[Unofficial Review] Cleveland CBX Wedge

[HardcoreLooper]

The fascination started with @BarbaJo's article https://mygolfspy.co...and-cbx-wedges/ last year. I play cavity back irons. And I play blade wedges. I resemble Cleveland's target market. And every time I hit my old Cleveland 588 a little out on the toe, I'm reminded of how little I get to practice and how much I need more help these days. Who am I to turn down a little help?

 

Because I overanalyze virtually every purchase I make, I read voraciously about the CBX. Everyone who's anyone seemed to be singing its praises. The internets were loving this club. Fueled by the encouragement of forum-mates like Ole Gray (if you want to sell software consulting, give me a call), I decided to take the plunge. What did I have to lose? So I ordered the 56*.

 

My Wedge History

I'm very loyal to my wedges. My first sand wedge was a K-Mart special Wilson 1200. You know, the one with the twisted shaft (I'm showing my age here). My second, and most beloved wedge was a Ram Tom Watson Scoring System that I won with a third place finish in the caddy tournament at my club. I used this from my sophomore year in high school until 2004. My dad liked to say I was better with that wedge from 75 yards than I was with a putter. It met with its demise on a rainy day at Royal New Kent outside Williamsburg, VA. If you play Tour Wraps, don't hit a punch shot over a lake. My buddies still give me crap about this today. I replaced it with that wonderful Cleveland 588.

 

Initial Impressions

The club looks great. Now I'm a rusty wedge guy. My old 588 is an RTG, and I love that raw finish. But the satin finish with just a hint of shine looks great. The topline is just a hair thick, but that little bit of chrome on the back really does minimize the look

 

The topline is nicely camouflaged by the satin/chrome contrast.

 

When you look at the back of the club, you see technology, you see forgiveness, you see help. But put the club down behind the ball and you see a great looking wedge. It's larger than my old wedge, but not obnoxiously so. The V-sole looks just absolutely massive in the bag, but you just don't notice it when it counts, sitting at address

 

Spinny wedge goodness in the front

 

Technology in the back

 

The feel is wonderful. I can really appreciate the slightly lighter Dynamic Gold 115 shaft. I was worried that it would feel too light, but that's not an issue.

 

On Course Impressions

So it looks good, and it feels good. But how does it play?

 

Frankly, the hype is real. Good shots feel good. Perhaps it's just my lack of refinement, or maybe it's the arsenal of thin, chunked and toed shots I've developed over the years. Or it's the fact that I have the touch of an axe murderer. But there's just no loss of feel on a good shot. The feedback is wonderful. And maybe it's just new grooves or the fact that I should have swapped out my 588 years ago, but this thing has stopping power. One hop and stop half wedges? I haven't seen them in years. When I lost that shot, I figured it was operator error, but the ROTEX 3 grooves have brought it back. Where it really shines, however, is on a not-so-good swing. That oh-my-god-I-toed-it-I'm-not-going-to-cover-the-front-bunker shot? It covers the bunker. That low screamer that you caught off the bottom of the clubface? It's usable now. Maybe not great, but it's usable. And what about the chunk? Well, there's absolutely no club that can help the decelerating, stick the leading edge in the ground, chunk. That's all you. But the accelerating, caught the ground just a little behind the ball shot? The V-sole glides through the turf, and you'll make decent contact with the ball. You may be a lousy person and not deserve forgiveness like this, but you get it. So make a good, positive swing. And out of the bunker? This thing is just stupid easy. Take a little too much sand? No big deal. The V-sole's got you covered.

 

 

So What's the Catch?

Well, it's not jewelry for your bag. It's not a Vokey, it's not an RTX-3, it's not a Fourteen from @WedgeWizard. No one's going to look at this club and drool. You can't have conversations like "well, I was thinking about the S grind, but I'm just a little bit more picker than digger and really needed the M."

 

Get over yourself, please.

 

Yes, you have one choice of sole grind and one bounce option at each loft. If you can tell the difference, you're probably not the target market for this club. Good for you; move along now. As for the rest of us, enjoy something your wedge probably hasn't given you in quite some time.

 

Confidence.

 

Are the 52* and the 60* in my future? You bet they are.

 

Update

MDGolfHacker asked about hitting flop shots with this club. As you read this, bear in mind that:

 

1. I only have the 56* right now.

2. My flop game is seriously deficient.

 

I started out with flop shots off of dormant Bermuda grass rough. You couldn't ask for a better lie to hit the lob. The club performs really nicely under these conditions. I was able to play the ball a little farther forward in my stance, lean my hands back toward my belt buckle and hit a nice soft shot that lands like a bean bag. The club did everything I asked of it, but this is not a particularly difficult shot.

 

Then I moved to hitting flops off of a dormant Bermuda fairway. I had a feeling that this was a bad idea. What I found was that after a few ugly, tentative swings, I was able to hit reasonable shots from this really tight lie. Again, I found that the V-sole gave me the help I needed if I caught the ground a little too early as long as I was willing to accelerate through the ball. I don't think my technique has suddenly gotten any better, nor has my hand/eye coordination improved, but I feel so much more confident with this club because I don't feel like I need to make a perfect swing.

 

All that being said, the flop isn't what haunts me. It's the pitch off the super-fluffy lie. I'm not exaggerating here. A few years ago, my dad and I made the playoffs in his Member-Guest, survived to the final hole of the shoot out and found ourselves in a tie and facing a chip-off for the title. The shot was a 20 yard pitch out of the rough. I had a lie that Feherty would describe as one that you could miss the ball completely. I didn't do that, but I managed to move the ball about 10 feet. With the chip-off format being worst ball, I'd lost it for us with one swing. In the bar afterward, the club champion came up and talked to me about the shot. He told me that he'd done the same thing before, and he no longer used a blade-style wedge on those shots because there's just no mass at the top of the club. I've used a cavity-back gap wedge on them ever since. I tried my best to reproduce this lie in several different areas, and I saw decent results hitting the ball high on the clubface. If I'd had a club like this in the bag back then, who knows what would have happened?

 

Every time I throw a new shot at this club, I like it that much more.

[Flipper554]

Very good review, honest and to the point. I keep looking at these clubs wondering if is just hype and I think you have answered that question. Might have to give one a go.

[cksurfdude]

Great review - thanks for all that good info! And entertaining, too :-)

 

I've also been curious about these but have not .. yet .. given one a test run. You've whetted my appetite.

[HardcoreLooper]

Very good review, honest and to the point. I keep looking at these clubs wondering if is just hype and I think you have answered that question. Might have to give one a go.

 

Thanks, Flipper!  I appreciate it.  And don't just take my word for it.  Ole Gray really convinced me to pull the trigger.  I'm not one to part with a wedge just to for grins.  But I'm glad I made this change.

[HardcoreLooper]

Great review - thanks for all that good info! And entertaining, too :-)

 

I've also been curious about these but have not .. yet .. given one a test run. You've whetted my appetite.

 

Thanks, CK!

[Miboy62]

Great Wright up, thanks for sharing.

[MDGolfHacker]

Great review! Any problems opening them up for flops?

 

MDGolfHacker

[HardcoreLooper]

Great review! Any problems opening them up for flops?

 

MDGolfHacker

 

I'll need to report back when I get the 60*.  I don't flop the 56.  

 

That being said, my flop game is really, really weak, so I'm not a good judge.  I can hit a passable flop off a fluffy lie in the rough.  Not so much from a tight fairway lie.  If I had to guess, I'd say that the little bit of heel relief will let you hit a moderately successful flop from the rough.  The wide sole will likely make it tough to flop from the fairway.

 

If you can hit good flop shots from a tight lie, you may not need the help that this club offers.  At least not in a 60* wedge.

[gaussman1]

The fascination started with @BarbaJo's article https://mygolfspy.co...and-cbx-wedges/ last year. I play cavity back irons. And I play blade wedges. I resemble Cleveland's target market. And every time I hit my old Cleveland 588 a little out on the toe, I'm reminded of how little I get to practice and how much I need more help these days. Who am I to turn down a little help?

 

Because I overanalyze virtually every purchase I make, I read voraciously about the CBX. Everyone who's anyone seemed to be singing its praises. The internets were loving this club. Fueled by the encouragement of forum-mates like Ole Gray (if you want to sell software consulting, give me a call), I decided to take the plunge. What did I have to lose? So I ordered the 56*.

 

My Wedge History

I'm very loyal to my wedges. My first sand wedge was a K-Mart special Wilson 1200. You know, the one with the twisted shaft (I'm showing my age here). My second, and most beloved wedge was a Ram Tom Watson Scoring System that I won with a third place finish in the caddy tournament at my club. I used this from my sophomore year in high school until 2004. My dad liked to say I was better with that wedge from 75 yards than I was with a putter. It met with its demise on a rainy day at Royal New Kent outside Williamsburg, VA. If you play Tour Wraps, don't hit a punch shot over a lake. My buddies still give me crap about this today. I replaced it with that wonderful Cleveland 588.

 

Initial Impressions

The club looks great. Now I'm a rusty wedge guy. My old 588 is an RTG, and I love that raw finish. But the satin finish with just a hint of shine looks great. The topline is just a hair thick, but that little bit of chrome on the back really does minimize the look

 

 

20180323_204503.jpg

The topline is nicely camouflaged by the satin/chrome contrast.

When you look at the back of the club, you see technology, you see forgiveness, you see help. But put the club down behind the ball and you see a great looking wedge. It's larger than my old wedge, but not obnoxiously so. The V-sole looks just absolutely massive in the bag, but you just don't notice it when it counts, sitting at address

 

20180323_204244.jpg

Spinny wedge goodness in the front

20180323_204323.jpg

Technology in the back

The feel is wonderful. I can really appreciate the slightly lighter Dynamic Gold 115 shaft. I was worried that it would feel too light, but that's not an issue.

 

On Course Impressions

So it looks good, and it feels good. But how does it play?

 

Frankly, the hype is real. Good shots feel good. Perhaps it's just my lack of refinement, or maybe it's the arsenal of thin, chunked and toed shots I've developed over the years. Or it's the fact that I have the touch of an axe murderer. But there's just no loss of feel on a good shot. The feedback is wonderful. And maybe it's just new grooves or the fact that I should have swapped out my 588 years ago, but this thing has stopping power. One hop and stop half wedges? I haven't seen them in years. When I lost that shot, I figured it was operator error, but the ROTEX 3 grooves have brought it back. Where it really shines, however, is on a not-so-good swing. That oh-my-god-I-toed-it-I'm-not-going-to-cover-the-front-bunker shot? It covers the bunker. That low screamer that you caught off the bottom of the clubface? It's usable now. Maybe not great, but it's usable. And what about the chunk? Well, there's absolutely no club that can help the decelerating, stick the leading edge in the ground, chunk. That's all you. But the accelerating, caught the ground just a little behind the ball shot? The V-sole glides through the turf, and you'll make decent contact with the ball. You may be a lousy person and not deserve forgiveness like this, but you get it. So make a good, positive swing. And out of the bunker? This thing is just stupid easy. Take a little too much sand? No big deal. The V-sole's got you covered.

 

 

So What's the Catch?

Well, it's not jewelry for your bag. It's not a Vokey, it's not an RTX-3, it's not a Fourteen from @WedgeWizard. No one's going to look at this club and drool. You can't have conversations like "well, I was thinking about the S grind, but I'm just a little bit more picker than digger and really needed the M."

 

Get over yourself, please.

 

Yes, you have one choice of sole grind and one bounce option at each loft. If you can tell the difference, you're probably not the target market for this club. Good for you; move along now. As for the rest of us, enjoy something your wedge probably hasn't given you in quite some time.

 

Confidence.

 

Are the 52* and the 60* in my future? You bet they are.

This is a good review right here. Somebody's odds in the Cobra test just got a lot better. Pay attention newbies!

[HardcoreLooper]

This is a good review right here. Somebody's odds in the Cobra test just got a lot better. Pay attention newbies!

Thanks, Gaussman1! Glad you enjoyed the review. I had fun writing it.

 

Sent from my SM-J727VPP using Tapatalk

[DeacLaw05]

I needed a new gap wedge, so I asked for (and received) a 50* CBX wedge as a Christmas present from my wife and daughter. I had been carrying Cleveland 588 Rotex 2.0 wedges prior to that in 52, 56, and 60* lofts, but definitely had a gapping problem between the 52* and the pitching wedge in my set of Srixon Z 565 irons (bent to 46*).

 

Over the past couple of months, I found myself using the CBX as often as possible, even in situations where the 56* was the better choice—the CBX was just that much fun to hit. It glides through the rough, and is really simple for greenside chips and pitches. Even with more bounce than I normally play and the thinner fairway lies associated with winter golf, I had no problems getting the clubface to the ball.

 

Bottom line—after two months using the 50* I bit the bullet and added a 56* and 60* a week ago. Two rounds in, and I have no regrets. I have used the 60 from greenside bunkers with no problem. I have experimented flopping the ball and opening the face off the turf with success (again, with thinner winter lies). They are easy to flight both high and low. All three of these are going to stay in my bag for the foreseeable future.

[goaliewales14]

Great review!  Did you notice a change in trajectory at all compared to other wedges and were you able to hit out of the bunker at all?  

[HardcoreLooper]

Great review! Did you notice a change in trajectory at all compared to other wedges and were you able to hit out of the bunker at all?

For me personally, the trajectory on good shots is pretty similar to my old 588. It's when you catch it a little low on the face that you get a little more height and a better result in general.

 

Bunker shots are a breeze.

 

Sent from my SM-J727VPP using Tapatalk

[DeacLaw05]

Great review! Did you notice a change in trajectory at all compared to other wedges and were you able to hit out of the bunker at all?

They definitely launch a little higher than my 588s on a full swing, but I don't go at wedges hard—I prefer to take a little less loft and make a smooth, relaxed swing rather than standing on one. I haven't had any issues so far in making that transition.

 

As for bunkers, I had one the other day where the ball was significantly below my feet in the sand (I was standing outside the bunker as the ball was near the lip). I was short-sided to the flag, and the 60* popped the ball right out with no problem to about 10 feet. Small sample size, of course, but the early returns are promising. Even with the wider sole, I have been able to open the face and get it underneath the ball.

 

As other posters have said, they aren't the prettiest wedges in the world, and you won't see the tour pros carrying them, but for weekend amateurs they'll get the job done.

[don2]

Great review...I am adding to the list of “must try”.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[HardcoreLooper]

Great review! Any problems opening them up for flops?

 

MDGolfHacker

MDGH - I took it out for some flop shots today while I was waiting for my daughter to finish up at work (so glad she works at a driving range). Please see the update to the original review.

[HardcoreLooper]

Update

MDGolfHacker asked about hitting flop shots...

I've added some more to the review with findings on flop shots and fluffy lies.

[HardcoreLooper]

Great review...I am adding to the list of “must try”.

Thanks, don2! You won't regret giving this a try.

[grad2004cca]

This was a great review HardcoreLooper! I jumped on this bus a few months ago. I'm sure that my technique hasn't changed so it has to be the equipment. My 100 and in game has transformed. I like what you said in your write up about getting over yourself. I had to let my ego go along with my Vokey SM6s. I hit into a bunker today with wet sand. I normally hyperventilate as soon as I see sand, but today was different. I had confidence. I assessed the lie and took a half swing with my 58 and came out to 10 feet. I love these wedges.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using MyGolfSpy

[HardcoreLooper]

This was a great review HardcoreLooper! I jumped on this bus a few months ago. I'm sure that my technique hasn't changed so it has to be the equipment. My 100 and in game has transformed. I like what you said in your write up about getting over yourself. I had to let my ego go along with my Vokey SM6s. I hit into a bunker today with wet sand. I normally hyperventilate as soon as I see sand, but today was different. I had confidence. I assessed the lie and took a half swing with my 58 and came out to 10 feet. I love these wedges.

Grad - Glad you enjoyed the review! And I'm glad that these clubs have had the same impact on your game as they have on mine.