News

Why technology changes but handicaps don’t

Published

12 years ago

Feb 27, 2012

GolfWRX Staff

By Brant Brice

GolfWRX Contributor

As an avid golfer and equipment junkie, I feel I am easily persuaded by and feel profound guilt for not being the first to purchase and proudly own all of the new technology on the market today.

Let me rephrase that … ahh hummm, as an avid golfer and “former” equipment junkie, I feel I am no longer hornswaggled by the advertisers or tempted by a clubmaker’s new adjustable face, lower center of gravity, reduced spin, longer carry, lighter shaft, more penetrating flight, whiter club head for better contrast, higher MOI/COR or similar spacecraft technology on the market today nor do I feel like a loser for not having the latest and greatest! Golf balls are purposely not included in this discussion as they are replaced after just a few holes or every shot in some cases depending on your level of slice.

Let’s start with the iron. Face it, if we weren’t all searching for the magic swing bean, or “The Secret” we would still be playing those now illegal high tech square groove Ping Eye 2s from the early 80s. I constantly hear people talk about the old I2s. They were well balanced, the distances were on par with forgings, they stuck like super glue on the greens and were actually easy to hit. Do we replace the irons like we do the beloved driver that we adore so much we get a new one every year six months? No. Do we toss them out, give them away or throw them in the woods/water/trash after a bad round and chastise them like we do our collection of 10 putters that essentially are all the same? No. We tend to buy things in patterns and the club manufacturers know this, but they want us to feel inadequate or under equipped and reduce the time between purchases. They know that the average golfer will buy a new set of irons about once every four or five years, drivers about every two years, wedges every three years and putters every two years or when they throw one in the pond, whichever comes first. Those who play more often or who fall for the sales pitch will replace their equipment sooner than those who play less or are more frugal (I didn’t say cheap) and don’t fall for the hype.

So when do you replace your irons? I believe the purchase of irons is different from drivers, wedges or putters. We don’t tend to buy irons because they will help you gain distance or because they get rid of your slice. I think we break down and replace irons because we are either getting better or are getting worse and react accordingly to save or enhance our game.

An aside … many iron manufacturers are advertising longer hitting irons but they are really just lengthening the shafts and strengthening the lofts. I don’t know why we get so bent out of shape by how far we hit irons anyway. You hit them how far you hit them. Live with it.

So we intuitively know that we aren’t going to purchase a set of irons and drop 10 strokes off our handicap. The bottom line is that while they may actually allow you to pick up a few extra yards there hasn’t really been that much done to the technology of irons since the Ping I2, at least not as much as they would lead you to believe. There are different metals, dampeners, groove formations, cavity inserts, blade size and shaft optimization, but the basic cavity shape for game improvement or muscle back design for blades is the same. Look at pictures from old MacGregor or Titleist blades. Do they remind you of Mizuno blades or Nike blades? My advice, replace your irons every 250-300 rounds or so and don’t forget to regrip your clubs every six months or 30 rounds.

Wedges — are they really part of the iron set? Aside from Vokey and the 588s, there haven’t been many innovations since. Why so much iron innovation for the high handicapper yet we still ALL play blade wedges, one of the hardest clubs to hit and arguably the second most important club in the bag. The little advancements are removable face inserts, crazy offset hozels, spinner shafts and progressive bounce formation — none of which really take strokes off your game. My advice, get the removable face insert wedges so replacement is far more economical when the grooves start to fail. Note: for you high handicappers, take out the 60-degree wedge and replace your 4 iron with a hybrid. You will score lower and will send me a thank you letter for no longer sculling or chili dipping your wedges.

Driver — let’s take a poll, how many drivers do you have? Five, eight, 10 or more? How often have you found yourself saying, “If I only had that new TaylorMade R11S I could blast it past all of the fellas.” Also how much did you pay for those eight irons compared to what you pay for one driver? Drivers are the largest consumer cash crop market. For guys, we simply can’t resist hitting something farther than our competitors. They play on our ego. They claim every year to add 10 percent, or 12 yards or 30 percent tighter dispersion than previous models for which they still charge $299. The bottom line is that there is a maximum C.O.R. (coefficient of restitution). This is how far a ball will go after colliding with the driver face at a fixed speed. They can’t make them go farther. Shaft innovation can help but the driver itself can’t be made to break the rules. My advice, replace your driver every five years or until you can use it as a beer mug.

Next, I’ll quickly go over putters. As I alluded to above, we may be more unfaithful to our putters than we are to the driver, wedges, irons, soda, beer, gas stations, car manufacturers, cell phone providers and spouses combined. Do you have three different Anser style putters? Do you have an 8802 of some sort? Do you have a space ship on a stick? Are they face balanced, heel balanced, toe hangers, low MOI/High MOI, polymer insert, CNC milled, plumbers neck, swan, offset, straight, forged, cast, steel, copper, long, belly, standard or Robert Garrigus? Can you make the ball go toward the hole and stop just past it? My advice, pick up all of your putters and pick the one that looks and feels the best to you at address and then go get it fitted for loft and lie.

Worldwide the average handicap for men is about 17 and women about 29. Why has this number not changed in 100 years? I thought we had these new adjustable drivers that promise (every year) to have a bigger sweet spot, hotter face and longer carry with less spin and straighter flight. We have irons that have more feel, are easier to hit and get the ball in the air faster, go farther and straighter (every year). We have wedges that are more accurate, spin more and are also easier to hit. There are a bazillion putters that are easier to align, better feel due tuned inserts, have larger sweet spots and that encourage a more solid strike. Why are we still falling for the advertiser’s promise of a better game? Here’s why … we are looking for a quick tip, a “golf fix”, a magic cure, a holy grail, pleasure without pain, an enlightenment without study.

Here’s my advice, stop spending your money on new equipment. Get fit with the equipment you have now and spend forty bucks a month on a range membership. Also, find an instructor that doesn’t charge an arm and a leg for a RECURRING package of lessons who gives you reachable goals, practice drills and a routine. How is that self taught swing working for you? Set up a practice schedule within your limited free time and dig it out of the dirt. Read one golf book a month. There is a 10,000-hour rule in all professions and trades. If you want to get good at doing something you have to learn the correct way to do it, then practice that learned motion over and over again. Is a 16-year-old or a 40-year-old a better driver? I know golfers who have dropped 30 strokes in three years by having a focused practice routine, spending a half hour or more four or five days a week working on fundamentals, chipping and pitching from inside 100 yards. Don’t waste your entire bucket of balls pounding driver after drive while on the range, and hit the putting green for 40 to 50 percent of your practice time. Luke Donald could take any of your foursome’s bag of clubs and beat you handily with them.

Final thought: Technology changes to make more money, but handicaps stay the same because we want to buy a better game instead of putting in the time. Getting better is easy if you are willing to endure the pain to get there. The golf swing is not free, nor can it be purchased. It must be earned. That’s what Mr. Hogan meant by “digging it out of the dirt.” I still think I could get an extra 20 yards with that new TaylorMade 9.5 degree R11S Matrix Ozik TP 7M3 X-Stiff!

I would love to hear any funny stories about your driver or putter collections gathering dust or any success or failures in your quest for a better game!!!

Thanks for reading.

– B-Rant

Click here for more discussion in the “Equipment Forum”

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21 Comments

Pingback: Swing! Golf Tech to Perfect Your Game - GenX i Social Buzz
JayT

May 8, 2014 at 5:35 pm

Just found this article 3 years later…and have to comment..
The number of rounds I play in part determines the gear I use…
The less I play the more help I need from my gear.
Lighter, shorter, flexier shafts help to keep me in control…and I’ve gone to mid-weight regular flex graphite iron shafts and ultralight “wood”/hybrid senior flex shafts…regular for accuracy, senior for distance…newer technology HAS made senior shafts more accurate.
Interestingly, while the FW woods/hybrids are “A” shafts, my drivers are regular flex…I swing easier off the turf, and want to rip it off the tee…I do have 3 woods that all get the ball in the air to the same place, but they differ in weight by 5-10gm…I use the lightest when playing the least, the heaviest when playing regularly.
I have a bag of wedges, multiple copies of the same that are no longer made, and a bag of putters, because I do like them all…that’s my story and I’m sticking to it…Finally, I love practicing my short game.

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Jose

Sep 14, 2013 at 11:48 am

“How is that self taught swing working for you? Set up a practice schedule within your limited free time and dig it out of the dirt.”

How did the self taught swing work for Moe Norman, Lee Trevino and Bubba Watson?

There is evidence that the ADHD golfers tend to have home brew swing. We are experimental learners.

Moe was not ADHD but he is the best striker of the ball ever!

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Mark Adam

Jul 6, 2012 at 12:31 pm

I caddied from age 14-22, I grew up on the golf course looping for guys with far too much money and egos that were even larger. Some of the guys were great I remember them by name. I remember their swings, their ball flight and their idiosyncrasies on the course. I also remember their bags, what they kept in them, what balls they played and clubs too. The top, say, 4 or 5 players I looped for never changed clubs. Very rarely. The best of all, we’ll call him Rick, played an ancient set of Titliest fored cavity backs from the late 90s he had a Vokey gap wedge and a RAM lob that was probably older than I. He kept a 2-iron in the bag and a Scotty putter as well as a Founders Club Fresh Metal 3-wood that he hit so pure, it was a thing of beauty. On his best day, he could have won on Tour. He had an ancient driver that he replaced with a Taylormade R-series something or other which he hit well. But, I guess, what I’m trying to get across is that these guys didn’t buy technology and their game always stayed the same. The guys the took money from every Saturday and Sunday morning, on the other hand, were constantly changing gear. At some point, you get to a point in your game where your clubs become an extension of your self. I remember Tom Lehman, years ago asking readers of Gold Magazine: “Should I change my grips or clubs?” His grips were worn down to the shafts in some cases. That was the defining moment for me that proved new technology wasn’t going to magically make me a scratch golfer. As I caddied a few more years, I learned a lot about the swing by simply watching. I played more. I got pretty good. I took four years away from the game and I’m happy to say my first swing after coming back was 280, down the middle. I shot 3-over par.

It’s not the clubs.

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Zane Jakobs

Jun 24, 2012 at 4:14 pm

Once i played with a guy who had over 10 different drivers, 15 different putters, 5 different sets of irons, 10 different wedges, and he was horrible. He scored 150.

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JTMacc99

Mar 8, 2012 at 6:38 am

So true! I’m almost done with replacing equipment that lasted me a LONG time. Certain technology does help a 16 handicapper like me. Replacing the long irons with hybrids was well worth it, for example. Replacing the 845’s I’ve had forever with the shiny new irons that arrived yesterday was just something I wanted to do. The putter, I still love and realize that it is practice that makes it work better.

The driver, on the other hand… It is only the prices that keep me from messing around with them. I love the used bin and the late winter clearance sales. It is just fun to try new drivers.

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Jskippyskip

Mar 6, 2012 at 11:21 pm

Longtime reader….first time post. This article is great! I still hope my new belly putter knocks some strokes off!

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JP

Mar 6, 2012 at 3:35 pm

Great write-up. And yes, its so easy to get caught up in the hype and marketing of the new clubs.

This year, I’ve realized two things – 1) i don’t need a new driver since i’m certain that there is nothing wrong with my R9 – if it doesn’t go far or straight its me and not the driver; and 2) i really don’t need to be playing a stiff shaft – my ego really got in the way when i bought my last set of clubs… it went something like this “all of my friends play a stiff, so why shouldn’t i be playing it too”. The latter would have been a great excuse to buy new equipment with the right shaft flex, but instead I’ve decided to just buy used shafts in the right flex and will have my current clubs re-shafted. Am I still spending money on equipment, yes, but i’d rather spend $150 to re-shaft my perfectly good J36 than to spend a $1000 on the i20’s that i really want but that i really don’t need.

Cheers-

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k2002man

Mar 4, 2012 at 3:16 am

Great article! Golf is a funny game that I am constantly trying to master. I am one who is always trying to find an edge with a better driver or putter. I believe that the new technology has helped a lot. Why are golf courses getting longer and longer? Its because technology has helped us hit the ball further. I hit the ball further than I did with the woods and balata balls of 25 years ago! But I agree totally that better equipment won’t fix a bad/broken swing. Practice and lessons are the best medicine helped by properly fit gear.

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chris

Mar 1, 2012 at 12:47 am

As a low handicap golfer I can tell you most amateurs can’t chip or putt. No amount of technology will save strokes around the green.

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Appletree

Feb 29, 2012 at 6:21 pm

Too funny and accurate in my case anyways. 59 year old. Played 17 years now. When really trying got to a 6 but over the last 5 years have been a comfortable 10. Always swapping, looking for club deals etc. Change a bunch of clubs during the season until it is club championship time then the hybrids and anser putter come out. I have finally learned what work for me. Great article. You made me smile. Thx.

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Solidstrike

Feb 29, 2012 at 3:15 pm

This is all true; a hundred years ago players still shot par or better using wooden shafts and dimpled grooves. However I find that new equipment refreshes my interest in the game. I love the feeling of finding a good used hybrid or new driver and taking it to the course for the first time. Frankly I stopped buying new clubs all together and stick with used clubs to feed my habit. Buy/Sell/Trade forums are fun. Occasionally I find a club that actually stays in my bag, but very rarely. It’s true that when most golf players start putting poorly, for example, they blame their putters and begin the search for a new one; so what? Putting is mostly about confidence anyways and sometimes a new flat stick can provide that. New drivers can help lower your score if you look down at the head at address and feel like you can’t miss.

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Daniel

Feb 28, 2012 at 6:11 pm

Changing irons every 300 rounds? Why?
I’ve played 160 rounds with my set, I practice more than most and the irons still look like new. Being forged they have a little bag chatter of course but playing-wise they will last a thousand rounds.

Otherwise a well written article.
Every time a chopper asks which new driver is the best I tell him to spend that money on range balls.

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kwijyboy

Feb 28, 2012 at 5:38 pm

This was hilarious! I believe you, but as I go to the range to practice my swing, I can’t wait to pull out that club that I either bought used, reshafted, shortened, lengthened, changed the swingweight, or changed the grips on,…and then swear to sell it only 3 hours later.

It’s a hobby.

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Dan

Feb 28, 2012 at 2:05 pm

Great article. My entire set is based on last years models at a discount, or a used club from a playing buddy who is always updating to the latest and greatest. I will be gaming my S57’s for a long time, and have yet to find a driver as sweet as my R7 Limited (Exceot maybe the new Titlest 910 or last years 909?) I have just retired a ping anser I bought used in 1983 for a Odyssey mallet (last years model of course).

How many versions of the R11 do your think there will be before Taylormade is done with it? The R7 had about 6.

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B1G

Feb 28, 2012 at 11:37 am

The clubmakers are brilliant. The Gen X/Y players coming into their money making years are used to perceptions of instant gratification. They’ve grown up in a time when everyone gets a soccer trophy, and feel depressed if they don’t make their first million by 30. Few realize the hard work it takes to succeed at business, marriage, life… and golf- the “game that can’t be won, only played”. I enjoyed the post and look forward to my own instant gratification for new hardware!

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BZ

Feb 28, 2012 at 11:21 am

Great read. I agree with pretty much everything you said here. I think the gain of really learning how your current clubs perform in every scenario you’re likely to encounter on a golf course far outweighs any technological gain you would get from changing clubs every year! I’ve been playing for over 20 years and I’m on my second set of irons. 845’s and now CG4 Tours. I’ve had my putter for over 20 years (TP 3). But I’m not going to lie and say I’m never tempted!

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Matt S

Feb 28, 2012 at 5:41 am

I do believe you make some very valid points and are spot on about the lob wedge and hybrid theory. However, I think you miss one very important part as well and that is what tees people are playing from. It has become almost a stigma for people to consider playing the white tees and organizations like the PGA of America are now trying with their “tee if forward” program to break that. Every week I am fortunate to meet new people and enjoy a round of golf, but too often those people are playing from significantly further back then where they should be playing from. With equipment getting better (especially the golf ball) people think they can tee it from all the way back and still shoot the same score and it is just simply not true. The movement of getting people to play from the correct tee will help bring people back to the game because it will be easier and more fun. And in the end I believe that is why we all play this great game. Damn that was too long…..

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Dave T

Feb 28, 2012 at 4:41 am

I think that you are right on on all your club replacement numbers. It is hard to believe that the average handicap for a male is 17, when I have always heard that very few golfers break 100. Anyway, it has been at least 5-6 years since I have purchased a new set of irons. That means that I am due! Thanks for the writeup, and you are spot on… Practice is the key to getting better. The old school wilson staff blades that I learned on will remain in the closet though….

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Grim

Feb 28, 2012 at 12:04 am

First I would like to appologize about the gears comment in another of your articles.

Secondly, what a great write up on a topic you rarely see these days. The need to NOT buy new equipment every year. I see more of the why you need new gear articles, but this article hits the nail on the head.

Great read. Im so broke Ive yet to be able to be a club ho, but I think the fact im cheap allows me to appreciate the nice clubs when I do get them and spend the rest on playing/practicing.

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Andy c

Feb 27, 2012 at 11:41 pm

this is why some of us score a great deals on member’s for sale forum on 2-4 year old technology. I for one don’t have funds to go out and buy something new, however, always keep an eye out for great used equipment.
I sometimes go out to the demo days, pay attention to the details of clubs and shafts, then try to build my set based on the information obtained during demo days.
replaced 3i with 7wood and 4i with hybrid…total cost $30.
I sure would be putting more range time this year to lower my handicap this year by 3. More focused range session, that is.

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Equipment

Spotted: Putter roundup from the 2024 3M Open

Published

16 hours ago

Jul 25, 2024

Brian Knudson

Every week we spot some really cool and custom putters out on the putting green and in tour players’ bags. This week is no slouch with some really interesting and beautiful putters being tested. Let’s take a look at some of the standouts we found.

Tyler Duncan: Scotty Cameron Phantom T-11.5

The Phantom 11 is a pretty wild putter by Scotty’s standards with a multi-material design that boosts MOI for more forgiveness. Duncan’s T-11.5. takes the stock model and moves the shaft to the center of the putter head. We don’t mean a center shafted version, but the shaft is installed in the center, behind the face as well. We don’t have any official details on this T-11.5 but it looks like that setup should create a putter where the face points towards the hole or target, similar to a L.A.B. putter.

Zac Blair: Scotty Cameron 009.M Cameron & Co. “Longneck”

Blair might be in possession of the largest Scotty collection on tour! It seems like every week he has something new, and flat-out gorgeous, that he is trying out. I have seen a lot of 009.M putters over the years, but never one with a long plumbers neck on it. This 009 is a Masterful that utilizes additional CNC machine work to reduce the amount of hand polishing needed to complete the putter. The long, or tall, neck on the putter usually is used to reduce the amount of toe hang and make the putter more face balanced. The face contains a very shallow milling while the sole features a tour truck, tour only, diamonds, and the rare Circle L stamp. The Circle L was made for Scotty’s close friends who lost matches or games and was meant to poke a little fun at their misfortune.

Paul Barjon: PXG Prototype

There are a lot of putters out there that become so widely used and popular that other manufacturers will borrow some of the design cues. The Spider is one of those putters and it looks like PXG has made a prototype putter for Barjon that has some similar features. This proto has a tapered mallet shape with twin wings that come out from either side of the rear. Twin movable weights sit in each wing on the sole and the sole features a plate that is bolted in place at the corners. The top contains a single siteline and the face uses PXG’s advanced pyramid face structure.

Odyssey Ai-One Cruiser Broomstick #7

More and more long, counterbalanced, and alternative putters seem to be showing up recently. The long, or broomstick, putter is making a comeback and more than a few players have joined Adam Scott in using that style. Odyssey has thrown its hat in the broomstick arena with a new Ai-One Cruiser model. The head shape is the very familiar #7 model, but with the shaft going into the center of the club head. An Ai-One face is there to help keep ball speed consistent on off-center hits and three white lines are on top for framing ball and aligning the putter.

TaylorMade Spider Tour S Broomstick

Another option in the long putter is TaylorMade’s Spider Tour S broomstick that we saw around the putting green. The head looks to be a little larger than the standard Tour S and that makes sense with the broomstick-style putters demanding heads near or over 400g. A TPU Pure Roll insert is installed in the face and the shaft is a more traditional double-bend design, just much longer! There isn’t the True Path alignment on top, just a full darker grey finish with a single siteline. Two moveable weights are out in the wings of the putter to dial in the specific weight a player might want.

Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 3M Open

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Equipment

GolfWRX member testing: Reviewing Cleveland CBX 4 ZipCore wedges

Published

2 days ago

Jul 24, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Our forum faithful are well acquainted with the incredible giveaways and review opportunities in the realm of threads and comments, but we want to ensure front-page readers are involved as well.

Check out what GolfWRXers are saying about Cleveland’s new CBX 4 ZipCore wedges after putting them through their paces.

We have five GolfWRX members testing Cleveland’s CBX 4 ZipCore wedges.

Cleveland on CBX 4 ZipCore wedges

“New CBX 4 ZipCore wedges bring premium versatility and elite forgiveness together in a highly refined, sharp-looking design that blends perfectly in the bag with modern cavity back or hollow iron sets. And now, these CBX series wedges get all of Cleveland Golf’s latest tour caliber technologies to create our finest cavity back wedge yet.”

How we choose our testers

GolfWRX staff evaluates each entry against the criteria laid out in the testing thread to determine the best fit for each specific product — For example, if a game-improvement iron is being tested, game-improvement iron-playing golfers will be considered.

Member testers

@mikes919
@ALTSean
@awtryau89
@vsabre
@rbilramz

Review themes

Forgiveness
Ease of use out of bunkers
Easy to play from a square position
Surprisingly compact given the amount of cavity technology
Impressive spin

Member review highlights

@mikes919

“Initial impression is that these wedges are very clean and high quality in appearance. They have a durable-looking satin finish, and the cavity back insert blends nicely with the steel; you barely notice that it’s an insert. Shafts and ferrules are pristine. The stock Lamkin Crossline grips are more rubbery than the tour velvets I’m used to, but the tread pattern gives a nice locked-in feel. The face milling is very pronounced, and the grooves feel ridiculously sharp. They are quite chunky from the back. The soles are big and wide, with a lot of leading and trailing edge relief. If you’re a digger with wedges, you are going to love these things. Comparing the soles and overall profile to my Vokeys, the difference is most obvious on the 54*. The CBX4 sole is much wider than anything I’ve played in this loft range before. While they’re both S-grinds, the CBX4 grind is much more pronounced on both the leading and trailing edge.”

“Flip the wedges over to the normal address position and it’s a totally different story. You would never know there’s so much sole and tech behind this club! While the topline is slightly thicker on the CBX4, I was pleasantly surprised that the appearance is much more “player” oriented than I would have thought. They don’t feel nearly as big here. The only thing I notice at address is that the CBX4 leading edge sits a little higher, because of that leading edge relief…”

“The other thing you’ll notice at address is the milling and groove pattern of the wedges. The HydraZip face technology is really cool to see and feel. Just rubbing your fingers across the face of the wedge, you know these are going to shred some ball covers! Zooming in on the grooves themselves is even more impressive, with a slightly different pattern between the low and high lofts:

…”My practice areas are sandy and the balls are hard as a rock, but I haven’t noticed any wear whatsoever on the wedge faces yet. Still spinning great, they really grab the ball.

…”These wedges like to be played square. Just line it up, focus on making reasonably clean contact, and you’ll be rewarded with a consistent flight and great spin.”

…”Today I put the Cleveland’s back in the bag for a rainy round. It started off drizzling and was just absolutely pouring by about the 5th hole. I was extremely impressed with the amount of spin I was able to generate with the CBX4’s. I found myself needing to adjust and fire at the pin much more than with my Vokeys; I was getting one hop stops, even in a heavy downpour.”

@ALTSean

“I got the wedges out for another round this morning. It’s been raining and warm here in NOVA so the conditions are on the softer side at the moment and the forgiveness of the soles shines in these kind of conditions. We don’t ever really get super firm or fast conditions so the extra bounce and size of the soles probably will work well here year round.”

@awtryau89

“As you can see, these wedges have some serious grinds. The pre-worn leading edge is on the 54 & 60. Even though these are larger than my Vokeys, they can be manipulated to hit any shot you like.”

“Looks are subjective but these look great. No real offset and not too rounded. They are on the larger side but unless you put them next to a smaller wedge, you’d never know they are a bit on the large side.”

“Feel is really good for cast and cavity back. They have a sharp click and aren’t muted but feel solid. The shafts are KBS Hi Rev 2.0. I play KBS C Taper Lite 110s in my irons so these mesh very well. Overall the pairing of the shafts and heads work very well. You won’t mistake them for soft forgings but overall they are softer feeling than my SM 9 KBS Tour 130 wedges.”

“Spin is exceptional. My Vokeys aren’t old but these definitely have much more bite than the SM9s. The hydro treatment is real. We played very soggy fairways and the spin I saw was crazy. One hop and stop pitches from short distances were the norm. It will be interesting to see what they offer when our course drys out.”

“Forgiveness is what these wedges are all about. I didn’t have any bad misses today that the wedges saved me strokes but I did notice some shots that weren’t perfect ended up being a good bit closer to pin high than expected.”

“Played again today and basically learned these wedges are a cheat code out of bunkers. So easy to hit any shot. I hit it close 2-3 times green side but my best shot may have been from a fairway bunker 127 out, up against a lip, with the 50 degree. Hit it to about 12 feet and promptly 3 putted. Oh well.”

“These wedges have stayed in my bag. Having played Vokeys for so long, I had to convince myself to commit for a while and put the ego aside. One big thing that has stood out to me is full shots and the better results I have seen there. These wedges offer so much more forgiveness that I have to be careful. I’ve had to adjust my yardages since they just play longer. I even took them to have the lofts checked because I thought they were strong and they were spot on so its just helping the ball go farther on those slight misses around the face.”

“I’ve stated they are just so easy out of the sand. I have hit some great shots and even holed out a few times from bunkers. I have to be careful on wet sand with the larger surface area on the soles but overall they just make the game easier.”

“Chipping is also so easy. I go against the grain so many times playing on Bermuda and the pre-worn leading edge just helps the wedge from sticking. I work very hard on shaft lean and keeping the hands ahead while chipping. The leading edge helps me play square face shots this way but you can also open them up.”

“I’ve had playing partners comment on my short game a few times the last few weeks and then ask to look at my wedges. Every one of them are surprised. I play to a 7 but one of my buddies who is a 1 has had some chipping issues lately and he started playing out of my bag one round. He plays ZipCores and probably won’t let his ego buy some but he had to admit he hit some of his best chips and shots with them. Great wedges for the common man.”

@vsabre

“Wedges arrived well packaged and perfect to the requested spec…super clean look and very appealing over the ball.”

“Performance – Range 3/4 Swings…Our practice range turf is slightly sandy from continuous repair with tight lies that are not forgiving for either chunky or blade swings. A really good wedge test and the CBX4s did not disappoint. For not having touched a club for two weeks the CBX4s were incredibly easy to hit. Like cheat code easy to hit as someone else mentioned.”

“Over to the practice green and hit a variety of shots with each wedge and honestly it’s nearly impossible to chunk one (which I can do from time to time). Soft feel coming off the club and I had forgotten what great wedges Cleveland makes, and of course, having a consistent fit spec through the entire iron set makes a huge difference. I will say we’ll see how they fare on tighter, firmer lies around the greens as we approach summer.”

“They will be staying in the bag and I’m sure I’ll be adding a 60 in the next few weeks with the same specs.”

@rbilramz

“My first impression upon receiving the CBX4 was how much cleaner they looked than the previous version. The lack of black plastic badging really makes them look more like players’ irons. I don’t have the CBX3 to compare them with, but I think the footprint is smaller than the previous generation.”

“The comparison to my RTX6 is interesting as well. The CBX4 clearly has a much larger and more rounded sole and bounce. However, from the address, the size difference is pretty minimal. They both frame the ball nicely without looking oversized. I can also manipulate CBX4 in my hand really easily; the sole doesn’t cause any issues with the turf.”

“I am lucky to have a simulator in my basement (Foresight GCQuad) and a putting/chipping green in my backyard. This is where my first round of testing occurred. I started at the putting green, rotating between each club. I do 90% of my chipping with my 54, but I hit a few with all of them. There was an immediate improvement with the CBX4, as poor turf interaction was not punished as much. My putting green isn’t very large (not enough space for any pitches), so I quickly made my way to the basement.”

“After getting warmed up, I compared each club against my current gamer with 12 full-swing shots. I would throw away the worst 2 and then average the remaining. The results here kind of surprised me. Despite identical specs, the CBX4 was consistently 2-3 yards (or more) further than the RTX6. I was expecting more forgiveness and consistency but not additional distance. I should add that I am not looking for any additional distance either, I like my current gapping. I am guessing the distance is due to increased forgiveness as I rarely hit the ball in the exact center of the face.”

“Spin numbers were basically identical. There wasn’t enough difference between the two for any conclusion to be made. The lowest ones were around 8,000rpm with the 48 degree and consistently around 10,000rpm with the 54 and 60 degrees. The UtilZip grooves and face milling really work great. I wouldn’t have any problem stopping and even backing shots up with these wedges.”

“The dispersion of the CBX4s was a little tighter, but not drastically. On good strikes, they were probably identical. The only noticeable difference came on really bad strikes, where the additional stability of the CBX4 became obvious. It won’t save you from a bad strike, but the CBX4 stayed a little straighter and went farther when I put a bad swing on them. I was slightly surprised by this, as I expected the difference to be larger. I guess the shorter distances of wedges make the forgiveness less obvious.”

“Distance/spin/dispersion aside, it would be impossible to ignore the difference in feel between the RTX6 and CBX4. On good strikes, the RTX6 simply feels amazing. It’s very solid while equally soft. I think that’s the feeling that people love about traditional wedges. I don’t have a problem with the feeling of the CBX4, but it’s just not as pure. It is clearly a cavity-back feeling. Feel isn’t overly important to me, so I wouldn’t have a problem with that. I just want to point it out.”

“My next test was taking them to the course and getting real-world impressions. Before playing, I put the wedges through a pretty decent warm-up that included full swing, pitches, chips, and a bunch of sand shots. This is where the CBX4 shined for me. Off of imperfect lies and out of the sand, the more forgiving sole was impossible to ignore. I headed to the Par 3 course at Green Valley Ranch to put them both into action. I didn’t keep score because I wanted to hit basically every shot with both clubs, and putting shouldn’t matter. The par 3 course at GVR is short, but it is NOT easy. By starting every hole with two balls, and then hitting every subsequent shot with each wedge, I was able to get a pretty good comparison between the two. In the end, the CBX4 simply performed better for me. And by the last few holes, I was noticeably more confident over the ball with the CBX4. That may be the largest benefit for me. I simply approached tough angles or bad lies with less apprehension. I was less afraid of hitting it fat or blading a chip.”

“Long story short, I may be the ideal player for the CBX4 wedges. The 54 and 60 degree clubs are securely in my bag. I am going to stick with the ZX5 A wedge over the CBX4 48, but that’s mostly due to my preference to have my gap wedge match my irons. I almost always use it for full-swing shots, so I like them to match. The cavity back design adds some forgiveness (and distance?) on full-swing shots, but the real difference for me comes around the green. The sole design is simply easier to work with. No question about it. I truly recommend the CBX4 to anyone who struggles with their short game. At least for me, my biggest inclination to use them historically has been based on pride. The improved looks make that easier to get past, but the improved playability makes it impossible to ignore. I am deeply on team CBX for now.”

Bonus comment

“We played this afternoon after getting about 4 inches of rain yesterday and late night. It was soggy. These wedges are forgiving and the tagline “chunk a little less” is real. Today was a good day to have more forgiving wedges.” – @awtryau89

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