Equipment
GolfWRX Spotlight: Tour Edge Exotics EXS Blade wedge review
At GolfWRX, we leave no stone unturned to find the best golf equipment on the market. Although this may come across as an insinuation that some golf equipment can be found under rocks, that is not that case. One of the names that has long intrigued me is Tour Edge. I consider it the next Mizuno (with apologies to anyone who finds fault with that characterization.)
For the longest time, Mizuno flew well under the radar, preferring to spend dollars on research and development, rather than self-promotion and tour sponsorships. Guess what? Same business model at Tour Edge. Those who play TE stand by the equipment as if defending a fortress. That was enough for me to reach out to the company, to find out what is really up with the Illinois firm.
Supplied to me were 54-degree and 58-degree Tour Edge Exotics EXS Blade wedges, with a True Temper Dynamic Gold 115 shaft in each. Over the course of one month, I had the opportunity to put them in play on a variety of golf courses. I decided to not test them in practice circumstances, as that is not the modus operandi of the majority of recreational golfers. Instead, my thinking was, I’ll pull them out of the bag when I need them, and we’ll see how they feel, how they connect, how the ball reacts, and how my confidence wanes or grows. In other words, I gave them a real-world, weekend-golfer assessment.
After my on-course review, I dug into the true technology behind the release of the EXS Blade series. After a thorough inspection, three elements of the clubhead construction stood out, and I feel justified in sharing them with you here. These aspects are: milling, the flared toe, and sole grind. Each is unique to this club, and separates it from wannabe peers.
1. Milling
The first aspect of milling, as related to these wedges, concerns the milling out process of moving weight up and down for distance control. We are fallible swingers of clubs, and our strikes are not always where we anticipate. Tour Edge anticipates this. If we deloft or proloft the club face, weight is there to save us to a degree.
The second aspect of milling is milling for precisely-forged tolerances. The grooves are exact. Their spin communication is exact. Our pitches and chips are more exact, thanks to individually-milled faces.
2. Flared Toe Design
My word of the day is chamfer, which is a cut into a right angle, for transitioning purposes. Like a bevel, it is a carpentry term. There is a chamfer on the rear of the face, directly above the words Milled Forging. What appear to be aesthetic, is actually part of the weight-positioning process. The flared toe allows for continued distribution of weight (see milling out above) to enhance shot values.
I’m an aesthetics guy, and the wedges I used previous to receipt of these (54 and 58 degree) models, had a traditional toe, with more of a gentle pear shape. The Tour Edge flared toe stands out to me, or at least it did, over the rounds I’ve played. Reminding my own self that I had to trust the tech, it wasn’t long before the form took a back seat to the function.
3. Dual Groove Construction
Something I had not encountered in wedge development, is dual groove construction. The grooving for the lower lofts (50 and 52 degree) differs from that found on the higher-loft (54, 56, 58, 60 degree) clubs. According to Jon Claffey, vice president of marketing at Tour Edge Golf,
The dual groove construction optimizes groove edge contact, maximizing the spin needed for the diverse array of shots around the green.
What this means to me, then, is that shots that come in lower (and hotter, even fractionally) will benefit from deeper grooves (more spin.) This will align those wedges with the higher-lofted ones, whose descent into the green will be steeper and softer, and will not require the same bite as their more vertical siblings.
Verdict
These wedges will stay in my bag, replacing the Mizunos that were there before. I’ll look forward to seeing how they wear over time, as five rounds become ten, become twenty, and more. If something magical (or unfortunate) occurs, I’ll speak up below in the comment space, to apprise you of the realization.
If you haven’t heard of Tour Edge before, and also if you have, give them a look. Golf club companies don’t stay in business on pity and charity; they need solid product that emanates from quality research and development. Tour Edge has four golfers on PGA Tour Champions on staff. Consider this for a moment: you’re in the twilight of your career (sad, happens to all of us) so you decide to use inferior equipment? NEVER going to happen. That’s why Lehman, McCarron, Petrovic, and Waldorf opted in on Tour Edge golf for their PGA Tour Champions livelihood.
- LIKE64
- LEGIT4
- WOW2
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP2
- OB0
- SHANK1
Whats in the Bag
Matthieu Pavon WITB 2024 (May)
- Pavon’s WITB accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 Max (9 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6 X
3-wood: Ping G430 LST (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 7 X
Hybrid: Ping G430 (19 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 10 X
Irons: Ping i230 (3-PW)
Shafts: Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 X
Wedges: Ping Si59 (52-12S, 58-8B)
Shafts: Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 X
Putter: Ping Cadence TR Tomcat C
Grip: SuperStroke Claw 1.0P
Grips: Golf Pride MCC Align
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Check out more in-hand photos of Pavon’s gear here.
- LIKE1
- LEGIT1
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
Equipment
Spotted: Tommy Fleetwood’s TaylorMade Spider Tour X Prototype putter
Tommy Fleetwood has been attached to his Odyssey White Hot Pro #3 putter for years now. However, this week at the Wells Fargo Championship, we did spot him testing a new putter that is very different, yet somewhat similar, to his current gamer.
This new putter is a TaylorMade Spider Tour X head but with a brand new neck we haven’t seen on a Spider before. A flow neck is attached to the Spider head and gives the putter about a 1/2 shaft offset. This style neck will usually increase the toe hang of the putter and we can guess it gets the putter close to his White Hot Pro #3.
Another interesting design is that lack of TaylorMade’s True Path alignment on the top of the putter. Instead of the large white center stripe, Tommy’s Spider just has a very short white site line milled into it. As with his Odyssey, Tommy seems to be a fan of soft inserts and this Spider prototype looks to have the TPU Pure Roll insert with 45° grooves for immediate topspin and less hopping and skidding.
The sole is interesting as well in that the rear weights don’t look to be interchangeable and are recessed deep into the ports. This setup could be used to push the CG forward in the putter for a more blade-like feel during the stroke, like TaylorMade did with the Spider X Proto Scottie Scheffler tested out.
Tommy’s putter is finished off with an older Super Stroke Mid Slim 2.0 grip in blue and white. The Mid Slim was designed to fit in between the Ultra Slim 1.0 and the Slim 3.0 that was a popular grip on tour.
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- LIKE13
- LEGIT2
- WOW2
- LOL1
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
Equipment
Club Junkie WITB, league night week 4: Some old, some new
We enter week 4 of Thursday night men’s league feeling a little more confident in the game. BK is hoping to go a little lower and reduce the mistakes out there with these clubs in the bag. Watch the video for the full breakdown of why these clubs are getting the starting nod this week!
Driver: Titleist TSR2 (10 degrees, neutral setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana WB 63 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: UST Mamiya Lin-Q M40X TSPX Blue 7F5
7-wood: Ping G430 Max (-1 degree, flat Ssetting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 S
Iron: Mizuno Pro Fli-Hi 4
Shaft: Aerotech Steelfiber hls880 S
Irons: PXG 0317 Tour (5-PW)
Shaft: LA Golf A-Series 105 Low (4)
Wedge: Titleist Vokey SM10 (50-08F)
Shaft: UST Mamiya Dart V 105 F4 Wedge
Wedge: Ping S159 (56-10H)
Shaft: Ping Z-Z115
Wedge: Ping S159 (60-08B)
Shaft: Ping Z-Z115
Putter: PXG Battle Ready II Brandon
Shaft: BGT Stability Tour Spec One
Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour X
- LIKE2
- LEGIT2
- WOW2
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK2
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
Justin Thomas on the equipment choice of Scottie Scheffler that he thinks is ‘weird’
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
‘Absolutely crazy’ – Major champ lays into Patrick Cantlay over his decision on final hole of RBC Heritage
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
LET pro gives detailed financial breakdown of first week on tour…and the net result may shock you
-
19th Hole3 days ago
Report: LIV star turns down PGA Championship invite due to ‘personal commitments’
-
19th Hole1 week ago
Gary Player claims this is what ‘completely ruined’ Tiger Woods’ career
-
Whats in the Bag2 weeks ago
Team McIlowry (Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry) winning WITBs: 2024 Zurich Classic
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
TaylorMade signs 15-year-old AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year to an NIL contract
-
Equipment1 week ago
Golf fans left surprised by LIV’s choice of course for its 2024 individual championship event
Dave Bryce
Nov 20, 2020 at 9:39 pm
Have the 56 degrees bent too 55,love this wedge,looks,feel and spin are great!
boydenit
Oct 17, 2020 at 8:06 pm
A lot of milling, milling, milling for a club that look like it was made in China for a few dollars a head!
Ronald Montesano
Oct 18, 2020 at 7:43 am
Beauty and all things are in the eye of the beholder. Exclamation points should be used sparingly. Here is a link to their description page: https://www.touredge.com/exotics-exs-pro-forged-blade-wedge
They have contact information on site, and would be happy to discuss the process with you. Worth a call, I suspect.
Wedge Guy
Oct 19, 2020 at 8:55 am
Wow. I’m a club fanatic from way back and I’m shocked you would say that. These scream premium to me. I guess beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder.
Ronald Montesano
Oct 23, 2020 at 8:55 am
They play so well. I was invited to a premium course in Buffalo last weekend, and had so many 50-100 yard shots into greens (had to punch out a lot 🙂
I was so darned comfortable with them. Hit the ball inside 15 feet on all of those 3rdies into par 4s. Putter was balky, but wedges were stellar.
Milo
Oct 17, 2020 at 6:54 pm
I’m looking for a 46° to take the place of my PW. Probably end up being a Mizuno. I have a 60° mack daddy • forged raw and a 56° S5 blue ion.
Ronald Montesano
Oct 18, 2020 at 7:46 am
Are you a “looks” player or a “feel” player? As I revealed above, the look matters to me, so I had to get used to a bit different toe on the Tour Edge club. How do the Mack Daddy and Blue Ion toes and top lines compare, or doesn’t that matter? If it doesn’t, awesome…you can pick the best-feeling wedge to fill the 46 degree gap.
If looks do matter psychologically, you’re handcuffed a bit, but there are so many options available. I can’t wait to see how the new Tour Edge lines/toe compare with the one I just reviewed.
ChristianR
Oct 17, 2020 at 2:07 pm
They’re also known for their hybrid and fairway woods, but latest models of drivers have got lot of positive reviews, looks like they have the numbers of the big ones despite a lower price.
Ronald Montesano
Oct 18, 2020 at 7:48 am
I bet that you were waiting for this review. You have a nice understanding of their product. As I posited, they became the company that Mizuno used to be. They have sincere quality and are just not “out there” yet. I can’t wait to read about all the new models, and with luck, will have an opportunity to test them. Good luck with your game.
ChristianR
Oct 18, 2020 at 3:50 pm
It’s not a case my irons are Mizuno!
Thanks for the answer Ronald.