In this video, Sam De'Ath from Golf Monthly reviews the top-performing players' wedges of 2024. He goes through each wedge in detail and discusses the various features, including loft, grind, and finish. Sam also provides his perspective on each wedge's performance and shares his insights on which wedges are the best for different skill levels and playing styles.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00So you're in luck if you're in the market for new wedges in 2024 because there are so many
00:04great models on offer. But I've tested all the models from all the manufacturers and broken
00:09them down into four categories of looks, feel, forgiveness and versatility, picking out the
00:13best from each category to help you identify which ones are going to be best for your game.
00:20Now making sure that you like the look of your wedges is super important to helping you play
00:26better golf. I know that may sound slightly ridiculous but I'm a true believer in if you
00:30like the look of something it will inspire confidence and help you execute better shots.
00:35But there are three standouts in my opinion. Now the first of those is the tight list Vokey SM10 wedge.
00:40These have been slightly refined from last year's SM9 model but I think they look awesome. So they've
00:45added this little banner on the back which gives it a new look. You know it's a new wedge but really
00:49the looks haven't changed that much. It's a compact looking head with a slightly straighter leading
00:53edge that will really help boost confidence especially when firing from range. Now the second
00:58option I'm going to choose for looks category is the Ping S159 wedge. Now Ping have never really
01:05been known for their wedges but I think that's all about to change. These wedges look awesome.
01:10They've got, it's such a simple classic look. There's not much going on apart from that black
01:15banner on the back which highlights that it is a Ping wedge. It's a compact looking head but not as
01:20compact as the Vokey. So if you're a player who likes that thin top line but wants like a mid-size
01:25compact head this is a great option. Now they're available in a few different finishes. Again this
01:31is the Hydro Pearl finish and they're also available in a black finish. But talking of black finishes
01:36we're going to move on to my third option which is the TaylorMade MG4. Now these are available in two
01:41finishes. Again you've got the satin and this black finish here which I just think looks insane. It looks so
01:46clean. Almost a modern aesthetic. The CNC mill on the sole here gives it that really premium aesthetic.
01:54The raw face here really helps you centre the ball I feel like behind a dress. So it's got a slightly
02:00more rounded leading edge which I've always found TaylorMade clubs normally have a straighter leading
02:05edge. So that was something that Tucker getting used to especially as someone who had used the MG3
02:10wedges last year. But again these wedges look superb and those three I think are real standouts
02:16when it comes to looks this year. Okay so as much as you have to like how your wedges look you have
02:24to love how they feel and that's going to be super important to helping you dial in distance control
02:30which is really important when it comes to wedges. So I've picked out my top three. Now the first is
02:35the Mizuno T24. This wedge does also look superb but it feels amazing. It's forged from grain flow
02:43forged HD boron. One piece of metal out in Japan to give it that really soft feel that we love with
02:50Mizuno irons as well. Now I'm going to clip one here just and I hope the audio picks this up because it
02:56just gives it that lovely kind of crisp but soft sound and you can see how that popped up. It just
03:04feels so soft off the face. Now they've got a straighter more aggressive leading edge on these wedges
03:10which will also help with more full shots. Now if we're going to go complete opposite I'm going to go
03:17for the Callaway Jaws raw wedge. Now these have tungsten weights in the back here to kind of center
03:24the center of gravity to produce more consistent ball flight but Callaway claim they have the most
03:30aggressive grooves in golf. Now that's highlighted by these kind of micro grooves that run diagonally across
03:36creating more surface friction but with that surface friction becomes a much firmer feel off the face.
03:43Now I noticed that just from chipping here but more noticeable on the longer pitch shots and fuller wedge
03:49shots. I really noticed the firmer feel it felt much more clicky but also produce a much more consistent
03:56kind of lower ball flight with that feel. Now the next wedge kind of falls in between those first two
04:01that's the Betanadi HLX forged wedge. Now Betanadi are making real strides in the kind of wedge and iron
04:08department. It'll be really interesting to see if they go into the woods but this wedge as you would
04:12expect from Betanadi feels ultra soft. It's got this really cool milling on the back which gives it a real
04:18premium look as well but Betanadi are known for making really soft feeling putters with really complex kind
04:26of grooves on the face and that kind of goes the same with these wedges here. You can kind of see the
04:30milling they've got this cnc milling on the face as well and on the sole to really help with turf
04:36interaction but they feel so soft when hitting full shots and shorter shots like these and what I find
04:43so fascinating about these wedges is the fact they actually even sound soft and I know that sounds so
04:48weird to say but instead of that click like feel they even sound really soft. I mean that one might go in
04:55I'm someone like I said with the Mizuno T24 wedge I much prefer a softer feeling wedge anyway so this
05:03is right up my street. If you're enjoying this video make sure you like and subscribe to Golf Monthly's
05:08YouTube channel so you don't miss any future videos and a massive thank you to Brockett Hall
05:12for hosting us here today at their beautiful short game facility.
05:19Okay now having wedges that are super versatile is really important when you're on a golf course. Now
05:25you want to have wedges that are able to handle different lies in different scenarios. Now I've
05:31highlighted three wedges that I feel are best for versatility. Now the first of those is the
05:36Titleist Vokey SM10 wedge. Now these wedges have 25 different loft line bounce combinations
05:42which means there's literally something for everyone. Everyone can get a Vokey wedge that
05:47will suit their game the best. Now here we're in a greenside bunker for example we've got a little shot
05:52here. I've got the Vokey wedge here which has a much straighter leading edge which may not always be
05:57ideal for bunker play. Sometimes you want a more spoon-like edge but like I said there's versatility
06:02here. I've got a grind here a D grind which has 12 degrees of bounce so on this soft fluffy sand
06:08should glide under the ball and just help pop that ball up really nicely.
06:16As you can see there and we've got a lot of spin out of that as well and that's down to those spin
06:20milled grooves kicking in. You want something that is going to be able to handle every situation.
06:25Okay so now we are face greenside with a pretty dense thick rough shot here. I mean if you can see
06:34here the grass is sat right behind it. We're pitching onto a little downslope here which makes
06:39it really difficult to control but my next wedge for this situation is the Calloway Jaws Raw. Now this
06:45has a raw face which will rust over time and it's never really been known if that rustiness really helps
06:52with friction and creates more spin but what does help is these grooves are cut at a 20 degree angle
06:57to really maximize spin and friction as well as these small micro diagonal grooves running across
07:02the face. Let's see how we get on here. Well it's come out the rough. I mean I'll take that all day.
07:12We're a couple of feet away. We can save our par and that's why these jaw wedges are really versatile.
07:18Now imagine we have hit up to a par five in two with greenside. We've got a really good chance
07:24of getting up and down for our birdie. We've got a really tight line. Now that's where versatility
07:30again is so important and for that I have chosen the Wilson ZM staff model wedge. Now these wedges
07:38I have to say look spectacular. Now they come in at a slightly cheaper price point than some of their
07:43other competitors but they've got really nice CNC milling on the grooves here and they are forged
07:50so they do feel really nice off the face. There are multiple loft and lie combinations. This one has
07:58eight degrees of bounce here and so we should see this one just glide off the top of the turf.
08:04There's ample heel and toe relief as well which I really like which is really important for versatility.
08:09Now we're here the ball's a bit above our feet pitching onto a fairly flat lie anyway but
08:13I'm going to just use that the bounce on this club there. As you can see we kind of just use the
08:19slope there but that heel and toe relief there has allowed me to just manipulate the club face a
08:24little to make sure that sole glides across the turf really nicely.
08:32Okay so even though this is a best player's wedge video players still need forgiveness and they can't all
08:38be butter knives really hard to hit. Now as much as the heads are compact some of them do offer more
08:44forgiveness than others. Now I've picked out again three that I feel excel in forgiveness and the first of
08:49those is the PXG Sugar Daddy 2. Yes Sugar Daddy you heard me right there. This does have some weighting on the
08:55back here so they can precisely dial in swing weight to make sure that this wedge is perfect for you. There are two
09:02grind options available. You've got a C grind and a BP grind. Both of these are high bounce options which
09:09is one of the reasons why I feel like this wedge is so forgiving. Now this is the C grind that has 10
09:14degrees of bounce and the BP grind has 13 degrees of bounce and that's where these wedges excel when it
09:20comes to hitting full shots. Now let's hit one and see how we get on here. We've got a 54 degree like I said
09:26about an 84 yard shot. And as you can see I don't know if you can tell here we're into the wind here
09:37and that's just cut through the wind. Lovely there so this gives you a lot more flexibility with your
09:43low point allowing that club to really kind of glide off and through the turf. So if you are to catch one
09:48slightly heavy that bounce will kick in and enable you to pick that ball off the turf and execute good
09:55shots from downrange. Okay now the second most forgiving wedge I noticed this year was the new
10:01Ping S159. Now yeah you may not be surprised it is a Ping. Ping are known for their forgiveness particularly
10:07within their metal woods but now in their wedges as well and I found that the insert behind the face
10:15here really helped dampen vibrations which I felt like improved consistency.
10:25And we've hit a nice low one there that's gone straight through the wind and it's spinning back
10:29there thanks to those grooves. But that's a great example. I've actually caught that a groove
10:33low or so but that's exactly where I noticed this wedge to perform so well and why I think it's one
10:38of the most forgiving wedges on the market this year. I've kind of gone five yards past my landing spot
10:44but upon my testing I found like the groupings to be just so close. And no matter whether I hit it
10:50directly out the middle or slightly out the heel or toe or even slightly low on the face like that
10:54one there the distances proved to be very similar. Now the third wedge and one of the most forgiving
11:01wedges again that I tested this year is the Cleveland RTX 6. Now this has four different bounce options
11:07they've kind of got low to high essentially. So again depending on your turf conditions you can
11:13actually opt for a wedge that is going to benefit you in the first place. Where I really noticed it was
11:17actually the zip core grooves on this wedge here. So I noticed this wedge to be so consistent out of
11:25any kind of lie and because of that the forgiveness was so high because I was getting similar spin numbers
11:32actually out of the first car as I was off the fairway which is kind of bizarre to say because
11:37typically you would see quite a big drop off in spin. But the similar kind of situation off this tight lie
11:43I was seeing a really consistent ball flight. Now when I was hitting this kind of shot here
11:48I get that really nice kind of mid-trajectory window but then if I was to hit one out of a first
11:56cut I was actually seeing the same window and I purely believe that's because of those zip core grooves
12:00kicking in producing really really similar spin numbers no matter the light. So I'll flash some data up
12:06on the screen here which will give you a good idea of what these wedges were producing in terms of
12:11spin rates and that's coming from a 50 yard pitch shot. I tested this to take some variables out of
12:17play using a Rapsodo launch monitor actually in a net. I used a 50 yard shot but these wedges you do
12:24have to take with a pinch of salt this data because I did have a mixture of 54 and 56 degree wedges.
12:29Naturally the 56 degree wedges will produce a touch more spin but they were the models and lofts that I had
12:35on offer at the time. So take that with a pinch of salt like I said but hopefully it gives you a
12:39really good understanding of kind of peak heights as well as spin numbers when it came to the wedges
12:45this year. Okay so I've narrowed down the best three players wedges to these three right here and
12:50in third place is the Callaway Jaws raw wedge. Now I just think this is really clever with the variable
12:56length hosels tungsten weighting. The versatility this club offers is something that all confident
13:01players will love and in second place this one was really close it's the Ping S159 wedge. This is kind
13:08of your thin top line but kind of mid-sized head that will still benefit those who want a touch more
13:14kind of confidence inspiring looking wedge behind the ball but it has all the performance
13:17characteristics of the best bladed wedge. Now my overall winner is the Titleist Vokey SM10 wedge. Now
13:24there's a reason this is the most popular wedge on tour. It's a really small compact looking head it's
13:28available in four different finishes there's so many I think 25 bounce loft grind combinations that
13:35you can put together so this there's literally something for everyone in the Titleist Vokey SM10 wedge.