What’s new? How much does it cost? And how does it perform? Nicola Slater brings you the low down on the new Callaway CB wedge
Callaway has just launched their latest addition to the CB wedge range. Dropping the ‘Mack Daddy CB wedge’ naming the latest CB wedges aims to provide maximum confidence and forgiveness. I took them out on the course to see how they performed…
- RELATED: Cobra Snakebite-X Wedge review
- RELATED: Cleveland CBX Full-Face 2 Wedge review
Callaway CB Wedge review: NCG Summary
NCG SUMMARY
The whole narrative behind the Callaway CB wedges is that they offer plenty of forgiveness and confidence thanks to the player friendly design.
The wedge face is slightly larger than previous CB wedges and certain lofts offer full face grooves for that added confidence at address. The grooves are the same as Callaway’s Jaw’s Raw wedges meaning that there is still ample amounts of spin on offer.
PROS
- Appealing visually
- Creates plenty of spin
- Great out of heavily sanded bunkers
CONS
- Might not be everyone’s cup of tea
Callaway CB Wedge
Now: £149.99
Check out the best deals on the Callaway CB Wedges…
First Impressions
Taking these clubs out of the box I couldn’t believe how shiny they were! As someone who has always used a blade style wedge the latest addition to Callaway’s CB range is certainly a little different on the eye. Straight away you can see that there is a much wider sole than on most wedges, especially in comparison to the Jaws Raw wedges from Callaway.
I got sent three different lofts to test, a 52, 56, and a 60 degree. The 52-degree offered a traditional wedge face whereas the 56° and 60° were a full face design.
These wedges have a slightly larger head than the previous model featuring a cavity back, with player-friendly shaping. The design aims to provide maximum confidence and forgiveness.
Hidden in the cavity is Callaway’s Urethane Microspheres. Urethane microspheres? This is a piece of urethane with 500,000 minuscule hollow spheres inside it. These are positioned so they are touching the back of the club face. This compressed during impact and absorbs any unwanted vibrations to improve the impact feel for you. And it does all that without affecting your ball speed. Pretty cool, right?
NCG Review
There is no doubt that these wedges are tailored towards those players who need a little more assistance around the greens. I felt like it would be unjust as a single figure handicapper to provide my full option without seeing the full magic of CB wedges in action.
With that said I let my nineteen handicapper dad loose with all three of these wedges during a round last week. It’s safe to say wedge play isn’t his best asset and so he seemed the perfect candidate to test these out.
When I first stood over the ball with a CB wedge in my hand I could tell it was a lot wider sole than I’m used to. I preferred the way that they sat in lies with more grass under the ball as the chunkier sole grinds provided more bounce. My dad also liked how they sat in the semi/rough however off of a tighter lie he found more confidence in the design. The Callaway CB wedge sits very well on the fairway and doesn’t feel as chunky as it may first seem.
I must say I really enjoyed using these wedges out of the bunker. The full face, larger head design meant that it looked very appealing and with that extra weight in the head, it was so easy to just splash shots out of the sand. This wasn’t just my opinion as my dad also faired very well in the bunkers. As I said the heavier head really helps players who may quit on bunker shots as it helps to maintain some momentum through the ball.
The Callaway CB wedges seemed to provide plenty of spin for both of us from a variety of different lies. The grooves are the same as we see in the Mack Daddy Jaws wedge meaning that they have gone through the same face blasting as you would see in blade wedges. The face blasting creates a rough texture meaning that it’s easier to create spin from every impact location.
One thing Callaway offers with these wedges is a slightly longer grip. The Golf Pride Tour Velvet Wedge design 11.5″ is the stock grip for this wedge and a great addition for any player who likes to grip down on chip shots. You will often see my dad with his hands basically on the shaft and so he really enjoyed the fact that he could grip down and still be on the grip providing more control and feel.
Overall, I can’t say that these wedges are miracle workers however with a greater surface area filled with more grooves and a wide sole these are a great option for any player who needs a little extra help around the greens.
Callaway CB Wedge review: The Details
Available: Now
RRP: £149
Lofts: 48°, 50°, 52°, 54°, 56°, 58°, 60°
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Wedge design 11.5″ standard
Stock shaft: Project x Catalyst 65 wedge graphite or True Temper elevate 95 mph wedge steel
More information: Callaway Golf
