For gear heads, there is always a small amount of cynicism when a new company enters the golf equipment game. These companies are typically small startups selling big promises—but in the case of Costco and its new Kirkland Signature three-piece wedge set, we have one of the biggest forces in retail disrupting the golf equipment space and offering golfers performance and value as they have never experienced before.

The Costco Kirkland Signature 3-piece wedge set

Just over a month ago, we were the first to report on the Kirkland Signature wedges on the USGA and R&A conforming clubs list. Since then, there has been a lot of speculation on how and when they would be released.

Once again, GolfWRX was granted an exclusive interview with Tim Farmer, Costco vice president and general merchandise manager, to discuss the new three-piece wedge set along with a number of other new products being introduced in the coming months and into 2021—but before we get into the details of the new wedges and more, its time for a refresher.

History of the Kirkland Signature brand, from Costco 

“By taking the lead in sourcing and formulating new products, co-branding with premium national and international brands, and partnering with top manufacturers around the world, we’ve created an exclusive range of (Kirkland Signature) products that reflect our members’ tastes and exceed their expectations.”

Costco’s approach is to capitalize within a market where they believe an opportunity exists to be a price disruptor to other products currently available, and they are taking dead aim at golf.

The original golf breakthrough came with the introduction of the Kirkland Signature Tour Performance four-piece ball in late 2016. The story goes, Costco was approached by a manufacturer with its own IP on a golf ball design and the opportunity to produce a ball under the Kirkland brand. Independent testing conducted by a third party and Costco’s own internal testing proved the four-piece ball offered exceptional performance. The ball was then approved and shortly after arrived in warehouses.

“That’s when things went a little crazy,” says Farmer.

The price of $29.99 for two dozen four-piece urethane balls seemed too good to be true, but in the age of social media and launch monitors, golfers were buzzing, and the balls sold out almost immediately company-wide. Demand and buzz even created a secondary market where the golf balls were selling for 4-5 times their initial price including on eBay.

Costco was both shocked and excited, and the ball became the proof of concept that its own line of golf products could be in high demand by members.

The Kirkland Wedge set story

With the success of the golf balls, it was just a matter of time before Costco got into the club business, and its first product was the KS1 putter, which was a milled design with adjustable weights. Much like the golf balls, consumers were excited to test the new putter, and it quickly sold out across all locations and online—creating a rabid secondary market, much like the original ball.

The wedge shares a similar creative story to the putter in that Costco buyers approached a well-respected design firm, in this case, the Southern California Design company, to develop the wedges and work with a manufacturer for production. This isn’t SCD Co’s first time working in golf either—it had a hand in the (visual) creation of the Cobra AMP Cell irons, and another company Indi Golf and the StingRay wedges.

From concept to creation, the Costco team was deeply involved, and once prototypes were developed it was time for testing.

“The Kirkland Signature wedges have been independently tested and rate extreme high compared to other top brands in the industry” – Tim Farmer

This is a key to the Kirkland Signature promise – “To create products that meet or exceeds leading national brands,” and considering the more simplistic nature of wedge design relative to other clubs like drivers and fairway woods, that involves multi-material construction and other forgiveness mechanisms along with potentially expensive graphite shaft options. Wedges across the industry have fairly generic stock specs and shafts, which creates the potential for Costco to excel in the space.

The wedges won’t have multiple bounce or grind options like wedges from entrenched golf brands, but when you consider the vast majority of golfers have little understanding of those specs anyway and are mostly concerned in making sure they have a gap, sand, and lob wedge, these play the part extraordinarily well. The designers even made sure the soles feature both the loft and club designation (G) 52 degrees, (S) 56 degrees, and (L) 60 degrees.

The Kirkland Signature wedges have a traditionally shaped teardrop silhouette with moderately cambered soles and have milled groves to offer maximum spin and short game control.

Costco Kirkland Signature “Milled face Technology” wedge specs

Consistent with other packaged golf clubs, the specs reflect the greatest opportunity to offer a set of three wedges to the largest part of the golf consumer bell curve

• Construction: Cast from soft 8620 carbon steel, with milled faces to maximize spin
• Lofts & Lengths: 52°- 35.5″, 56°- 35.25″, 60° – 35″
• Shafts: True Temper Wedge shaft (Steel only)
• Grip:  Proprietary Kirkland designed grip – Manufacturer undisclosed
• Right-hand only 

PLEASE NOTE: We at GolfWRX are doing what we can to secure wedges for in-hand pictures!

Availability & price

According to Farmer, the wedge set will become available online and within the top 50 US (golf) sales stores in the first week of October, with plans to expand into more stores moving forward.

The price for the three-piece set will be $159.99, which prices each individual wedge at just over $53 a wedge—an absolutely unheard of price point for a brand new OEM wedge.

As a newcomer to the golf space, Costco and its buyers are constantly changing their outlooks for products, and I have been told they have forecasted for a higher demand for the wedges compared to the KS-1 putter (which we will talk about in a moment) meaning for those early adopters, it should be a little easier to get your hands on a set when they hit shelves—or in the case of Costco, the warehouse floor.

Other new products on the horizon

When I last spoke with Tim Farmer about the launch of the KS-1 putter, I asked about other potential new products, and although at the time he was vague in confirming anything beyond a potential replacement to the popular three-piece ball, in our most recent discussion he was able to confirm that a new three-piece ball design has been finalized and should be in warehouses towards the end of October and into early November this year and priced at $24.99.

The last product confirmation from Tim is a completely new Kirkland Signature four-piece urethane performance ball with the current timeline having them arriving online starting in early 2021 and priced at $29.99. Unreal value in the golf ball market.

We would not be performing our journalistic duty if we didn’t remind you that it was just over a year ago when Costco initially launched its second-generation four-piece ball that struggled with quality control and was quickly pulled. Those customers who did purchase them were refunded immediately—which is another shining example of Costco’s commitment to customer service and standing behind all of its products.

With that in the rearview mirror, Tim told me they are very excited about the new four-piece urethane ball and are looking forward to getting it into golfers’ hands.

Last but not least, for those still interested in getting their hands on a KS1 Putter, Tim was excited to inform me that stores, which previously carried them, as well as the online store, should be getting a restock around the middle of October.