Finding the right wedges, and learning a few basic techniques, can dramatically lower a recreational golfer’s score because suddenly instead of needing three shots (or four) to get the ball in the hole after your approach shot misses the green, you only need two. Chipping, pitching and hitting the ball closer from greenside sand takes some pressure off your putting and allows you to relax from the fairway.
So how to you find the ideal wedges? Easy, work with a good custom fitter, ask a lot of questions and if you can, take some time to think about where you play and how you play before you buy anything. Here are some things to consider:
- What pitching wedge do you want? Back in the day, many iron sets came with a 10-iron, but that club transformed into today’s pitching wedge. You should still consider it an extension of your irons because you are going to use it most often from the fairway (or fairway rough) to hit approach shots. The pitching wedge that comes with iron sets should blend seamlessly from the 9-iron, making gapping between those clubs easy. If you want a specialty pitching wedge, find out the loft of your 9-iron and then talk with your fitter about what loft will be appropriate for your pitching wedge. Iron lofts have strengthened over the last decade, you don’t want to buy a 48-degree pitching wedge if your 9-iron has 37 degrees of loft.
- Your gap wedge needs to be stronger, too. If the loft of your pitching wedge has to be stronger to make the gap between it and your 9-iron appropriate, your gap wedge loft will also likely need to be stronger. The most-popular loft for a gap wedge these days is 50 degrees
- Bounce: Give yourself options. There are lots of different sole configurations in sand wedges and lob wedges, but it’s smart to have one club be a low-bounce option and the other be a high-bounce club. Which should be the low and which should be the high is up to you (and your fitter, hopefully), but having a low-bounce and a high-bounce option means that from hard-pan lies, in sand and from all kinds of rough, you will have something you can use confidently.
- If you play a lot, replace your lob wedge often. Pros on the PGA Tour get a new pitching wedge and gap wedge about once a year, but they replace their sand wedge two or three times a year. Lob wedges (58, 60 and 62 degrees) can be replaced as much as six or seven times a year because elite golfers demand the grooves stay sharp. They practice with their lob wedges a lot, and sand, dirt and debris can dull the grooves quickly. You likely are not practicing and playing as much as a tour pro, but if you play year-round and notice that short chips and pitches are releasing and rolling out more than your expect, it might be time to get some fresh grooves in your bag.
Here are the wedges that you are likely to see in pro shops and golf specialty stores right now.
Callaway JAWS Raw wedges (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Gear: Callaway JAWS Raw wedges
Price: $179.99 each with True Temper Dynamic Gold Spinner steel shaft and Lamkin UTx Charcoal grip. $189.99 with Project X Catalyst 80 graphite shaft.
Specs: Cast stainless steel with tungsten insert. Available in even lofts between 48 and 60 degrees and in four sole-grind configurations.
The Skinny: With aggressive grooves, a variety of sole-grind options and raw steel construction that will rust with time, the JAWS Raw wedges should help golfers produce more spin around the greens and hit a wider variety of shots. Read full review.
The higher toe area creates more hitting surface on open-face shots. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Gear: Callaway JAWS Full Toe wedges
Price: $169.99 each with True Temper Dynamic Gold Spinner steel shaft or Project X Catalyst Wedge graphite shaft and Lamkin UTX grip.
Specs: Cast stainless steel. Available in 54-, 56-, 58-, 60- and 64-degree options. Chrome and raw black finishes.
The Skinny: This high-toe wedge has a raw-steel hitting area that will rust over time, along with surface roughening that increases friction and spin on delicate shots around the green. By raising the height of the toe and extending the groove pattern all the way up the face, players can open the face on bunker shots and pitch shots and have a larger grooved area to hit the ball. Read full review.
Cleveland RTX 6 ZipCore wedges. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Gear: Cleveland RTX 6 ZipCore wedges
Price: $169.99 each with True Temper Dynamic Gold Spinner shaft and Lamkin Crossline 360 grip.
Specs: Cast stainless steel. Available in four sole grinds and even lofts from 46 to 60 degrees.
The Skinny: With different surface-roughening treatments and groove configurations based on each wedge’s loft, Cleveland’s RTX 6 ZipCore wedges aim to increase spin in wet and dry conditions. Read full review.
Cleveland CBX Full-Face 2 wedges. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Gear: Cleveland CBX Full-Face 2 wedges
Price: $169.99 each with True Temper Dynamic Gold 115 Spinner Tour Issue steel shafts and Lamkin Crossline 360 grips.
Specs: Cast stainless steel with face-roughening treatment and vibration-absorbing gel backpiece. Even lofts 50 degrees to 60 degrees
The Skinny: Designed to be more forgiving than typical wedges, the CBX Full-Face 2 has the largest face of any Cleveland offering. It also have perimeter weighting, tour-level grooves, surface-roughening treatments and a water-repellant treatment for added control. Read full review.
The RTX Full-Face has a higher toe area and the surface is covered in spin-generating grooves. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Gear: Cleveland RTX Full-Face wedges
Price: $159.99 each (Tour Satin) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Spinner shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grip. $179.99 each in Tour Rack raw-steel finish
Specs: Cast 8620 carbon steel heads with surface-roughening treatment.
The Skinny: But as the name implies, the higher toe area is not the only thing that makes these wedges look unique. The entire hitting surface is covered in Cleveland’s UltiZip grooves from the leading edge to the topline. Read full review.
Cleveland Smart-Sole 4 Black Satin wedges. (Cleveland Golf)
Gear: Cleveland Smart Sole 4 Black Satin wedges
Price: $119.99 steel; $129.99, graphite
Specs: Three versions designed in cast stainless steel. Chipper is 42 degrees. Gap wedge is 50 degrees. Sand wedge is 58 degrees.
The Skinny: The Smart Sole wedges are each designed to help golfers who struggle with a specific short game shot (chipping, pitching and sand shots), and have been made with special soles and specific lofts to make hitting those shots easier.
Mizuno S23 wedges (David Dusek/Golfweek)
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.
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. Read full review.
Mizuno 22 wedges. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Gear: Mizuno T22 wedges
Price: $159.99 each with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Wedge shafts and Golf Pride Z Grip.
Specs: Forged 1025 boron steel with milled grooves and four sole grind options. Lofts from 45 to 62 degrees.
The Skinny: The T22 wedges are grain-flow forged using 1025 carbon steel that has been infused with Boron, like several of Mizuno’s irons since 2016. Boron is harder than the carbon steel, and using it strategically helped Mizuno designers create grooves that maintain the durability of their sharpness without sacrificing feel. The T22 wedges come in four sole grinds and three finishes. Read full review.
Ping Glide 4 wedges (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Gear: Ping Glide 4.0 wedges
Price: $200 each
Specs: Cast 8620 carbon steel with an elastomer insert. Available in four sole grind options and even lofts from 46 to 60 degrees.
The Skinny: There are 17 combinations of lofts and grinds in the Glide 4.0 wedge lineup to ensure you can find the ideal combination to fill your distance gaps and match up clubs with your swing type and the conditions in which you play most often. Read full review.
Ping Glide Forged Pro T grind. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Gear: Ping Glide Forged Pro wedges
Price: $199.99 each with Ping Z-Z115 steel shaft and Golf Pride Arccos Lite Tour Velvet 360 grip. $232.50 per club with UST Recoil 760 ES graphite shafts
Specs: Forged 8620 carbon-steel with milled face and grooves and water-repellant finish. Two sole grinds with even lofts between 50 and 62 degrees, with special options available through a custom program and a special 59-degree club
The Skinny: The Glide Forged Pro wedges are designed to be “shotmaker’s” wedges. Ping machined each groove and designed the grooves differently for each club based on its loft. They also have a new emery-blast, surface-roughening treatment in the hitting area to add friction. Read full review.
Ping ChipR (Ping)
Gear: Ping ChipR
Price: $180 with a Ping Z-Z115 steel shaft and 360 Dyla-wedge Lite grip or $210 with a Ping Alta CB Slate graphite shaft.
Specs: Cast stainless steel
The Skinny: As the name implies, the ChipR is for golfers who struggle with chipping. It comes standard at 35 inches in length with a 70-degree lie angle, both of which are standard for a putter, but the club has 38.5 degrees of loft (like a 9-iron) and 8 degrees of bounce. To create extra spin, the hitting area is covered by MicroMax grooves like several Ping irons.
Each 0311 3X Forged has moderate heel relief and a straight sole design. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Gear: PXG 0311 3X Forged wedges
Price: $179 each
Specs: Forged 8620 carbon steel in Chrome or Xtreme Dark finish. Even lofts from 50 degrees to 62 degrees.
The Skinny: The cleanest, most classic-looking PXG wedge made, the 0311 3X Forged is designed to maximize feel, while milled grooves and high-toe design create a large hitting area and more spin. Read full review.
PXG 0311 Sugar Daddy wedges. (PXG)
Gear: PXG 0311 Sugar Daddy II
Price: $499 each
Specs: Forged and milled 8620 carbon steel with tungsten weights. Even lofts from 50-62 degrees. Available in Chrome and Xtreme Dark finishes.
The Skinny: Each 0311 Sugar Daddy II starts as a billet of 8620 carbon steel that is forged three times to create the basic shape of the head. Tungsten screws in the toe area pull the ideal hitting area into the center of the face. Read full review.
TaylorMade Hi-Toe 3 wedges. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Gear: TaylorMade Hi-Toe 3 wedges
Price: $179 each with KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 shaft and Lamkin Crossline 360 Round grip.
Specs: Cast 8620 stainless steel with raw-steel hitting area and milled sole. Even lofts from 50 to 60 degrees.
The Skinny: With a high-toe design and raw hitting area that has raised microgrooves, TaylorMade’s newest wedges were made to allow golfers more short-game versatility and increased spin. The raw steel hitting area will rust over time. Read full review.
TaylorMade MG3 wedges. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Gear: TaylorMade Milled Grind 3 wedges
Price: $180 each with True Temper Tour Issue S200 shafts and Lamkin Crossline 360 grips.
Specs: Cast 8620 carbon steel in low-bounce, standard-bounce and high-bounce versions. Even lofts 46, 50-60 degrees.
The Skinny: To enhance the MG3’s grooves and create more friction around the green, TaylorMade has added a series of raised micro-ribs to the raw steel hitting area. Rust will develop over time on the raw face to complement the micro-ribs, to create more friction and spin on pitch shots and chips shots hit inside 50 yards. Read full review.
Gear: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 wedges
Price: $179 each with True Temper Dynamic Gold S200 shafts and Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 White grips
Specs: Cast stainless steel with six sole grinds available. Even lofts from 46 to 62 degrees.
The Skinny: Titleist shifts the center of gravity and the grooves in each SM9 wedge based on its loft to maximize performance. There are seven different sole grinds, ranging from fairly straight to aggressive heel and toe relief, to increase versatility and allow players to find a wedge that matches their swing and course conditions. Read full review.
Wilson Staff Model Tour Grind wedge. (Wilson)
Gear: Wilson Staff Model Tour Grind wedge
Price: $139.99 each with True Temper Dynamic Golf X100 120 shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet grip
Specs: Forged 8620 carbon steel with milled face. Available in 56-, 58- and 60-degree versions.
The Skinny: Forged from 8620 carbon steel for a soft feel at impact, the Staff Model Tour Grind wedges are available only in sand wedge and lob wedge lofts (56-60 degrees) and have moderate bounce (10-12 degrees). A significant amount of material has been ground out of the heel and toe areas. Read full review.