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The Sticks · Golf Clubs

The Best Golf Wedges

The best wedge matches your strike — a different club for a clean ball-striker than for someone who chunks. Ranked, with live prices.

By Stephen V.Updated How we rank
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The best wedge is the one that matches your strike, and that’s a different club for a clean ball-striker than for someone who chunks the odd chip. The Cleveland RTX 6 ZipCore wins outright for a good short game: the sharpest grooves and the best feel here, in a tour blade you can open, flight and spin. But read the “best for” on every row, because for a lot of golfers the wedge that lowers their score is further down this list.

The Cleveland CBX Full-Face is the forgiving alternative — a cavity-back, full-face design that flatters an off-centre strike while still spinning like a Cleveland. The Wilson Harmonizedis the value pick, a classic 56° for a fraction of a tour wedge’s price. And the Square Strike is the specialist: an anti-chunk chipping wedge for the player whose short game is being wrecked by fat chips.

Whichever you choose, think about loft gaps: a 56° sand wedge covers most golfers’ needs, and a 60° adds a higher, softer shot for those who can hit it. Don’t buy three wedges before you can use one — start with the loft you actually need.

Skip this: the RTX blade, if you chunk your chips

The RTX is the best wedge here for a reason — but only if you can strike it. A tour blade punishes a fat or thin contact, and if your short game is a work in progress it will cost you shots, not save them. For that player the game-improvement pick scores better: the CBX Full-Face’s cavity-back forgiveness, or the Square Strike’s anti-dig sole, will do more for your card than tour grooves ever will. Buy the wedge that fixes your miss, not the one the better player carries.

The short answer

Quick picks

#ProductBest forScorePrice
01
Cleveland RTX 6 ZipCore Wedge

A tour-grade wedge with the sharpest grooves and the best feel here — the one to buy once you can strike your short shots cleanly.

Ball-strikers who want tour spin and shot-making
7.4
$139.99Amazon
02
Cleveland CBX Full-Face 2 Wedge

The forgiving wedge — a cavity-back, full-face design that flatters a less-than-perfect strike while still spinning like a Cleveland.

Higher handicaps who want a forgiving wedge
7.4
$91.99Amazon
03
Wilson Harmonized Wedge (56°)

A budget wedge that covers the basics — a classic-shaped 56° for far less than a tour wedge, if spin and grind options aren't your priority.

The best value wedge
6.8
$69.99Amazon
04
Square Strike Wedge

A specialist anti-chunk wedge that makes the short chip almost foolproof — a genuine confidence fix, within honest limits.

Beginners who chunk or blade chips
6.4
$119.00Amazon

#ad · Live prices from the Amazon Product API, as of Jul 17, 2026. Where we have no verified live price, we show none — we would rather leave a gap than print a number that has rotted.

In detail

The picks, in full

01
Cleveland Cleveland RTX 6 ZipCore Wedge

Ball-strikers who want tour spin and shot-making

Cleveland RTX 6 ZipCore Wedge

56° loft (this listing)Tour blade wedgeZipCore / UltiZip groovesMultiple grind options
7.4/10

A tour-grade wedge with the sharpest grooves and the best feel here — the one to buy once you can strike your short shots cleanly.

Forgiveness
6
Distance
7
Feel
9
Playability
9
Value
6

Pros

  • Cleveland's sharpest, most durable grooves for maximum greenside spin — the reason to buy a dedicated wedge at all
  • A soft, precise feel and the shot-making range a good short game wants: open it, flight it, spin it
  • Sold in multiple grinds so you can match the sole to your turf and your swing

Cons

  • A tour-style blade is less forgiving on a fat or thin strike than a cavity-back wedge
  • Priced at the top of the wedge market — you're paying for the grooves and the grind options

Skip this if…

…you chunk or thin your chips. A tour blade punishes a poor strike; if your short game is a work in progress, a game-improvement wedge like the CBX Full-Face or the Square Strike will save you more shots than tour grooves ever will.

$139.99View on Amazon

Price as of Jul 17, 2026. Prices change — Amazon's is the one that counts.

#ad · we may earn a commission from this link to Cleveland RTX 6 ZipCore Wedge

02
Cleveland Cleveland CBX Full-Face 2 Wedge

Higher handicaps who want a forgiving wedge

Cleveland CBX Full-Face 2 Wedge

60° loft (this listing)Cavity-back / hollow designFull-face groovesGame-improvement wedge
7.4/10

The forgiving wedge — a cavity-back, full-face design that flatters a less-than-perfect strike while still spinning like a Cleveland.

Forgiveness
9
Distance
7
Feel
7
Playability
7
Value
7

Pros

  • Cavity-back, game-improvement construction is far kinder to an off-centre strike than a tour blade
  • Full-face grooves grip on open-face and toe-side contacts — genuinely useful on flops and awkward lies
  • Cleveland grooves and a wide, forgiving sole that resists digging

Cons

  • Not as workable or as pure-feeling as the RTX blade for a skilled short game
  • The forgiveness comes from a chunkier head some better players don't like the look of

Skip this if…

…you're a clean ball-striker who wants to shape and flight wedges. The forgiving cavity-back does less of what a precise short game asks for — the RTX blade gives you more control and feel.

$91.99View on Amazon

Price as of Jul 17, 2026. Prices change — Amazon's is the one that counts.

#ad · we may earn a commission from this link to Cleveland CBX Full-Face 2 Wedge

03
Wilson Wilson Harmonized Wedge (56°)

The best value wedge

Wilson Harmonized Wedge (56°)

56° loftClassic blade shapeTrue-bounce soleBudget tier
6.8/10

A budget wedge that covers the basics — a classic-shaped 56° for far less than a tour wedge, if spin and grind options aren't your priority.

Forgiveness
6
Distance
7
Feel
6
Playability
6
Value
9

Pros

  • A proper single-loft wedge for a fraction of a tour wedge's price
  • Classic shape and a sole grind that works from most normal lies
  • A sensible way to add a 56° gap without paying for grooves you may not use yet

Cons

  • Won't spin or last like Cleveland's premium grooves
  • One sole grind and a basic feel — fine, not special

Skip this if…

…your scoring leans on greenside spin and shot-making. A budget wedge's grooves fade faster and grip less than a tour wedge's; if the short game is your strength, buy the RTX and keep it.

$69.99View on Amazon

Price as of Jul 17, 2026. Prices change — Amazon's is the one that counts.

#ad · we may earn a commission from this link to Wilson Harmonized Wedge (56°)

04
Square Strike Square Strike Wedge

Beginners who chunk or blade chips

Square Strike Wedge

Anti-chunk chipping/pitching wedgeHeavy, wide anti-dig soleTournament-legal (USGA conforming)Single-purpose short-game club
6.4/10

A specialist anti-chunk wedge that makes the short chip almost foolproof — a genuine confidence fix, within honest limits.

Forgiveness
9
Distance
5
Feel
6
Playability
5
Value
7

Pros

  • The heavy, wide sole is built to resist digging, so the club glides through instead of chunking — it really does stop the fat chip
  • Simple to use: a putting-style stroke sends it low and running, the highest-percentage short shot for most amateurs
  • Tournament-legal, so you can actually carry it in a real round

Cons

  • It's a one-shot club — a low, running chip and short pitch — not a wedge you flop, spin, or hit full
  • You give up a bag slot to a single-purpose club, and you'll still need a real sand wedge for bunkers and high shots

Skip this if…

…you already chip cleanly or you want one wedge that does everything. It fixes a specific fault — the chunked chip — and does little else; a competent short game or a versatile wedge like the CBX makes it redundant.

$119.00View on Amazon

Price as of Jul 17, 2026. Prices change — Amazon's is the one that counts.

#ad · we may earn a commission from this link to Square Strike Wedge

How we ranked this

We don't run a testing lab — and we say so

We compiled published manufacturer specifications, official standards and aggregated owner reviews, computed the running costs the big test-labs leave out, and scored each pick against a published rubric. The scores are judgements from documented research — they are notlab measurements we took, because we don't have a lab and we're not going to pretend we do. You can check every number we publish.

Questions

Frequently asked

What wedges does a mid handicapper need?
Start with one — usually a 56° sand wedge — and add a 60° or a gap wedge only when you can use them. A cavity-back, game-improvement wedge like the CBX Full-Face is the forgiving choice; a tour blade like the RTX rewards a cleaner strike.
What is the difference between a blade and a cavity-back wedge?
A tour blade (RTX) puts the weight behind the sweet spot for feel and shot-shaping, but punishes mishits. A cavity-back wedge (CBX Full-Face) redistributes weight for forgiveness on off-centre strikes. We compare the two directly in the RTX vs CBX guide.
Is the Square Strike wedge worth it?
If chunked chips are wrecking your short game, yes — its heavy anti-dig sole makes the low, running chip almost foolproof. Just know it’s a one-shot specialist, not a wedge you flop or hit full. Full detail in our Square Strike review.

Keep reading

Related

Receipts

Sources

We do not run a testing lab, and we do not pretend to. Every spec number here comes from a manufacturer's published sheet or an official standard, cited above. Where we could not verify something, we say so on the page rather than quietly leaving it out. Read our full method.