Equipment

Ping rejuvenates its famed Eye2 wedge with the Glide ES

Published

11 years ago

Jul 17, 2015

Ping has rejuvenated a more than three-decade old design with its new Glide ES wedges. ES stands for “Eye Sole,” referencing the best-selling wedge in Ping history, the Eye2.

Ping’s Eye2 XG wedge, which conforms to the USGA’s 2010 groove rule.

Different golfers use wedges in different ways, but Eye2 wedge users tend to agree on one thing — the club is fantastic from bunkers. In just the past year, conforming-groove versions of the original Eye2 have been spotted in the bags of several PGA Tour players, the most notable of which are Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington and Hunter Mahan.

Not bad for a golf club that was popular in a decade where boom boxes, Care Bears, Miami Vice, Rubik’s Cubes and Michael Jackson’s album “Thriller” were all the rage.

What makes the Eye2, and now the Glide ES, an exceptional bunker club, according to Ping Senior Design Engineer Marty Jertson, is a part of the club that (hopefully) never contacts the ball: its hosel. More than any other Ping wedge, the hosel of the Glide ES is tapered, or reduced in size as it transitions from the ferrule to the leading edge of the club. That creates less drag as the club moves through impediments such as sand or grass and leads to more consistent strikes.

According to Ping studies, the design of the Glide ES, which uses the same 431 Stainless Steel design, 24-degree groove sidewalls and moisture-repelling satin-chrome finish as the company’s other Glide wedges, creates 7 percent less hosel drag on bunker shots when compared to the company’s other designs. Because of its overall reduction in surface area, the entire club head also creates a 2 percent reduction in overall drag.

So how do you know if its for you? If you struggle with bunker shots this is the one, Jertson says. If your short game is more refined, read on.

The Gilde ES has a “scooped sole,” which creates two distinct surfaces on the bottom of the club. The front portion of the sole is engaged on shots that have the club shaft leaning toward the target. It will tend to dig into the ground slightly more than the company’s Glide SS wedges, but not as much as the company’s Glide TS wedges.

When the shaft is leaned backward or the club is used in the opened position, the rear part of the sole will dig into the ground slightly more than the company’s Glide WS wedges, but not as much as the company’s Glide SS wedges.

If you’re a current Eye2 wedge user, know that the club will tend to dig less than the original version — particularly on full shots.

The Glide ES wedges are available in lofts of 56, 58 and 60 degrees ($140 with steel, $160 with graphite) and will be in stories on July 30. They come stock with Ping’s CFS wedge shaft or the company’s TFC 419i (Soft R, R, S flexes) if graphite is your thing. The stock grip is Ping’s Dyla-wedge, which is 0.75 inches longer than standard grips to encourage golfers to choke down on shots around the green for better control.

Click here to see what GolfWRX Members are saying about the Glide ES wedges in our forum.

[wrx_retail_links productid=”52″]

Equipment

Slab city on the Korn Ferry Tour — Lead Tape Report

Published

17 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

This week, we have our Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, on the ground at the OccuNet Classic at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas, for the 14th event of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season. With that, we see some great things in the Lead Tape Report as we roll into Amarillo.

Joel Thelen

Monday Qualifier, Joel Thelen is in the field this week. He has played on the Korn Ferry Tour for a full season in 2023, and he is back in action this week. A couple of clubs caught my eye this week in his bag.

First off: His trusted Titleist 816 H2 hybrid. This club came out in October of 2015, and it still remains strong in the bag. Also, take a look at this Odyssey White Hot OG 7, putting a capital S in the 7S model. This custom neck has some impressive lean for an arm-lock-style putter. The bottom of the putter is covered in tape for optimal weighting.

Mitchell Meissner

Taking a look at Mitchell Meissner’s bag this week, we have some great lead tape coverage. Top to bottom working from fairway metals, irons, and wedges. We can see on the short irons and wedges that there is tape at the base of the grip, adding a little counterbalance. Along with that, some tape on the short irons and wedges as well. Moving to his putter, he rolls the Odyssey 7 Bird putter. Meissner putts left-handed and strikes the ball right-handed.

Whats in the Bag

Bud Cauley WITB 2026 (June)

Published

17 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Will Schube

Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament.

Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: Titleist GTS3 (15 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 70 TX

7-wood: Titleist GTS3 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 80 TX

Irons: Titleist U505 (3), Titleist 620 MB (4-9)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 8 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putters: Scotty Cameron Tour Prototype, Scotty Cameron GOLO 6.3 Prototype

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

See more in-hand photos of Bud Cauley’s clubs here.

Equipment

Name every set of irons you’ve owned – GolfWRXers discuss

Published

17 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Will Schube

In our forums, one user has offered up a prompt for the true sickos, inviting fellow forum members to share every set of irons they’ve ever owned. As to be expected, this is a lengthy forum topic.

@Lamosteve began:

Can you name every set of irons you’ve owned? Here’s mine

Spalding Dots
Spalding Eclipse
Ram Lazer FX
Lynx Parallax
Mizuno EZ Comp
Ben Hogans
Cleveland CG Red
Taylor Made R9s
PING i20
PING iE1
Taylor Made M6

Our members in the forum have been offering up their own collections. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

macedan: “Started with a hand-me-down Golden Bear set from my brother when I was in high school, never really played more than once a year or got into the game until about summer of 2017. First purchased a set of Cleveland CG4’s (I actually really miss this set sometimes, soft & not terribly large for a GI iron), moved into Nike Vapor Fly’s by the end of the year. Those lasted until spring of 18 when I decided I wanted new, so I traded them in for TM Rbladez. Honestly, although I liked the Rbladez, poor decision on my part, I think this was really about the only time so far that after a week or two I was kicking myself for not staying with what I had. Rbladez stayed with me until late last summer when I switched to P790’s and (knock on wood) I am hoping this will be my longest lasting set.”
JimmyC59: “MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Triple Crown. Palmer The Standard. Still play these.”
jgrzask: “Tommy Armour 845u
Mizuno MP-32
Mizuno MP-33 (2 sets)
Bridgestone J33cb – still own
Srixon i-302 (2 sets) – still own
Tourstage X-Blades – still own
Mizuno Hot Metal – still own
Nike Forged Blades – still own
Titleist 714 AP1 – still own
Cobra Forged SS – still own”

Entire Thread: “Name every set of irons you’ve owned.”