hartrick11

I played over the weekend at Torrey Pines North Course. The greens were just installed a couple of years ago and are both fast and rock hard. The rough plays much shorter than when the tour stops here, but with our recent wet (relatively) winter it is still very thick for at least another month or two - the combination really puts your wedge game to the test. Overall I am still largely positive on these wedges, with a couple of lingering question marks that I need to figure out in the coming weeks before making a final decision. First of all, this 54 wedge just gets me! When I have a full shot distance with this club it is point-and-shoot (albeit a few yards higher & longer than my Ping which I found out the hard way when I went after a back pin ). It's also a great versatile grind for me around the greens, which was helpful because with the super thick rough I wasn't comfortable hitting the 60 for those chips just yet. Two open faced and one toe-down chip were all executed successfully, minus one missed 4-foot par save... It would be weird to keep just the 54 and trade the other two at the end of this, but I'm not opposed if that's what my results prescribe. I like the 50 too - the grind is great for full swings and is better for bump-n-runs than the M-grind on the 54 & 60, provided you have some room. This flies 3-5 yards longer than my Cobra King Forged CB GW - it also flies a bit higher, likely due to the Modus 105 stiff shafts rather than my set's KBS $-taper 130g shafts. For the most part I am fine with that, but YMMV. For what it's worth, the custom options on the Bridgestone website allow for several no-upcharge shafts. If I were buying them now I would probably go with something heavier & lower launching than the 105s. I'm hot and cold on the 60. Still need to figure out my distances. Again, these are going longer than expected and a bit higher than I would ideally like (missed another green long with a full 60 in hand). In addition to the previous comments about digging in sand & soft turf, shorter bunker shots have been a challenge for me as I think I'm still getting used to the weighting.

I can't speak to the prior year's 1025s, but I play 1025 forged irons so can give some thoughts here. Feel is pretty similar between the two, except on thin/toe hits. As @TR1PTIK mentioned there is a little clicky feel on thinned/toed shots with the XW-1, while my Cobra King Forged CBs still feel muted/softer even when I thin it. Not sure if that is a 1020 vs 1025 difference, or a Cobra vs. Bridgestone difference though... Personally I still think the feel blows my old Vokey SM5 or current Ping Glide 2.0 Stealth wedges out of the water though, even on strikes that are not perfect.

@jlukes This has been very useful, and really appreciate you sharing. I am working through a similar process on my end over the last few months (trying to fix a stall with the lower body rotation that leads to early release, flip, pull hook ) and it has often felt like 2 steps forward followed by 1 (sometimes 1.9) steps back. Seeing the written and video updates at each step along the way must be helpful for you to look back on as well, right? I have been keeping notes on my phone but I like what you've done better. I got an initial 3 lessons and have been working through drills since then on my own to try and save money. As you alluded to, with family and work obligations, the time spent on golf is never as much as you hope, so it's hard to commit to focused practice on a Saturday when that would be your only chance to get out on the course with your buddies, but I think another 6-pack of lessons would be money well spent for me in the long run... Please keep sharing as the season picks up for you. Best of luck exiting the 80s on a more permanent basis!

I let my brother use the wedges yesterday while I worked. He was drooling on them at the range this weekend and I told him that'd be fine as long as he could provide additional feedback for the forum! Another perspective couldn't hurt, right? He is a 10 GHIN and usually plays Vokey SM7, 50F, 54M and 60M, which is the exact same setup as my Bridgestoners. Here are his unfiltered thoughts via text message stream of consciousness post-round: First Text: "Good luck getting these wedges back from me. They are so sick." Okay, ignoring that one since I'll be taking them back for our round Saturday. Could you elaborate? "They do really well on firm turf and spin the ball great. Full shots felt easy with great feel and feedback. I needed to remember to slow down because they are lighter than the Vokeys (note: Vokey swing weight is D5 on the 54; Bridgestone is D3). The grinds were similar to mine so it was easy to get used to them. The 50 I only hit once, a full swing, pure butter." Cool, any differences in spin, or other short game observations? "They spin better than mine. I hit a stock chip (note: his stock chip is to open the face and stance a bit, ball at the back of the stance, weight forward and come down pretty steep on the ball) with the 54 the most of any shot with the wedges and they have this great two bounce and parachute reaction. I caught a couple low on the club face too and they still got up in the air and stopped." "Overall I would say those wedges saved me 4 strokes today with three chips to gimme range and an awesome full swing 60 that I wouldn't have even tried with mine." Sounds like overall very strong feedback - any negatives? "One thing I struggled with was the 60 digging in the sand more than mine. Not sure if it's the difference in weight, or the leading edges, or just user error but it's not something I usually struggle with."

Lucas Bjerregaard Winning score -15

I got another range session in over the weekend, and some short game work. The versatility of the M grind around the green is something I'm starting to appreciate more now that I am getting used to the turf interaction. In particular it is easy to open up the face to pop the ball up in the air, and to hit a shorter toe-down chip, which is one of my favorites when I need to clear some kikuyu rough. One area I struggled with was closing the face of the 60 compared to my Ping 58, as the Bridgestone had a greater tendency to dig, whereas the Ping with a little more camber retains some bounce even when closed. I have a couple of short videos to add too but need to get a youtube account setup first . In the meantime, does anyone have questions that I can address?

I used them for two rounds and some range work over the weekend. While it's still early and there is a lot left to learn (and I don't want to give away too much yet anyway), initial feedback on the feel is great, as expected. I also loved the 60 out of green side bunkers.

Agree, I was pleasantly surprised once I saw them in person, although I think if they got rid of the "Biting Rail Milled" part, the back of the club would look even better.

Yes. Not a major issue in my view but worth noting.

During the last six weeks I have played 8 full rounds of golf, in dry, hard-pan Arizona courses, lush, green Southern California courses, and one really soggy post-rainstorm track. I have also gotten in 12 separate practice sessions (two off matts, the rest on grass and short game area). This test was a ton of fun and all the focused short game practice really helped my game. I can’t thank MGS and Bridgestone enough for the opportunity to put these beauties through the paces. With that, let’s get to it! Looks: (9 out of 10) Traditionalists will love the classic look of this wedge at address. The shape, the finish, the milling, and most of the detailing could fit in just as well in 1999 as 2019. I think the “B” badging on the back is an improvement from 2018, as well as the satin finish which I think has less glare when comparing against some of the reviews from last year. The Modus shaft & Golf Pride MCC grips complement the premium look. I deducted 1 point due to the excessive detailing on the back, which I think is a step back from last year’s model and detracts from the otherwise simple elegance these wedges seem like they are trying to evoke. First, there is no need for “Biting Rail Milled” to be etched in. Milled faces aren’t going to separate these clubs from other wedge offerings. Making a true forged wedge with premium feel for $140? THAT is what should sell the discerning golfer on Bridgestone over Vokey/Ping/TM/Callaway/Cobra. Just a thought, but if you feel the need to advertise something on the back of the club (in my book you don’t; less is more), lead with your biggest differentiator! “Biting Rail Milled” sounds like a gimmick that was cooked up in a Carlsbad marketing meeting circa 2014. Smaller nits for stamping the sole, which attracts dirt, as well as the random lines on the bottom of the back of the clubs, though these are not major issues. Sound & Feel: (10 out of 10) This is a 1020 forged wedge, and as one might expect, the feel is a top, and in my opinion the top, selling point for Bridgestone. As a recent convert to forged irons, I very much appreciated the muted thud of a well-struck gap wedge that closely aligned with my iron set. For me, there is nothing in golf quite like the feeling when I know I just nutted one with a single-piece forged iron, and I’m waiting to see where my ball will land, inner excitement building to an impossible-to-contain smile when the ball lands and sticks right where I want it. These wedges deliver the goods here. I would note that this feeling does not translate to poorly struck shots, however. The sounds became a bit clicky, letting me and my playing partners know that I’d just missed my mark, and led to a decidedly less exciting feeling & reaction on my part. I think this feedback is totally warranted (though a bit more clicky/harder feeling than my 1025 Cobra Forged CBs when mishit), and wouldn’t deduct any points, but think it warrants mentioning for those who may care. Basic Characteristics: 18 out of 20 Accuracy – Point-and-shoot, at least when my swing is working! For full swings, as long as you aren’t too steep with the angle of attack, the blades cut right through the grass, even in thick rough. I really appreciated the sharp leading edges when I was in the tall grass – these definitely didn’t get caught up as much as my Pings do, resulting in fewer “tugs” left of target. The milled face and sharp grooves also provide plenty of spin, comparable to most other offerings I’ve tried. Trajectory – These are high-flyers. In testing, my launch angle on full shots with the 50˚ was 33-38˚ (3-5 degrees higher than my set GW), and with the 54˚ was 40-45˚ (also about 3-5˚ higher on average than my Ping Glide 2.0 Stealth 54˚ (my Ping LW is 58˚ vs. the Bridgestone 60˚, so that comparison wasn’t apples-to-apples). This was off of a mat with range balls, so exact numbers will of course vary in game conditions, but the stats did back up my experience on the course. I think the shaft choice (Modus 105) has a lot to do with this. It doesn’t make sense in my view to make a wedge targeting better golfers, who generally have higher swing speeds, and pair it with a lighter steel shaft that launches pretty high. For anyone ordering online, there are several no-upcharge shaft options so this does not need to be an issue for would-be buyers, but we were testing stock offerings. Distance Control – I added about ½ club of distance vs my other clubs, due to trajectory being higher. I eventually was able to control these just fine as long as wind wasn’t crazy, and importantly there were no random fliers. Workability – I would break this up into full shots & short game. For short game purposes, these are extremely workable. I loved opening the face with these, which I don’t do a ton of with my Pings. Another favorite is the toe down chip for shorter shots, utilizing the M grind’s relief. Here are a couple of videos from one of my practice sessions (note: I will update so that these are embedded). https://www.instagram.com/mgshartrick/p/BxQj_mUF_9x/?igshid=7o00azf3vqrl https://www.instagram.com/mgshartrick/p/BxQjioWFFwE/?igshid=h5gmxrjx7mh2 For full swings, I have two shots with these wedges – high, and higher. I am not the best at flighting down a wedge anyway, but absolutely couldn’t do it with these. https://www.instagram.com/mgshartrick/p/BxaSGE1hQpU/?igshid=tgdpjr6sll49 Forgiveness – On full swings, hitting out by the toe would cause me to miss my target short, and hitting thin would send me off the back. If you are in the target market for these wedges, that is likely to be expected. On shorter shots like pitches & chips, I think the versatility of these clubs is a major benefit as mentioned above, but the drawback to that versatility is that they are not as forgiving as some other offerings. They can definitely dig in soft conditions or if your angle of attack is steep, especially on the 54˚ that I use for a lot of 30-60 yard pitches and tend to get steep with. Now that my testing is complete and I have a substantial dataset, I may adjust the loft on the 54˚ up to 55˚ just to add a little extra bounce, and hopefully forgiveness on stock chips where I am not laying the face open. On-Course Performance: 25 out of 30 These clubs perform as they should. Sure, you can say that about offerings from all the OEMs really, but at $140 per club, to get that performance in a one-piece 1020 forging is quite a feat in my book. The versatile sole grind should appeal to golfers with a strong short game. If you are that type of golfer, you can do pretty much anything you want with them. For my game, I LOVE the feel, the performance on full swings, elevating out of thick rough, and chipping in firm conditions. The highlight of my testing was a 78 on Torrey Pines North where I set a personal best with 7 up-and-down saves, 5 for par and 2 to save bogey. Have I always tracked up-and-down stats this closely? No! But I feel very confident this was a high water mark for my short game. That being said, I deducted points for ball flight being higher than ideal, and for the sole grinds requiring just a little bit more precision than I currently have. I need to keep working at my game to feel more confident using a wedge with a sharp leading edge and lower bounce in certain situations, and have had several chunks over the last few weeks, as well as overcorrection skull jobs as a result of fearing the chunk. Note – the bounce listed on all three of these is 10˚. I’ve included a side-by-side of my Ping 54 and the Bridgestone. The Ping has a higher listed bounce of 12˚, as well as additional camber on the leading edge (at least to my eye and turf interaction experience). If you have confidence in this part of your game, you can feel very confident in the performance of these clubs. Miscellaneous: 8 out of 10 I’ve already covered my thoughts on the stock shaft offering, and my view on the busy look on the back of the clubs. I should also note that these wedges feel lighter than wedges I have used in the past. The 50˚, 54˚, and 58˚ have swing weights of D3, D3, and D4, respectively – this is lighter than Vokey and TaylorMade, and in line with Ping and Callaway, though the lighter shafts gave them a lighter overall feel than my Pings. I got used to this pretty quickly, but your mileage may vary. The other quibble I have is that they should probably have added the A grind for the 54 degree wedge as well. With modern lofted irons, more golfers use the 54 degree loft as their sand wedge than in the past. Since Bridgestone is marketing their A grind as their most forgiving, it seems like even with a limited budget, they should introduce this grind at 54 degrees in addition to the 56 degree offering. I know this is probably a slippery slope and product teams at some point need to just make tough decisions on what to produce/not produce, but to me that addition would impact a large number of would-be buyers, and wouldn’t create as much added cost as, say, adding a lefty line (sorry southpaws!). Finally, I’d also note that the wedges are surprisingly durable – I’d expected forged wedges to wear really quickly. Below is from my last range session following 6 weeks of serious work. This includes whacking a few off of the desert floor in AZ after plenty of missed fairways! Play it or Trade it? (17 out of 20) All things equal, I would be happy to buy these clubs knowing what I know now. At $140 per club for a premium forged wedge, these clubs offer outstanding value. That said, all things aren’t equal! I didn’t give 20 out of 20 here because I wouldn’t buy their stock offering if I were starting from scratch. The Modus 105 shafts are too high-launch for me, but I think I’d be ecstatic with these if I had a lower-launching shaft, and Bridgestone doesn’t charge extra for many of these upgrades. In an ideal world, I would buy an F grind 50, A grind 54, and M grind 60, all with the KBS $ Taper or Modus 3 120, both of which are lower-launching, no-upcharge offerings on the Bridgestone website. I am going to play these for another month or two before making a final decision on keep/trade. Now that I have two sets of wedges I may just game these and keep the Pings on standby in case I play a soggy course. CONCLUSION (87 out of 100) These wedges can compete with the best offerings on the market, albeit with more of a limited selection befitting a niche OEM. While every wedge will have pluses and minuses and the limited grind selection may not work for every golfer, these should be contenders for players who fit Bridgestone’s target demographic. If the 2020/2021 update brings a heavier stock shaft and an additional higher bounce grind (as well as simplified graphics please!), this club would be a perfect 100/100 for me, and I think it would end up being one of those cult classic clubs that you see discussed in forums well after subsequent offerings have come out. TL;DR If you are a golfer with a better than average short game and want a versatile, buttery-feeling forged 1020 wedge for a price that will beat most cast offerings from the big OEMs, these will fit the bill! Just be leery of the shaft you select, as the stock offering may be too high-launch for the target audience.

Hello MGS world! Thank you to the MGS team for selecting me, and of course to Bridgestone for providing the goods. This is my first review on the site so hopefully I don’t screw it up! Intro: I am 32, live in San Diego, CA with my wife and our Chocolate Lab, and am hopelessly addicted to golf. I work M-F for an investment firm, so play is limited to weekends, holidays and the occasional vacation day. I have played 40-50 rounds/yr over the last 4 years, and would expect that to keep up for 2019, but kids will likely cause a significant drop before too long. My dad introduced me to the game as a kid growing up outside Boston, and while I loved the game and basically lived at my local 9 hole course as a junior during summers, I chose football over golf once I got to high school, which along with being broke while in college and immediately after, led to a long hiatus (I played maybe 2-3 rounds/yr during this time). That ended when I picked up and moved to San Diego in 2011. Playing Torrey Pines as the sun dropped into the Pacific on my first day in town got me completely hooked. I think this shot from that day explains it all... My Golf Game: I've worked to get my handicap down from the mid-teens when I moved west to under 6 last summer, but it’s been volatile lately as I’ve been working to slow down my tempo & correct my early release. I am starting to see better results now, and am looking forward to my best golf year yet. My goal is to get down below a 5. Strengths: Driving (consistently ~275 and usually a high draw which can sometimes turn into a hook) and putting (lag putts not so much, but I make far more inside 20 ft than my HC would indicate). I would call myself decent around the greens and in bunkers. I hit a variety of chips and pitches, and I have worked to eliminate duffs and skull jobs, but could definitely use more kick-in up and downs. #pagingDrChipinsky Weaknesses: hole-killing hooks with the 3w/hybrid/long irons, and less than full wedge shots (the dead zone!) as my tempo tends to get too quick. I also have trouble working the ball left to right. Wedge game: Currently gaming Ping Glide 2.0 Stealth 54 SS and 58 ES for the last 8 months or so. My prior gamers were Vokey SM5 54 M and 60 M. My 50 is a set GW (Cobra King Forged CB). I am pretty good with a full 50, 54, or 58 in my hands, but hit a high ball and am not great at flighting it down, which can get me into trouble on windy days. My full shot yardages for the 50, 54 & 58 are: 125-130, 115-120, and 95-100. Anything between 60-90 yards, I’ll generally use the 54 unless I have no room to play with in front, and anything under 60 is with the 58. I also love the Eye Sole grind on the 58 in bunkers and for most chips. Preconceptions: After reading the reviews on last year’s wedges, I expect a pretty, if somewhat busy looking on the back, set of wedges with great feel due to the forged 1020 steel. I’m leery of turf interaction on the “multi-purpose” sole given the lack of information and pictures provided on the Bridgestone website. To kick my Glides out of the bag, they need to outperform, plain and simple. While I am comfortable with the Glides, and I love the DBM finish that goes nicely with my set of irons, I won’t hesitate to list them on the classifieds if the Bridgestones make me feel more confident. When I found out I was selected, after first texting all my golf buddies in excitement (duh) I went right to the Bridgestone site to decide on my configuration. To be honest, I wish they had more information on the different grinds. Additional pictures would certainly help. From what I could gather, I think the A grind would be great in a 54 degree offering, but didn't feel comfortable giving up the bounce to bend the A grind 56 down, so I chose 50 (F), 54 (M) & 60 (M). First Impressions: The wedges arrived packaged nicely with foam over the heads for added protection and a spec sheet matching what I ordered. I don’t have a lie/loft machine but plan to bring these into my local Golf Mart to measure for confirmation. As expected, these were very nice looking clubs. They certainly have a premium look & feel, which is complemented by the Modus shafts & Golf Pride MCC grips. Despite added graphics and paint fill from last year’s model, in person I think they actually look less “busy” on the back of the clubface than expected based on initial pictures. Overall I think they are in line with other mainstream offerings from Titleist, Ping, Callaway, etc. This is good since they increased the price by $40 from last year to be in line with those offerings! Additionally, my aesthetic “concern” was removed immediately when I put the new clubs in my bag. From my view they look pretty sweet contrasting with the black irons! I’ve included comparison pics of the 60 vs my Ping 58 ES, as well as vs a Vokey M grind which I think is the most similar to these Bridgestone M grinds. I will be sure to take more comparison pictures with various other wedges and angles as the review goes on. Testing Plan: I plan to do on-course and practice range testing for every type of chip and pitch I can think of, as well as full shots. If readers are interested I can also get on a launch monitor to gauge spin numbers, although the only one I have access to uses turf matts and range balls, so I’m not sure how helpful that would be. Questions I am looking to answer: With updated grinds from last year’s model, how will the turf interaction be on full swings, chips, and pitches? Can they perform in firm and soft conditions? Since these are only offering one grind per loft, is this enough of an “everyman” grind for me/their target demographic? Will I notice a big difference between cast wedges and forged wedges in terms of feel? Does the “biting rail milled groove” do anything out of the ordinary in the spin department? Thanks to all the readers in advance. Please let me know how I can help here along the way. I hope I can provide you all with the same level of service that I have enjoyed on other reviews!

No added line for me. I just line up the manufacturer's logo roughly perpendicular to my line as a reminder to not break my wrists. I used to add the alignment line and I ended up with extra thoughts in my head at address. Now I just pick a spot and go with much better results.

I'll take a "Broke 80" and 2019 tester badge whenever you get the chance. Thanks!

I am still in the honeymoon phase with my Cobra CBs that I got in December and love everything about them. They’re a good bit smaller than my Pings were but I feel more confident than ever when I setup with them, and the feels are as good as anything I’ve ever hit. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

For San Diego there is enough competition from teeoff.com and JC golf for the non-private courses, as well as Torrey Pines & Balboa if you are a resident. Maybe they have more of a monopoly on different golf markets (we are definitely spoiled with options here) to make the fee savings worth it, but that would be a hard pass from me, and I would imagine anyone in this area that works M-F. Why not expand the free round benefit for the + membership option?

I'm no equipment junkie (I guess this is relative, my wife would beg to differ) so may be missing something, but I don't think I've seen DT4 stainless forged irons/wedges before. What are the benefits of using that as the club material vs a more traditional (1025 carbon steel for example) that you tend to see marketed elsewhere? I won't be in the market for irons for hopefully a long time but would definitely consider these wedges if the reviews/demos are positive. They look great and you can't beat the cost. I really love the growth of boutique brands like this and hope this model proves successful.

Limped home to an 88 on Sunday and my handicap keeps trending higher as I kick out good scores from summer. I am finally trying to address my flipping & leaning back tendency on my downswing that leads to epic, hole-killing hooks, and the results just haven't been there yet. Early in the round my newer swing thoughts are working, but my setup/positioning is bad, for example I pured my 7 iron approach on the first hole but instead of my normal pronounced draw, this one started right of the target and just eased back a bit. A great ball flight that I would be ecstatic to use consistently, but missed the green because I aimed there, not trusting the new swing yet (and didn't get up & down). Then as the round goes on old tendencies come up and I start missing left again. #dreadedtwowaymiss GHIN has moved up from 5.7 this summer to trending 8.6. I need to fix this issue in 2019 because once I have kids the number of rounds I play will be dropping substantially and I'll have no hope, but man is it frustrating in the meantime...

Challenge accepted.

I do love it already, it is an effortless rocket launcher. The $-tapers are straightening me out nicely too. I'm looking at the utility trouper in olive. I almost pulled the trigger on Black Friday but couldn't with all the other purchases. I do share a bank account with my wife after all...

I completed my all black bag with my Forged Tec 4i and King Utility Black 2-3 that arrived last week. Now I really need to pump the breaks on my purchases after >$1k on all my new iron goodies, but Jones bags look so tempting - if I make a purchase come summertime I think that will be the ticket! I also received a late Christmas gift from #MyGolfSanta in the raffle yesterday - a Cleveland RTX 4 56*. Thanks guys! Once I sell my old set I'll be sure to make my 2019 donation.

Love this idea, and as I just shelled out money for new clubs I think I am going to try to copy it. Thanks!

I had the same thoughts on P760s at my fitting. They look better in person than on the web, and performed very well. Ultimately my love of the dbm finish on the new Cobra CBs won out though.

Just pulled the trigger on a set of the new King Forged 5-GW, all CB, with the black $ Taper shafts. My first non-Ebay set of irons! Probably going to round out the set with a 4i in Forged Tec Black and a King Black 2-3 utility iron, but need to hold off from additional purchases for now!