Wedge Word

News of two recent wedge arrivals… the Taylormade MG2 TW Grind and the Callaway Mack Daddy CB.

The wedge market has seen a lot of activity in the second half of 2020, and two more important releases have occurred since we last featured them in July. The first came a couple of weeks after that post appeared, when TaylorMade issued for public consumption the wedges Tiger Woods plays.

Complex Sole
The MG2 TW Grind wedges certainly have the look of the standard Milled Grind 2 Wedge which came out in the summer of 2019, a couple of years after the original Milled Grind Wedge. But there is one major difference—a more complex sole incorporating two different grinds/bounces. Unlike a lot of PGA Tour players who turn up at a tournament venue with numerous wedges with varying grinds and test each out before choosing that week’s gamers, Woods prefers to keep it simple and arrive with the same wedges he had the week before (or several weeks before—you know how infrequently he plays). Its multiple milled grinds give the 56˚ MG2 TW the versatility Woods is looking for and allow him to keep his testing to a minimum (and also demand a certain skill level if the club is to be used effectively). The section immediately behind the leading edge has 24˚ of bounce, but transitions into a slightly broader section with 12˚. This section also features significant relief in the heel and toe allowing you to open the face for lofted pitches but keep the leading edge close to the ground. So you can hit a flop-shot or high pitch without fear of skinning the ball clean across the green.

There is enough relief or camber in the trailing edge—a third section if you will—to enable you to slide the club under the ball and exit the sand/turf smoothly.

While the heel and toe extremes of the face have a chrome finish, the hitting area between them is left raw, and therefore rusts overtime. This creates more friction and, consequently, spin. Laser etching and sharper, narrower, deeper ZTP RAW grooves, likewise ensure more grip on the ball.

And, if all that wasn’t enough, a thermo-plastic polyurethane insert in the back of the clubhead is designed to dampen vibration.
Though the spec sheet says the lob wedge has 11˚ of bounce, there is sufficient relief on the leading edge for it to be regarded as a dual-sole wedge, not unlike its less-lofted sibling.

$200 each

Lofts–56˚, 60˚

Shaft–True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Right hand only

taylormadegolf.com

 

First Cavity
The second release, in September, saw Callaway release its first ever perimeter-weighted wedge—the Mack Daddy CB (CB stands for ‘Cavity Back’). Designed to make the transition from irons to wedges less conspicuous for those who play cavity back irons, the Mack Daddy CB is a game-improvement wedge with high Moment of Inertia (MoI), a larger clubface, and a thicker top-line.

There are eight lofts available the lowest four of which – 46˚, 48˚, 50˚, 52˚ – feature a full sole with moderate bounce as shots with these clubs are usually made with full swings. Callaway therefore wanted them to create similar turf interaction to irons. A modified W grind is used for the 54˚-60˚ clubs to facilitate getting the club through rough or sand.

The company’s JAW grooves are standard on all lofts and extend all the way across the face on the four highest-lofted clubs.

$130 each

Lofts– 48˚ – 60˚ in two-degree increments

Shaft–KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 (steel), KBS Hi-Rev G (graphite)

Right and left-hand

callawaygolf.com

 

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