Best wedges of 2021: Discussion thread

[GolfWRX]

With so much time dedicated to finding the right driver or set of irons, wedges often become an afterthought for many golfers—to the detriment of their own game. Wedges play a crucial role in helping save shots around the green, and more importantly, their performance is highly correlated to how well they fit you and your playing style.

 

At GolfWRX, to determine the 2021 best wedges and the categories, we compiled an expert panel of fitters to help you find out which of the 2021 wedges are best for your game.

This year, OEMs have continued to push the engineering envelope of wedge development with most of the focus directed to furthering performance gains through advanced manufacturing methods, weight distribution, and fittings opportunities. These fitting options are important because shots hit with your wedges play a key role in scoring and also saving strokes.

That being said, ultimately the best way to find your personal best wedges is to work with a professional fitter using a launch monitor. The difficult part is a lot of people don’t have easy access to fitters, launch monitors, and club builders—so at GolfWRX, we have done a lot of the work for you.

Best traditional wedge

Traditional wedges generally share similar exterior aesthetics, even though each manufacturer uses different techniques to shift mass and improve spin, along with consistency.  Traditional wedges also usually come in a variety of bounce and sole grind options to help golfers pick what will work best for them based on their technique, regular course conditions, and preferred look.

Just because wedge design doesn't appear to have changed that much in the last 50 years doesn't mean you won't see a big benefit to finding the right ones for you.

 

Read the best traditional wedge piece here.

Best game improvement wedge

Wedge forgiveness is less so tied to overall MOI (a measurement of forgiveness) and more specifically linked to helping golfers with the most difficult and frustrating shots they will face on the course. Whether it be chipping around a green or just escaping a sand trap in one shot, these game improvement wedges and their designs provide the best opportunity to help you save shots where you struggle.

 

 

[QuigleyDU]

Vokeys win mainly because of bounce options. As far as everything else goes. I think there are better options. 

[kelpie]

Fourteen's for me. Great bounces, amazing soft feel and spin. beautiful at address. Hard to beat.

[CampagnoloBob]

So what about Bettinardi, Edel, Edison, etc.? I guess they don't get evaluated because they are not in the selected evaluators (fitters) selection matrix that they can offer to their clients. 

[getair23]

This list seems to be spot on.  Would love to see the Edel's, Fourteens, and Bettinardi's of the world get a look here, but not likely to get a mention based on test criteria.  Nice to see Mizuno sneak in past Ping.

 

 

 

 

[QuigleyDU]

6 minutes ago, kelpie said:

Fourteen's for me. Great bounces, amazing soft feel and spin. beautiful at address. Hard to beat.

 

Those are really nice. Just harder to come by and test so for a best of done by fitters. It is going the products most available. 

[rsiehr]

Just got a T20 gap and it is fantastic. I am surprised that the ES21 isnt represented here (or will that be game improvement?).

[craz-e]

Safe bet is the Vokey just so many bounce and grind options and all round top performance. I added a Bettinardi gap wedge this year, and have been super impressed by it. If you are looking for a wedge that feels amazing the Bettinardi is certainly worth a go. 

 

 

[118811]

11 hours ago, CampagnoloBob said:

So what about Bettinardi, Edel, Edison, etc.? I guess they don't get evaluated because they are not in the selected evaluators (fitters) selection matrix that they can offer to their clients. 

I wonder too!?

just ordered a 54 & 58 SMS wedge set thru Edel.

 

[indianagolf2]

Bettinardis r more $$$ then vokeys...?? 

[CampagnoloBob]

Vokey's are $159 for a stock cast wedge. Order a special finish (i.e. Slate Blue) or limited edition grind (i.e. 60B grind) your cost just went up to $200-250) without any customization. But it's still a cast wedge. The Bettinardi HLX3 wedges are milled from a solid piece of forged steel and cost $190. It's just not milled on the face, but also on the back of the wedge. The quality and aesthetic of the Bettinardi wedges are second to none. The Edel SMS wedge is forged and milled for $199 and also allows for weight adjustments. A comparable forged milled wedge from PXG is $650. So, yes Bettinardi and Edel forged wedges are a little more expensive than a Vokey cast wedge, but you are getting so much more in craftsmanship, feel, and aesthetics. That said, everyone should be able to buy whatever they want- it's called freedom of choice.  

[Hougz79]

It's so hard to top the sheer volume of grind options Vokey throws out there.  I've gamed them, but I've never thought they felt "great".  Performance was hard to beat though.  I have dabbled over the years, but keep coming back to Vokey.  So far I'm satisfied with my MG2, they feel great and perform well. 

 

I wish they had more grind options.  Seems like they could really lean into the marketing of their milled grinds by offering a selection that nears Vokey.  Milled Grind is literally in the club name and they offer 3 soles (plus the TW editions).  Seems like there is still juice left in the squeeze if TM gives some more options of their Milled Grind.  Wide Sole, High Bounce C Grind, "S" Grind, V Grind, etc.....

[NghiaSS]

12 HDC and struggling with short game. Just went to fitting and got fitted for Mizuno ES21. Hit 5 balls continuously land on top of each other in the line middle of fairway. Distance control is great. Feel is very consistent. Let see how it perform on course

[BubbaBallesteros]

8 hours ago, CampagnoloBob said:

Vokey's are $159 for a stock cast wedge. Order a special finish (i.e. Slate Blue) or limited edition grind (i.e. 60B grind) your cost just went up to $200-250) without any customization. But it's still a cast wedge. The Bettinardi HLX3 wedges are milled from a solid piece of forged steel and cost $190. It's just not milled on the face, but also on the back of the wedge. The quality and aesthetic of the Bettinardi wedges are second to none. The Edel SMS wedge is forged and milled for $199 and also allows for weight adjustments. A comparable forged milled wedge from PXG is $650. So, yes Bettinardi and Edel forged wedges are a little more expensive than a Vokey cast wedge, but you are getting so much more in craftsmanship, feel, and aesthetics. That said, everyone should be able to buy whatever they want- it's called freedom of choice.  

The customizations (stamping, shaft band, ferrule and grips) are included with the $199 price of the Wedgeworks Vokeys (Raw/Slate Blue finishes or Wedgeworks LBK/T grinds). 

 

Vokeys are cast but it's clearly not that big an issue because more player on tour play Vokeys than all other brands combined.

 

I do love a good forged wedge all the same so I see where you're coming from.

[Hawkeye77]

I’ll stick with my @joey3108 wedges!

 

 

[CampagnoloBob]

I'd like to know how you got stamping/engraving/ custom ferrule/shaft bands included in the $199 base price for a Slate Blue wedge. When I configured a Slate Blue SM8 I got charged the following: Stamping- $25, Color options- $25, Toe Engraving- $25, Custom ferrule- $5, Vokey shaft band- $5. That was even before I looked at a different shaft or grip. If you truly have a way to get any or all of that included in the base price of $199 please share with the rest of us. Regarding tour presence, that gets down to Aaron Dill and his willingness to do what ever a tour player wants done. Vokey on tour is like Scotty Cameron on tour- high levels of customization and they will cater to whatever a touring pro demands. And the tour guys get things not offered to the public like forged Vokey's. As a non touring pro, you are stuck with whatever you can afford to pay Bob Vokey for customization. And if you want forged Vokeys/Callaway/etc. wedges you have to look to the JDM marketplace and those extremely high prices.  

[soccerjay]

13 hours ago, Hawkeye77 said:

I’ll stick with my @joey3108 wedges!

 

 

 

Does he sell them on the forum? 

[Donn Rutkoff]

Mizuno.  The GFF, Grain Flow Forging, is probably unique, and in my very humble view, not yet verifiable by me personally, creates a more uniform molecular structure, which makes a more uniform result, on top of the great feel that all forgings have.  Options?  Yes.  Price?  Not wacky.    I can't brag of my hdcp, index, health issues limited my play for many years, and last year, i worked 6 days a week thanks to the virus so only played about 9 full rounds.  But when I do play, my Miz S5 52 deg 9 bounce, gets me onto the green and close enough that playing partners all look at me differently.  I have 5 different Mizz wedges for the heck of it, and yes I have swung many others.  I am a bit of an equipment junkie in place of having 5 hours to go a round.  I live within 3 wood distance of Titleist, Callaway, TM, Miura,  in San Diego county (Carlsbad), and 20 miles from Torrey Pines where I spectate, and do volunteer stints at the local LPGA tour event, Kia Classic.  There is a Scotty Cameron fitting store near me too (hoo hah!).  Five World Wide Golf / Golf Mart stores in easy driving distance.  And there are always very few used Miz wedges in the barrell.  OK, I like to write, this is long, but if you don't try a Miz GFF, you realy should.    

[Hawkeye77]

2 hours ago, soccerjay said:

 

Does he sell them on the forum? 

 

He's a sponsor, but he doesn't "sell" them here.  PM him or contact through his Joe Kwok Golf website and I know he'd be happy to talk about any possible project.  They're custom.

[kthomas]

I'm a mid-cap, who has went from Titleist Vokeys to the Ping Glide line. I play the Ping Glide 2.0 stealths and my wife plays the 3.0. 

 

I've become a huge fan of the Ping's. I struggled with the Vokeys (I know, that's through my own failing as a golfer), and never had confidence in them. Chunking pitches has got to be one of the most aggravating thing that can happen in the sport, at least I think so, and it was happening way too often with the Vokey's (again, not the vokeys fault, I know).

 

Since swapping to Ping Glide wedges my confidence has gone way up with my wedge shots. They are just much more friendly to MY game, and they honestly made the game fun for me. I still need to work on my short game, specifically working out a strategy for hitting set pitching distances, but I no longer have the frustration of not getting along with my wedges.

[cbyard11]

Would love to see some differentiation at the top versus the standard vokey. Companies like Edel, etc.

[Hawkeye77]

3 hours ago, cbyard11 said:

Would love to see some differentiation at the top versus the standard vokey. Companies like Edel, etc.

Looks like you'll be selling some soon, lol.

[indianagolf2]

Fwiw vokeys win bc of excessive grinds and bounce options, and best tour presence. 

[MMB1500]

It's a shame the new Edel wedges weren't released in time for this review. They look great.

 

Perhaps next year? 

[JoshuaR]

Do you all prefer using the same shafts as your irons for wedges? Or do you use a wedge-flex (different shaft, whether stock or otherwise)?

[soccerjay]

1 hour ago, JoshuaR said:

Do you all prefer using the same shafts as your irons for wedges? Or do you use a wedge-flex (different shaft, whether stock or otherwise)?

I actually have wedges as part of my irons (TM M4) but they were custom fitted with wedge shafts by the last owner and I do like them, I'm sure most people buy wedges separate from their iron shaft so it would mainly be stock wedge shafts 

[indianagolf2]

I should of purchased the Wilson pmp when on sale..59.99. Lol

[Sandles]

On 5/2/2021 at 5:45 AM, JoshuaR said:

Do you all prefer using the same shafts as your irons for wedges? Or do you use a wedge-flex (different shaft, whether stock or otherwise)?

I'm happy with alternate shafts in GW to LW...

 

2, 4-PW (MP20 HMB) = Modus 120s Tour. 

52 + 56 + 60 (T20) = Dynamic Gold Wedge S200

 

 

Edited May 3, 2021 by Sandles

[Jimv]

I switched from Vokey to TM MG2 last year and have never been happier. Dont really value all the different grind options,  as i dont have consistency in swing ( I dont think most armatures do either) to really benefit from all the vokey grinds.

 

I also don't understand all the posts here over the years about forged irons and feel and consistency to then go throwing that out the window for cast edges.

 

[Donn Rutkoff]

On 5/1/2021 at 12:45 PM, JoshuaR said:

Do you all prefer using the same shafts as your irons for wedges? Or do you use a wedge-flex (different shaft, whether stock or otherwise)?

I have irons fitted and they are UST Mamiya Recoil F3 reg flex.  Wedges are all steel standard wedge flex TT Dyn Gold.  For me, the short clubs don't need to be upped since they almost all come on the same DG wedge shaft.