Saturday, December 16, 2023

Tour Edge Wingman Wedge Review: 2023 PGAPappas 12 Days of Christmas Golf Giveaway DAY 7

When you think of Tour Edge Golf you probably think of their award winning drivers, woods, and hybrids.  But if you stopped there it would be a mistake.  Tour Edge has made the path to better wedge play a whole lot easier with their new Tour Edge Wingman wedges.  Giving you the precision you want and forgiveness you need, the Wingman wedges also feature distinctive sole grinds and masterful groove designs to control your distances, manage various lies, and ultimately hit your intended targets.

And for DAY 7 of my PGAPappas 12 Days of Christmas Golf Giveaway one of you can choose a complete 3 wedge set of the Wingman wedges.  Any loft from 50 to 60 degrees (in two degree increments), and any of the three unique sole grinds.  The key to lower scores is a good short game and Wingman will help you get there.

You can read all about the new Tour Edge Wingman wedge technology on their webpage here.  I'm not going to talk a lot about that here in this review.  I will however refer to some of it as that relates to how they played for me.  And in a nutshell I'd call Wingman a kind of all-around wedges that are much easier to hit than traditional blade wedges but also the kind that still deliver spin and control that appeal to better players.

 

Right away you see Tour Edge is sort of blending traditional and modern looks into the Wingman wedges.  They're shaped very much like a blade wedge but slightly rounder with a slightly higher toe.  Soles and toplines are a tad wider than traditional blade wedges but I'd call Wingman more similar than dissimilar to traditional wedges.

When you address the ball with Wingman you'll see these have more offset than traditional wedges.  And I honestly was hesitant about this at first.  One of the benefits of offset is helping square your face and I really don't need that in my wedge game as my miss is usually a pull left anyway.  But Wingman were incredibly point and shoot accurate.  Maybe it's those two black colored Vibrcor areas on the back toe and heel areas, I don't know.  But there's clearly a stability advantage through my swing with these wedges as well.

  

On both short chips and full swings the biggest advantage to the offset for me was seeing the ball immediately launch higher.  We've all experienced the horror of hitting our wedges so low on the face that our ball barely gets up off the ground and winds up who knows where over the green.  Wingman does an excellent job getting your ball airborne on solid strikes but more importantly it does an excellent job doing the same thing on shots struck a few grooves low on the face.

Tour Edge also added weight to the top of the wedge so the easier launch you get doesn't balloon at all.  In fact I saw exactly the kind of low under the wind trajectories essential for control.  And speaking of weighting it feels like the Wingman wedge mass is centered right in the middle of the face because flighting these wedges up and down incredibly easy and accurate.  Again all the things a better player expects from his or her wedges.

And circling back to the Wingman shape being slightly rounder and slightly taller than a traditional wedge?  While I wouldn't call Wingman game-improvement wedges there's definitely a sizable miss area in all directions around the face.  Shots hit a ball or so left or right of center strike pretty much held their lines and retained excellent spin (more on that below).  Low misses as mentioned were exceptional because of the playable launch I still saw.

Before I get into spin and turf interaction and soles I have to say another big surprise for me was how solid and soft these felt.  Honestly rivaling some of the best feeling wedges out there.  I won't say what I believe the best feeling wedges are, but will say compared to them Wingman only felt a tad less soft and only sounded a tad higher pitched.  A solid, soft, forged feel on all kinds of swings.  Really well done here Tour Edge.

Spin is what makes wedges sexy and where Wingman shines brightest is in maintaining spin (and direction really) better than traditional blade wedges on misses.  When you hit a traditional wedge out towards the toe it doesn't spin like a clean strike and can often be far off line.  With the Wingman wedges even when I didn't catch it clean on these types of misses the spin had plenty of bite and heads just felt more stable.

 

Wingman aren't the highest spinning wedges I've ever hit but I'd still call them high spin wedges that are consistently great performers.  And by that I mean it didn't matter where I was hitting from.  On full and half swings, from the fairway, rough, sand I got predictable and impressive spin.  There are a kind of microgrooves between the actual grooves themselves that feel a bit like fine sandpaper if you run your fingers across them.  And this kind of spin along with the balanced feel really lets you go after any pins you want.

Last but not least I have to talk about the Wingman sole grinds because they're freaking awesome.  I have the M/N mid-neutral in my gap wedge, the S/D soft-digger in my sand wedge, and F/S firm-sweeping in my lob wedge.  And these three wedges combined have confidently let me hit any shot from anywhere.  In the hands of a skilled player Wingman wedges will be deadly.

I guess no surprise there since Bernhard Langer was so instrumental in helping design Wingman.  And on a sort of tangential note going back to the wedge offset, some of the best wedge players around have played wedges with offset including Seve Ballesteros, Lee Trevino, and more recently Jim Furyk.  But I digress.

Before going deeper into the different grinds I want to also point out the lead edges all seem more radiused or beveled than traditional blade wedges.  Sharp leading edges can be very forgiving, especially if you have a steep swing.  With the Wingman wedges however they almost feel anti-dig.  Even with my mid 10-degree bounce gap wedge and higher 14-degree bounce sand wedge I felt like I could aggressively attack pins from tight lies without fear of catching shots thin or skulling chips and pitches.

So back to the Wingman sole grinds.  And again you can check out the Tour Edge web site to read (and see pictures) about how the different grinds compare.  But F/S was probably my favorite.  I have it in my 58-degree lob wedge.  Plenty of relief where you need it most and for those tight lies around the green this grind begs you to hit those delicate hero shots and more often than not rewarded me for doing so.

 
  

The Wingman S/D grind is theoretically ideal for bunker play and soft condition, and here as with all the grinds versatility was exceptional.  Even with a higher 14 degree bounce when the distance called for it I hit crisp shots from the fairway with my sand wedge.  I mentioned earlier the Wingman soles are slightly wider than traditional blade wedges but they they also seen to play thinner when I needed them to (particularly this 54-degree S/D sand wedge).

And the Wingman M/N grind is probably your most versatile grind that's theoretically ideal for most conditions soft or firm.  I have the M/N grind in my 50-degree gap wedge and this club enters and exits the turf in the blink of an eye.  It's the kind of grind that will do everything you need it to and then even a little more.

 
 
It's hard for me to say there's a single feature about the new Tour Edge Wingman wedges I like most because all of these wedges deliver a multitude of benefits that make them trusted performers that are easy to hit with fantastic spin and control.  If money was no object I'd seriously have a stockpile of these wedges.

Remember you always have three different ways to win the daily gifts in my giveaway this year.  On X/Twitter just repost my giveaway announcement and follow all; on Instagram repost or mention in your story, like, and follow all; and here on my blog leave a comment in the section below in the daily review/giveaway, Jingle Bam, Letters from Santa, Jingle Bam Bigger, and Flash Kringle Gonna Kringle articles.

These gifts are great prizes of course, but also some of the best equipment and gear in their class that I played and reviewed this season.  And I hope these mini reviews and recaps give you an idea of why I rate them so highly.

Merry Christmas all!

37 comments:

  1. I could fold the sod over with those wedges .. release the Kringle

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    1. Without a doubt. Fun wedges that are really a kind of hybrid between the blade and more forgiving perimeter weighted cavity backs.

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  2. These look awesome, would love to have a set!

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  3. Besides your incredible review, I have read many other glowing reviews about these wedges. Tour Edge is very underrated for the quality and playability of their equipment IMO. #JingleBAM

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    1. Tour Edge doesn't have the budget to compete with bigger OEMs but yeah agree can stand toe to toe on performance.

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  4. Thanks Pete merry Christmas

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  5. Pete delivers again. I have older mixed wedges. It would be a Christmas blessing to have a full set of high quality wedges. I love the #12daysofChristmas man, so much fun.

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    1. Glad you're having fun Ben. Above all else what I hope and try to make happen. Jingle BAM!

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  6. Tour Edge and Santa Pete make a great pair!

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  7. Interesting head shape, would take a bit to get used too

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    1. Reminds me a bit of the old Cleveland CG14 or one of those with the taller face and rounder shape.

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  8. I was thinking about passing on this one Pete, as I already have two Wingman Wedges, a 50* S/D and a 56* M/N, which perform every bit like you described. But your comment "If money was no object I'd seriously have a stockpile of these wedges." convinced me that maybe I should go ahead and try to win these, because I completely agree.
    🎄 #JingleBAM 🎄
    🎅#ReleaseTheKringle! 🎅

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    1. Right? I was really surprised how much I liked these. #JingleBAM!

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  9. I’m a vokey guy but would give these a try

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    1. These aren't Vokey style irons. Tour Edge does make more blade like wedges, the Pro Blade.

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  10. These would be nice!

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  11. I could use all the help and #JingleBAM🌲 available

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  12. Love the sole on these wedges.

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    1. Underrated soles. Lotta thought went into these options.

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  13. Would love some more spin! Me wedges are worn , #JingleBAM

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    1. Tour Edge just continues to impress more and more each year.

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  14. More spin, nice soles! Would love to game them.

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  15. I friend of mine just picked up the 50 degree and had it in his bag this weekened. I really liked the way it looked and set up behind the ball, but the feel was even better. That Vibrcor really makes a difference!!

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    1. Was unsure about offset but yeah sits nicely behind ball and the sole just clips right through the turf.

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  16. Hey, if it's good enough for one of the best on the Senior Tour, then it's good enough for this old guy as well. the high toe design has me intrigued anyway. Just in time as I need a new set of wedges anyway. Mine are about wore out

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    1. Higher face for me has always for some reason made expect cleaner impact. Same with irons, like a compact shape and if it can give me a little more top to bottom I'm all in.

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  17. Let's go #jinglebam #releasethekringle

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  18. Curious about the offset in the wedges and how much it would change the touch in delicate shots around the green.

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  19. Something about those sole grinds, definitely grinds good with my soul! #RELEASETHEKRINGLE #JINGLEBAMBIGGER

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  20. Congrats John Sweat you won the Tour Edge wedge set in my PGAPappas 12 Days of Christmas. DM/email for details. Thanks to all who participated, more coming soon. 👍

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