What do people consider to be the best value or DTC wedges out there?

[hidrives]

What do people think are the best DTC wedges, or wedges that are a great value? I bought Maltby and enjoyed it, and am in the market for a new wedge so wanted to see what else out there would be worth considering. (To explain, I look for value at wedge more than other clubs since they get replaced more frequently.)

[bekgolf]

5 minutes ago, hidrives said:

What do people think are the best DTC wedges, or wedges that are a great value? I bought Maltby and enjoyed it, and am in the market for a new wedge so wanted to see what else out there would be worth considering. (To explain, I look for value at wedge more than other clubs since they get replaced more frequently.)

 

Used from a CPO site are a great value if purchased during the right sale imo.  I've purchased almost new wedges for less than half of retail new price that way.  Another way is to keep an eye on closeouts, every year new wedges come out and the old model goes on sale.

[Springsteennut]

I have 2 Sub 70 286 wedges. They do everything well for me.

[hidrives]

Never heard of Sub 70 but I like the look of them. 

 

It seems, unless you go with a Bettinardi, most wedges from Ping to DTC are about the same price - at least within 10-20 bucks. At least from what I'm seeing. 

[Sean124]

I have no idea what Maltby wedges cost, but if I was looking to save money there are lightly used premium wedges for sale all the time on here. 

[circa3182]

Sub 70 is good. IMHO your best bet though is hopping on a Like New condition Jaws wedge on CPO when they’re 25-35% off. Should have your chance at least one or two days during masters week. 

[Boise59]

Edison….best wedges I have ever used, incredible from tight/bare lies 

[Tree Levino]

Wedges are so important I’d never skimp on them. Discounted Cleveland’s or Vokeys are going to be a better buy than any DTC 

[lefthack]

I've only played the PXG, Lazrus (great for the price) and Haywood Signature. 

 

The PXG I've only had for a couple rounds, but so far seem to be solid. I love my Haywood's. I have the same graphite shafts as my irons in all my wedges, too. 

[vietnameeh]

The maltby TSW is hard to beat to be honest 

[dmeeksDC]

Had the Jaws Raw in the bag. Nice wedges. Got the just-released New Level SPN versatile sole wedges and within a few rounds the Callaways were gone. The New Levels are just better. 

The SPN wedges look great and play fantastic, are actual forged wedges and you can tell when you hit them. No cast feel at all, they are pure. These wedges are as good as anything made. Spin is excellent. IMO the custom builds from boutique DTC companies are better executed than custom builds from OEMs. Like the versatile sole so much I added a standard sole in the 50 degree gap wedge and love it as well. 

Edited April 1 by dmeeksDC

[speedeuphoria]

On 3/28/2024 at 8:56 PM, Sean124 said:

I have no idea what Maltby wedges cost, but if I was looking to save money there are lightly used premium wedges for sale all the time on here. 

Just bought 2 Maltby TSW DRM with stock shafts for $125 shipped. One bent weak....so far they are great

 

 

 

Edited March 30 by speedeuphoria

[m d g]

I'll just leave this bad boy here : )

 

[Hougz79]

15 hours ago, Tree Levino said:

Wedges are so important I’d never skimp on them. Discounted Cleveland’s or Vokeys are going to be a better buy than any DTC 

I agree.  Previous model Vokey SM, TM Milled Grind, Cally Jaws are all a good value and still perform.

[PJE]

As pointed out, just buy new, older models, from Vokey, Cleveland, or other OEM that you like that are on sale or clearance. 

[indianagolf2]

On 3/28/2024 at 9:23 PM, Boise59 said:

Edison….best wedges I have ever used, incredible from tight/bare lies 

And very expensive for a non big name

[indianagolf2]

Plenty great deals out there...older mizuno ...older honma etc . As others said, cpo callaway 

[The Pace Space]

Just got a custom-built set of Sub 70 JB wedges - got a 50 gap wedge, and then 56 and 60 in the full-face variant

 

I'm two rounds in and I love them so far, was able to get the shaft, specs, and ferrules I wanted for just under $120 shipped a wedge.

[Golfinfloridaafter40]

On 3/28/2024 at 8:32 PM, hidrives said:

Never heard of Sub 70 but I like the look of them. 

 

It seems, unless you go with a Bettinardi, most wedges from Ping to DTC are about the same price - at least within 10-20 bucks. At least from what I'm seeing. 

Sub 70 is the way to go!

 

the 286's mentioned above are a larger wedge, more for mid to upper handicaps.  The JB and TAIII lines are more player friendly shapes

 

Sub70 has very low prices, discounts on upgrade shafts, free customization, free shipping, no tax, amazing customer service, AND a 30 day return policy if you don't like it. Pretty hard to beat IMO

[Golfinfloridaafter40]

22 hours ago, Tree Levino said:

Wedges are so important I’d never skimp on them. Discounted Cleveland’s or Vokeys are going to be a better buy than any DTC 

Would love to hear all about your specific experience with DTC.  Also why you think Vokey or Cleveland is better.  Better is certainly relative to how you judge, but most of the big names are mass produced in China and tolerances are not "better" for one brand or another necessarily.

[aiyyer]

Maltby TSW. 

https://www.golfworks.com/maltby-tsw-drm-forged-wedges/p/ma0332/

[Tree Levino]

2 hours ago, Golfinfloridaafter40 said:

Would love to hear all about your specific experience with DTC.  Also why you think Vokey or Cleveland is better.  Better is certainly relative to how you judge, but most of the big names are mass produced in China and tolerances are not "better" for one brand or another necessarily.

Though I would say the CAD technology, machining, QC, finishing do have measurable advantages simply because of the economic power of these companies, the real “better” to me is that grinds, CGs, and shaping are all informed by thousands upon thousands of points of feedback from the best players in the world. As a good player I very much value that. I have played or tried just about everything you can think of, and you would not be able to change my mind that vokey and Cleveland sit above all other options for me. I don’t love the shaping of callaway or Taylormade wedges as much however I do recognize that they make good wedges. For my dollar, a new old stock one of these beats any DTC wedge as they’re almost the same price.

[Golfinfloridaafter40]

4 minutes ago, Tree Levino said:

Though I would say the CAD technology, machining, QC, finishing do have measurable advantages simply because of the economic power of these companies, the real “better” to me is that grinds, CGs, and shaping are all informed by thousands upon thousands of points of feedback from the best players in the world. As a good player I very much value that. I have played or tried just about everything you can think of, and you would not be able to change my mind that vokey and Cleveland sit above all other options for me. I don’t love the shaping of callaway or Taylormade wedges as much however I do recognize that they make good wedges. For my dollar, a new old stock one of these beats any DTC wedge as they’re almost the same price.

 

In order to take advantage of all of the bounce and grinds, you would need to go to a Titleist specific wedge fitting which would be very expensive and it would only be truly helpful if you played on the same conditions all of the time.  For example, at the Valspar last week I saw a couple of players send their wedges with the tour van rep to get worked on for the conditions of that event.  One of them is from my home town so I asked him and he told me he was getting the leading edge ground sharper because of the hard/tight lies in Florida. Many pros have different sets all together for certain parts of the country. 

 

Sub70 has multiple head sizes, shapes,  grinds, and bounce options, they even have full face or not if you are into that.  I can't imagine their wedges not being machined the same way as Titleist.  As far a QC goes, they may be better.  I know exactly what each head weighs that I ordered, the swing weight, etc.  My 48* wedge is exactly 48* and weighs 297.8g with a D5 swingweight.  Titleist doesn't even offer the head specs even though they charge a premium price PLUS the wedge head itself is not even forged.  My Sub70's are soft as they can be, have an extremely versatile grind, I chose my bounces, they have a milled face, the finish I want, choice of shaft size so literally every shaft known to man is an option, and I paid less than everyone that wastes money on retail brands.  Best of all, if I hate these wedges, I can send them back.  Try that with Titleist or Cleveland

 

My guess is that you have not actually given Sub70 a chance and you are lumping them in with every other DTC brand that you have dismissed.  I bet if you did order some to your specs, you would tell a very different story AND your scores would not be worse because of it.

[Tree Levino]

45 minutes ago, Golfinfloridaafter40 said:

 

In order to take advantage of all of the bounce and grinds, you would need to go to a Titleist specific wedge fitting which would be very expensive and it would only be truly helpful if you played on the same conditions all of the time.  For example, at the Valspar last week I saw a couple of players send their wedges with the tour van rep to get worked on for the conditions of that event.  One of them is from my home town so I asked him and he told me he was getting the leading edge ground sharper because of the hard/tight lies in Florida. Many pros have different sets all together for certain parts of the country. 

 

Sub70 has multiple head sizes, shapes,  grinds, and bounce options, they even have full face or not if you are into that.  I can't imagine their wedges not being machined the same way as Titleist.  As far a QC goes, they may be better.  I know exactly what each head weighs that I ordered, the swing weight, etc.  My 48* wedge is exactly 48* and weighs 297.8g with a D5 swingweight.  Titleist doesn't even offer the head specs even though they charge a premium price PLUS the wedge head itself is not even forged.  My Sub70's are soft as they can be, have an extremely versatile grind, I chose my bounces, they have a milled face, the finish I want, choice of shaft size so literally every shaft known to man is an option, and I paid less than everyone that wastes money on retail brands.  Best of all, if I hate these wedges, I can send them back.  Try that with Titleist or Cleveland

 

My guess is that you have not actually given Sub70 a chance and you are lumping them in with every other DTC brand that you have dismissed.  I bet if you did order some to your specs, you would tell a very different story AND your scores would not be worse because of it.

I have had a Titleist specific wedge fitting at my club. This included trackman with my gamer pro v1 and hitting different shots and trajectories from my wedge matrix and gapping with my irons. Further, I was able to then test different grinds extensively in my short game area off fairway, a variety of rough thickness’s and bunker play. Our club offers this for free. If I didn’t have access to this, I would go on global golf and order a variety of grinds in the same loft and then test indoors and outdoors for those that aren’t members with various OEM fittings. Glad you like your wedges. I build all of my own clubs and vokey heads have incredibly tight tolerances. My wedges are all built to d5 as well. 

[Golfinfloridaafter40]

3 hours ago, Tree Levino said:

I have had a Titleist specific wedge fitting at my club. This included trackman with my gamer pro v1 and hitting different shots and trajectories from my wedge matrix and gapping with my irons. Further, I was able to then test different grinds extensively in my short game area off fairway, a variety of rough thickness’s and bunker play. Our club offers this for free. If I didn’t have access to this, I would go on global golf and order a variety of grinds in the same loft and then test indoors and outdoors for those that aren’t members with various OEM fittings. Glad you like your wedges. I build all of my own clubs and vokey heads have incredibly tight tolerances. My wedges are all built to d5 as well. 

It's awesome that you are privileged enough to have that kind of access and can build your own clubs, but most people do not have access to this level of fitting as you obviously know.  Most people also can't order lots of different clubs and test them because of cost.  I do love Global Golf, as we have their only outlet store here in Tampa and it's a fantastic place! A shame they got bought out by Worldwide, as I am sure it won't stay like it is.

 

The point of this thread however is what is the best DTC or value wedges.  What you are talking about would be amazing but it would also be a great expense to the average player. I don't see how it is better than spending $105 with free shipping and no tax on a quality club like I am suggesting though.  Especially given the amount of customization available and discounted shaft catalog. Most people can't build their own club so wouldn't it be nice if they had a custom club builder for free?  That's what Sub70 does.  FTR I have had many sets of Vokeys and Clevelands, as Cleveland dominated the wedge world for a couple of decades and Vokey is who knocked them off.  I'm not saying they aren't good, just overpriced in comparison to the quality.  Getting leftovers from 2 years ago, even if they are new, usually what is left is weird bounce options for the loft and you still pay more than going DTC.

 

Go look at the options for $105 so you can see what I am talking about.  There are 5 shafts to choose from just in stiff flex at no charge and tons of upgrade shafts, some as low as $5.  These aren't Golfsmith catalog knockoff shafts.  Same with grips...  A few free to choose from in each grip size and a discount on every other grip you want.  Hate what you order?  Send it back for a refund

 

How can you beat that?

[Springsteennut]

6 hours ago, Golfinfloridaafter40 said:

 

In order to take advantage of all of the bounce and grinds, you would need to go to a Titleist specific wedge fitting which would be very expensive and it would only be truly helpful if you played on the same conditions all of the time.  For example, at the Valspar last week I saw a couple of players send their wedges with the tour van rep to get worked on for the conditions of that event.  One of them is from my home town so I asked him and he told me he was getting the leading edge ground sharper because of the hard/tight lies in Florida. Many pros have different sets all together for certain parts of the country. 

 

Sub70 has multiple head sizes, shapes,  grinds, and bounce options, they even have full face or not if you are into that.  I can't imagine their wedges not being machined the same way as Titleist.  As far a QC goes, they may be better.  I know exactly what each head weighs that I ordered, the swing weight, etc.  My 48* wedge is exactly 48* and weighs 297.8g with a D5 swingweight.  Titleist doesn't even offer the head specs even though they charge a premium price PLUS the wedge head itself is not even forged.  My Sub70's are soft as they can be, have an extremely versatile grind, I chose my bounces, they have a milled face, the finish I want, choice of shaft size so literally every shaft known to man is an option, and I paid less than everyone that wastes money on retail brands.  Best of all, if I hate these wedges, I can send them back.  Try that with Titleist or Cleveland

 

My guess is that you have not actually given Sub70 a chance and you are lumping them in with every other DTC brand that you have dismissed.  I bet if you did order some to your specs, you would tell a very different story AND your scores would not be worse because of it.

I’ll second everything here. I’ve been buying clubs from them since a couple of months after they opened for business. I’ve always been satisfied and treated great. I had a club pro check out the quality of the club build of the first set of irons I bought from them and he was impressed. 

[Straphael]

Look at the Ben hogan equalizer 2. Feel great and two options for a grind. I went Texas wedge from them and played it until it barely had grooves left. Plus you can do head only if you have a shaft you prefer for it. 

[goalie]

On 3/28/2024 at 7:56 PM, Sean124 said:

I have no idea what Maltby wedges cost, but if I was looking to save money there are lightly used premium wedges for sale all the time on here. 

Callaway pre owned makes club ho-ing easy 

[Roejye]

For mere mortal swing speeds, I love my lazrus 60°. Granted I loved it too much, kept trying to use it and it cost me shots. I ended up pulling it from the bag for testing out somethings at the top end, but it felt good and spun well.

[RolandofGilead]

On 3/28/2024 at 11:21 AM, hidrives said:

What do people think are the best DTC wedges, or wedges that are a great value? I bought Maltby

You already found them, specifically the TSW.