Callaway CB Wedge Review
Picture the scene: you’re thirty feet from the flag, on a down slope, short-sided, on a muddy lie, with a bunker between your ball and the pin. Flash forward 20 seconds and your ball is now in the greenside bunker. Sound familiar? Trust me, you’re not alone. While I’m unfortunately in no position to offer technical advice to improve your short game, the new Callaway CB wedge may just be the cheat-code you have been looking for if you struggle around the greens.
This honestly may be as close to a ‘quick-fix’ as it gets when it comes to fixing short-game woes. Admittedly, the CB wedge may not be as sleek in design as some of the best golf wedges on the market, the uplift in performance on offer for those who struggle with consistency of strike will be almost immediate - it's certainly one of the most forgiving wedges money can buy.
The fairly large cavity back design is designed to offer maximum forgiveness on all wedge shots. These wedges are available in lofts from 48° of loft through to 60°, but the full face groove design is only available on the wedges running from 54° through to 60°. The full face design I tested certainly inspires confidence when placed at address and helped create plenty of spin, particularly in bunker shots or playing shots with an open face.
The face is covered in the same Jaws grooves used on the likes of the Callaway Jaws Raw wedges. These faces have been ‘face blasted’, a process which creates roughness on the faces to help them create extra spin, regardless of conditions. I certainly found this to be evident upon testing, especially on pitch shots where it’s hard to swing with enough speed to create large amounts of spin - I was seeing a good amount of action, even when hitting onto firm greens.
One thing I was initially skeptical about with the CB wedge was how high the leading edge sat against the ball, but the cleverly constructed sole and pre-worn edge provided what can only be described as ‘pure’ turf interaction on almost every shot. While there is plenty of bounce on these wedges, (12° on the 60° wedge) I felt as though sliding under the ball was no issue at all, proving why it should be considered on of the best high bounce wedges. While admittedly I would tend to lean towards a lob wedge with a little less bounce, I could not fault how easily the CB wedge popped the ball in the air with plenty of spin when hitting from a firm playing surface and I have no qualms in suggesting this wedge would perform just as well on softer turf.
The feel was actually what surprised me the most about the Callaway CB wedge. With its large cavity back design, I thought a little feel may be sacrificed for the sake of forgiveness. While it’s not quite as buttery smooth as some of the premium forged wedges on the market like the Jaws Raw, Vokey SM9 or the TaylorMade MG3, the CB wedge is the first Callaway wedge to feature Urethane Microspheres, which have been placed behind the face to provide exceptional feel and acoustics to this forgiving wedge.
The CB wedge is certainly one of the best Callaway wedges in the range, due to how extremely easy it is to use and I believe golfers of nearly all abilities would be able to slot these versatile wedges in their bag without sacrificing any performance or versatility.
