Looking for more forgiveness and a little more help out of the bad stuff? Cleveland has a wedge for you. I am not give clubs to review, I review clubs I own, so when I change my wedges, it’s a big deal for me. If you look back in my blog you’ll notice that I had Cleveland wedges, went to Mizuno, a few seasons ago, and now I am back to Cleveland for the CBX.
Why CBX? They have more spin than my aging Mizunos and they are designed for guys who play cavity backed irons. What that means for me is that my 54 degree doesn’t feel that much different than my 50 degree A wedge from my Taylormade RSI 2 set. On top of that, the 54 degree has a more consistent gap in my set, because there is not as big a drop off in distance from iron set to wedge. That is where the more flexible cavity back design of these wedges comes into play. Off a tee, you can really hit them and get some extra distance and spin.
For me the Dual V grind sole makes it easy to engage the bounce and slide the club under the ball out of the sand or when you need to hit it high. What was surprising is how easy it is when you what to use the leading edge. These rarely catch-up in the grass and glide through light rough on full shots like you are on the fairway. The first time I hit one it surprised me how fast it went through the turf. Chipping with the 54 degree is my new favorite thing. The CBX feels substantial but not overly heavy. You can use the bounce and drop the club on the ball and hit it very soft. You can also accelerate through and get the ball to check and stop. I could do that with my old wedges but not as consistently as with the CBX.
As I stated earlier, I also replaced my 58 degree Mizuno with a 60 degree CBX. The 60 is a perfect replacement. When I am in short or need more spin than the 54, the 60 is just right. For me it is perfect on that 60-75 yard shot where you need it to stop. It has a lot of spin which really helps on those pesky 40 yard shots as well. I have to be careful though because the ball will really check up. As with the 54 the more forgiving face and V sole make it easy to hit it sky high or hit a lower spinner.
Overall, I really like the Cleveland CBX wedges I can’t wait for the warmer summer weather to see how much the stop on summer baked green.