Cleveland Golf has focused its time and effort on the short game -- in particular, promoting its performance equipment that players will use inside of 125 yards.
The company is coming out with a new line of wedges, dubbed the RTX-3 (dropping the 588 portion of the name), that is available in three styles, including a cavity back option and a women's cavity back option, to fit a variety of golfers.
The big story with these wedges is a decision to move the club's center of gravity toward the center of the wedge face. This was accomplished by shortening the hosel by 10 mm and creating a microcavity inside the hosel to save a total of 9 grams that were redistributed to the head to move the center of gravity away from the toe of the club. There could be a bit of a trade-off there, making it ever so slightly more difficult to get a wedge through rough with a closed face. However, what the player gets is more control with a center of gravity more players can target.
The RTX-3 wedges come in three V-shaped sole grinds with increased leading edge bounce to get through the turf better at impact. The V-LG grind is its narrowest, low-bounce sole for maximum versatility. The V-MG grind sports mid-range bounce to cover the widest number of players and turf conditions. The V-FG grind is a forgiving full, wide sole design with trailing edge relief.
The wedges sport a new Rotex face, complete with Tour Zip Grooves with a deeper, narrower U shape. The face is micro-milled in two passes to improve imparting spin on the ball. The milling pattern changes based on loft, with low lofts (46-52 degrees) have a straighter pattern aimed at aiding full shots, while high lofts (54-64 degrees) have a more angled pattern to optimize open-face shots, which can be struck all over the face.
The RTX-3 line comes in three different head options: the Blade, the Cavity Back and the Women's Cavity Back.
The Blade offers the most versatility (and also has the most options for the golfer in terms of design, loft, etc.) and is designed for all-purpose performance. It comes with the True Temper Dynamic Golf wedge flex steel shaft for $130
The Cavity Back has a slightly larger profile to improve confidence and forgiveness. In addition to being available in the True Temper Dynamic Golf wedge flex steel shaft for $130. A Rotex Precision wedge flex graphite shaft is offered for $10 more.
The Women's Cavity Back sports the same design as the Cavity Back, but it has an Ultralite 50 graphite shaft and is only available in the V-MG grind. It costs $130.
All three wedges are available in the Tour Satin finish, while the Blade is also available in a Black Satin finish and a Tour Raw finish, which rusts over time for a distinctive, eye-catching look.
The Cleveland Golf RTX-3 wedge line will be available Sept. 16 in lofts ranging from 46-64 degrees.
