WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Cleveland’s CBX 2 wedges were designed to help golfers who, well, need help with their short game. Its latest black satin offering employs all the hallmark technologies of the original CBX 2, including a precise center-of-gravity location, face-milling pattern and numerous loft/sole grind options in a striking murdered-out look.
Price: CBX 2 black satin wedges: $140, steel; $150 graphite (in stores, Dec. 18)
THE DEEP DIVE: Cleveland Golf’s CBX 2 wedges were designed for golfers who use cavity-back irons and likely could benefit from wedges of a similar design. But that doesn’t mean those golfers don’t want to have the badass look better players often employ. With that in mind, Cleveland has introduced its new CBX 2 black satin offering.
While the look is different, the new finish continue to deliver on CBX 2’s technologies, including a precise center-of-gravity location achieved by multiple features that locate the CG including a small cavity within the hosel, a slight cutout in the heel and a hidden cavity on the heel side of the back of the wedge. Approximately 40 grams is redistributed and the CG is shifted slightly toward the toe, creating a center of percussion that lines up better with the typical toe-ward miss from average golfers. A thermoplastic polyurethane gel insert between the undercut cavity and the back of the face provides extra cushion.
The CBX 2 black satin also employs the same groove pattern and surface roughness of the original, including a face-milling pattern of interlocking rings, 17 finer-edged grooves than the original CBX and then 96 horizontal laser-milled lines surrounding each groove. Unlike the original CBX, the sole design changes through the lofts. A V-shape sole is offered in 46 through 52 degrees. On the 54- and 56-degree models, an S-shaped sole with more heel relief and a wider toe is employed to help those around-the-green shots where players may open the face somewhat. Finally, the highest lofts feature a C-shaped sole with the most heel and toe relief for the most versatility, while still keeping the leading edge closer to the ground than the original CBX.
The CBX 2 black satin will be offered in eight lofts (46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58 and 60 degrees) in both steel ($140) and graphite ($150) shaft options.