Callaway MD4 Wedges

i’m going to put my 54 w grind in timeout for a bit. but i want to be clear that it’s all my fault.

i did some short game practice yesterday at a different area than i normally go. it’s less grainy and better maintained, which made for much better testing conditions.

i took my 54w, my 58 pm 19, and my 56 i received in last year’s morgan cup. all 3 have mcc+4 grips. the callaway clubs are both d4 swingweight. the md4 has kbs hi rev 2.0 (125g i think), and the pm19 has stock kbs hi rev 2.0 (115g i think). the 56 has dg s200, and i would peg sw around d1-d2 but i don’t know for sure (setup is stock, and per website the sw on stock is d5 but with the heavier mcc+4 grip i think it’s lower).

my struggle with both clubs has been very inconsistent bottom of the arc. some completely duffed chunks, some blades. then some perfectly pure shots. and it’s been frustrating.

i went with the w grind in the 54 because several years ago i was fit into that grind, and i loved it. but now, it’s been a struggle. it doesn’t feel right through impact on chips and pitches. the turf interaction feels harsh rather than effortless. bounce is 12*.

my 56 from last year has a grind that is billed as a thinner sole with higher bounce for all conditions, ideally for a player with a medium to shallow aoa. 12* of bounce.

and yesterday i saw the same. very inconsistent bottom of the arc, and less than ideal turf interaction with md4. i switched the md4 out and 56 in, and saw an immediate improvement. pretty much whatever shot i wanted to hit, i could.

i did this throughout the course of an hour, and the results pretty much stayed the same the whole time. great shots with the 56, inconsistency with the 54.

so for now i’m going to sub the 56 back in, and put the 54 on the sidelines. going into the grandaddy, i’m going to be conscious of the sole width. i seem to prefer a medium to narrow sole, but still with plenty of bounce. maybe s grind or x grind. i am really looking forward to the guys at ecpc finding the perfect setup for me.


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I wonder if the S grind would work better for you in that spot. I've never gotten along with the W grind. S has a thinner sole but still a good amount of bounce at 10 degrees. I have not had issues with digging, even in wet conditions.
 
After some struggles with my PM grind, I decided to put the 60X back in for my round this weekend. Managed to miss all the traps but had a pretty decent day chipping, even if my score didn't show it. Think I'm going to keep it in for a few more rounds. The PM grind obviously brings some versatility for sure, but the 60X is just more consistent for me and I can hit it from further out with much higher confidence giving me another option at those mid-long distances.

Also grabbed a 48S to replace my AW. My AW issues are certainly the indian's fault, but I've been wanting to go this route for a while as I had a lot of success with a non-set gap wedge previously.
 
These wedges performed great for me and saved a lot of shots after my tee game was horrific Saturday. The course is tight and a lot of holes I had made bad decisions off the tee (driver instead of 3w or 3w instead of 5w). 75 yards and in I was doing a great job of either hitting on the green or being just short and making up for it with a really nice chip on. Did some work to get more comfortable with them from 25 yards and in on the range and it helped a bit. Don't have much time with these since I usually am practice on firm range mats, but will try to change that more. Had quite a few chips that left me with gimme putts which I wasn't used to on my last round, so that was a great confidence booster when I left an approach shot left short. Was just happy to know I didn't really lose many strokes because of my wedge game!
 
My bunker game as came a long way in the last 2 years. It was so bad that in the middle of 17' I picked up the SureOut wedge. And it did the job, it was so easy to hit out of the bunker.

In my last several rounds I don't remember the last time I bladed one across the green or duff one having me stay in the bunker for my next shot.

Got a good lesson from the bunker the beginning of this year and applied my own tweaks so it's to my liking and comfort.

Last round I found 4 greenside bunkers and only saved Par once, the others were bogey, which is ok, should've gone 2/4 with sand saves but I'll live.

When I mis-hit a shot from the fairway or rough I'm now pleading for the ball to go in the bunker, once an area I would sh!t myself in.

The biggest key is to get a solid base, dig my feet in, weight forward on my front leg...Now the consensus is to hit 2" behind the ball but I hit 4-5" behind the ball. That was my tweak, look a little further behind the ball than most people would and I get out.

Distance control with bunker game will come another day. But right now getting out has been great.
 
Added a 48S to the bag to replace my set GW and it's going pretty well so far. My standard wedge swing is coming in at about 115-120 and I can take some off of it to hit a lower shot, etc. Only thing I need to get used to is more check coming in.
 
Added a 48S to the bag to replace my set GW and it's going pretty well so far. My standard wedge swing is coming in at about 115-120 and I can take some off of it to hit a lower shot, etc. Only thing I need to get used to is more check coming in.

I've done the same thing. I was going through a phase where I was changing irons more than I should have, but finally settled on the Apex Cf19's; however, a couple years ago I felt that it was better to play a custom GW and SW instead of buying the ones that came with the irons. So in addition to the PW included with the set, I have a 48S and 54S that are absolutely my favorite clubs in my bag.
 
this wedge is currently sitting on the sidelines for me. i liked it, but i just think i made some mistakes when choosing the setup. wrong swing weight, wrong bounce configuration, and wrong shaft. with a proper fitting, i know this could be excellent for me.
 
this wedge is currently sitting on the sidelines for me. i liked it, but i just think i made some mistakes when choosing the setup. wrong swing weight, wrong bounce configuration, and wrong shaft. with a proper fitting, i know this could be excellent for me.

These are Jeckyl and Hyde for me if I've got the right/wrong grind. Love, love, love the S Grind but cannot get along with the club in something like the X grind, or the W grind on anything less than a full or mostly full swing.

But man, do I love the setup I have.
 
These are Jeckyl and Hyde for me if I've got the right/wrong grind. Love, love, love the S Grind but cannot get along with the club in something like the X grind, or the W grind on anything less than a full or mostly full swing.

But man, do I love the setup I have.

i am so looking forward to feeling the same way!
 
These are Jeckyl and Hyde for me if I've got the right/wrong grind. Love, love, love the S Grind but cannot get along with the club in something like the X grind, or the W grind on anything less than a full or mostly full swing.

But man, do I love the setup I have.

I found the X grind to work well on my LW. It Is nice to have a lower bounce option on shots where you need to pick something clean though.
 
I liked the picture from our club lab

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That black finish with the red looks so good. I'm neurotic about wear with the black finish so went chrome, but man that looks good.
 
I am a steep player, interested to see how these various grinds workout for me come December. To be continued.....
 
Just bought my third MD4.

Have had a 58X and a 64S in my bag for a year or so and decided to get a 54W to replace a G410 SW. I really liked the SW too but think that the 54W will be an improvement given what I use this club for - pretty much all shots from 80-30y in unless there’s a hazard of some sort just in front of the pin.

I don’t anticipate using the 54W for anything other than square-face shots, if I do it’ll be a 5* open at most I suspect. Hence why I went for the W, I’m relatively steep on pitches and longer chips so the extra width on the sole should be of benefit especially when it’s soft.

Looking forward to receiving it.
 
i’m going to put my 54 w grind in timeout for a bit. but i want to be clear that it’s all my fault.

i did some short game practice yesterday at a different area than i normally go. it’s less grainy and better maintained, which made for much better testing conditions.

i took my 54w, my 58 pm 19, and my 56 i received in last year’s morgan cup. all 3 have mcc+4 grips. the callaway clubs are both d4 swingweight. the md4 has kbs hi rev 2.0 (125g i think), and the pm19 has stock kbs hi rev 2.0 (115g i think). the 56 has dg s200, and i would peg sw around d1-d2 but i don’t know for sure (setup is stock, and per website the sw on stock is d5 but with the heavier mcc+4 grip i think it’s lower).

my struggle with both clubs has been very inconsistent bottom of the arc. some completely duffed chunks, some blades. then some perfectly pure shots. and it’s been frustrating.

i went with the w grind in the 54 because several years ago i was fit into that grind, and i loved it. but now, it’s been a struggle. it doesn’t feel right through impact on chips and pitches. the turf interaction feels harsh rather than effortless. bounce is 12*.

my 56 from last year has a grind that is billed as a thinner sole with higher bounce for all conditions, ideally for a player with a medium to shallow aoa. 12* of bounce.

and yesterday i saw the same. very inconsistent bottom of the arc, and less than ideal turf interaction with md4. i switched the md4 out and 56 in, and saw an immediate improvement. pretty much whatever shot i wanted to hit, i could.

i did this throughout the course of an hour, and the results pretty much stayed the same the whole time. great shots with the 56, inconsistency with the 54.

so for now i’m going to sub the 56 back in, and put the 54 on the sidelines. going into the grandaddy, i’m going to be conscious of the sole width. i seem to prefer a medium to narrow sole, but still with plenty of bounce. maybe s grind or x grind. i am really looking forward to the guys at ecpc finding the perfect setup for me.


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Sounds like too much arm and wrist action to me.
 
Chipping and wedge game was on today. Chip-In birdie was nice. Bunker game solid besides one stupid wet bunker.

Overall it saved my bacon today. Can almost get 100 yards out of my 58* when a year ago it was my 75-80 yard club. Good boost.
 
I've gotten along so well with these wedges the past two seasons. I played in my annual tournament with my HS buddies last weekend. And though I didn't play that well overall, I had the two shots of the weekend.

The first shot was on hole 1 (of 54). I pushed my tee shot right into a fairway bunker. I hit PW out to the left, leaving me 93 to the flag. I hit a full swing LW that stopped 18 inches from the cup. That hole was actually surrounded by the resort buildings, so we had about 20 onlookers, and I got a bunch of cheers. Good feeling with the tap in par.

The second shot was on day 2, hole 10. I hit 3W off the tee that actually went farther than I wanted, down the ridge, leaving me an 87 yard shot above the hole with a fairly steep downhill lie. Pin was protected by a bunker, but there was plenty of green to work with. This time, with my tactical LW, I nearly holed out. Ball landed 3-4 feet in front of the pin, and just rolled off to the right, leaving me 6 inches for birdie.
 
The MD4 48˚ initiative has gone from beta to production. It's almost certainly me but I'm seeing more consistent distances & better distance control on partial shots than with my set GW. Also starting to prefer it around the green for lower shots.
 
Added a 60 x grind and really like what I'm seeing, a great addition to the set and a nice gap between the epic SW and Sure out 2 64*
 
Really couldn’t be happier with my choice to go with the 48° MD4. Every round it gets used more bot from distance and around the green. Really happy with my wedge setup right now.
 
I haven't had a round where I really could say I did a great job chipping this year. It used to be my 2nd best part of my game behind the putter, but this year it's been holding my scores back. I got to the course an hour early Saturday and purposely skipped the range and went right over to the chipping green, trying any kind of chip I could with my 54 and 58. This got the confidence back and my chipping saved me a lot that round. All 4 pars 3 holes my misses were either short in fairway or left rough but even with flagstick. Each time I either chipped up to a few feet away for par, or just got on the green and two putter for bogey. Going +2 with NO GIRs on par 3s was fine with me, especially since I recovered great with chips. Used the 54 primarily around the green unless it was a really long chip then went AW, but did give the 58 a go from the bunker with a high lip and got out just fine with another 2 putt bogey.

My problem now lies with anything under 100, the confidence to take either a 1/2 to full swing isn't there and it's all mental. I had one beautiful 100 yard shot with the 54 that I gave a 100% full swing and really tried to trust it resulting in a center of green hit, so I now know that club's top yardage and makes me happy knowing it's gapped properly with my AW. Played great with the AW on a few shots 40-80 yards away, but I really want to be able to use these clubs in that range too, I need to feel confident about it when I have to get over a bunker or if I am short sided and don't have much room for the ball to roll out. I really like these clubs and when I put a good swing on them, they react well, but I need to reduce the number of bad swings to like these more.
 
I've tried to replace my MD4's for the last few months... most recently with Ping 3.0 wedges, but the MD4's are just too darn good. I have a 48*, 54*, and a 58* MD4. The 54* is my go to wedge for anything inside of 70 yards. I use the 48* as my AW and my 54* as my goto wedge around the green or in the bunkers. The 58* doesn't get used as much as it should but I plan to use it more because I do get quite a bit more spin with it than the 54*. Both can be hit about the same distance. Personally, I think the MD4's are the best wedge value on the market. I have the black version and just love the way they wear and perform. They are my most reliable clubs.
 
My MD4s have been much better for me then my previous wedges. I have especially enjoyed the 48 degree S Grind. It seems much more versatile to me compared to the typical set gap wedge. I used it several times when I had longer then normal chips around the green.
 
I know there's a ton of new options out there, but these wedges are still serving me well. Been gaming the 54S since my trip to the GD two years ago, my 60X is about to get rotated back in after some chipping practice this weekend, and I've been super happy with the addition of the 48S in the gap wedge spot. I'm not a great wedge player by any means but I'm just much more comfortable with a blade wedge in that spot for some reason. @CobraX51
 
Man. The MD4s.

Chipping was strong yesterday including a Chip-In bird,, some issues with distance control on full swings, but also some wedges that were stuck inside 10 feet with spin.

I wasn't great out of the bunker yesterday but whatever.

Had 2 GIR with the 58* but unfortunately missed 2 GIR with the 54*. One a fat wedge, the other from 108 I was worried about going over the green and landed well short in the bunker in front of the green trying a half-swing, user error.

Not at all discouraged since I was very happy how yesterday went but looking forward to sharpening up the wedge game.
 
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