In recent years several major equipment manufacturers have started to make an earnest effort in the area of game-improvement wedges. Not that this category is anything new. Such clubs date back to the Hogan Sure-Out, the Console, the Ping Eye2 and, of course, everybody’s infomercial favorite, the Alien.

What makes today’s game-improvement wedges different is that we’re no longer talking about a one-trick pony club used primarily to escape the sand, but rather wedges that have a lot of the same grooves and soles as some of the tour-like wedges, but with a bit more forgiveness. Additionally, these wedges now typically come in a wider array of lofts and grinds to accommodate a wider range of players.

The high majority of everyday players use cavity-back irons that are lighter weight and more forgiving. Yet those same players likely have wedges that are more of a muscleback, heavier and less forgiving. Cleveland Golf, for one, is on a mission to educate golfers that a cavity-back wedge would be a boon to their game.

“What’s great about the new CBX4 ZipCore is that they share similar shaping and weighting to modern forgiving irons, so the transition from your irons to your wedges is going to be consistent with what you’re used to,” said Jeff Brunski, V.P. of R&D at Cleveland Golf. “You’ll have that same swing feel and find more consistency around the greens.”

The CBX4 ZipCore earned a gold medal on the 2024 Golf Digest Hot List but wasn’t the only game-improvement wedge to find its way onto the list. Callaway’s CB features a revised sole design that allow a wider variety of shots to be played while Tour Edge’s Wingman has a noticeable three millimeters of offset to provide confidence at address. Both earned silver medals on the Hot List.

Still, there are some things to be aware of when using these wedges, namely if you use for your full-swing gap wedge, while you will reap the forgiveness benefit, you might have to adjust your yardages as ethe typically lower center of gravity could possibly result in a higher ball flight that could rob you of a few yards.

Still, a small price to pay if you need help with your short game.

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com