Community Review: Renegar RXF Forged Wedges

Over the past few weeks, several MyGolfSpy Forum members have been testing and reviewing the RxF Tour Proto Precision-Forged Wedges from Renegar Golf. As usual, our guys did a great job providing honest feedback (click here to check out their work). Forum member Eron Cortes – aka “Fireinthehole” – is an 11 Handicap from Oregon and, with typical MyGolfSpy vigor, provided his fellow Forum Members with a thorough review.

Written By: Eron Cortes

After removing the packaging and plastic, I was greeted by 3 very beautiful wedges. The back of the wedge is a little busier than the Mizuno MP T-5 wedges I’ve been gaming. It doesn’t really bother me, but some may not like it. Looking down, the groves appear to have a matte, almost sand blasted look, compared to most satin finishes. I like the way it frames the ball however, and in the sun it should give off less glare than my current wedges when the face is open.

The sole grind looks very familiar with the exception of that cutout. It’s shallow enough so I wouldn’t worry about anything getting stuck in there or it being hard to clean. Of note, Renegar uses a designation of G, L and S. No specific bounce, degree, or loft is indicated anywhere on the wedge.

The toe and leading edge appear a little rounder than my Mizuno wedges. The blade length is a tad longer, and the hosel is noticeably larger in diameter, but is also a bit shorter. It’s a bit of nit picking as overall, the RxF wedges have a very pleasing appearance.

The Renegars come stock with KBS wedge shafts. They feel heavier in the hands than my Mizunos, which have are, by comparison, feel heavier in the head.

Honeymoon phase with something new?

I don’t know, but man, these things feel great in the hands.

The stock grip is a Lamkin, which is longer than the Golf Pride Z cords I currently use. The grip has the Renegar name under the hands and two dots if you want to grip down (which I never do). For a stock offering this is a pretty good feeling grip. It has actually made me rethink my use of firmer grips on wedges.

I have an aggressive swing that at times gets steep with wedges. For the most part I’m a straightforward wedge player: full swings, half swing, chips, flops out of bunkers, and I love hop and stop performance.

I really don’t consider that part of my game a weak spot, but after testing the Renegars, my short game has a newfound swagger!

Full swing Wedge shots: The KBS wedge shaft felt solid with shots at contact, but at various times I felt I lost where the club was in my swing. The grind and sole of this club excels for people like me with steep swings as it had a tendency to glide through the turf without issue.

I should mention that on full swings the Renegars were 4 to 6 yards shorter than my Mizuno’s. That’s not a huge issue as you aren’t looking for distance in a wedge, but worth mentioning as my previous wedges are all 2* weaker and have Dynamics Gold shafts. I never saw moon balls with the Renegars, even though I had them suck back at times.

The flight on full wedge shots was very pleasing.

60-yard lob to a tight pin: I normally play this as a half gap wedge. My full swing with a lob wedge is around 96 yards, 74 yards with a 3/4 shot, so this took some doing. What the Renegar produced can only be described as poetry: a well-lofted shot that had my preferred hop and stop performance. It took some time to get adjusted with the KBS shaft, but the wedge sole gave me confidence in this shot regardless of lie. I practiced this shot and then challenged my friends to a closest to the pin contest at the practice area.

That would be me next to the flagstick.

30-yard pitch with roll out:  As I’ve mentioned, my preferred short game shot is high with very little roll out. But whenever I’m near the green with some branches in the way I’ll use the sand wedge to pull this off. With the new grooves of the Renegars and a Callaway Speed Regime 3 ball, there was less roll out than usual, but I won’t complain. At times I did lose feeling of where the club head was, and that did lead to some inconsistencies, both short and long.

Short bunker explosion: This is my favorite short game shot! I didn’t think it could get more fun, but that funky little notch in the sole works. I played some high shots to close pins that stuck and some that ran, but this wedge cut through the sand like a hot knife through butter. Even in wet sand the Renegar just powers through – it didn’t feel like hitting sand with a sledgehammer.

Lob shot from a tight lie: I prefer a leading edge that sits nice and close to the ground, and while the Renegar performed well, there were a few skulls while trying to get used to how it sits. I appreciated the longer blade length with this shot, as I tend to hit these shots out near the toe. The wedges provide a great amount of spin, and several shots just stuck like darts.

Longer bunker explosion: I love bunker shots, because it’s one of the few times a really aggressive swing can be rewarded. I used the Lob through Gap wedge on this shot and none disappointed. As with the short bunker shots these wedges just glide through sand, and with the non-chrome finish, they’re still in pretty good shape.

Greenside buried lie bunker explosion: The fried egg. This may sound sick, but I’m a big fan of eggs and these shots! The Renegars do perform well with this lie and I just love that unique sole grind. However, I’m not a big fan of the KBS shaft with this shot. Every time I swung, it felt like I was going to bend the shaft. I’d like to throw a Dynamic Gold shaft in this wedge and see how this shot turns out.

Chip from just off fringe: I did not like the light head weight of the Renegar here, and at times was left frustrated with the mixed results. Sometimes the lighter weight made me feel as though it would easily snag and at others like I was swinging too fast and had to slow down. But after some more practice I became tolerant of it.

The height and spin was consistent, however, and that flatter leading edge was perfect for softer conditions with no unwanted digging.

Pitch from deep rough: Now this is where all those workouts come in handy. The Renegar wedges simply do not dig or snag. The flatter leading edge in conjunction with that fancy sole grind left me with a renewed confidence in this shot. I got shots to come out hot and with enough spin it left my golf partners dumbfounded that I didn’t fly off the green. It even caused one partner to coin the phrase “Cortes Spin.”

Flop from rough: This shot was tricky for me at first because if I become too aggressive I’d have a tendency to lose the head and “wuss out.” But once the puzzle was solved it was easier to have confidence in the bounce of the club to do the work. There’s no catching in the grass and the longer blade length helped with shots out on the toe. The Renegars outperformed my Mizuno’s on this shot, so much so that I’ve added it back into the routine to get over bunkers.

Downhill and Uphill pitch-chip: These shots used to be a huge problem for me – the club would stick into the turf. The Renegars, however, just glide right through. Uphill pitches and chips were a little trickier – they felt a little hollow and I seemed to hit these “a groove to low” on more than one occasion. Using the gap wedge is a better option uphill.

The bottom line: Would I buy these Renegar wedges? Yes! In fact, I’m 90% convinced that I want a 46* wedge to accompany this set. I can only imagine the performance if they were personalized more to my preference (grip, shaft, etc). But as far as a stock offering goes, I haven’t tested a wedge as consistent in every category as the Renegar RxF’s. They exceeded my expectations out of bunkers and with the turf interaction.