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Cavity Back Wedges


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I've been looking at the CBX2s from Cleveland because I play 3 shorter public courses and find myself hitting a lot of full wedges on quite a few Par 3s and some Par 4s, so I'm interested in some more forgiveness over feel. I don't usually find myself needing to get up and down from tighter lies or pull off shots around the green where more of a blade wedge would be beneifical. I'm not buying what Cleveland is selling with their marketing pitch that people who play a cavity back iron should be playing a cavity back wedge, but for peole like me it seems like it makes sense. I'm wondering if I'm in the minority given the ratio of cavity back offerings to more muscle back traditional wedges though, but how much of a minority. I see a lot of players with SGI/GI irons and they perform well for them, and then they have really low bounce and specialized grinds on their wedges, and they struggle with them, sometimes even on partial fairway shots and around the green. Noticed this while caddying and playing. Is Cleveland onto something or is it too much of a niche market that isn't really underserved? I know there have been some CB wedge offerings in the past, but they never really caught on from a mass marketing perspective. Every wedge review from the last year or so have one cavity back (the CBX) and half a dozen MB wedges. Anyone have any thoughts on how much CB wedges have helped them if they've put them in play? I'm really baffled by the lack of CB wedge offerings and really don't see that I have much of a choice outside of the CBX line. I know Clevelend has a CB version of the RTX but I haven't found many other mainstream options.

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Lots of CB wedges out there. The Glides, Mizuno S5 and S18 are excellent, and the past Cleveland models, such as the 588 RTX 2.0, more of a midsize compared to the large CBX. For the size of the Glide heads, which are the perfect compact size to me, I doubt there is a more forgiving wedge. I played a Mizzy S5 gap wedge and it was great.

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Yamaha RMX VD 7 wood w/Diamana S-plus 70 stiff

Callaway Mavrik Pro hybrid (22) w/Aldila Tour Blue 85 stiff hybrid

Wilson Staff Model CB 5-G w/DG s300 shafts

Edel T grind 54 w/Nippon 125 wedge shaft

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> @dciccoritti said:

> > @harlequine said:

> > I think the CBX Wedges work because of the bigger sole, not the fact it has a cavity.

>

> ^^^This.

>

>

 

We agree for once! At this loft the cavity does nothing.

 

"Cavity back wedges for cavity back golfers" :D

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agree w the above. i play both s18 and glide 3.0 (from 2.0) and all are super forgiving. i tried cbx and didnt see a difference, plus glide looks better.

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> @balls_deep said:

> > @dciccoritti said:

> > > @harlequine said:

> > > I think the CBX Wedges work because of the bigger sole, not the fact it has a cavity.

> >

> > ^^^This.

> >

> >

>

> We agree for once! At this loft the cavity does nothing.

>

> "Cavity back wedges for cavity back golfers" :D

 

Not true. The cavity performs the same function in a wedge as it does in a 5 iron. It's just that there is more margin for strike error with the wedge becasue of the loft the misfire is not as penal.

 

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I just replaced a T.Made Hi-Toe with a Cleveland 58* CBX and much prefer it for full shots. On pitches, I've reached no conclusion after one round.

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Srixon F45 4-wood, 17*, Kuro Kage 606 S
TXG Custom  SIM Max 7-wood, Accra FX 140 2.0 M2

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TXG Custom PXG 0211 6-pw, 1* upright, Recoil E460 R
PXG 0211 GW, 50*, (new version), UST Recoil Dart R
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> @rkelso184 said:

> Mizuno S18 are an exceptional wedge with great forgiveness

 

Another vote for these. Not super soft but man do they perform.

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Once you get past 40* of loft or so, it's the loft that the biggest factor in what the club does according the Chris Voshall (and I'd trust him to know). Hot faces, cavities, and the like can help on the margin. But the difference between a club with those things and without isn't very big. The sole and turf interaction is going to have much more of an effect than the cavity.

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> @dmeeksDC said:

> Lots of CB wedges out there. The Glides, Mizuno S5 and S18 are excellent, and the past Cleveland models, such as the 588 RTX 2.0, more of a midsize compared to the large CBX. For the size of the Glide heads, which are the perfect compact size to me, I doubt there is a more forgiving wedge. I played a Mizzy S5 gap wedge and it was great.

 

I'm going to do some more research on the Glides, never was a Ping iron fan but sounds like people really like these.

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The purpose of having a cavity is to redistribute weight in the head to make it more resistant to twisting in your hand when the ball is struck away from the sweet spot. To me at least, the advantage of offset and or a cavity back is probably greater on a wedge because we are trying to hit short shots as straight as possible.

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The OP makes an accurate observation about users of forgiving SGI clubs having alleged non-forgiving blade wedges with fancy grind profiles in the bag, and struggle to make wedge shots. I have seen the same result as well.

 

Titleist made a good product decision-creating stock grinds, however, they sell under the premise the buyer knows which grind is beneficial to their game and how to use it before purchase. There is no instruction manual. Without that advanced knowledge, grinds are problematic.

 

That said, I don't accept CB wedges have nearly as much impact on improving shots as their wide soles that simulate more bounce to the wedges standard configuration. Unfortunately, CB wedges are not prevalent, so **consider looking into a Vokey or other similar type wedges but with wide soles and bounce to get similar shot forgiveness and result.** Last, it's an error in judgment to think ANY type wedge eliminates the need for practice. Practice, practice, practice.

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> @arbeck said:

> Once you get past 40* of loft or so, it's the loft that the biggest factor in what the club does according the Chris Voshall (and I'd trust him to know). Hot faces, cavities, and the like can help on the margin. But the difference between a club with those things and without isn't very big. The sole and turf interaction is going to have much more of an effect than the cavity.

 

I’m not so sure about that. I was using a Ping G410 SW for the majority of my pitching and getting near the pin almost every time, distance control really good. Anyway, I decided to swap it for an RTX4 54 MID which is nowhere near as easy for me to gauge. So, I’m selling that and getting a CBX2. Had a CBX before the G410 and that was good too. Night and day difference on forgiveness.

 

I say that as an average golfer who uses Cavity Backs, for reference I shot 7 over today, so not crap, but not great either.

 

 

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> @Joelsim said:

> > @arbeck said:

> > Once you get past 40* of loft or so, it's the loft that the biggest factor in what the club does according the Chris Voshall (and I'd trust him to know). Hot faces, cavities, and the like can help on the margin. But the difference between a club with those things and without isn't very big. The sole and turf interaction is going to have much more of an effect than the cavity.

>

> I’m not so sure about that. I was using a Ping G410 SW for the majority of my pitching and getting near the pin almost every time, distance control really good. Anyway, I decided to swap it for an RTX4 54 MID which is nowhere near as easy for me to gauge. So, I’m selling that and getting a CBX2. Had a CBX before the G410 and that was good too. Night and day difference on forgiveness.

>

> I say that as an average golfer who uses Cavity Backs, for reference I shot 7 over today, so not crap, but not great either.

>

>

 

I would guess the extra bounce and wider sole of the Ping are making more of a difference than the cavity.

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> @arbeck said:

> > @Joelsim said:

> > > @arbeck said:

> > > Once you get past 40* of loft or so, it's the loft that the biggest factor in what the club does according the Chris Voshall (and I'd trust him to know). Hot faces, cavities, and the like can help on the margin. But the difference between a club with those things and without isn't very big. The sole and turf interaction is going to have much more of an effect than the cavity.

> >

> > I’m not so sure about that. I was using a Ping G410 SW for the majority of my pitching and getting near the pin almost every time, distance control really good. Anyway, I decided to swap it for an RTX4 54 MID which is nowhere near as easy for me to gauge. So, I’m selling that and getting a CBX2. Had a CBX before the G410 and that was good too. Night and day difference on forgiveness.

> >

> > I say that as an average golfer who uses Cavity Backs, for reference I shot 7 over today, so not crap, but not great either.

> >

> >

>

> I would guess the extra bounce and wider sole of the Ping are making more of a difference than the cavity.

 

For sure the sole will help, but I’m pretty sure the CB will also stabilise slight mishits.

 

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> @Joelsim said:

> > @arbeck said:

> > > @Joelsim said:

> > > > @arbeck said:

> > > > Once you get past 40* of loft or so, it's the loft that the biggest factor in what the club does according the Chris Voshall (and I'd trust him to know). Hot faces, cavities, and the like can help on the margin. But the difference between a club with those things and without isn't very big. The sole and turf interaction is going to have much more of an effect than the cavity.

> > >

> > > I’m not so sure about that. I was using a Ping G410 SW for the majority of my pitching and getting near the pin almost every time, distance control really good. Anyway, I decided to swap it for an RTX4 54 MID which is nowhere near as easy for me to gauge. So, I’m selling that and getting a CBX2. Had a CBX before the G410 and that was good too. Night and day difference on forgiveness.

> > >

> > > I say that as an average golfer who uses Cavity Backs, for reference I shot 7 over today, so not crap, but not great either.

> > >

> > >

> >

> > I would guess the extra bounce and wider sole of the Ping are making more of a difference than the cavity.

>

> For sure the sole will help, but I’m pretty sure the CB will also stabilise slight mishits.

>

 

Sure, but once you have that much loft involved mishits don't twist the club face all that much and you don't lose much ball speed by not hitting the center of the club (the COG of a wedge often isn't in the center of the clubface anyway). Every little bit helps, but the amount you can help someone at more than 40* is minimal. Sole design becomes the much more important thing for help.

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> @balls_deep said:

> > @dciccoritti said:

> > > @harlequine said:

> > > I think the CBX Wedges work because of the bigger sole, not the fact it has a cavity.

> >

> > ^^^This.

> >

> >

>

> We agree for once! At this loft the cavity does nothing.

>

> "Cavity back wedges for cavity back golfers" :D

 

I disagree. Although most look at CB's in terms of forgiveness, I do not. I look at CB's in terms of optimizing ball flight and turf interaction through weight distribution. Although I'm not personally sure what a wide sole wedge truly does and for what kind of swing, I do know that there are Tour players that play a wide sole in their 56 to 60. And I do know that a higher toe can raise CG and lower ball flight. Club designs and attributes are very important in terms of optimization.

 

And let's not forget, wedge bounces these days are 'effective' and not 'actual'. So many might be surprised and how much bounce a 'low bounce' wedge has and how little bounce a 'mid to high bounce' wedge really has. The old Cleveland Smart Sole wedge with the super wide sole had only 6 degrees of actual bounce if memory serves. And the original Glide TS wedge has 23 degrees of actual bounce. Up to the individual to look at which designs works for their swing and optimizes their ball flight.

 

As for the OP, I played the original Glide wedges and thought they were exceptional for full shots. Only wedge I ever played that looked like an iron for a full shot and looked like a wedge for partial and green side shots. Bit of a chameleon that wedge :-)

 

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If you are playing GI/SGI irons, just playing the set wedges is another option. I play the G25 UW and SW - the UW is a no-brainer for me as it's a full swing club, and I like the consistent look/feel of the SW on non-greenside shots (pitches, partial swings, full swings). I've usually used some type of Eye 2 LW, which I guess is also a cavity. But as other's have said I think there are other attributes besides the cavity itself that is making the wedge attractive.

 

I've also played with forged CB irons / Cleveland 588 (or 485s) as well. Each style has it's own pros/cons and as long as you know what they are I think it is fine.

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> @agolf1 said:

> If you are playing GI/SGI irons, just playing the set wedges is another option. I play the G25 UW and SW - the UW is a no-brainer for me as it's a full swing club...

 

Completely agree with this. When I played the G30, I had the UW, SW and LW for full shots only and they were excellent for that.

 

 

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