The 8 Best Approach Wedges
Special Honors
Ping Glide Forged This line of clubs uses wheel-cut grooves that are sharp without coming to a point, so there's a little more surface area contact with the ball than many other companies can offer. Their 8620 carbon steel is soft and supple, so you can get a real feel for their performance, and you can customize their heads to include stamping and painting. ping.com
Titleist Vokey This company's clubs are among the most sought after for professionals, with a reliable feel and a low center of gravity that results in a smooth, consistent swing. You can choose between eight- and 10-degree bounce options, both of which feature the F-grind sole. You'll likely have to spend a bit on these, however. vokey.com
PXG 0311 Sugar Daddy If you already know things like the length and material you want in a shaft, as well as the grip you require, you can put it all together on this website, complete with a head made from a combination of tungsten alloy and titanium. Its balance and precision are impressive, but for all the aspects you can customize, there's only one bounce to choose from. pxg.com
Editor's Notes
July 03, 2020:
Looking over our previous selection of gap wedges, a lot of the offerings were a little outdated, as most major club companies update their lineups yearly. You'll see those upgrades in the Cleveland RTX-4, which gained a surprisingly robust black PVD coating, as well as the Callaway Golf Mack Daddy 5, whose grooves have been sharpened to help it create a really nice amount of spin. Even Cleveland's CBX line got an upgrade in the Cleveland CBX 2, having refined their cavity system a bit to make it more forgiving, even though it can still be a strange feeling for players who haven't used it yet.
And while looking at things like bounce and sole are all important, we wanted to make sure there were some good examples of other important components like shafts and grips. One of the most interesting of these is the KBX shaft on the Wilson Staff FG Tour PMP. A lot of players looking for a gap wedge might find that 52 degrees isn't exactly what they need, especially if their other wedges deviate from the standard. This shaft's tip section has a little play to it, allowing it to manipulate your swing energy to increase the effective loft of the club. It might have a negative impact on your distance, but it's worth trying if you find yourself slightly overshooting with other approach clubs.