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.
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00:00So you're in luck if you're in the market for new wedges in 2024 because there are so
00:04many great models on offer. But I've tested all the models from all the manufacturers
00:09and broken them down into four categories of looks, feel, forgiveness and versatility,
00:13picking out the best from each category to help you identify which ones are going to
00:16be best for your game.
00:21Now making sure that you like the look of your wedges is super important to helping
00:25you play better golf. I know that may sound slightly ridiculous, but I'm a true believer
00:30in if you like the look of something, it will inspire confidence and help you execute better
00:34shots.
00:35But there are three standouts in my opinion. Now the first of those is the tightless Vokey
00:39SM10 wedge. These have been slightly refined from last year's SM9 model, but I think they
00:44look awesome. So they've added this little banner on the back, which gives it a new look.
00:47You know it's a new wedge, but really the looks haven't changed that much. It's a compact
00:51looking head with a slightly straighter leading edge that will really help boost confidence,
00:56especially when firing from range.
00:58Now the second option I'm going to choose for looks category is the Ping S159 wedge.
01:04Now Ping have never really been known for their wedges, but I think that's all about
01:07to change. These wedges look awesome. It's such a simple classic look. There's not much
01:14going on apart from that black banner on the back, which highlights that it is a Ping wedge.
01:18It's a compact looking head, but not as compact as the Vokey. So if you're a player who likes
01:22that thin top line, but wants like a mid-size looking compact head, this is a great option.
01:28Now they're available in a few different finishes. Again, this is the hydro pearl finish and
01:32they're also available in a black finish. But talking of black finishes, we're going
01:37to move on to my third option, which is the TaylorMade MG4. Now these are available in
01:41two finishes. Again, you've got the satin and this black finish here, which I just think
01:45looks insane. It looks so clean, almost a modern aesthetic. The CNC mill on the sole
01:51here gives it that really premium aesthetic. The raw face here really helps you centre
01:57the ball, I feel like, behind a dress. So it's got a slightly more rounded leading edge,
02:02which I've always found TaylorMade clubs normally have a straighter leading edge. So that was
02:06something that took a getting used to, especially as someone who had used the MG3 wedges last
02:11year. But again, these wedges look superb. And those three, I think, are real standouts
02:16when it comes to looks this year.
02:17Okay, so as much as you have to like how your wedges look, you have to love how they feel.
02:26And that's going to be super important to helping you dial in distance control, which
02:30is really important when it comes to wedges. So I've picked out my top three. Now the first
02:35is the Mizuno T24. This wedge does also look superb, but it feels amazing. It's forged
02:42from grain flow forged HD boron, one piece of metal out in Japan to give it that really
02:48soft feel that we love with Mizuno irons as well. Now I'm going to clip one here just
02:53and I hope the audio picks this up because it just gives it that lovely kind of crisp,
03:01soft sound. And you can see how that popped up. It just feels so soft off the face. Now
03:06they've got a straighter, more aggressive leading edge on these wedges, which will also
03:11help with more full shots. Now, if we're going to go complete opposite, I'm going to go for
03:17the Callaway Jaws Raw wedge. Now these have tungsten weights in the back here to kind
03:23of center the center of gravity to produce more consistent ball flight. But Callaway
03:29claim they have the most aggressive grooves in golf. Now that's highlighted by these kind
03:34of micro grooves that run diagonally across creating more surface friction. But with that
03:39surface friction becomes a much firmer feel off the face. Now I noticed that just from
03:45chipping here, but more noticeable on the longer pitch shots and fuller wedge shots.
03:50I really noticed the firmer feel. It felt much more clicky, but also produce a much
03:55more consistent kind of lower ball flight with that feel. Now the next wedge kind of
04:00falls in between those first two. That's the Bettanardi HLX forged wedge. Now Bettanardi
04:05are making real strides in the kind of wedge and iron department. It'll be really interesting
04:09to see if they go into the woods. But this wedge, as you would expect from Bettanardi,
04:14feels ultra soft. It's got this really cool milling on the back, which gives it a real
04:18premium look as well. But Bettanardi are known for making really soft feeling putters with
04:25really complex kind of grooves on the face. And that kind of goes the same with these
04:29wedges here. You can kind of see the milling. They've got this CNC milling on the face as
04:33well and on the sole to really help with turf interaction, but they feel so soft when hitting
04:40full shots and shorter shots like these. And what I find so fascinating about these wedges
04:45is the fact they actually even sound soft. And I know that sounds so weird to say, but
04:49instead of that click-like feel, they even sound really soft. I mean, that one might
04:55go in. I mean, I'm someone, like I said, with the Mizuno T24 wedge, I much prefer a softer
05:02feeling wedge anyway. So this is right up my street. If you're enjoying this video,
05:06make sure you like and subscribe to Golf Monthly's YouTube channel so you don't miss any future
05:10videos and a massive thank you to Brockett Hall for hosting us here today at their beautiful
05:14short game facility. Okay, now having wedges that are super versatile
05:22is really important when you're on a golf course. Now, you want to have wedges that
05:27are able to handle different lies and different scenarios. Now, I've highlighted three wedges
05:32that I feel are best for versatility. Now, the first of those is the Titleist Vokey SM10
05:37wedge. Now, these wedges have 25 different loft, lie, and bounce combinations, which
05:43means there's literally something for everyone. Everyone can get a Vokey wedge that will suit
05:47their game the best. Now, here we're in a greenside bunker, for example. We've got a
05:51little shot here. I've got the Vokey wedge here, which has a much straighter leading
05:55edge, which may not always be ideal for bunker play. Sometimes you want a more spoon-like
05:59edge, but like I said, there's versatility here. I've got a grind here, a D grind, which
06:05has 12 degrees of bounce. So on this soft, fluffy sand should glide under the ball and
06:10just help pop that ball up really nicely. As you can see there, we've got a lot of spin
06:18out of that as well, and that's down to those spin-milled grooves kicking in. You want something
06:23that is going to be able to handle every situation. Okay, so now we are face greenside. We have
06:29a pretty dense, thick, rough shot here. I mean, if you can see here, the grass is sat
06:35right behind it. We're pitching onto a little downslope here, which makes it really difficult
06:40to control, but my next wedge for this situation is the Callaway Jaws Raw. Now, this has a
06:45raw face, which will rust over time, and it's never really been known if that rustiness
06:51really helps with friction and creates more spin, but what does help is these grooves
06:55are cut at a 20-degree angle to really maximise spin and friction, as well as these small
07:01micro-diagonal grooves running across the face. Let's see how we get on here. It's come
07:07out the rough. I mean, I'll take that all day. We're a couple of feet away. We can save
07:14our par, and that's why these jaw wedges are really versatile. Now, imagine we have hit
07:21up to a par five in two. We're greenside. We've got a really good chance at getting
07:25up and down for our birdie. We've got a really tight lie. Now, that's where versatility,
07:30again, is so important, and for that, I have chosen the Wilson ZM Staff Model Wedge. Now,
07:37these wedges, I have to say, look spectacular. Now, they come in at a slightly cheaper price
07:42point than some of their other competitors, but they've got really nice CNC milling on
07:47the grooves here, and they are forged, so they do feel really nice off the face. There
07:54are multiple loft and lie combinations. This one has eight degrees of bounce here, and
08:00so we should see this one just glide off the top of the turf. There's ample heel and toe
08:05relief as well, which I really like, which is really important for versatility. Now,
08:09we're here. The ball's a bit above our feet. Pitch onto a fairly flat lie anyway, but I'm
08:13going to just use the bounce on this club there. As you can see, we kind of just use
08:19the slope there, but that heel and toe relief there has allowed me to just manipulate the
08:24club face a little to make sure that sole glides across the turf really nicely.
08:29Okay, so even though this is a best players wedge video, players still need forgiveness,
08:37and they can't all be butter knives really hard to hit. Now, as much as the heads are
08:41compact, some of them do offer more forgiveness than others. Now, I picked out, again, three
08:46that I feel excel in forgiveness, and the first of those is the PXG Sugar Daddy 2. Yes,
08:52Sugar Daddy. You heard me right there. This does have some weighting on the back here
08:56so they can precisely dial in swing weight to make sure that this wedge is perfect for
09:01you. There are two grind options available. You've got a C grind and a BP grind. Both
09:06of these are high bounce options, which is one of the reasons why I feel like this wedge
09:11is so forgiving. Now, this is the C grind that has 10 degrees of bounce, and the BP
09:15grind has 13 degrees of bounce, and that's where these wedges excel when it comes to
09:20hitting full shots. Now, let's hit one and see how we get on here. We've got a 54 degree,
09:25like I said, but an 84 yard shot. As you can see, I don't know if you can tell here,
09:36we're into the wind here, and that's just cut through the wind. Lovely there. This gives
09:40you a lot more flexibility with your low point, allowing that club to really kind of glide
09:46off and through the turf. If you are to catch one slightly heavy, that bounce will kick
09:50in and enable you to pick that ball off the turf and execute good shots from downrange.
09:56Okay, now the second most forgiving wedge I noticed this year was the new Ping S159.
10:03Now, yeah, you may not be surprised. It is a Ping. Ping are known for their forgiveness,
10:07particularly within their metal woods, but now in their wedges as well. I found that
10:13the insert behind the face here really helped dampen vibrations, which I felt improved consistency.
10:20And we've hit a nice low one there that's gone straight through the wind, and it's spinning
10:29back there thanks to those grooves. But that's a great example. I've actually caught that a
10:33groove low or so, but that's exactly where I noticed this wedge to perform so well and why
10:37I think it's one of the most forgiving wedges on the market this year. I've kind of gone five
10:42yards past my landing spot, but upon my testing, I found like the groupings to be just so close,
10:47and no matter whether I hit it directly out the middle or slightly out the heel or toe,
10:53or even slightly low on the face like that one there, the distances proved to be very similar.
10:57Now, the third wedge, and one of the most forgiving wedges, again, that I tested this
11:02year is the Cleveland RTX6. Now, this has four different bounce options. They've kind of got
11:08low to high, essentially. So again, depending on your turf conditions, you can actually opt
11:13for 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
11:24of any kind of lie, and because of that, the forgiveness was so high because I was getting
11:31similar spin numbers actually out of the first car as I was off the fairway, which is kind of
11:36bizarre to say because typically you would see quite a big drop off in spin. But the similar
11:41situation off this tight lie, I was seeing a really consistent ball flight. Now, when I was
11:47hitting this kind of shot here, I get that really nice kind of mid trajectory window. But then if I
11:54was to hit one out of a first cut, I was actually seeing the same window, and I purely believe
11:59that's because of those zip core grooves kicking in, producing really, really similar spin numbers
12:04no matter the lie. So I'll flash some data up on the screen here, which will give you a good idea
12:09of what these wedges were producing in terms of spin rates, and that's coming from a 50 yard pitch
12:14shot. I tested this to take some variables out of play using a Rapsodo launch monitor actually in
12:19a net. I used a 50 yard shot, but these wedges, you do have to take with a pinch of salt this data
12:26because I did have a mixture of 54 and 56 degree wedges. Naturally, the 56 degree wedges will
12:31produce a touch more spin, but they were the models and lofts that I had on offer at the time.
12:36So take that with a pinch of salt, like I said, but hopefully it gives you a really good
12:39understanding of kind of peak heights as well as spin numbers when it came to the wedges this year.
12:46Okay, so I've narrowed down the best three players wedges to these three right here,
12:50and in third place is the Callaway Jaws Raw Wedge. Now I just think this is really clever
12:55with the variable length hosels, tungsten weighting, the versatility this club offers
12:59is something that all confident players will love. And in second place, this one was really close,
13:05it's the Ping S159 Wedge. This is kind of your thin top line, but kind of mid-size head that
13:11will still benefit those who want a touch more kind of confidence inspiring looking wedge behind
13:16the ball, but it has all the performance characteristics of the best bladed wedge.
13:20Now, my overall winner is the Titleist Bokeh SM10 Wedge. Now there's a reason this is the
13:25most popular wedge on tour. It's a really small compact looking head, it's available in four
13:29different finishes, there's so many, I think 25 bounce loft grind combinations that you can put
13:35together, so there's literally something for everyone in the Titleist Bokeh SM10 Wedge.