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Cleveland 588 RTX CB Wedges Review - Forum Testing

SuperStroke
Face
I must say this face looks aggressive! This wedge will carry some serious bite and I cant wait to see how it performs on the course. On course testing will have to wait until the SNOW passes and it gets a little warmer. Certainly am excited to hit this wedge!

Cavity
The cavity on this wedge is stunning and I cant wait to see how this technology performs. I have always played blade wedges through and through and I have never felt that I needed more forgiveness in a wedge. I am impressed at the overall look to this right down to the badging. I like how they barred off the impact zone, I am looking forward to feeling this wedge strike balls.

Sole
The sole worries me a little bit as I have never played a wedge with this much bounce iirc. I look forward to altering my technique to accomodate this and I welcome all that it brings.

Grip
I have always been a fan of the standard Lamkin grips and these will not disappoint me I am sure.

Leading Edge
In the past I have not gotten along too well with rounded leading edges and these appear not to be too rounded for me to get used to. I will comment on my turf interaction and thoughts as soon as I get this out in some decent conditions.

Sole Camber
I am interested to see how this wedge performs for me because the 588 RTX is very round from heel to toe. I remember my past wedges being a little flatter through this area but I am looking forward to this. The trailing edge of the wedge is something I use exclusively around the greens and for flop shots and this design is pretty good for my liking.

All in all I am very excited to see how this performs and how the incoming 60* will follow this up!

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What a good looking wedge. I'm excited to get my hands on these at the thp demo day.
 
Date: 11/7/12
Time: noonish
Temp: 56*, slight wind
Club: Cleveland 588 RTX CB 56*(Same as the temp!!!)

So I got out for my first practice session with the 588 RTX CB today, and it was an up and down day for me.

I hadn't played in a little while and expected to be slighty rusty, especially considering my short game is probablly the worst part of my game!

I start with some chipping and pitching and really noticed how much this club spins and bites into the ground. I don't know for sure what the exact bounce is on my current wedge, but I would guess the 588 is less. I found myself chunking a lot.

But where I really noticed the performance and can't wait to take the 588 to the course is on longer pitches, I could really tell the spin the grooves put on the ball from around 50-75 yards with a 3/4-7/8 swing. It was never really full, but wow did they all check up. (I was using any ball that was in my bag, actually used the freebie Orlimars quite a bit)

When I finally got to the range to do some longer shot testing the black coating became quite obvious, the sun was out in full effect and unlike my old satin wedges this one really blocked the sun and wasn't distracting at all.

The weight of the club is really nice, it felt lighter than I expected but I could really FEEL the club head, which I like. The performance was their with the range balls and it seemed like my distance loss from my 54 was quite minimal which was really nice. After trying a few gap yardages I've played with before I'm thinking a 52/56/60 is going to be a great gap for me from my old 50/54/58.

I tried to setup the club at address directly into the sun to see the face at impact:
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Sorry about the blur, my camera kept wanting to focus on the balls and green! The personalization was an awesome touch, I love actually having my name on the club and not just on the address badge!!!
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I love the cavity, it is super techy looking!
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The sole is nice and smooth with a fairly rounded front edge.
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Once again I apologize for the blur, this is the face after quite a few full swings on the range and a decent amount of practice short game shots.
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These are comparison shots to my TM xFT 54. All in all I like the look, feel and performance so far of the 588 better!!!
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Good start Iceybagger!

Nice to see the sole wearing a bit already, Did you try balls other than the Orlimar to compare spin amounts?
 
Nice pics and writeup Icey. Was that a ball mark on the toe in the second to last picture? If so, did you notice it and was there any difference?
 
Great stuff Thain and Icey!

Thain: that leading edge is also something I noticed as I usually don't get along well with the rounded designs like this one has.
Icey: great to hear that you were seeing the spin on the longer pitch shots, that is exactly what I am hoping to see as well.
 
Nice writeup Icey! Glad to see you are seeing some good spin results. This is encouraging.
 
Glad i waited to get new Wedges, and i have been thinking about going from 55 / 60 to 54 / 58. They look the part, looking forward to you guys insight.
 
Jjmorris said:
Good start Iceybagger!

Nice to see the sole wearing a bit already, Did you try balls other than the Orlimar to compare spin amounts?
Click to expand...
Thanks, yeah I used a few Pro V1, B330 and a couple Srixon I had in the bag. I'd say the Pro V1 spinned the most with maybe the Orlimar next, for some reason their balls really seemed to perform, then Bridge, then Srixon last. But that's what I've seen with my old stuff as well. Minus the Orlimar it was about the same order of spin, the amount of spin just happened to be more with all of them. I'll try and do a more specific side/side/side comparison next time. I tend to just grab a bunch of them and throw them around the practice green!
JonD said:
Nice pics and writeup Icey. Was that a ball mark on the toe in the second to last picture? If so, did you notice it and was there any difference?
Click to expand...
Yes it was a ball mark on the toe, one of my more fuller shots and I didn't catch it as clean as I would have liked. When I catch things like that off the toe I tend to notice quite a bit and overcompensate by forearm rotation and yes I did notice it, the weird part was the sound wasn't as bad as I normally hear it. Even on my irons it's a bit louder.

I should have mentioned the sound and feel were great with the RTX, I really liked the crisp contact sound it had with any ball and the feel was spot on.
 
Sounds good Icey. Thanks for the quick response. Currently trying to skip a work dinner so I can hit the range on this fine balmy evening.
 
Wanted to get up some pics of the RTX and my current wedge.

Initial picture out of the box
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Close up of the grooves

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Cavity up close

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Just so we all know whose wedge this is...

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RBZ 55* vs RTX 56*

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Overhead view of both

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Just look at the difference

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Good lord I love the look of these. That black is SESSY!
 
Jman said:
Good lord I love the look of these. That black is SESSY!
Click to expand...
It really does. The overall look and design are great. Can't wait to get this bad boy out on the course and get to spinning around the green!
 
Wow....I realllllly like the looks of these !
It's time to replace my old wedges anyway, I just wish I could swing some before next Spring.
 
These things look sweet!
 
Let me start off with saying that I have enjoyed the last few wedge lines from Cleveland Golf and got a chance to play the 588 Forged in the 2012 Morgan Cup and enjoyed them there as well. Some history, when the 588s went away and they went to the CG line of wedges I was a little disappointed. They were good wedges, but did little for me compared to the 588s I had enjoyed, but that all changed with the CG14. My 1st experience with the CG14 was with a tour player on the practice green at Doral and him showing me why he loved them and giving me some tips on using their shape and weighting to assist me on 1/4 and 1/2 shots and from that point on, I fell in love with the CG14s. My love continued with the CG15s which I used for a couple of years and then truly fell in love again when they brought the 588s back.

When I heard about the RTX CB I was incredibly intrigued. From the technology involved, I was ready to go and could not wait to try them out and when I got them in my hands it was equally exciting. Once I had them I realized something and that is this seems to be the perfect blend between the CG14 and the Forged 588 that I loved so much. I think they missed the mark a bit with the CG16 in terms of some players finding them bulky and this is definitely a step in the right direction. As soon as I picked it up it was as if I was holding a CG14 that is from the future that came back to see me. Then I look at the face and it just looks mean and ready to score.

I went to the range today and spent some time on both 40 yard shots and stuff around the green. First off everybody wants to know about the spin. I found it to be outrageously good. So much so that I went back from my RXS golf ball to my RX golf ball to reduce some of it. With gentle chips and pitches around the green I did not notice a ton of difference. At 40 yards the ball was on a string and certainly part of that is because the wedge was brand new and part of that is because of the way the wedge sets up for me. The weighting seems perfect to propel me through the ball and hit the shots I want. The best part of hitting the 40 yard shots was doing it different ways and watching the ball react. Putting some up in the air. Putting some low and running. And hitting that screaming chip that one hops and stops. All worked well for me.

I just had to walk back to the 85 yard mark and take a few swings at it and to my delight, the weighting and balance of the club kept any deceleration away and the ball soared up, landed soft and spun back like a yo-yo. 4 balls did the same and we won't mention the 5th as I missed the green. So I walk back up to the green and there was an elderly gentleman there who asked me (and I kid you not), "is that one of those Alien Wedges from a few years ago?". I honestly did not know what to say, but just politely informed him it was not.

After one test I am in lust. It reminds me of a better looking and feeling CG14. The muted sound of the CG14 is now replaced with a nice thwack at impact that feels incredible. As of now, these are one of the few wedges that I have tried that could replace my 588s that I love so much. I really look forward to following along with the testers.
 
You had me at a CG14 comparison mixed with 588. I loved those damn CG14's.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I still love the old 588s, something is just different about them even compared to the new 588s. I do like the sound of a 588 CG14 mix, I am excited to try them. I'd like to pick up some more forgiveness on full shots that I miss on my SCORs right now.
 
Interesting thoughts, I see a lot more of the 14 in this wedge than the 16. That's something I'm happy about.
 
JB, that is awesome to hear. What would you say the biggest difference is between these and the 588's?
 
Those are great thoughts JB. Obviously every golfer is different, but sometimes many golfers will find a particular flaw with a club that they all agree on. One of those things I see sometimes is that they love how the club works around the greens but they have a lot of difficulty hitting full shots because of the weighting of the head. The fact that you liked the balance of the club so well that you continued to move back and see great results says a lot about the wedge. Some golfers don't like to use wedges unless they are right around the green, they would rather use an iron and hit a partial shot from certain distances, but I am one who LOVES using wedges for full shots, but in order to pull off the shot I have to have an iron that feels good through a full swing, not just around the greens for chips and pitches. I'm looking forward to hearing more thoughts from you and from the other testers to see if they continue to feel that this is a strength for this club.
 
And when I thought I was content with the 588s....thanks a lot jb.

If I recall these wedges were supposed to be heavier than the 588, if this is true was it noticable?
How are the faces holding up after the first trial run?
 
Only noticed a tiny bit more weight when I picked it up. By the time I was hitting balls, never noticed it. Wear was non-existent, however I suspect they will wear like many of the Black Pearl finishes Cleveland has had, which I like quite a bit.
 
JB said:
Only noticed a tiny bit more weight when I picked it up. By the time I was hitting balls, never noticed it. Wear was non-existent, however I suspect they will wear like many of the Black Pearl finishes Cleveland has had, which I like quite a bit.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick reply, going to have to get my hands on these, will definitely be following along closely in this thread
 
JB said:
Let me start off with saying that I have enjoyed the last few wedge lines from Cleveland Golf and got a chance to play the 588 Forged in the 2012 Morgan Cup and enjoyed them there as well. Some history, when the 588s went away and they went to the CG line of wedges I was a little disappointed. They were good wedges, but did little for me compared to the 588s I had enjoyed, but that all changed with the CG14. My 1st experience with the CG14 was with a tour player on the practice green at Doral and him showing me why he loved them and giving me some tips on using their shape and weighting to assist me on 1/4 and 1/2 shots and from that point on, I fell in love with the CG14s. My love continued with the CG15s which I used for a couple of years and then truly fell in love again when they brought the 588s back.

When I heard about the RTX CB I was incredibly intrigued. From the technology involved, I was ready to go and could not wait to try them out and when I got them in my hands it was equally exciting. Once I had them I realized something and that is this seems to be the perfect blend between the CG14 and the Forged 588 that I loved so much. I think they missed the mark a bit with the CG16 in terms of some players finding them bulky and this is definitely a step in the right direction. As soon as I picked it up it was as if I was holding a CG14 that is from the future that came back to see me. Then I look at the face and it just looks mean and ready to score.

I went to the range today and spent some time on both 40 yard shots and stuff around the green. First off everybody wants to know about the spin. I found it to be outrageously good. So much so that I went back from my RXS golf ball to my RX golf ball to reduce some of it. With gentle chips and pitches around the green I did not notice a ton of difference. At 40 yards the ball was on a string and certainly part of that is because the wedge was brand new and part of that is because of the way the wedge sets up for me. The weighting seems perfect to propel me through the ball and hit the shots I want. The best part of hitting the 40 yard shots was doing it different ways and watching the ball react. Putting some up in the air. Putting some low and running. And hitting that screaming chip that one hops and stops. All worked well for me.

I just had to walk back to the 85 yard mark and take a few swings at it and to my delight, the weighting and balance of the club kept any deceleration away and the ball soared up, landed soft and spun back like a yo-yo. 4 balls did the same and we won't mention the 5th as I missed the green. So I walk back up to the green and there was an elderly gentleman there who asked me (and I kid you not), "is that one of those Alien Wedges from a few years ago?". I honestly did not know what to say, but just politely informed him it was not.

After one test I am in lust. It reminds me of a better looking and feeling CG14. The muted sound of the CG14 is now replaced with a nice thwack at impact that feels incredible. As of now, these are one of the few wedges that I have tried that could replace my 588s that I love so much. I really look forward to following along with the testers.
Click to expand...

Wow... That says a lot. I've been intrigued since the first time I saw these. The increase spin has me wanting to give them a go.
 
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