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Spotted: Cleveland RTX 3 wedges

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Cleveland’s first-generation 588 RTX (Rotex), and second-generation RTX 2.0 wedges have been among the most popular wedges for golfers and Tour players since their release. Now, a new member of the family is preparing for its industry debut — the RTX 3 wedge line — and will most certainly be in the bags of PGA Tour players in the coming weeks and months.

RTX3Cleveland

On the range of the FedEx St. Jude Classic at TPC Southwind this week, we spotted Cleveland RTX 3 wedges. Based on the photos, there are at least three grinds; V-LG, V-MG and V-FG. As predicted by a member in the forum thread, this may mean “V-Sole Low Grind, V-Sole Mid Grind and V-Sole Full Grind.”

A Cleveland representative says that the new wedges have what’s called “feel-balancing technology,” which is an “under-the-hood” type of technology that “we feel could be revolutionary.”

It’s also confirmed that there will be three different blade finishes and one cavity-back finish. For more information, we’ll have to wait until July 25, which is the embargo for the new RTX 3 wedges.

Join the conversation about the wedges and see more photos here.

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20 Comments

20 Comments

  1. Jack always

    Jun 15, 2016 at 7:51 am

    Very similar to last model very good not great

  2. Steve S

    Jun 10, 2016 at 10:04 am

    Not sure why I would spend a lot for these. Don’t appear to be that much different than the previous version. Love to see actual test data that compares various wedges. Otherwise it’s all marketing hype to me. I could care less about color and finish, until someone proves to me that it affects performance. I’d use a shovel(if it were legal) if it got me close to the pin with stopping power.

    • DB

      Sep 21, 2016 at 5:02 pm

      Steve S and jack always, you don’t have to buy them if you’re happy with your current wedges, but why poo-poo on them without ever even trying it? If you bothered to read the data on these, they are in fact different from the last version, especially the sole grinds. But like I said, if you’re happy with you current setup then good for you. For those of us out here looking to upgrade or replace an old set, isn’t it OK to have new stuff to choose from? Or I guess we should all just use whatever is left on the shelves and have all the equipment mfgrs go out of business? Surely there are enough clubs in stock to keep us all playing for the next 250 years. Do you have this same opinion of car companies? You do realize they come out with a new model EVERY year, most often the same car as last year with minor “improvements” or “tweaks”? If you are not in the market for a new car, who cares? If you are, its nice to be able to get something new rather than whatever car Steve or jack are driving. I tell you what, when you are ready to get new wedges let us all know so we’ll know its OK for us to look as well.

  3. Jim

    Jun 8, 2016 at 6:53 am

    They better have a 4* bounce option this time and have a blacked out color finish that doesn’t fade as fast. Then I would be sold. Already game RTX 2.0s but plan to switch to SM5 or 6 because they have a lower bounce wedge in the 58* and 60* setup.

    • Tim

      Jun 8, 2016 at 11:33 pm

      You mean something more then cheap paint that wears off within weeks?

  4. Brown

    Jun 8, 2016 at 3:26 am

    WHat’s the obsession with brown colored clubs recently, everybody’s doing it, it’s weird

  5. Cwolf

    Jun 7, 2016 at 8:07 pm

    I hope there is a raw finish

  6. TheStylist

    Jun 7, 2016 at 7:42 pm

    Glad to see Cleveland still at it. Always been my favorite company for irons and wedges.

  7. Tom Duckworth

    Jun 7, 2016 at 5:19 pm

    Love the clean look and color. Looking forward to a review.

  8. Bert

    Jun 7, 2016 at 5:14 pm

    Going in my bag immediately – awesome.

  9. Tom

    Jun 7, 2016 at 3:20 pm

    Hey screw in weights?

    • jnak97

      Jun 7, 2016 at 5:42 pm

      Looks like just a movement of their current dot system for grind identification.

      • Peter

        Jun 8, 2016 at 12:20 am

        its their bounce dots. 1 dot lowest bounce. 2 dots mid bounce. 3 dots highest bounce.

    • Jim

      Jun 8, 2016 at 6:52 am

      Looking closely those aren’t screws. They look like punch marks.

  10. Matt

    Jun 7, 2016 at 2:28 pm

    Dig the color.

  11. Alex

    Jun 7, 2016 at 1:11 pm

    Simply beautiful

  12. Cu

    Jun 7, 2016 at 1:11 pm

    This game’s getting too easy. All courses should have to have 5 inch rough on all sides as standard. And in climates that doesn’t allow for grass to grow easily, they should have to have hard-as-concrete fairways and the rough totally unkept and uncut all year.
    lol

    • Johny Thunder

      Jun 7, 2016 at 11:13 pm

      I agree with Jack Nicklaus – it’s far too easy now and the ball goes too far.

      I would suggest making the ball square. That should protect Jack’s records and precioussss par at his courses.

      • Mark Moser

        Jun 15, 2016 at 11:06 pm

        Protect Jacks record from who?? Never has been any threat to it.

    • DB

      Sep 21, 2016 at 5:04 pm

      What does this have to do with new wedges?

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Whats in the Bag

Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)

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Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX

Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4

More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.

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Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.

The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?

Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.

When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.

To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.

Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.

“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.

“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”

Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.

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Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird

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With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.

On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.

Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?

Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’

So that’s why I went back.

 

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OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?

It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.

Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.

It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.

Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.

Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.

So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?

Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.

Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play? 

Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.

There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.

It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.

Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.

And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?

Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’

If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’

My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’

I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”

And you’re going with it this week?

Hundred percent.

Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week. 

Thanks, man.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

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