What happened to the raw wedge market?

[Golfingfanatic]

Picked up some raw irons and looking at picking up some new wedges in a raw finish to complete the look and it seems that (at least in Europe) Titleist is pretty much my only option at retail? 

Am I missing something? I know the RTZs are technically raw, but since they don't rust I am not sure that's a great look next to a rusty set of irons.

[Phabs]

Tour rack Cleveland is a raw

Titleist 

Cobra

Artisan 

Corey Paul

 

That’s just off the top of my head… There’s plenty of people who do raw wedges. 

 

[ldchristopher]

The raw face of the Taylormade MG line is…fine. Not great, not Earth shatteringly cool or anything, but it gets raw pretty quickly. 

[stratgolf]

20 hours ago, Golfingfanatic said:

Picked up some raw irons and looking at picking up some new wedges in a raw finish to complete the look and it seems that (at least in Europe) Titleist is pretty much my only option at retail? 

Am I missing something? I know the RTZs are technically raw, but since they don't rust I am not sure that's a great look next to a rusty set of irons.

 

Well, since all the studies have confirmed that raw doesn't provide any spin benefits - I think people are less keen on raw wedges in general. 

[Hawkeye77]

22 hours ago, Golfingfanatic said:

Picked up some raw irons and looking at picking up some new wedges in a raw finish to complete the look and it seems that (at least in Europe) Titleist is pretty much my only option at retail? 

Am I missing something? I know the RTZs are technically raw, but since they don't rust I am not sure that's a great look next to a rusty set of irons.

 

 

See above list and add Callaway and TM as having raw faced wedges at retail - are all these companies not selling wedges in Europe? I think they are.

 

Get some new irons! 

 

Some folks love the "raw", I've had them, they're just wedges with rust on them, lol. Sometimes I think people obsessed with raw wedges run out and throw buckets of mud on their cars and let grass stains accumulate on their jeans and never wash them. 

[Golfingfanatic]

Thanks for your comments guys!

The issue with the TM and the Cleveland to an extent is the following:

As I said I have a set of the fully raw jdm 2024 X Forged irons on the way. I know this is a bit stupid, but I really don't want to have a raw set of irons and the a wedge set with any kind of finish on them. Would just look wrong to me (and drive me insane probably).

So it's probably either Vokeys or Artisans for me...

Thanks again!

[boggyman]

@GolfingfanaticW/S has an offering in a truly raw wedge recently. Only lists a 60* but when you click CUSTOMIZE, there’s some loft/bounce options to choose from. 

Edited July 20 by boggyman

[boggyman]

12 hours ago, Phabs said:

Tour rack Cleveland is a raw

Titleist 

Cobra

Artisan 

Corey Paul

 

That’s just off the top of my head… There’s plenty of people who do raw wedges. 

 

I played the previous model Cobras a while and they rusted quickly. Great wedges! 

[Mitchell]

The Mizuno raw wedges and the raw ping forged models are quite nice as well. Bonus is that can find several recent Mizuno variants stock with DG tour issue s400 as standard offering, if that appeals to you. 

[Hawkeye77]

2 hours ago, Golfingfanatic said:

Thanks for your comments guys!

The issue with the TM and the Cleveland to an extent is the following:

As I said I have a set of the fully raw jdm 2024 X Forged irons on the way. I know this is a bit stupid, but I really don't want to have a raw set of irons and the a wedge set with any kind of finish on them. Would just look wrong to me (and drive me insane probably).

So it's probably either Vokeys or Artisans for me...

Thanks again!

 

LOL, I saw the last bit about "rusty irons" - didn't note you'd ordered raw in your irons.  Guess they better match - have to wear a sweat stained cap and carry a never washed towel to complete the look! 

[mootrail]

I just dumped my Jaws Full Toe raw, mostly because I didn't like the look of that giant rusty face.

 

They may feel softer without a finish and are excellent at killing glare, but it turns out that you loose spin with a rusty or raw face.  The new milling and finishes like my Cleveland RTX 6 Hydrazip look and perform way better.

[D0ch0l1d4y]

On 7/20/2025 at 6:55 AM, Golfingfanatic said:

Thanks for your comments guys!

The issue with the TM and the Cleveland to an extent is the following:

As I said I have a set of the fully raw jdm 2024 X Forged irons on the way. I know this is a bit stupid, but I really don't want to have a raw set of irons and the a wedge set with any kind of finish on them. Would just look wrong to me (and drive me insane probably).

So it's probably either Vokeys or Artisans for me...

Thanks again!

 

I have raw Mizunos (T24) that I love enough I bought a backup set in case they go away.

[titleistprov1man]

Vokey said in a podcast I watched that there was only one reason they ever started using raw wedges, and why most of the tour guys used them......they could do one off grinds without the heads wearing unevenly.  Chrome wedge with a grind would rust where it was ground, and not look uniform, so they just started with raw heads so you couldn't tell where they were ground.  Glare is a good by product, but he said performance he felt was exactly the same.  FWIW, I have raw wedges and like them but have played others and can't tell any difference.