Cleveland RTX Full-Face 2 wedges

Gear: Cleveland RTX Full-Face 2 wedges
Price: $179.99 each (Tour Satin) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Spinner shafts and Lamkin Crossline 360 grips; $199.99 (Tour Rack)
Specs: Cast stainless steel heads in even lofts from 50-60 degrees (and 64 degrees) in two sole grinds

Who It’s For: Golfers who want versatility on open-face shots around the green.

The Skinny: The RTX Full-Face 2 wedges have a high-toe design and unique weighting system that combine with sharp grooves and surface-roughening treatments to give players the ability to generate more spin and hit a wider variety of shots around the green.

The Deep Dive: No company has more pedigree in the wedge category or offers more short-game options than Cleveland Golf. From wedges designed specifically for high-handicap golfers who struggle with chipping and bunker play to instruments designed for elite players like Brooks Koepka, Keegan Bradley and Hideki Matsuyama, Cleveland’s stable of wedges has it all.

For 2024, Cleveland is expanding its wedge lineup further with the release of the RTX Full-Face 2, which will be available in even lofts from 50 to 60 degrees, along with a 64-degree option, and these wedges are designed specifically for the most delicate shots players hit around the green.

When faced with a flop shot over a bunker, an escape from thick rough or a tricky pitch shot from an awkward lie, golfers often open the face of their wedge and swing from out to in, clipping the ball up instead of hitting it solidly from a square stance. With that in mind, Cleveland developed the RTX Full-Face 2 wedges with a higher toe to create extra usable hitting area. Weight was also removed from the hosel area by engineering it with a lighter, low-density material. Cleveland calls it ZipCore, and by reducing the weight of the hosel and making the toe area higher, the ideal hitting area and center of gravity are pulled more into the center of the face for better performance. ZipCore is not new, but the RTX Full-Face 2 has 96 percent more ZipCore material than previously released ZipCore wedges, so the effect is magnified.

To help golfers generate more spin, Cleveland gave the RTX Full-Face 2 grooves over the entire hitting area, along with HydraZip. This new surface roughening treatment combines laser-milled lines between the main grooves and a blasting treatment to increase friction.

The gap wedges (50 and 52 degrees) are designed with an S-shaped sole that has 8 degrees of bounce, making them play more like an extension of a player’s irons and ideally suited for full-swing shots from the fairway and greenside chips. The sand wedges (54 and 56 degrees) have soles with the same shape, but they come standard with 10 degrees of bounce. Lob wedges (56, 60 and 64 degrees) have extra material removed from the heel and toe areas and feature a C-shaped sole that has 8 degrees of bounce.

In addition to the Tour Satin finish, Cleveland is making the RTX Full-Face 2 wedges available in a raw-steel version the company calls Tour Rack.