Callaway Opus Wedges - 2024 Forum Review

[Josh Parker]

9 minutes ago, GolfSpy_SHARK said:

Was able to get out this weekend. Good round overall and I am absolutely loving the 60* around the green.

the spin in short seems to be really legit especially in a 1/2 to full swing shot with the 54* This was not a full shot from 80 yards. Landed just left of the pin and spun back off the green. I Definitly need to plan on if I am playing a more full shot to go long and let it come back towards the pin 

 

So clean looking!

[bama no 1]

1 hour ago, Josh Parker said:

So clean looking!

from what i have seen posted so far, those wedges create some serious bite.

[GolfSpy_SHARK]

4 hours ago, Josh Parker said:

So clean looking!

The shot or the club

[Josh Parker]

6 hours ago, GolfSpy_SHARK said:

The shot or the club

Haha. Well, now that you mention it....  

[RyanGi]

Awesome first impressions!

[Chas c]

On 9/13/2024 at 6:44 PM, GolfSpy_SHARK said:

Sorry higher lofted* going from 52* to a 54*
 

hit a par 3 course today which was all 60-100 yard shots so all I used was these two wedges today. Planning to put the video together here shortly to post but this is Definitly longer. I didn’t have the best swings throughout but some good ones 10-15 yards longer easily 

One of the positives I noticed during my fitting was that these wedges went further than my current setup, with good shots on the 50 degree going a solid 120-115, whereas the best shot I had ever made with my 50 degree MG4 was 105, and it fit the gap in my current setup better.

[Chas c]

I had a chance this weekend to get some real world testing in during less than ideal conditions, and while these wedges probably wouldn't disappoint most people, I'm not sure they are living up to the hype. 

We have been getting a LOT of rain in Orlando, and this Saturday was the first time in 9 days that my go-to local course was open. It was a swamp. Shrek would have felt right at home in the middle of some of the fairways on the back 9 that don't drain quite as well. I got to do a decent amount of side by side comparison testing without slowing down anything since the pace was really slow.

The Good

• Distance - These wedges have a little more distance, which helps with the strong lofted AI Smoke Irons I use. I get 130 yards out of an average PW shot if I strike it well, so being able to get up to 120-115 yards with the Opus 50 is perfect.
• Turf Interaction - I really like the grind on these. I could probably use a little less bounce, but I'm thinning much fewer shots and I like it.
• Hitting out of the Rough - I don't know what to attribute this one too, but these cut through thick grass like butter. I sliced my drive off into the woods, hit a beautiful 6 iron out of the woods that was stopped by an ill placed branch, and wound up about 150 yards from the green in 6 inches of unmown bermuda. I knew it was too far but I pulled out the 50 in the hope that it would cut through so I could get back on the fairway and get some decent distance and boy did it deliver, with a beautiful 100 yard shot that wound up exactly where I wanted. I used the 50 out of the rough Saturday and Sunday to excellent results.

The Bad

• Spin with non-Urethane covers - In my comparison testing with Supersofts vs. Vice Pro, the clubs just didn't seem to generate much spin on the Supersofts. This was even worse on the 50 degree Opus wedge, which is likely since it lacks the secondary grooving. For a full shot it wasn't quite as bad, since the ball will compress much more and thus generate enough friction to get spinning, but on shorter shots it was very obvious.

The Ugly

• Wet - Oof. I don't know I can say much more than that. I was downright disappointed when the ball got wet. Given the conditions, I was cleaning and dropping often, but that's not always going to be available, so I tried to take as many shots as possible with a clean but damp ball. I did a lot of comparison shots with my Vice Pro and Supersofts, and both of them would damn near run off the other side of the green. I thought it might have been just conditions, so I played a few shots with my MG4 wedges, and while the spin wasn't fantastic, for the conditions it was fine, and the ball would generally only roll out a few feet.\

It's been drying out the last few days, so I hope to get out again this week/weekend and get some more rounds in and see if my impressions of the club changes as I get more used to them and use them in different (drier) conditions.

[Chux13]

Club Testing at PGA Super Store

The ol'lady and I decided to make a trip to the Tucson area and utilize a hitting bay at the PGA Super Store in Tucson last week. While there, I wanted to grab a few of the demo and used wedges available to see if there are any glaring differences in both performance and feel. I needed to do this since my current gamers are nowhere near the caliber the Opus Platinum and other higher end OEM offerings.

I got one hour in a practice bay outfitted with a GC3 launch monitor. I also utilized a trio of fresh ProV1 golf balls I had at home. In this test, I decided to stick to my 53º Opus Platinum as there were more options available in the 50-54º range to test against. Along with the Opus and in-store offerings, I had my 52º current gamer tag along for a baseline of what I had been using prior. For all swings, I decided to go with a 1/2 swing to simulate a pitch from approximately 40 yards out, as I feel this is my most utilized shot with my wedges.

The Data and Opinions

Final Thoughts

I am sad I really struggled with the Vokey offering. I really wanted to see how the Opus's most often compared rival performed and I just could not make it happen. Maybe that club is "too good" for a noob like me? Outside of that show, I really enjoyed getting a feel of how the other higher tier wedges looked and felt in hand. The Opus Platinum absolutely outperformed the offerings through both data and feel. I just absolutely love how this club works and feel even stronger in its abilities seeing just how consistent I am with it. Other notables were the sheer power felt with the Mizuno S23 and just how EASY and FORGIVING the Callaway CB wedge is. IF, I were testing all of these clubs to purchase then and there, Opus Platinum included, I do not think the spin numbers would have won me over when I am almost as consistent with the Callaway CB offering. I loved the ease of which I could swing that club and feel a 50º with just over 5k spin average would be perfect for the $159.99 MSRP per club. Opus Platinum at $239.99 MSRP? Tough sell for me in this go-round.

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 10:48 PM by Chux13
Removed random pics at the bottom

[Chux13]

On 9/13/2024 at 3:44 PM, GolfSpy_SHARK said:

Sorry higher lofted* going from 52* to a 54*
 

hit a par 3 course today which was all 60-100 yard shots so all I used was these two wedges today. Planning to put the video together here shortly to post but this is Definitly longer. I didn’t have the best swings throughout but some good ones 10-15 yards longer easily 

I am getting a lot of the same with my 53º. I am absolutely getting more distance than my current gamer 52º by a good margin from all style shots with the same swing speeds. You will see above, even at the highest lofted club with the most spin, it was hanging with the likes of both 52º and 50º offerings from other OEM's. 

[Mrich2021]

11 minutes ago, Chux13 said:

Club Testing at PGA Super Store

The ol'lady and I decided to make a trip to the Tucson area and utilize a hitting bay at the PGA Super Store in Tucson last week. While there, I wanted to grab a few of the demo and used wedges available to see if there are any glaring differences in both performance and feel. I needed to do this since my current gamers are nowhere near the caliber the Opus Platinum and other higher end OEM offerings.

I got one hour in a practice bay outfitted with a GC3 launch monitor. I also utilized a trio of fresh ProV1 golf balls I had at home. In this test, I decided to stick to my 53º Opus Platinum as there were more options available in the 50-54º range to test against. Along with the Opus and in-store offerings, I had my 52º current gamer tag along for a baseline of what I had been using prior. For all swings, I decided to go with a 1/2 swing to simulate a pitch from approximately 40 yards out, as I feel this is my most utilized shot with my wedges.

The Data and Opinions

Final Thoughts

I am sad I really struggled with the Vokey offering. I really wanted to see how the Opus's most often compared rival performed and I just could not make it happen. Maybe that club is "too good" for a noob like me? Outside of that show, I really enjoyed getting a feel of how the other higher tier wedges looked and felt in hand. The Opus Platinum absolutely outperformed the offerings through both data and feel. I just absolutely love how this club works and feel even stronger in its abilities seeing just how consistent I am with it. Other notables were the sheer power felt with the Mizuno S23 and just how EASY and FORGIVING the Callaway CB wedge is. IF, I were testing all of these clubs to purchase then and there, Opus Platinum included, I do not think the spin numbers would have won me over when I am almost as consistent with the Callaway CB offering. I loved the ease of which I could swing that club and feel a 50º with just over 5k spin average would be perfect for the $159.99 MSRP per club. Opus Platinum at $239.99 MSRP? Tough sell for me in this go-round.

 

 

I agree with the tough sell, especially with that much of a price difference. The back spin difference between the vokeys and opus is crazy, especially with the sm10s being a favorable wedge for many. But to be honest, I’m biased towards the Callaway wedges.

[Chux13]

2 minutes ago, Mrich2021 said:

I agree with the tough sell, especially with that much of a price difference. The back spin difference between the vokeys and opus is crazy, especially with the sm10s being a favorable wedge for many. But to be honest, I’m biased towards the Callaway wedges.

For shizzle. If money were not of concern, I would 100 of 100 times go with the Opus Platinum wedges. Now that I think about it, I wish I got to swing some of the regular Opus offerings at a more palatable price point. Hope someone can do so in this forum OR I get another chance in a bay with the Opus offering.

Edited Wednesday at 11:01 PM by Chux13

[GolfSpy_SHARK]

58 minutes ago, Chux13 said:

Club Testing at PGA Super Store

The ol'lady and I decided to make a trip to the Tucson area and utilize a hitting bay at the PGA Super Store in Tucson last week. While there, I wanted to grab a few of the demo and used wedges available to see if there are any glaring differences in both performance and feel. I needed to do this since my current gamers are nowhere near the caliber the Opus Platinum and other higher end OEM offerings.

I got one hour in a practice bay outfitted with a GC3 launch monitor. I also utilized a trio of fresh ProV1 golf balls I had at home. In this test, I decided to stick to my 53º Opus Platinum as there were more options available in the 50-54º range to test against. Along with the Opus and in-store offerings, I had my 52º current gamer tag along for a baseline of what I had been using prior. For all swings, I decided to go with a 1/2 swing to simulate a pitch from approximately 40 yards out, as I feel this is my most utilized shot with my wedges.

The Data and Opinions

Final Thoughts

I am sad I really struggled with the Vokey offering. I really wanted to see how the Opus's most often compared rival performed and I just could not make it happen. Maybe that club is "too good" for a noob like me? Outside of that show, I really enjoyed getting a feel of how the other higher tier wedges looked and felt in hand. The Opus Platinum absolutely outperformed the offerings through both data and feel. I just absolutely love how this club works and feel even stronger in its abilities seeing just how consistent I am with it. Other notables were the sheer power felt with the Mizuno S23 and just how EASY and FORGIVING the Callaway CB wedge is. IF, I were testing all of these clubs to purchase then and there, Opus Platinum included, I do not think the spin numbers would have won me over when I am almost as consistent with the Callaway CB offering. I loved the ease of which I could swing that club and feel a 50º with just over 5k spin average would be perfect for the $159.99 MSRP per club. Opus Platinum at $239.99 MSRP? Tough sell for me in this go-round.

 

 

Really like this comparison nice work, substantially more spin there that’s wild.

[injectedcutty]

I just got in from playing a quick 9. I ended up walking with another guy i see out here playing all the time. I handed him the Opus 54 to hit and compare against his pretty old Tour edge 56. It's fun watching other people put some zip on the ball when they normally wouldn't! After a couple shots his eyes were wide, looked at me and said "these have to be fake!" 

I assured him they're new and legit! However he wasn't a fan of the $180 price point which I understand, but premium clubs are worth the $$$

After we got done i went back to the green close to my property and hit some random shots with both 54 and 58. Throw out the couple outliers and these wedges continue to impress! I enjoy flying the ball to the hole just to see it hit the brakes and halt! I absolutely love these wedges, and plan on getting to the good driving range here which has a nice short game area. The plan is to take my camera and mic so I can record some stuff. To be continued....

[bama no 1]

1 hour ago, Chas c said:

I had a chance this weekend to get some real world testing in during less than ideal conditions, and while these wedges probably wouldn't disappoint most people, I'm not sure they are living up to the hype. 

We have been getting a LOT of rain in Orlando, and this Saturday was the first time in 9 days that my go-to local course was open. It was a swamp. Shrek would have felt right at home in the middle of some of the fairways on the back 9 that don't drain quite as well. I got to do a decent amount of side by side comparison testing without slowing down anything since the pace was really slow.

The Good

• Distance - These wedges have a little more distance, which helps with the strong lofted AI Smoke Irons I use. I get 130 yards out of an average PW shot if I strike it well, so being able to get up to 120-115 yards with the Opus 50 is perfect.
• Turf Interaction - I really like the grind on these. I could probably use a little less bounce, but I'm thinning much fewer shots and I like it.
• Hitting out of the Rough - I don't know what to attribute this one too, but these cut through thick grass like butter. I sliced my drive off into the woods, hit a beautiful 6 iron out of the woods that was stopped by an ill placed branch, and wound up about 150 yards from the green in 6 inches of unmown bermuda. I knew it was too far but I pulled out the 50 in the hope that it would cut through so I could get back on the fairway and get some decent distance and boy did it deliver, with a beautiful 100 yard shot that wound up exactly where I wanted. I used the 50 out of the rough Saturday and Sunday to excellent results.

The Bad

• Spin with non-Urethane covers - In my comparison testing with Supersofts vs. Vice Pro, the clubs just didn't seem to generate much spin on the Supersofts. This was even worse on the 50 degree Opus wedge, which is likely since it lacks the secondary grooving. For a full shot it wasn't quite as bad, since the ball will compress much more and thus generate enough friction to get spinning, but on shorter shots it was very obvious.

The Ugly

• Wet - Oof. I don't know I can say much more than that. I was downright disappointed when the ball got wet. Given the conditions, I was cleaning and dropping often, but that's not always going to be available, so I tried to take as many shots as possible with a clean but damp ball. I did a lot of comparison shots with my Vice Pro and Supersofts, and both of them would damn near run off the other side of the green. I thought it might have been just conditions, so I played a few shots with my MG4 wedges, and while the spin wasn't fantastic, for the conditions it was fine, and the ball would generally only roll out a few feet.\

It's been drying out the last few days, so I hope to get out again this week/weekend and get some more rounds in and see if my impressions of the club changes as I get more used to them and use them in different (drier) conditions.

great info.  sounds like the wedges are working pretty good so far.

[bama no 1]

2 minutes ago, injectedcutty said:

I just got in from playing a quick 9. I ended up walking with another guy i see out here playing all the time. I handed him the Opus 54 to hit and compare against his pretty old Tour edge 56. It's fun watching other people put some zip on the ball when they normally wouldn't! After a couple shots his eyes were wide, looked at me and said "these have to be fake!" 

I assured him they're new and legit! However he wasn't a fan of the $180 price point which I understand, but premium clubs are worth the $$$

After we got done i went back to the green close to my property and hit some random shots with both 54 and 58. Throw out the couple outliers and these wedges continue to impress! I enjoy flying the ball to the hole just to see it hit the brakes and halt! I absolutely love these wedges, and plan on getting to the good driving range here which has a nice short game area. The plan is to take my camera and mic so I can record some stuff. To be continued....

love that you can stop the ball on a dime when needed.  can you bump and run these as well.?

[injectedcutty]

18 minutes ago, bama no 1 said:

love that you can stop the ball on a dime when needed.  can you bump and run these as well.?

Definitely on the bump and run, was hitting some earlier. The 58 not so much, the 54 is better suited for that shot. I still have to close the face some because the ball just wants to stop after a hop or two.

[bama no 1]

1 minute ago, injectedcutty said:

Definitely on the bump and run, was hitting some earlier. The 58 not so much, the 54 is better suited for that shot. I still have to close the face some because the ball just wants to stop after a hop or two.

sounds like the club and do it all.  I love the one hop and stop shots.

[RyanGi]

Great info so far!

[GolfSpy_SHARK]

12 hours ago, bama no 1 said:

love that you can stop the ball on a dime when needed.  can you bump and run these as well.?

Bump and run is 100% there, and that one hip check, Been utilizing it a lot because I just have not been good with full shots where I would want that hop and back up. Not the club that’s all one me not making good shots lol

[bama no 1]

10 hours ago, GolfSpy_SHARK said:

Bump and run is 100% there, and that one hip check, Been utilizing it a lot because I just have not been good with full shots where I would want that hop and back up. Not the club that’s all one me not making good shots lol

great to know since it seems the clubs do generate quite of bit of spin.