass repositioned high behind the toe. This helps to shift the center of gravity (CG) location up, aiding golfers in hitting lower, more precise shots for enhanced distance control.
The most significant update to the TaylorMade Hi-Toe wedges in their fourth generation is the availability of five different sole grinds to help golfers find wedges better matched to their playing style and the conditions they face.
The TaylorMade Hi-Toe 4 wedges come in five sole grinds. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
ATS Grind: This is the all-terrain standard grind, and it is meant to be an all-purpose design that can be used in a variety of conditions. The ATS Grind is available in lofts from 50 to 60 degrees.
ATV Grind: This sole profile has been in the TaylorMade lineup in years past. It has a concave sole and asymmetric bounce that makes it ideal for shallow-swinging players and golfers who play in firmer conditions despite having 11 degrees of measured bounce. The ATV Grind is available in lofts from 56 to 60 degrees.
ATX Grind: This is a new grind for TaylorMade and features a wide design with three distinct areas. The leading edge is beveled, followed by a flat midsection and an aggressive trailing edge. The wedge sole and 12 degrees of bounce should make it ideal in bunkers but surprisingly useful on fairway lies. The ATX Grind is available in lofts from 56 to 60 degrees.
ATC Grind: This is a classic C grind wedge with significant heel and toe relief. The sole is narrower, and the ATC has only 8 degrees of bounce, so it is meant for skilled players in firm conditions. The ATC Grind is available in 58- and 60-degree versions.
ATW Grind: The ATW stands for all-terrain wide, and this wedge has the widest sole of any Hi-Toe 4 offering. With 14 degrees of bounce, it is the most forgiving wedge in the family and is designed to handle soft turf, fluffy sand and thick greenside rough. The ATW Grind is available in lofts from 56 to 60 degrees.
Tiger arrived at Royal Troon’s Old Course with rusty TaylorMade wedges.
Tiger Woods has returned to Royal Troon for the first time in 20 years and is preparing to complete in this week’s British Open. Woods was injured in 2016 and missed that event, but finished T-9 back in 2004 when Todd Hamilton won at the seaside links.
On Monday, Tiger Woods’ wedges were so covered in rust that it appeared they might have been in his bag back in 2004, too.
While the standard TaylorMade MG4 wedges have a raw steel hitting area, most wedges that you see in pro shops are gleaming and spotless because all the steel has been covered by a chrome plating. Tiger, like many tour pros, opts to use wedges that are made completely with raw steel.
Woods, specifically, plays a TaylorMade MG4 Raw 56-degree sand wedge and and 60-degree lob wedge. Both clubs are fitted with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts and have Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord grips. The sand wedge has 12 degrees of bounce and the lob wedge has 11 degrees of bounce, and both are made using 8620 carbon steel.
After raw steel wedges are made, they are immediately wrapped in an airtight plastic coating that is removed before a player starts using them because with exposure to air and moisture, un-chromed steel starts to rust.
Tiger Woods’s wedge was made on May 24 and has rusted into an antique-looking finish. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
While it’s unclear whether the wedges Tiger is using at Royal Troon are prototypes or not, marking on the hosel clearly show they were manufacturerd for him about within the last few months. Given the level of rust, if they were wrapped up and sealed, it wasn’t for very long because the salt air of Woods’s home state of Florida has done a number on them.
Why is Tiger using a rusty wedge and why do pros like raw steel wedges?
There are a few reasons why pros often request raw steel wedges instead of going with chrome wedges.
First, unlike chrome which shines brightly in the sun, even new raw steel wedges do not reflect light as harshly and reduce glare.
Tiger Woods Monday at the 2024 British Open. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Second, while rust will not massively increase the spin-generating power of a wedge, it has been shown to slightly improve performance in wet conditions by providing more surface roughness in the hitting area compared to chrome.
Finally, the biggest reason why pros often request raw steel wedges is if hand grinding or polishing are needed, raw steel hides the marks created by the grinding wheel. Over time, the sanded area will rust and look like the rest of the club, but if a chromed wedge is ground, the area that comes into contact with the wheel will rust while the chrome area will remain shiny, leaving a mark that most players don’t like.
Is this new for Tiger?
Tiger Woods’ lob wedge at the 2019 Northern Trust. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
This is not the first time that Tiger Woods has arrived at a tournament with rusty wedges. In 2019, Golfweek senior writer David Dusek photographed Tiger’s equipment at Liberty National Golf Club and captutred the images of Woods’s TaylorMade Milled Grind lob wedge in the photo above. The more Tiger uses the wedges, the more the light layer of rust could in the hitting area will wear away. Repeatedly cleaning the wedges and wiping them with a towel will also reduce the rust.
TaylorMade does sell MG4 Tiger Woods Grind wedges for $199.99 on its website.
The Callaway Opus and Opus Platinum wedges are designed for extra spin and greenside versatility.
Gear: Callaway Opus, Opus Platinum wedges Price: $179.99 (Opus), $229.99 (Opus Platinum), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Mid 115 Wedge shafts and Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grips Specs: Cast stainless steel with four sole grind options and lofts from 48 to 60 degrees (Opus). Cast stainless steel with internal tungsten weight, two sole grind options and lofts from 54 to 60 degrees (Opus Platinum). Available: July 19 (Pre-Sale), July 26 (Opus), August 16 (Opus Platinum)
Who It’s For: Golfers who want to maximize spin and shortgame versatility.
The Skinny: The Opus wedges have a redesigned shape that was driven by feedback from tour pros and feature a new face treatment that enhances friction and surface roughness to complement the grooves and boost spin.
The Deep Dive: Callaway lied to us. Well, lied may be a little strong, but the Carlsbad, California, brand was not especially forthcoming with golf fans when it said the 52-degree gap wedge that Xander Schauffele used to win the 2024 PGA Championship was a JAWS Raw wedge. In fact, it was a prototype Callaway wedge that was internally referred to as an S6. Yuka Saso had a prototype S6 lob wedge in her bag when she won the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open, too. Jon Rahm used a similar prototype Callaway wedge last season at the British Open and Ryder Cup. Rose Zhang had one in the bag when she won the LPGA Tour’s Founders Cup, and several other players have quietly had one in the bag for a while.
It turns out that for about a year and a half, Callaway has disguised a prototype wedge by labeling it as a JAWS Raw for tour players, showing different shapes and sole grinds to its staffers and taking their feedback home for refinement. The sixth shape (S6) is now being released as the new Callaway Opus and Opus Platinum wedges, making it one of the rare clubs that has won multiple major championships before hitting pro shop shelves.
Aside from having tour pros drive the look of the Opus wedges, Callaway developed a new technology to increase surface roughness and friction which it refers to as a Spin Gen Face. Astute golfers will notice that there are more grooves on the Opus wedges than there are on previous Callaway wedges, and the space between each groove has decreased. This should allow more groove edges to come in contact with the ball to create more bite with a lower launch angle.
Looking closely between the grooves, you can see angled microgrooves, which, looking at the face, slant from the top right to the lower left. When a golfer opens the face on a greenside shot, the microgrooves add another layer of spin generation.
However, you can’t see the new way Callaway blasts the hitting area. In the Opus wedge, quartz is sprayed at high pressure over the face to make the hitting area rougher.
All three of those elements — the main grooves, the microgrooves and the quartz-created surface roughening — combine to create about 500 rpm more spin on wedge shots from the rough than Callaway’s JAWS Raw wedges and about 1,200 rpm more spin in wet conditions. At the same time, shots launch about 1 degree lower on shots from the rough and 6 degrees lower in wet conditions. The result should be a more predictable, consistent spin rate across a broader range of conditions.
As Callaway refined the shape of the Opus wedge and worked to help it generate more consistent spin, designers also developed sole grinds and configurations to help Opus wedges handle a wider variety of conditions.
S Grind (48-60 degrees): This is a straight, all-purpose sole designed to work well on shots hit from a traditional, square-face position.
W Grind (50-60 degrees): This is the widest-sole option and comes in 12- and 14-degree bounce options, making it more forgiving and excellent in soft turf and fluffy greenside bunkers.
C Grind (58-60 degrees): With extreme heel and toe relief, this lob-wedge-only grind with 8 degrees of bounce should allow golfers the most versatility around the green.
T Grind (58-60 degrees): Designed with only 6 degrees of bounce, this new shape is for skilled golfers who take shallow divots and want to get the leading edge under the ball on tight lies.
In addition to the standard Opus wedges, Callaway is offering more premium Opus Platinum wedges.
The Opus Platinum has the same Spin Gen Face as the standard Opus wedges, but instead of casting the heads, Callaway used metal-injection molding (MIM) to manufacture the clubs. In the process, metal powder is superheated inside forms, so the shapes designers want to produce more accurately. Callaway also claims that the MIM process inherently dampens vibrations created at impact more effectively, so players should find the Opus Platinum wedges have a softer feel.
A 17-gram piece of tungsten has also been bonded to the topline of the Opus Platinum wedges, which elevates the center of gravity location and should help golfers create low-launching shots.
The Opus Platinum wedges are available in two sole grinds: the straight S grind with 10 and 12 degrees of bounce and the wide, low-bounce Z Grind (with 8 or 10 degrees of bounce). The Z Grind also has a pre-worn leading wedge along with trailing edge relief. Both the S and the Z grind come in even lofts from 54 to 60 degrees.
Below are several close-up images of the Opus and Opus Platinum wedges:
Wilson Staff Model ZM wedges are designed to create more spin and enhanced feel around the greens.
Gear: Wilson Staff Model ZM wedges Price: $149.99 each with True Temper Dynamic Gold Spinner stock shaft and a Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips Specs: Forged 8620 carbon steel with face-roughening treatment. Even lofts from 50 degrees to 60 degrees, with 46, 48 and 64-degree versions available through custom order. Available: April 2 (pre-order March 19)
Who it’s For: Golfers who love the look and feel of a traditional wedge with enhanced spin generation.
The Skinny: Wilson has made the grooves in the Staff Model ZM wedges sharper to complement the soft, forged feel while also adding a high-toe option.
The Deep Dive: For several seasons, Wilson offered a wide variety of clubs made to appeal to a broad audience, like the D Series and the Dynapower woods and irons. However, in recent years, the Chicago-based brand has turned out some of the most admired clubs for accomplished golfers and low-handicap players, like the recently released Staff Model Blade and Staff Model CB irons and Staff Model putters. These clubs are not for everyone, but they demonstrate that Wilson knows what elite golfers want to see, hear and feel on the course, and with the release of the new Staff Model ZM wedges, Wilson is continuing that trend of offering aspiring club champions and good ballstrikers short game tools that look and feel like they belong on tour.
Forged from 8620 carbon steel for a soft feel at impact, the Staff Model ZM wedges have a straighter leading edge and gentle heel relief so golfers can open the face and get the leading edge under the ball when chipping and pitching from a tight lie.
Wilson designers kept the center of gravity (CG) location relatively low in the gap wedges (50 and 52 degrees) by leaving the area behind the topline thin, but extra mass was added in that area in the sand wedges (54 and 56 degrees) to lift the CG, and even more, mass has been added in the lob wedges (58 and 60 degrees). This progressive CG location helps golfers flight their approach shots lower for more control.
With sharper grooves, updated milling and a surface-roughening treatment, the Staff Model ZM wedges help golfers generate more spin. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The addition of a new face milling and surface-roughening treatment helps the grooves grab the cover of your golf ball more effectively and keep it on the face longer, which should result in increased spin, especially in wet conditions.
The standard Staff Model ZM wedges have a very traditional look and are available in lofts from 50 to 60 degrees, with 46 and 48-degree clubs available through custom order. Wilson is also offering a high-toe version in 56 and 60-degree options, with a 64-degree club available through custom order. The high-toe model gives players extra hitting area when they open the face on shots around the green.
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.
Cleveland RTX Full-Face 2 wedges combine versatility and spin to help golfers performance better around the greens.
Gear: Cleveland RTX Full-Face 2 wedges Price:$179.99 each (Tour Satin) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Spinner shafts and Lamkin Crossline 360 grips; $199.99 (Tour Rack) Specs: Cast stainless steel heads in even lofts from 50-60 degrees (and 64 degrees) in two sole grinds Available: NOW
Who It’s For: Golfers who want versatility on open-face shots around the green.
The Skinny: The RTX Full-Face 2 wedges have a high-toe design and unique weighting system that combine with sharp grooves and surface-roughening treatments to give players the ability to generate more spin and hit a wider variety of shots around the green.
The Deep Dive: No company has more pedigree in the wedge category or offers more short-game options than Cleveland Golf. From wedges designed specifically for high-handicap golfers who struggle with chipping and bunker play to instruments designed for elite players like Brooks Koepka, Keegan Bradley and Hideki Matsuyama, Cleveland’s stable of wedges has it all.
The addition of ZipCore material in the hosel pulls the center of gravity into the middle of the hitting area. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
When faced with a flop shot over a bunker, an escape from thick rough or a tricky pitch shot from an awkward lie, golfers often open the face of their wedge and swing from out to in, clipping the ball up instead of hitting it solidly from a square stance. With that in mind, Cleveland developed the RTX Full-Face 2 wedges with a higher toe to create extra usable hitting area. Weight was also removed from the hosel area by engineering it with a lighter, low-density material. Cleveland calls it ZipCore, and by reducing the weight of the hosel and making the toe area higher, the ideal hitting area and center of gravity are pulled more into the center of the face for better performance. ZipCore is not new, but the RTX Full-Face 2 has 96 percent more ZipCore material than previously released ZipCore wedges, so the effect is magnified.
To help golfers generate more spin, Cleveland gave the RTX Full-Face 2 grooves over the entire hitting area, along with HydraZip. This new surface roughening treatment combines laser-milled lines between the main grooves and a blasting treatment to increase friction.
The gap wedges (50 and 52 degrees) are designed with an S-shaped sole that has 8 degrees of bounce, making them play more like an extension of a player’s irons and ideally suited for full-swing shots from the fairway and greenside chips. The sand wedges (54 and 56 degrees) have soles with the same shape, but they come standard with 10 degrees of bounce. Lob wedges (56, 60 and 64 degrees) have extra material removed from the heel and toe areas and feature a C-shaped sole that has 8 degrees of bounce.
Titleist has just announced the release of the 60-degree Vokey Design SM9 A Grind through its WedgeWorks program, a club that is rooted in Australia but has become a go-to short game tool for 2023 U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark.
Bob Vokey, Titleist’s wedge guru, has said for years that bounce is your friend and that most golfers need to have more bounce in their wedges. Bounce, the back flange that extends below the leading edge of the club, helps a wedge avoid digging in turf and sand, adding a level of forgiveness. However, in some specific instances, having too much bounce designed into a wedge can be detrimental. For example, if the ground is hard, or the sand is compacted, the bounce on the back of a sand wedge or lob wedge can make the club ricochet off the ground and result in thin contact.
The A Grind wedge, offered to the public for the first time, has 60 degrees of loft and just 4 degrees of bounce.
Titleist’s PGA Tour rep for Vokey wedges, Aaron Dill, developed the A Grind after discussing classic Australian courses with Geoff Ogilvy.
Titleist Vokey A Grind wedge. (Titleist)
“I asked him some specific questions which resulted in an idea to design another lob wedge grind option that complemented the firm links-style conditions that players face, not just in Australia and Europe, but globally,” Dill said. “Geoff has always been a low bounce player in his 60-degree, so I took his 60.04L wedge and removed the ribbon, resulting in a grind that moves through the turf quickly with very little resistance.”
The ribbon Dill referred to is the seam in the metal that divides one area of the sole from another. Taking it out of Ogilvy’s 60-degree L Grind wedge resulted in a wider sole with a smooth bottom that retained its low bounce. So, on tight lies, in bunkers with little sand or very hard, compacted sand, skilled players can still get the leading edge of the A Grind lob wedge under the ball and achieve cleaner contact.
Wyndham Clark is among the players on the PGA Tour who routinely carry an A Grind wedge.
“The most important club for me, probably in my bag, is this A grind,” he said, noting that its versatility allowed him to use the club on tight lies, in wet conditions and hard lies to create the trajectory and spin he needed.
Max Homa used an A Grind at last season’s British Open at Royal Liverpool and Tom Kim has used an A Grind in his PGA Tour wins.
The Titleist WedgeWorks A Grind is only available in a right-hand version in a raw-steel finish and can be purchased for $225 at vokey.com.
The importance of nice wedges in amateur golf flies under the radar a bit. Many weekend warriors complain about not getting enough spin around the greens, hopelessly watching their chip shots run 10, 20, or 30 feet beyond the hole.
To be honest, the bad result may not be your fault.
If your wedges are starting to get wear marks, or if they’re approaching 5, 6, or 7 years old, it’s time to get some new wedges in your bag.
And because they can be expensive — new releases can get close to $200 per club — we’ve searched the internet for the best deals you can find on wedges from brands like Cleveland, Callaway, TaylorMade and more.
If you’re interested in saving more money throughout your bag, check out our recently released affordable drivers list.
