Wedges are high-lofted golf clubs that allow the ball to be lifted very high so that it does not roll much after impact on the green. Of all the clubs, you will use the wedges the most, right after the putter. If you hit 18 greens in regulation, it would be much easier, but even the best players in the world don’t.
To get by, they all need to make bunker exits, approaches, lob shots, etc. These clubs, well mastered, can help you improve your scores significantly. So how do you choose them? There are so many options available in the market that make this task challenging.
In this regard, this article shares with you an exhaustive list of the best Taylormade wedges, a renowned brand known to manufacture the best golf equipment.
So, to learn how to choose your wedges, those clubs that score within 100 yards of the flags, read on! Gapping, the center of gravity, rebound and sharpening, we will explain everything to avoid the confusion.
Best Taylormade Wedges
Let’s go ahead and take a look at the best Taylormade wedges.
1.TaylorMade Golf MG2 – Wedge
This Taylormade wedge has a 56.08 degrees loft and a left-handed orientation. One of the best-sellers among Taylormade equipment, MG2 wedge has a raw face design that enables precision in a groove for optimal turn and fall. Its sharper radius with deeper and narrow grooves allows more spin, which is even more facilitated by the laser-engraved pattern between the grooves. It has a slim and thick head design and mill grinding. You can hit every shot with consistency and precision with their ground sole. As far as the head mass is concerned, it is located at the right place, enabling you to feel and optimize the center of gravity.
2.TaylorMade Golf Bigfoot Wide Sole Wedge
The Bigfoot Wide Sole Wedge is a chrome-plated wedge with a 58 degrees loft. It is a right-handed club with a shaft made of graphite material. The features that make it a good choice are the deep center of gravity pockets, full face sore line (at 56 degrees to 64 degrees) and high-end design technology. Full face scoring lines enable you to achieve consistent ball contact outside of rough depth. High-toe design enables you to achieve a higher and centered launch and more spin on landing. Three trapezoidal-shaped pockets inside the sole cavity are for optimal weight distribution. ATV and 4-way sole options are available in 58 degrees and 60-degree lofts.
3.TaylorMade SiM 2 Max OS Wedge Mens
This is a right-handed wedge with a 59 Degrees loft. The clubhead is made of Titanium. Its new design is made to maximize distance and forgiveness in every shot you hit. The new back cover design in multi-material, made of stainless steel and ultra-lightweight polymers, gives you an extremely low center of gravity. The face is faster and more forgiving in this model, enabling you to perform what you need. Other features differentiating it include the oversized head shape, the new ECHO damping system and the progressive Inverted cone technology.
4.TaylorMade Milled Grind – High Toe Wedge
This wedge also comes in a copper finish, such as the Bigfoot wide sole wedge. The features are almost the same. ATV and 4-way sole options are available at 58 degrees to 64 degrees loft. Full face scoring lines enable consistent ball contact, and you can hit higher and centered shots with a high toe design. Its thick and thin design allows you to obtain precise flight and an improved feel. The topline is thinner, where the additional mass is distributed closer to the top of the shaft. It has a milled grinding, ensuring precision, consistency and improved interaction with the turf.
5. TaylorMade ATV Wedge
This is a right-handed club with a 60 degrees loft. The ATV surface (off-road versatility) enables you to play different shots with this single wedge; that is, you need separate pitching or sand wedge for chip, pitch, flop, etc., shots. The rebound angle changes according to the positioning of the head and face. It has a full-face microtexture design to allow more spin in compliance with the USGA rules. Another striking feature of this wedge is its Lamkin grip that improves traction when you slide your hands down the shaft.
6. Taylor Made R7 Wedge
This is another best-selling sand wedge by Taylormade. It is a lightweight club and has a mesh design at the rear cavity. This mesh design absorbs maximum vibration on impact and enables you to hit consistent shots with a smooth feel. If you’re a player seeking trajectory, control and distance, this is the right club for you. In addition, you can achieve greater speed and distance with the inverted cone technology.
7.MG1 chrome wedge
MG1 chrome wedge is a chrome-plated, left-handed club with a 60 degrees loft. The clubface is made of Carbon Steel, whereas the shaft is made of steel. It weighs only 10 grams. Like the above models, it also has a milled grind to promote consistent turf interaction. This is due to the CNC machined sole geometry. In addition, the ZTP-17 Slot features, the steep sidewalls and sharp edge radius, are for an optimal spin on landing. Weight port repositions 0.35 oz for optimal CG placement. Your launch angles and turn rates will be precise with this weight port feature.
Types of Wedges
There are types of clubs in the wedge family, and their differentiating factor is their loft useful for certain types of shots. Your ability to close or open the club to varying trajectories and make half or three-quarter strokes are two reasons to equip yourself with two or more wedges.
Depending on the number of woods, hybrids and irons you already have in your bag, you will be limited not to exceed 14 clubs. If possible, we recommend you to have three to four wedges, especially the pitching wedge. Let’s discuss them one by one!
- The Pitching Wedge (PW) has a loft between 44° and 48° and is ideal for playing on the grass and obtaining precise approach shots.
- The Gap Wedge (GW) contains an opening of the clubface between 50° and 55° and is intended for play on grass. It does, however, allow higher approach shots with less distance.
- The Sand Wedge (SW) contains a loft from 54° to 57° that aims to get the ball out of bunkers. Thanks to its larger bounce for a better rebound of the club in the sand.
- Finally, the Lob Wedge with a loft between 58° and 64° allows obtaining fairly precise approaches with very little rolling after the impact of a golf ball on the green.
Which Gapping to Go for? 5° Maximum
In an ideal world, you will have a 4° to 5° difference between each wedge, the same as between your other irons. With the loft decrease, the gap between the pitching and sand wedge has grown larger and larger. A few years ago, a pitching wedge was 48°, whereas today, the vast majority offer 45° and some even 43°!
One of the most frequently asked questions is: What is the opening of your PW? You have to make sure that there are suitable distances between each wedge to cover all possible situations. Let’s discuss this further by discussing the different features of wedges and the pros specific to each feature type!
Features to Consider When Buying Wedges
Know Your Tendencies to Know the Bounce
Club rebound is the angle between the back and front of the sole with the shaft at 90°. The bounce is a golfer’s friend. If correctly adapted, it can facilitate the ball’s contact, one of the most important criteria for the control and the spin of your shots.
To choose the right bounce, you need to know your tendencies for the angle of attack, shaft angle at impact and dynamic loft. In general, the more forward you tilt the shaft at impact, the less loft and more bounce you need. The bounce will also make your club sink less into the sand, making bunker exits seriously easier.
The Grind Versatility
The club grind is simply the way the sole has been machined for ease of performing different strokes. On Taylormade’s wedges, you can see the Names (ATV) representing the grind.
Grind is very much related to bounce. The more the sole is machined, the less bounce there is. How to choose the one that suits your game? It’s simple, try! Bullet contacts vary greatly between each grind. Your approach and your tendencies will quickly guide you towards the sharpening that suits you. For most players, a versatile grind is recommended while still keeping a bit of bounce.
The Center of Gravity (CGs)
There’s a lot of talk about the center of gravity (CG) for drivers, but it’s just as important for wedges. On the Taylormade wedges this year, there are variable CGs depending on the loft. The idea is to make sure that the high lofts do not raise the balls too much to manage trajectories and distances better.
Shifting the club head’s center of mass can also change spin rates. The more you tap below the center of mass of the clubhead, the more it tends to increase the spin. Traditionally, the CG of a wedge was slightly offset from the geometric center of the face. The weight of the hosel was the reason. New models added more weight towards the tip of wedges to counter this phenomenon and realign the center of mass with the geometric center of the face. It can also affect the spin rate and speed of the ball.
Weight of the Shaft, a Feature to Pay Attention to
Since the dawn of time, the shafts of most wedges have been Dynamic Gold S200, 300 or 400. These are shafts that weigh over 120 grams and are stiff. It doesn’t make sense if your series has 65-gram graphite or light steel shafts around 100 grams. The logic is to reduce dispersion with a shaft that doesn’t move at all, but if you have to make swing compensations just to lift it, that’s no benefit.
The choice of the shaft for the wedges is as important as the choice of your driver’s shaft. It depends on the trajectories you are looking for, your way of accelerating the club and your way of presenting the club on impact.
There is a huge choice for wedges. We recommend shafts with the same type of profile as the series of your irons, with 10 to 15 grams more to rebalance the feeling of the weight of the head, which is heavier. Flexibility or profile is a whole other debate. Usually, you don’t do a lot of full hits with an open wedge. So you won’t need a stiffer shaft. Sometimes players are more comfortable with a softer shaft than those in their series. Once again, you have to try!
The Importance of the Lie
If you’ve been playing golf for a while now, you must have learned why it is important to pay attention to the club’s lie. It is even more important on the wedges than irons or drivers. The lie is the angle of the shaft’s line and the ground’s line intersection when the clubhead is placed on the ground.
The more loft there is on the club, the more the lie influences the orientation of the face. Knowing the link to impact becomes essential for wedges; it is necessary to see exactly how the club arrives at impact. Often the wedges need to be flatter than the rest of your set.
The reason is simple: the shaft deforms much less (droop) than with a full stroke, leaving the club regularly on the heel on impact, which directs the face to the left. All of this creates irregularity. The last thing you want when approaching is the flag!
Now that you know the features you must consider when choosing new wedges let’s discuss some of the best wedges by Taylormade to make this task even easier for you!
Our Final Thoughts
We hope the information above about the features and the list of the best Taylormade wedges will help you choose your new wedges. You have to adapt these clubs to you and not the other way around. Every golfer can do it, so do not hesitate to ask your store fitter for advice. New analysis technologies and fitting systems make it possible to dispel any doubt.
Do not forget to share this with your golfer friends and let us know if this information worked for you!
