It’s not easy choosing the right wedge there a lot of variables come into play from your type of swing to your conditions plus more all play a strong hand in how well you do with wedges, In this post I’d like to talk about what I feel are the best of the best on the market today when it comes to Japan Forged and Hand Made Wedges. So you may be wondering why does it have to be Japan Forged, well of course TSG is highly discerning about what is good and what is not but bottom line is anywhere in life you want to start with the best materials and it’s fact that J.I.S standards are the better and highest when you look into the mineral structure in S15, S20, S25C Japan reigns supreme in this regard, so basically we start with the best ingredients and you can’t always tell yes we are splitting hairs in some cases but again you only live once why not strive for knowing what you hold in your hands to score is special.
Why Handmade? For so many reasons while automation and mass production is more precise it’s no craft, China, Taiwan and other countries don’t have the skilled grinders to do this type of artisan work, this is a skill passed down with many years of apprenticeship it’s very personal and with experience you can look at wedges and know where they came from and who the grinder is there is just something special about not every wedge being 100% the same also et’s not forget finish & feel best is RAW or a Golf Specific NiCr Japanese Satin/Mirror holds no equal in feel and beauty.
These examples apply anywhere in life, handmade motors are best! handmade pasta is better! we lust over hand crafted watches and clothing, Knives and more there is without a doubt something inherently better about the product that’s made by human hands and costs more to produce, I know I’d rather buy a single wedge that had manufacturing costs 8X-20X higher in price than mass a produced product. Rant Over! Time to Follow the Jump to see what is TSG approved…
( In no particular order )
Sky Dream Jump Limited Forged 115 Wedge – It’s Raw, it carries the flattest CNC face of all Japanese wedgesmilled along with it’s grooves by a particular milling house in Japan. Compact in size with enough heel relief to get crafty and a sole grind that just flat out makes sense. I understand why Three luck ( parent co of SDJ ) decided to go complete free of any finish after I hit them, it’s addictive not gushy soft but just pure forged softy goodness that’s highly addictive. You haven’t heard talk much about these yet but tomorrow I will post the full rundown after 2 months of these in the bag.
TSG’ers lover Crazy Wedges almost every iteration of them that have been made has had a cult following at TourSpecGolf, this is their best wedge I’ve ever put my hands on. This picture is a little dated as the current version is called TOUR WEDGE and labelled that in place of Crazy 104 W but bottom line is this is another CNC face/groove wedge that has smart written all over it, your looking at a NiCr satin finish but TSG Club Works has put these in other sexy finishes as you might want to see here.
This one here is a member favorite as well, good value, hand ground and forged in Japan it checks all the boxes, Designer Ak0-san formerly top guy at Royal Collection has made a wedge that sets up well, is easy to hit for both the sweepy and diggies but also versatile in wet and dry conditions. Soft but not gushy just about everyone who has purchased the A-Grinds finds them to be all around some of the best ever. Here is the full skinny on these but if you do a search in the forum we have a lot of big fans of these wedges, oh yea good value too!
SEVEN 2016 Wedge, of the bunch here we have the softest most spinning of the wedges but these are also non conforming grooves so of course the spin will be impressive but the shape is considered slightly larger than compact similar to say how a Cold Forged Vokey is and these have low bounce angles across the board at 8* but with a grind like this they play effectively well in even soft conditions and with their leading edge relief this gives a little something back to the steep swinger. Low to mid capper wedge and pretty modern & retro looking, in full disclosure I designed and own this company but stand behind these wedges firm as we built them comparing and targeting them against the best of the rest as our standard. More about these here.
And finally the TSG Exclusive Tataki Satin Model by Kyoei Golf’s Okamura-san. You can really go with the standard Raw black version as well but I like the looks in satin, do keep in mind the satin is not as soft as the raw smooth black option, these are low to mid capper wedges also, very forgiving and versatile they are a touch bigger than the rest on this list but in no way as a negative, easy all round and very and carry a good amount of trail, heel, and toe relief for a forgiving wedge making it a grind for the better player in a package for the average golfer who likes blade style wedges. This is more here.
HONORABLE MENTION: BUCHI VS200
Again no particular order these stack with the 5 above no problem, I just didn’t want to do a TOP 6 post for some reason. Tabuchi-san has a compact wedge here that is so perfectly round at all wedges with a nice smooth finish it just glides through turf like nothing, I love the shape and size of these and how they work and feel. Again handmade & forged in Japan just like all the others in this post.
Appreciate you guys checking us out and your support, if you have hit any of these wedges sound off, we also have a poll in the TSG Forums as well for our members!
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