How to find the perfect wedge for you with web-based tools

When you’re out for a nice meal, choosing an appetizer, main course and dessert holds no particular fear. Any idiot can navigate a menu. The wine list — that’s another story.

Wedges are the wine of golf. They’re complex creatures. Vino’s body, balance and terroir (never mind legs, chewiness and other mumbo jumbo) have nothing on wedges’ bounce, grind and leading edge. The wine must pair with the meal; the wedges need to pair with each other and with the rest of the set. What’s more, a Bordeaux isn’t also occasionally asked to pull double duty as a Beaujolais or a Riesling, but a gap wedge might be opened or shut to function as a sand wedge or pitching wedge if the situation requires. Mon dieu!

With wines, you can call in help from a sommelier if it’s a fancy joint or just be like a friend of ours and automatically order the second-cheapest bottle. With wedges, you could (and, at some point, should) go to a custom fitter or your local pro — or, for the very online, as an increasing number of us are nowadays, give clubmakers’ handy selector tools a spin.

A box-ticking trip through many of the major makers’ offerings reveals that the material is consistent, but the approaches vary. Everyone asks essentially the same questions to get the same vital info but in a distinct and on-brand way. Just as each club designer makes wedges that look a bit different, so too do web designers and questionnaires. Take the time to take these tests — a few minutes each, no SAT flashbacks — and you’ll learn not only which wedges may well be right for you at each company but also maybe which brand you vibe with.

Ping, for example, was founded by an engineer, Karsten Solheim, and will forever be an engineering-centric company. Ping people are more likely to know their dot color than their blood type. (If you don’t get this, you are not yet a Ping person; it refers to the company’s color-coded club fitting system.) So, it’s little surprise that its WEBFIT selector requires you to first create an account and enter general body measurements, scoring info, ballflight trajectory and shot shape, etc. — engineers love data like, well, a vampire loves blood. (As noted in GOLF’s April issue, the company recently introduced a wedge app that will spit out two suggested grind options, which you can take to a Ping-authorized gear maestro for a drilled-down fitting.)

Then come what one eventually grasps are the meat-and-potatoes issues for almost every wedge selector. These are: typical turf conditions you encounter; typical sand conditions you encounter; your full-swing angle of attack, as measured by your divot depth; how you like to use your wedges and how you sole them; and how much loft you’re comfortable using before you start getting twitchy.

What’s perhaps most interesting and exciting about WEBFIT is that it goes beyond the objective to the subjective, beyond hard data to squishier stuff like feelings. “Do you find bunker shots scary or intimidating?” (Responses are limited to Yes or No; “You insult me, sir!” is not an option.) “Do you struggle with pitch shots from tight lies?” (Ditto; sadly absent is “Just reading that question made me flinch.”) After answering all 15 queries, out comes the recommended model, loft, length, color code, shaft flex, grip and grip size. It’s as thorough as one would expect from Ping. Even more satisfying, one feels truly heard.

PING s159 Custom Wedge

$179.99

With the addition of two grinds and new lofts, the tour-style s159 wedges are available in 25 loft/grind combinations to match a wedge to your playing conditions and technique while ensuring a properly gapped set. Extensive testing with top PING tour players helped create wedges that will appeal to golfers of all abilities. The new WebFit Wedge app provides a quick and easy way to determine the s159 grinds that best fit your game.
Tour-Proven Design
The tour-inspired 8620 carbon steel head features a soft feel and clean shape with a straighter lead edge for improved results on full shots. Two performance-enhancing finishes (Hybropearl 2.0 Chrome and Midnight) are available in all loft/grind combinations.

More Grooves. More Spin.
Wheel-cut grooves are precision-milled to varying dimensions, depending on loft. The 46-to-52-degree wedges are milled to maximize groove volume for greater control on full shots. The 54-to-62-degree options feature more tightly spaced MicroMax grooves to impart more spin, especially around the greens.

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Titleist offers selectors for everything under the sun — ball, driver, irons, wedges — and immediately reminds all e-visitors that, beyond these tools, options for getting into the perfect gear include virtual consultations; its two test centers (Titleist Performance Institute in California and its Manchester facility in Massachusetts); and, especially, Titleist Fitting Partners (many of whom are now armed with a whiz-bang Vokey Wedge Fitting App that’s especially useful in getting the right grinds — a challenge with indoor testing as with e- and virtual fittings). This bounty underscores something already known to any “core” golfer, namely, that Titleist is as authentic and full line a brand as any in the business.

Its eight-question quiz’s version of the full-swing divot query — “Sweeper/Neutral/Digger” (with brief descriptions, just in case) instead of “small, medium, large,” as one competitor has it — emphasizes that speaking fluent golf comes second nature to Titleist types. And when you’re done, like a Disney ride that spits you out into the gift shop, your recommended Vokey wedges lead right to the Wedge Customizer, where the real fun starts. Select your finish! Character stamping! Paint fill! Hand ground options! Toe engraving! Flight lines! Ferrule! And more! Oh, my!

Titleist Vokey SM10 Tour Chrome Custom Wedge

$189.99

Adding Vokey Design® SM10 Wedges to your bag opens a world of scoring opportunities. Between the crisp contact, optimal flighting, incredible spin – and those magical Bob Vokey grinds – they give you everything you need to grow your short game skill. From the simple to the sensational, SM10 are made to make great shots happen.
Improved Flighting & Feel
Get lower, more attacking flight in a wedge that feels amazingly solid at impact with SM10. A precise shift in the center of gravity gives you even more control and stability for greater confidence over every shot.
Ultimate Shot Versatility
Your swing is unique and requires the right tools. Finding your ideal mix of grinds will provide you with flawless contact and maximum versatility so you can be prepared for everything the course demands.

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For many golfers, the Pavlovian response to “wedges” is “Cleveland.” Until early this year, however, the brand’s wedge selector tool was surprisingly rudimentary — one or two questions, max, failing to leverage its broad lineup of models for all ability levels. No longer: The upgraded 2024 tool has two detailed, model-specific quizzes — one for the traditional RTX Series, another for the game-improvement CBX Series (along with more detailed info on its ultra-game-improvement Smart Sole Wedge system) — whose questions drill down to produce exact lofts, models, sole grinds and face types. Consumers can even build combo sets of traditional grooves and full-face grooves. Speaking of set-building, the new tool employs similar technology that sister-brand Srixon uses in its iron-combo sets and Halo XL fairway wood/hybrid sets. Blood is thicker than wedges.

Continue through these tests and you start to think as much like a web designer as a golfer. Oh, they used a sliding scale for handicap instead of a counting applet or boxes with different ranges. Ah, these folks ask me to select all that apply on one web page instead of breaking it into separate questions. Do you like the look of the wedges selected more when you like the selector tool itself? Well, plenty of people go into a wine shop and pick whatever has the coolest label.

Cleveland CBX 4 Zipcore Custom Wedge

$169.99

New CBX 4 ZipCore Wedges bring premium versatility and elite forgiveness together in a highly refined, sharplooking design that blends perfectly in the bag with modern cavity back or hollow sets.
HYDRAZIP
Cleveland’s proprietary dynamic blast and laser-milled line system creates roughness to enhance friction on the face—maximizing spin in wet or dry conditions, and from anywhere around the green—while also reducing glare at address.
ZIPCORE
Set in the heart of CBX 4 ZipCore Wedges, this lightweight and low-density core technology works in concert with the cavity back design—reducing vibrations while also shifting weight and boosting MOI for increased feel, control, consistency, and forgiveness over last generation.

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Callaway gets inclusivity snaps for first asking the player’s gender and handedness. Its “types of shots you hit with each of the four possible wedges” is all subsumed into one question (Step 4 of 7; love the concision), and asking golfers, in Step 6, to rank their top three wedge characteristics (from nine options) is laudably direct.

You’re the one who’s going to be using the things, after all, so what’s most important to you is what’s most important, right? You’re driving the bus.

Callaway Opus Platinum Custom Wedge

$229.99

Very few times in club design can you say a true barrier has been broken. Opus Platinum is a true leap forward in wedge technology, fusing advancements from metal injection molding (MiM), and tungsten for launch control. MiM Construction has opened the door for Callaway to deliver precision in wedge construction like never before, to dial in touch and feel where players need it. Tungsten has been incorporated into the topline bringing the flight lower for more control and spin into greens.
MiM Construction for Precise Feel
Opus Platinum has been designed through metal injection molding (MiM), using a proprietary blend of metals to precisely dial in performance and feel. This delivers the ultimate in wedge performance, deserving of the Opus Platinum name.
Bonded Tungsten for a Lower, More Controlled Flight
 By using tungsten high in the topline, we’re able to give players a shot that will naturally launch lower providing more control and spin into the green.
Spin Gen Face Technology™ for Tour Level Spin Spin
Gen Face Technology provides spin and control in your wedges by combining 3 key elements on the face; an all-new tighter pitch which puts more grooves on the face, offset groove-in-groove for spin when opening the face, and a new aggressive face blast providing spin and bite on partial shots. These three elements work in conjunction to provide a crisp, tour level spin.
Tour Certified Shaping
Opus Platinum wedges are the most Tour-tested, Tour-validated shapes in Callaway history. A higher toe peak, radius in the leading edge, and smoother hosel transitions make Opus Platinum our best wedge shape ever.

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Another industry behemoth, TaylorMade, likewise emphasizes that, at bottom, you are the selector tool. (Left unsaid but apparent: Its handsome creation is much better designed.) It asks — “Including the pitching wedge, how many wedges do you want in your bag? 3? 4?” — rather than tells you what you need. Also unique is its inquiry into whether you want “high launch, good spin” or “low launch, more spin.”

What we all want, of course, is to be a better damn wedge player. This involves much more than the arrows in one’s quiver, but answering selector tool questions thoughtfully and honestly is as good a place to start as any. The other option: Crack open a bottle of pinot noir and call it a day.

TaylorMade Milled Grind 4 Custom Wedge

$179.99

Milled Grind 4 utilizes laser etched Spin Tread and a raw face to provide better bite around the greens and superior spin in wet conditions. Refined shaping creates a smooth aesthetic that inspires creativity around the greens, while improved mass distribution provides a solid feel.
IMPROVED SPIN IN WET CONDITIONS

Spin Tread technology utilizes laser etching to channel away moisture and help retain spin in wet conditions. The same way that tire treads help your car stay connected to the road, Spin Tread redirects water at impact and creates more friction between the club face and golf ball to impart more spin than prior generations.
REFINED SHAPING

MG4 features refinements in shape and visual appeal with a focus on what players perceive at address. Details from the hosel blend, offset and leading-edge straightness were all inspired by the insights and preferences of the best players and most experienced designers. Compared to the previous MG3, MG4 showcases a slightly larger footprint that provides players with a sense of roundness, smoothness and improved ease of use.
RAW FACE & NEW FINISH

There’s a reason raw wedges are preferred by the game’s best players. The unplated material will rust over time to preserve consistent spin while also delivering better performance in wet conditions. A new refined finish with a slightly darker tint minimizes glare and blends seamlessly with the raw face for a unified appearance.

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Evan Rothman

Golf.com Contributor

A former executive editor of GOLF Maga­zine, Rothman is now a remote contract freelancer. His primary role centers around custom publishing, which en­tails writing, editing and procuring client approval on travel advertorial sections. Since 2016, he has also written, pseudonymously, the popular “Rules Guy” monthly column, and often pens the recurring “How It Works” page. Rothman’s freelance work for both GOLF and GOLF.com runs the gamut from equipment, instruc­tion, travel and feature-writing, to editing major-championship previews and service packages.