Callaway CB Wedge Review: "Incredible short game forgiveness"
Callaway's new CB range of wedges could be the answer to your short-game prayers.
Callaway CB Wedges Key Features:
- Jaws Raw Grooves: Callaway's highest-spinning grooves ever, treated with face blast to enhance surface roughness
- Pre-Worn Leading Edge: designed to prevent the club from digging in at impact
- Urethane Microspheres: strategically placed behind the striking area to improve sound and feel
- Large head size: provides a confidence-inspiring look at address
The newest addition to Callaway's arsenal of wedges, the CBs were designed with one thing in mind. FORGIVENESS.
Incorporating features from some of the brand's most successful products, Callaway has refined their CB wedge design to provide ultimate short-game assistance for players looking for a helping hand around the greens.
Featuring the brand's ultra-high spinning Jaws Raw Grooves, a pre-worn leading edge and urethane microspheres placed behind the striking area, Callaway has blended high-performance features with game improvement technology to create a super responsive head that's designed to provide excellent turf interaction and a solid sound and feel at impact.
To see if the CBs would make it into our best golf wedges guide, the GolfMagic team took the 52 and 60-degree options out on the course to see how they performed.
Let's get into it.
Callaway CB Wedges: Player Level
Callaway CB Wedges: Looks and Feel
As fans of a more blade-like wedge design, we weren't initially blown away by the looks of these wedges.
Compared to the sleek design of the Callaway Jaw Raw wedges, these are a little chunkier.
But if we are being honest, this is kind of what we expected from a wedge designed primarily for game improvement and forgiveness.
With that being said, sat behind the ball, the wedges are very confidence inspiring.
Be it in thick rough or a tight fairway, when we had these wedges in our hands, we were extremely optimistic we would make good contact.
Very similar in design to Callaway's previous Mack Daddy wedges, the sole of the club is kept relatively simple with a red, black and silver colour profile.
The Mack Daddy's slatted texturing has been replaced with a more modern crosshatched graphic, while the centre-lined Callaway logo and red CB graphic have both been given a sleek modern update.
The sole of the club has a thick sole with 12 degrees of bounce on offer from both the 52 and 60-degree options.
In terms of feel, we were really impressed with the CB wedges. Both on full shots and more delicate green side chips, the wedges gave a good amount of feedback and provided a satisfying clean sound at impact.
During testing, we compared the CBs to the TaylorMade High Toe 2 Raw Wedges, and we noticed that you get a lot more pop off the face from the CBs. You really notice the JAWS grooves gripping the ball on short chips, allowing you to control spin and roll out with ease.
Callaway CB Wedge: Forgiveness and Performance
These wedges are a dream come true for anyone who struggles with chipping and short approaches.
We tested these wedges in a variety of lies and scenarios, and they performed incredibly well across the board.
One area in which we were particularly impressed was the ease with which you can hit soft, high-launching chips and get them to stop on a dime.
We opted to use the 60-degree wedge for this particular shot, and the thick sole with 12 degrees provided fantastic turf interaction, allowing us to let the club do the work without fear of the leading edge digging in at impact.
We typically feared the semi flop-shot, but with the CBs in hand, it became an effortless task that we were able to hit with confidence every time. You can feel the bounce and pre-worn leading edge working to allow the club to glide effortlessly under the ball, forcing the ball to pop up and land softly with plenty of spin.
While that was probably the most impressive aspect that we noticed during testing, we were also delighted with how both the 52 and 60 degree performed on full shots.
Unwrapping your #WedgeWednesday in style.
Our new CB Wedges are now available in stores and online. #Callaway | #CBWedge pic.twitter.com/5b2IxaHL1v
— Callaway Golf Europe (@CallawayGolfEU) July 12, 2023
Both offer a clean, crisp sound at impact, and even on mishits, the drop-off in ball speed and spin was noticeable but nowhere near as dramatic as what you could expect from a bladed wedge.
Around the greens, both wedges produced ample amounts of spin, allowing you to get the ball to pop up and stop with ease.
Chunking and thinning chips are what most golfers fear most when standing over the ball when you're in a rut with either issue, it can sometimes seem like there's no light at the end of the tunnel. Well, let us tell you, these CB wedges are as bright a light as you could ever hope to lay your eyes on.
During testing, we didn't thin or chunk a single shot. Now granted, we were probably having a good day, but even so, you could usually bet on at least one chip or pitch going wrong. With these wedges, however, it honestly felt like you could get up and down from literally anywhere.
The added bounce and pre-worn sole provided so much help that we almost started to convince ourselves that we were the next Phil Mickelson.
Should you buy the new Callaway CB wedges?
If you struggle around the greens and want as much forgiveness as possible from your wedges, then yes, you should absolutely invest in a set of Callaway CB wedges.
The confidence-inspiring design and innovative game improvement tech combine to make the CBs some of the easiest-to-hit wedges we've ever tested. Whether it be full shots, mid-length pitches, or even the most delicate greenside chips, these wedges can definitely save you shots in your short game.
While aimed at game improvers, there is an argument to be made that golfers of any level could benefit from using at least one of these wedges. We have decided to put the 60-degree straight in our bag because of how well it performed on flop shots, and we would highly recommend giving them a hit even if you tend to opt for a more conventional bladed option.
Now we've always said you can't put a price on a good short game. However, Callaway can, and it's rather high. Coming in at £149 per club, you are looking at a very heavy investment if you want a full set of these wedges. Roughly the same price as the most premium wedges on the market, we feel that for a game improvement club, the price is quite steep.
However, if you're committed to investing big in your short game, then these wedges will definitely provide the results you are looking for.
