The Best New Wedges - 2016

It’s all well and good being able to hit it a country mile but if you can’t hit greens you need to be able to save your score with your wedge play. Not only do they save you around the greens, wedges can also set up birdie opportunities on the par 5’s. So if you want to be a wizard around the greens like Phil Mickelson, take a look at these great wedges available this year including Vokey SM6 wedges, Cleveland 588 RTX 2.0, PING Glide ES, Callaway Mack Daddy 3 and TaylorMade Tour preferred.

Cleveland 588 RTX 2.0

Cleveland have been designing some of the best wedges for years now and their latest release, the 588 RTX 2.0 that is available in with a black or tour satin finish, certainly keeps the trend going. On top of the two different finishes, the wedge also comes as either a blade or a cavity back.

The wedge features Rotex 2.0 Face technology that offers maximum surface roughness within USGA guidelines and has been achieved through three advancements Cleveland’s R&D lab. Deeper milling and 15% sharper Tour Zip grooves provide superior spin from the rough. An advanced, 2-pass micro-milling pattern leads to increased friction and more spin, especially from inconsistent lies. Finally, laser milling fine-tunes the micro-roughness for more consistency and texture across the face.

The wedge also has three different sole designs, which are: 1 DOT, 2 DOT and 3 DOT. The 1 DOT has a low bounce through a trailing edge grind with maximum heel and toe grind and is perfect for those aggressive lob shots as the leading edge is close to the ground. The 1 DOT sole also has stability on those square-faced full shots. The 2 DOT sole is a standard bounce and although it features the Trailing Edge Grind, it has a moderate trailing relief. This creates a mid effective bounce for all-around playability and versatility. Finally, the 3 DOT sole has a constant sole width that offers a higher effective bounce. This allows golfers to use the sole to their full advantage around the greens and on full shots, while still been able to open the face due to the curvature in the sole.

Cleveland 588 RTX 2.0 specification, pricing and availability 

• Loft: 46° (2 DOT only), 48°(2 DOT only), 50°(2 DOT only), 52°(2 DOT only), 54°, 56°, 58°, 60°, 62°(2 DOT only), 64°(2 DOT only)
• Shaft: Standard Steel Shaft – True Temper Dynamic Gold (R and S flex)
• Standard Graphite Shaft – Rotex Graphite Wedge (Wedge flex)
• Grip: Lamkin UTX
• RRP: £99
• Available now.

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Titleist Vokey SM6

Year after year Bob Vokey produces an incredible wedge and the new Titliest Vokey SM6 certainly carries on the proud history of remarkable wedges. The new Titleist SM6 improves three key technologies: Precise distance gapping, shot versatility and maximum spin.

So what’s new? The wedges have a progressive centre of gravity meaning that the CG has been aligned with the impact position for each individual loft to produce precise distance and trajectory control with great feel. The TX4 grooves are 100% inspected and features a new parallel face texture and creates a more consistent groove edge and tighter quality tolerances for more spin. And, as always, you get a tour validated grind from Bob’s wedges that enhance shot versatility. The wedge is available in five different grinds: L, M, S, F and K grind as well as three different finishes which are Tour Chrome, Steel Grey and Jet Black.

Titleist Vokey SM6 specification, pricing and availability 

• Loft: 46°, 48°, 50°, 52°, 54°, 56°, 58°, 60° and 62°
• Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Gold (R, S and XS flex)
• Grip: Golf Pride BV Wings Tour Velvet
• RRP: £119 (steel shaft) or £135 (graphite shaft)
• The Vokey SM6 is available now

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Callaway Mack Daddy 3

Callaway released its most complete wedge line up in 2015 in the Mack Daddy 3 series. The Mack Daddy 3 was designed by legendary Callaway wedge designer Roger Cleveland who took on board Tour input and combined it with advanced CAD design to produce and beautifully balanced wedge with a high toe profile and semi-straight leading edge. To add, the wright ports in the back of the wedge allowed Callaway to freedom to reposition the weight for better shot-making, especially out of deep rough.

The wedge is available in three different grinds (W, S and C) as well as two different finishes (Satin Chrome and Matte Black). The S-Grind is the most versatile and shows its utility across a whole range of conditions and swing types. The W-Grind is perfect for soft conditions as it has a slightly wider sole and suits the golfer who comes down steep on the ball. Finally, the C-Grind is designed for firmer conditions and versatility around the greens.

Finally, the Mack Daddy 3 Milled line has Progressive Groove Optimisation; this is a three-groove package precision milled into the face of the wedge. This optimises spin as you go up in loft and creates a smoother spin transition from your irons to wedges.

Callaway Mack Daddy 3 specifications, pricing and availability

• Loft: 46° (RH only), 48°, 50°, 52°, 54°, 56°, 58° and 60°
• Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Gold (S flex)
• Grip: Lamkin UTX
• RRP: £109
• Available now.

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Mizuno S5

The Mizuno S5 allows you to “spin a little blue magic” in this enticing midsize profile wedge. The S5, which is available in a Blue IP or White Satin finish, has sharply visible sole grinds for imagination and creativity around the greens and was first brought into play by short game maestro Luke Donald at the 2015 BMW Championship.

The wedge, which is forged at Mizuno’s exclusive plant in Hiroshima Japan, has a slightly rounded leading edge that allows the wedge to be open or closed while still aligned to the target. The Grain Flowing Forging compresses and maintains a consistent grain through the neck and hosel, which ensures consistency in every club head for predictable distances. Finally, the S5 wedge features Mizuno’s Quad Cut Grooves that are CNC Milled after the forging process to just meet the USGA’s groove limits. The higher lofts (54°-62°) have a wider shallow groove and the lower lofts (49°- 53°) have deeper narrower grooves in order to get maximum spin from both full and partial shots for every loft.

Mizuno S5 specification, pricing and availability

• Loft: 49°-62°
• Shaft: Standard Steel Shaft – Dynamic Gold (Wedge flex) or XP115 (Wedge flex)
• Standard Graphite Shaft – Orochi (Wedge, L and LL flex)
• Grip: M-31 58 Round
• RRP: £110
• Available now.

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PING Glide ES

The PING Glide wedges are engineered from grip to sole to enhance short game performance by increasing spin and consistency from any distance. The wedges have been designed with the same technology as the Eye2 sand-wedge including the tapered hosel and scooped sole. This scooped sole with the Dyla-wedge grip, which is ¾ of an inch longer, offers more playability and trajectory control.

This new wedge combines the Eye2 and Glide technologies and joins the Glide standard sole (SS), thin sole (TS) and wide sole (WS) to offer 16 loft and sole combinations to every players needs and most common turf conditions. The 118g CFS Wedge shaft is optimised in weight, flex and balance to promote a lower launch angle with enhanced control, feel and stability. Finally, the loft optimised forged groves feature varied radius and sidewall angles to ensure tighter spin for consistent, reliable results.

PING Glide ES specification, pricing and availability 

• Loft: 47°, 50°, 52°, 54°, 56°, 58° and 60°
• Shaft: CFS Wedge (S flex) or TFC 419I (Soft R, R and S flex)
• Grip: PING Dyla-Wedge, PING 5L or PING 5L Cord
• RRP: £110 (steel shaft) or £125 (graphite shaft)

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TaylorMadeTour Preferred EF

TaylorMade have designed a wedge that is reminiscent of the early TP wedge designs with the Tour Preferred EF wedge. The wedge is cast from 1025 carbon steel and has a distinct shiny, smoky PVD finish that is both aesthetically pleasing and reduces glare.

Thanks to Electroformed (EF) Nickel Cobalt grooves, TaylorMade claim that this wedge will spin at 350rpm more than the previous model. In typical TaylorMade style, the grooves are in the form of a 0.25mm thick face insert. The wedge also features a Micro Texture face that increases roughness between the grooves to increase ball speed and control.

TaylorMade Tour specification, pricing and availability

Loft: 47°(RH only), 50°, 52°, 54°, 56°, 58°, 60° and 62°(LH only)

Shaft: KBS Tour V Wedge (Wedge flex)

Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Red Cap

RPP:

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Wilson Staff FG Tour PMP

The PMP in the name of this impressive wedge stands for Precision Milled Performance and that is exactly what you get. The new maximum volume HM grooves create spin on full shots and the laser etched Micro Spin lines increase spin on partial shots. The perfectly milled flat face provides more consistency.

Wilson Staff have also offered three different sole designs – Traditional, Tour Grind and Wide – and when combined with the numerous loft and bounce variables you create 97 unique playability options. Finally, the KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 shaft features an active tip section that increases the effective loft of the club resulting in a higher launch with increased spin for greater stopping power and accuracy on the greens. The Wilson Staff FG Tour PMP is available in a striking gun blue or tour frosted finish.

Wilson Staff FG Tour PMP specification, pricing and availability 

Loft: 52°, 56° and 60°

Shaft: KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 (Wedge flex)

Grip: Lamkin Performance Plus 3GEN

RRP: £79

Available now.

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