Opinion & Analysis
Top 5 wedges of all time
Wedges. They are the “trusted old friends” in our golf bags. They inspire confidence inside of 100 yards and help us get back on track when we hit a wayward approach.
There was a time not too long ago when a bunker was considered a true hazard, but over the last 80 years, as agronomy has evolved on the same trajectory as club an ball technology, wedges have changed a great deal along the way—from the first modern prototype wedge built by Gene Sarazen to clubs featuring various plating and coatings to increase spin and performance. There are a lot of wedge designs that have stood the test of time; their sole grinds, profiles from address, and performance bring back memories of great hole outs and recovery shots.
With so many variations of wedges in the history of golf (and so much parity), this is my top five list (in no particular order) of the most iconic wedges in golf history.
Original Gene Sarazen Wedge
An early Gene Sarazen wedge. (Photo: USGA)
Gene is famous for a lot of things: the career grand slam, the longest endorsement deal in professional sports history (75 years as a Wilson ambassador), the “shot heard around the world”, and as mentioned earlier—the creation of the modern sand wedge. Although not credited with the invention of the original “sand wedge” he 100 percent created the modern wedge with a steel shaft and higher bounce. A creation that developed from soldering mass to the sole and flange of what would be our modern-day pitching wedge. Born from the idea of a plane wing, thanks to a trip taken with Howard Hughes, we can all thank Mr. Sarazen for the help with the short shots around the green.
Wilson R90
The next evolution of the original Sarazen Design, the Wilson R90 was the very first mass-marketed sand wedge. Its design characteristics can still be seen in the profile of some modern wedges. Although many might not be as familiar with the R90, you would almost certainly recognize the shape, since it was very often copied by other manufacturers, in their wedge lines.
The R90 features a very rounded profile, high amount of offset, and a great deal of bounce in the middle of the sole, with very little camber. Although not as versatile as modern wedges because of the reduced curve from heel to toe, the R90 is still a force to be reckoned with in the sand.
Cleveland 588
You know a name and design are classic when a company chooses to use the original notation more than 30 years after its initial release. The 588 was introduced as Cleveland’s fifth wedge design and came to market in 1988—which is how it got its name. Wedges were never the same after.
The brainchild of Roger Cleveland, the 588 was made from 8620 carbon steel—which patinad over time. Not unlike the Wilson before it, the 588 had a very traditional rounded shape with a higher toe and round leading edge. The other part of the design that created such versatility was the V-Sole (No, not the same as the Current Srixon), that offers a lot more heel relief to lower the leading edge as the face was opened up—this was the birth of the modern wedge grind.
Titleist Vokey Spin Milled
The wedge that launched the Vokey brand into the stratosphere. Spin-milled faces changed the way golfers look at face technology in their scoring clubs. From a humble club builder to a wedge guru, Bob Vokey has been around golf and the short game for a long time. The crazy thing about the Bob Vokey story is that it all started with one question: “who wants to lead the wedge team?” That was all it took to get him from shaping Titleist woods to working with the world’s best players to create high-performance short game tools.
Honorable mentions for design goes to the first 200 and 400 series wedge, which caught golfers’ eyes with their teardrop shape—much like the Cleveland 588 before it.
Ping Eye 2 Plus
What can you say? The unique wedge design that other OEMs continue to draw inspiration from it 30 years after its original conception. The Eye 2+ wedge was spawned from what is undoubtedly the most popular iron design of all time, which went through many iterations during its 10 years on the market—a lifecycle that is completely unheard of in today’s world of modern equipment.
A pre-worn sole, huge amount of heel and toe radius, and a face that screams “you can’t miss,” the true beauty comes from the way the hosel transitions into the head, which makes the club one of the most versatile of all time.
Check out my video below for more on why this wedge was so great.
Honorable mention: The Alien wedge
To this day, the Alien wedge is the number-one-selling single golf club of all time! Although I’m sure there aren’t a lot of people willing to admit to owning one, it did help a lot of golfer by simplifying the short game, especially bunker shots.
Its huge profile looked unorthodox, but by golly did it ever work! Designed to be played straight face and essentially slammed into the sand to help elevate the ball, the club did what it set out to do: get you out of the sand on the first try. You could say that it was inspired by the original Hogan “Sure-Out,” but along the way it has also inspired others to take up the baton in helping the regular high-handicap golfer get out of the sand—I’m looking at you XE1.
That’s my list, WRXers. What would you add? Let me know in the comments!
This past Monday, I played in the U.S. Amateur local qualifier at Rock Creek Country Club in Portland, Oregon. A full tee sheet from 7:30 a.m. to 1:55 p.m., the top 11 scores would make it to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying.
I teed off at 10:48 a.m.. With the 7:30 am tee time, you can get a feel for the leaders’ pace, and they were off and running on the challenging setup at Rock Creek.
View this post on Instagram
Getting to the highlight of the round on the par five 17th, a drive up the left side and 212 yards left to the front hole location. I took out a 5-iron with plans of middle of the green. The ball ended up 8 feet left of the hole, pin high. A slight downhill putt dropped in for an eagle 3 on the 17th. With the cut line looking to be anywhere from -2 to even par. This was the boost I had been waiting for all day.
With making par from the trees on 18, it was time to wait for a potential playoff with a posted score of one under par 71.
Three hours later, it was playoff time. 8 players for 6 spots. I made par on the playoff hole, which was good enough to advance to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying in July. USGA qualifiers sure deliver on all of the emotions in golf!
Club Junkie
Building my 2026 gamer WITB: Ranking the contenders and new putter projects – Club Junkie Podcast
The annual What’s In The Bag build is underway, and on this episode of Club Junkie, Brian breaks down the clubs currently leading the race for a spot in his 2026 gamer setup. From drivers and fairway woods to irons, wedges, and shafts, he ranks the equipment that’s performing best and explains what’s separating the front runners from the rest of the field.
Brian also heads into the workshop to discuss several putter projects currently on the bench. From head options and shaft choices to build ideas and testing plans, he shares what he’s working on and which putters could become serious contenders for the bag this season.
If you’re a gear junkie who loves equipment testing, club building, and the never-ending pursuit of the perfect setup, this episode is for you.
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Club Junkie
Tour Edge Exotics mini driver review + TaylorMade Spider ZT Max first look – Club Junkie
On this episode of Club Junkie, I put the new Tour Edge Exotics Mini Driver to the test and break down the performance, forgiveness, distance, and where it fits compared to a traditional driver or strong fairway wood. If you have been curious about adding a mini driver to the bag, this one is worth a look.
I also dive into the new TaylorMade Spider ZT Max putter that was recently spotted and discuss the growing zero torque putter trend. Plus, there is a closer look at the new Project X Titan Yellow shaft showing up on the PGA Tour and what makes it different from other profiles currently out there.
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A. Young
Nov 4, 2023 at 11:41 pm
I had a Wilson R90 with the brown steel shaft growing up and totally agree. It was an awesome club. I still have a set of OG Cleveland 588’s from the tour van. I bought some new old stock heads that Cleveland made for the pros in preparation for the new groove rule. They’re the OG 588’s but with Tour Zip Grooves. I have had tour issue Vokey’s, Vokey TVD’s etc and nothing compares to the forged 588’s.
Buckeye
Sep 14, 2019 at 7:56 am
MacGregor “Dual Purpose” in the 50s-60s, with a groove in the center of the sole. You have to be of a certain age to have experienced it. And perhaps from Ohio. I’m sure Nicklaus would have had one.
slypanther
Sep 9, 2019 at 5:58 pm
The announcers are ill informed of the history of golf club technology, the audio is C**P, I would rather read the content as I do not have an hour of time in a day to just sit down and try to understand the commentators. I view WRX less and less as you have forced the majority of new content onto these podcasts. If I do not see a shift back to print media, soon, I will cancel my subscription status and look to Golf Digest/Monthly/World for info I desire about the golf industry
Dan W
Sep 2, 2019 at 8:37 am
Growing up, all “players” either had an eye 2 or the 588 and usually accompanied with mizuno blades, eye 2 irons, or DCI 762. The small tour prefereed TM woods, a copper anser or zing 2 putter and the loose bodied Ping bag with legs.
My bag in high school:
Tm tour preferred burner 7.5 and 15 deg
Ping eye 2 beCu 2-pw
588 56 deg
Copper ping zing 2 putter
That ping bag.
Saddle foot joy with old school metal spinks
Tour edition ball.
Just typing this up gives me a thick fat nostalga sandwich to chew on. Good times. I would love to recreate the whole set, ball included and go play onc last time with them.
Tim Armington
Sep 4, 2019 at 10:06 pm
You just described me!!!!
Dan W
Sep 8, 2019 at 2:21 am
Unbelievable, my bag was exactly the same but originally I had the copper 588, then the RTG. Dynamic Gold s-300 in the woods. Pings had zz lites and were black dot bent by ping from orange because they were hand me downs from my short grandpa. Found the putter broken in half in the garbage can in front of the pro shop. Soaked it in coke , reshafted it with an x-100 wedge shaft and loads of lead tape on the bottom. Top 2 putters I ever used. I still can’t figure out how the Tour editon could spin like it did with the firm cover it had. Also for a while I wore Mizuno shoes with permanent ceramic spikes until one popped out of the shoe. Saddle FG shoes were always a no brainer. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
E. Tench
Nov 14, 2019 at 2:19 pm
Eye 2 sand and loft wedges, mizuno mp-32 irons, Zing 2 putter, Ping Hoofer bag. Loved the Tour Edition balls, they were like throwing darts. The mp-32s replaced Eye 2’s which replaced Eyes. Arizona born and raised, if you didnt have Eye 2’s you were saving up for them. Great post, thanks.
rex 235
Aug 31, 2019 at 5:13 pm
How could anyone ignore placing the Wilson Staff Dynapower Wedge series- 1957-1975 in the top 5?
steve
Sep 9, 2019 at 11:07 am
If this lists does not include the WS wedges and or joe powell JP wedges than don’t bother taking this serious,
ChipNRun
Aug 31, 2019 at 4:01 pm
Callaway Forged+ and XForged SW with C-grind stayed in golf bags for a long time; most got bumped out for competitive golfers who had to obey the 2010 grooves rule revision.
https://www.callawaygolfpreowned.com/golf-clubs/wedges/wedges-x-forged-2008.html?cgid=wedges
Webster Miller
Aug 28, 2019 at 5:00 pm
I’ve still got a BeCu R90 in the garage somewhere. That thing can dig divots like a backhoe. While the 588 is easily more popular, I always preferred the 485 for its smaller head. FWIW, there are 2 completely different 485 head shapes; one that is offset with a super wide sole, and then one that’s more traditional. The offset one is a chipping machine as you can just aim slightly behind the ball and let that wide sole due all the work.
Larry
Aug 25, 2019 at 6:33 pm
No Wilson 58 Dynapower????
James Awad
Aug 25, 2019 at 12:33 pm
No serious ‘top 10’ – never the less top 5 – list can POSSIBLY exclude the Hogan Sure Out.
But by all means, put Cameron’s poor cousin Vokey & his standard issue copies of stuff – made out of crushed up Yugos & tin cans.
Hack!
Darryl Souness
Aug 26, 2019 at 2:51 am
Crushed Yugos…. immense, I’ll borrow that if I may James.
duke
Aug 25, 2019 at 11:06 am
My all time favorite is the 588. I still have one in the bag.
Pelling
Aug 24, 2019 at 10:52 pm
The Cleveland VAS 792 PW clearly the most beautiful club ever made…
HDTVMAN
Aug 24, 2019 at 10:47 pm
I had Ping Eye2 56° & 60° in the 80’s, and the lob allowed me to do perfect flop shots. Just bought the new 54° & 58° Ping 3.0 Glide Eye2’s this weekend…can’t wait to try them Monday!
D
Aug 24, 2019 at 9:23 pm
Eye2 plus? The original square groove is the relevant club for this conversation. The plus was NOT well received.
Jamie
Aug 25, 2019 at 10:19 am
This.
Ed
Aug 25, 2019 at 5:15 pm
I agree. I thought for sure the original Eye 2 sand/lob wedges, which spawned all of the “high toe” wedges, would be the style profiled. Those are the best wedges I have ever used around the green.
Ditto
Aug 28, 2019 at 1:14 pm
The Eye 2 sole was FAR SUPERIOR to the Eye 2+ sole. The Eye 2+ Sole grind was horrible for the average player. Even Tour Pros favored the Eye 2 sole.
Bob
Aug 24, 2019 at 7:58 pm
Hogan Sure Out was very popular, late 70’s early 80’s
Tom54
Aug 24, 2019 at 6:48 pm
Anyone remember the Ram 3D wedge? Not sure if it was a pro model but it sure had a neat split sole design
RAR
Aug 24, 2019 at 5:50 pm
I think someone overlooked the Wilson R-20, it was one of the first sand wedges to ‘copy’ Sarazen
Andrew Millar
Aug 24, 2019 at 5:23 pm
Taylormade RAC TP
AF
Aug 24, 2019 at 2:44 pm
SCOR changed the Wedge category with the V-Sole (double bounce) & weight higher up the back.. More importantly, making the case forever that cavity back wedges are counter productive at best.. As far as I’m concerned, any Iron 40 degrees & up should never have any cavity..
I wish they had never been wiped away by Hogan..
D
Aug 24, 2019 at 7:34 pm
Scor wedges didn’t change anything. Crappy grind for 90%
Mark M
Aug 24, 2019 at 10:54 pm
Still playing SCOR wedges, best wedge I’ve ever used. But they’re getting very hard to find now.
Jonathan Weaver
Sep 2, 2019 at 8:59 am
wasnt scor a copy of the eidolon which was a copy of the Reid Lockhart?
Mario B
Aug 24, 2019 at 1:48 pm
Mizuno Raw Haze, Taylormade EF, Crews wedges
Howard Clark
Aug 24, 2019 at 1:45 pm
Hogan Special: best then; best now.
Mark
Aug 24, 2019 at 1:00 pm
Watson cobalt wedges were the ultimate wedges. Should have made this list.
L.T. White
Aug 24, 2019 at 10:17 am
Spaulding bird back wedges from 50’s and 60’s
Greg Templeton
Aug 24, 2019 at 2:24 am
Think the 588 released in 1988 had a shiny chrome finish until about 1996 when the Rad Tour Grind finish was offered as an option.
Techvan4Life
Aug 23, 2019 at 11:06 pm
You are wrong about the cleveland wedge naming system ending at the 588. The 691 was wedge 6 in 1991 the 797 beni was number 7 in 1997. Number 8 never made to market and the 900 was number 9 in 2000.
Then the system just got simple. Cg10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16
Dennis Beach
Dec 5, 2022 at 11:30 pm
I had a set of 900’s,before my CBX2’s. Great wedges! Instant feedback, as they were forged.
Wedge Doctor
Aug 23, 2019 at 6:34 pm
Historically and impact fully, I’m not sure anyone could argue with:
1. The Sarazen Wedge
2. The Staff Dynapower Wedges
3. The Ping Eye 2 Square Groove
4. The Cleveland 588
5. The Vokey Spin Milled
Virtually everything else came as a result of those wedges.
Tim Vaughan
Aug 23, 2019 at 5:44 pm
Wilson staff dynapower 58-59, Nicklaus, Watson, chip in US Open Trevino and many more, should be Number 1
J Zilla
Aug 24, 2019 at 2:23 am
I don’t think mine is from 58-59 but a much later re-release, but I’ve had my Wilson Fluid-feel Dynapower since my earliest days golfing 30 years ago. I don’t play it anymore, but I always love taking it and looking at it. In fact I may even take it to the chipping green next time I go.
Bruce
Aug 23, 2019 at 3:28 pm
Console? Wilson Staff?
Darth Blader
Aug 23, 2019 at 3:08 pm
CG14?
Joe McManuis
Aug 23, 2019 at 3:06 pm
If not top 5 the Hogan Sure-out has to be # 6
Bob Jones
Aug 24, 2019 at 3:04 pm
Yes. From the bunker or the fairway it works great. And from tall grass, all that metal will not be denied.
tom
Aug 23, 2019 at 3:01 pm
Eye 2+ over Eye 2 square groove?????????????????????????????????????????????
Joe
Aug 24, 2019 at 4:00 pm
That’s what I was thinking. The non+ are the ones I’ve always liked (and have in my bag).
JB
Aug 23, 2019 at 2:40 pm
Can’t believe the replaceable face TaylorMade wedge didn’t make the list… lol
Scratchscorer
Aug 23, 2019 at 8:38 pm
lmao