Our forum faithful are well acquainted with the incredible giveaways and review opportunities in the realm of threads and comments, but we want to ensure front-page readers are involved as well.

Check out what GolfWRXers are saying about Cleveland’s Smart Sole Full Face.

Cleveland Golf on the Cleveland Smart Sole Full Face:

This ultra-forgiving Wedge system includes four specialized clubs to fulfill every short-game shot on the course. Featuring their largest faces, extra wide Three-Tiered Soles, plus HydraZip spin and UltiZip groove technologies, Smart Sole Full-Face takes the guesswork out of Wedge plays and makes it easy to get on the green in one swing.

How we choose our testers

GolfWRX staff evaluates each entry against the criteria laid out in the testing thread to determine the best fit for each specific product — For example, if a game-improvement iron is being tested, game-improvement iron-playing golfers will be considered.

Member testers

 @cj4501

@BabyCarrot

@NCLancer

@jefftomahawk

@TonyRo

Member review highlights

@cj4501

Just got them in yesterday and they look great! I play a TM big foot 58-degree and CBX2 54-degree so I couldn’t wait to try these.  They look so forgiving and inspire confidence ten fold, in my opinion.  You know that commercial “like a mother” well these look like they spin like a mother.

Dang rain has beaten me today and yesterday but did mess around with the chipper and that was fun.  I’m not sure I have a place for it in the bag but my wife might!  She struggles badly with wedges and irons and she was chipping great with it. She loved the heaviness of it and the some really helped her.

So far so good on the 58 and 62-degrees. They’re both going to stay in the bag for me.  Time to retire the big foot 58-degree that’s for sure.  Anyone have a idea on how much they can be bent?    I need the 50-degree closer to 54-degree and I’ll put that in the bag as well.  I have a ZX5 MK2 approach at 50-degrees so no use for the 50 currently, if I didn’t have that ZX5 I would bag the 50-degree as well.  For me these wedges just work,  plain and simple.  Chipper is going to the wife,  she loves it so far.

@BabyCarrot

First impressions upon box opening:

Looked at the three-tiered soles and thought, wow, these babies are gonna slide through the turf easy.

Took off the plastic wrapping and felt the HydraZip face with my thumb, wow again, these babies are gonna spin and bite.

Set the club at address, nice, no chance of glare with the dynamic blast finish and the bottom white target and ball position alignment lines really stands out.

The head shapes all look great, nothing out of proportion. Really like the blast finish. The weight (106g) of the KBS High-Rev shafts is a good match for me as my gamers are in the mid 90 gram range.

First range session:

Chipper – This club is so easy to hit compared to a 9 iron. No need to concentrate on picking the ball clean for good contact. The sole delivers the face effortlessly. The white score lines really help with alignment. I just pick my line, pick my target a foot in front of the ball, set the white lines perpendicular and swing. My favorite club to hit so far.

Gap – The extra weigh in the shaft makes this ideal for partial shots. Using top tracer off a mat, was able to repeat a 75% effort swing for 85-95 yard shots. Need to try this on the course and gauge turf interaction. Can’t wait to see how these spin on the greens.

Sand – I tried hitting this with my standard bunker technique. Ball forward, face slightly open and felt a lot of contact with the sand before the ball. Moved the ball to middle of stance and everything about the shot became easier. I didn’t have to swing as hard, and the sole took care of the sand interaction. This allowed me to focus on how far I took the club back for distance control.

Lob – The extra loft was a bit intimidating at first as my max loft is 58 with my gamers. With this club, I could just throw the club head into the ball, and it would get up into the air effortlessly. Did not have to worry about chucking it. Had to tell myself it was okay to flick my hands for an early release so that I could engage the sole.

Gonna be 110+ temps this week but will get out for another range session and hit the course this weekend. Goal is to lay up to gap wedge range often and when further away, miss the green so that I can put the wedges to work.

@NCLancer

Hit 40 chips with C from various lies and distances (no more than 20 yards) with mixed results.  Balls grabbed well and after a few short chips I began to hit the ball with less loft and more roll.  Got closer to the hole and was pleased with the effort.  I had trouble in the thicker rough making good contact and on the tightly mown grass I chunked a few but it’s more operator error.   I feel this club might not be for me but I will work with it some more.

I think I hit about 100 shots with the G wedge as I found it to be much more to my liking.  From various lies and distances I was able to instantly hit higher soft shots that bit nicely and lower shots than ran to where I wanted them to go.  The control was easy and the club looked great behind the ball.  I holed a few uphill chips and instantly felt dialed-in.  I currently use a Callaway Steelhead XR 50 degree AW but the Cleveland wedge will be going in the bag instead.

As I ease back into practicing and playing I will post reviews on the S and L wedges.

The G remains in the bag having knocked out my Cally Steelhead XR A wedge.  I played a few rounds back home in northern New York and with the thicker heavier grass the wedge glided through very well.  I loved it on short pitches from the rough as it popped the ball out nice and soft.

Back here in North Carolina I have not gotten as much usage as the rough isn’t as prevalent. However on Tuesday I punched out of thick Bermuda rough a few times when my ball had fallen down to the ground but could not be seen until I was basically on top of it.  Again, I loved the interaction between club and ball and I had no problems getting back in the fairway.

@jefftomahawk

The more I use these wedges, pure joy,

Just a thought for Cleveland, the wedge lofts currently are @ gap 50, sand 58, lob 64. Maybe go a more traditional, tighter lofts in the future wedges, same shape, full face, and soles. But gap= 50, mid wedge= 54 and sand @ 58

Played Saturday @ Rattle Run GC., holes 2,3 AND 4 fairways wet from being under water, still hitting gap & sand wedge shots, no chunking, these soles are pure magic, would really like to play somewhere that’s extremely firm to test the wedges bounces.

Played finally firmer conditions, had a bit of trouble with the wedges wanting to bounce/skip off the turf, moved the ball back in the stance and trapped it more, which worked better, I feel the wedges (soles & bounces) worked best on wetter conditions. Yes as advertised, on wet they are almost chunk proof and that’s a good thing.

Too easy to find the centers of these wedges. Lob wedge shown below.

@TonyRo

Right out of the box and wrapping, they look great. All the clubs have a matte, almost charcoal finish. There will be comparison pics later, but if you have seen the RTX or CBX lines, they look a smidge darker and deeper in color. It’s very nice, zero glare whatsoever. I am a PING fan as well, and one of my favorite things they do is the white alignment line. I love that these Cleveland wedges have the same. I am a big fan of full face grooves, though I realize that feature may be polarizing to some. I play one shot specifically around the greens and from crap lies that is toey on purpose, and so it’s nice to know that in that case the grooves will actually serve a distinct purpose as well. They are, on average, larger wedges. Similar in size to the CBX line (see pic later). There’s a bit of a hi-toe vibe to them as well, but maybe that’s just me. Between the full face grooves, the wide soles, and the size, they definitely inspire a lot of confidence. My short game is not amazing, so for me that’s great. Down at address and in practice swings, it feels like it’s going to be hard to REALLY bungle anything.

Some might be concerned about their appearance. In general, I wouldn’t be – they look great down by the ball. You can’t see the soles beyond the chipper, they just look like normal wedges, albeit a smidge chunky.

Now, some on-course thoughts after a range session in the short game area and 18 holes:

Chipper:

– The shape looks great, and the sole/bounce makes it really easy to use. I lent it to my buddy for a guest shot, and (no joke) his first shot with it on-course was his final shot of the round – he chipped it in from the rough just beyond the fringe. He bought a chipper the same day. You’re welcome Cleveland. ?

– This club is more versatile than you think. I hit a ton of shots with it in the short game area and in my sim, just to try and get an idea of what was possible and how far you can really hit this club. It’s basically a 9.5-iron, so if you really wanna go after it, you could definitely hit some 100 yard or more chips. I used it more than I’d care to admit for some punches out of trees, and some of my best approach shots were 40-60 yard chippers. For me, around waste high carries 35 yards or so, and it will run out nicely to 50-60 yards. It feels lower risk to me to use the chipper on short approach shots from the fairway. Once you’re comfortable with the distances, you can definitely just roll them up there close.

– It’s important, just as with normal chipping, to gauge the run-out on your shots to use this effectively. It changes with distance from the hole. Around the greens, it’s about 3 to 1 runout vs carry. For mid-length, about 1.5 to 2 to 1. For longer chips, it will probably run out about 40% of the carry. Those numbers may change a bit as I get more comfortable and confident using it, but that’s my initial impression. Similarly, the harder you hit it, the higher it’s gonna launch. Since it’s in-between a PW and a 9-iron loft-wise, for punch outs, it might not be useful as you think if you REALLY need to keep it low. Ask me how I know.

– Surprisingly, the shorter chips are trickier for me. Because there’s less loft and more run-out, shorter shots around the green can get away from you if you’re not careful.

Gap:

– This is the club I’ve used the least thus far. I had one nice approach shot from about 65 yards out that I grabbed this for, and it performed perfectly.

– One issue for me is that the shaft is probably not one I’m going to be super happy with for full shots. Compared to my i230 GW, this is two swing weights lighter and carries a bit less, so the gapping a bit weird with my PW. I like it more for shorter shots though.

– I am working on trying to figure out the exact bounce values on all of these wedges, but the GW looks like it has a bit more, especially compared to the LW. Makes me feel like as the summer turf firms up, I am going to have to do some work to not worry about drop kicking some chips. I think I will just play this wedge a little flighted down and steeper than the others, but we’ll see. More testing is needed here.

Sand Wedge:

– This one really feels and looks great to me, and is just easy to use around the greens. 58 degrees is perfect for me, and I have had very few issues hitting nice shots from a variety of scenarios – from the rough, from tight lies, from the sand. I raked the sand nice and fluffy in my local short game area and got out 24/25 times by literally just putting the ball a tiny bit forward and slamming this club into the sand as a test for people who are less comfortable out of the bunkers. I would be a little nervous with the super wide sole out of really firm or hard-pan muni bunkers, but the LW appears to be lower bounce, so perhaps that’s the move there.

Lob Wedge:

– This one might the sleeper. From just one round and some practice around the short game area, I was shocked how often I turned to this. So many times where I saw a high shot, it’s amazing to just grab this thing and not have to worry about manipulating the face or anything. A 64-degree wedge sounds intimidating, but I’ll be damned if this isn’t the easiest for me to use out the bunch. I have a shallower move and at least by appearances (again, I will try to get some bounce measurements by chucking these in my loft/lie machine) this appears to be the lowest bounce out of the bunch.

– I also tested this in the bunkers, and it also works quite nicely.

– I love this club, that is all.

Overall, it’s sort of interesting to organize your short game by having a high shot club, the low bump and run club, the sand club, and then using them all (except the chipper) in a wedge matrix for all those partial shots from 25-90 yards or so. It’s quite nice and easy, and I don’t feel like I need to make a ton of decisions. After one round, I broke even Strokes Gained wise versus my average, which doesn’t seem bad to me given that I had never used these things before. Being gifted a new set of wedges also encourages me to hit the range and launch monitor to work on my short game and wedge shots, which will no doubt be beneficial this season. I will keep everyone up to date as this season progresses. Thanks again Cleveland & GolfWRX, you guys are the best!

More about GolfWRX member testing

Member testing gives our forum members the opportunity to put the latest golf equipment through the paces. In exchange for getting a product to test (and keep), forum members are expected to provide in-depth product feedback in the forums, along with photos, and engage with the questions of other forum members.

For brands, the GolfWRX member feedback and direct engagement is a vital window into the perceptions of avid golfers.

You can find additional testing opportunities in the GolfWRX forums.