Callaway Opus and Opus Platinum Wedges

Guys, the Callaway Opus Wedge is different.

I went back as far as 2011 and couldn’t find a Callaway flagship wedge (CB and SureOut don’t count) where there wasn’t some reference to JAWS, Phil Mickelson or Roger Cleveland – often I found all three.

There’s none of that here. You won’t find PM grinds, Mack Daddy grooves or •R• stamped on the hosel. All of this suggests that, with the launch of the Opus Wedge franchise, comes a significant shift in Callaway wedge design.

That’s reflected in the Opus name which plays to what Callaway says is the beauty and elegance of the new wedges. “Opus” is where art meets science and, while that sounds like a corridor connecting two museums, it speaks to the blending of Callaway technologies with the significantly improved shapes that help define the Opus wedge family.

“Tour-Driven” Opus Wedge Shaping

I’m on record as not being a fan of Callaway wedges. From a shaping perspective, I find the topline too thin, the transition from toe to topline too harsh and angular and, whatever the real-world measurements, the way the offset presents always looked to me, anyway, like the blade and hosel were in different zip codes.

With Opus, offset, or at least the appearance of it, is reduced as Callaway has noticeably smoothed transition from face to hosel.

Likewise, the transition from toe to topline is dramatically smoothed. The new wedge has a teardrop, almost rounded, shape devoid of harsh lines. I didn’t get the calipers out but the topline still looks thinner than most but, with the other changes, it just looks better.

To my eye, the shape is closest to the Mizuno T-series, a radical departure from past iterations of Callaway wedges.

It’s better.

The new shape was driven largely by the PGA Tour where, unlike previous models, Callaway says the Opus wedge design was “Tour-driven” as opposed to “Tour-inspired.”

Moving through prototypes, Tour players effectively chose the shape of the new wedge and, while we’re just hearing about it for the first time today, Opus prototypes have been on the Tour for 1.5 years.

Case in point: While the cosmetics may have suggested an older model, Opus wedges were used by Yuka Saso and Xander Schauffele in their recent major championship wins.

It’s the reason Callaway is calling Opus the most “Tour-validated” wedge in company history.

Opus Wedge Technology

Just my opinion, but if shape was the only story, given where Callaway was, it would be enough for me.

But what’s a wedge without a good spin story?

To that end, Callaway Opus wedges feature what the company calls SPIN-GEN face technology. SPIN-GEN is the combination of three ingredients that don’t just work to lower launch and increase spin but provide greater consistency across the real-world conditions on the golf course.

New Groove Package

The first element of Callaway’s SPIN-GEN face is an updated groove package. While Callaway still lays claim to the most aggressive groove in golf, they’ve narrowed the distance between grooves and added some. It’s all about creating opportunities for the grooves to grab the ball.

Your benefit here is lower launch with increased spin.

Enhanced Surface Roughness

The second piece of the SPIN-GEN face is a new face blast. Callaway is using quartz to penetrate the face of the wedge and create additional surface roughness.

The benefits, says Callaway, are most apparent in wet conditions – that would include rough, morning dew and a proper storm – where the face blast helps maintain launch and spin rates when the ball would otherwise want to slide up the face.

Angled Micro Features

Finally, you get angled micro features. What we’re really talking about is Callaway’s take on a grooves between grooves design. The angled features work to better channel moisture when the face is an open position.

From a performance perspective, Callaway is claiming lower launch and higher spin than the No. 1 wedge brand (Vokey). The point of emphasis is really on shots from the rough as well as from wet conditions where the real benefit of lower launch and higher spin is ultimately greater consistency across all conditions.

The point being that, while we all love the idea of high spin and most of us understand that we should be hitting our wedges lower, the goal here is tighter launch windows through greater consistency than its competitors’ products provide.

If that pans out, it’s kind of a big deal.

Callaway Opus Wedge Grinds

With the launch of the Opus wedge, Callaway is dialing back the grinds a bit, at least at launch. Whether it’s through limited-edition offerings or a full-line extension, I would expect we’ll eventually see the grind count increase but, for now, four grinds out of the gate make for a decent start.

Callaway Opus W Grind

No surprises here: the W grind is Callaway’s widest sole wedge. Available with 12 or 14 degrees of bounce, the textbook story is that it’s for steep swingers who take deep divots or those who play in soft conditions.

In wedge design, forgiveness comes from the sole, and wide soles are typically the most forgiving. The W Grind should give you a bit wider margin for error from the fairway while also being an excellent option for golfers who struggle from bunkers.

The Callaway Opus W Grind is available in 50, 52, 54, 56, 58 and 60 degrees.

Callaway Opus S Grind

Billed as a grind for every situation, the S Grind is the middle of the lineup, mid-bounce (10 and 12 degrees) workhorse. It’s the wedge you buy because it fits your game or because you have no idea what fits your game.

Callaway says it works well for all swing types from a variety of course conditions.

The Callaway Opus S Grind is available in 48, 50, 52, 56, 58 and 60 degrees.

Callaway Opus C Grind

Callaway’s C Grind is a mid-ish bounce option that offers more versatility than the S Grind and more forgiveness than the T Grind (see below).

A lob-wedge only option, the C Grind strikes a good balance between versatility and forgiveness. That makes it a great everyday option as well as an alternative for T Grind players when the course gets soft.

The Callaway Opus C Grind is available in 58 and 60 degrees with eight degrees of bounce.

Callaway Opus T Grind

T Grinds, particularly those made by Vokey, have become the most popular lob wedge option on Tour so it’s not a surprise that Callaway would offer up its take.

The defining feature of the T Grind is aggressive relief in the heel, toe and trailing edge. It helps the T sit tight to the ground in nearly any orientation for maximum versatility around the green.

As I’ve noted before, the tradeoff for versatility is a comparative lack of forgiveness. If you occasionally hit your wedges on the chunky side, the T grind is going to exacerbate the problem while something like a W Grind will mitigate it.

The Callaway Opus T Grind is available in 58 and 60 degrees with six degrees of bounce.

Callaway Opus Wedges – Stock Options and Pricing

The stock shaft offering for the Callaway Opus wedge is the Dynamic Gold MID 115g in steel and UST Recoil DART HDC (65 and 50 grams) in graphite.

Finish options include Brushed Chrome and Black Shadow.

Left-handed options are limited to:

S Grind: 50-10 (Brushed Chrome), 52-10 (Brushed Chrome, Black Shadow), 54-12 (Brushed Chrome), 56-12 (Brushed Chrome, Black Shadow), 58-10 (Brushed Chrome), 60-10 (Brushed Chrome, Black Shadow)

W Grind: 54-12 (Brushed Chrome), 56-14 (Brushed Chrome), 60-12 (Brushed Chrome)

C Grind: 58-08 (Brushed Chrome), 60-08 (Brushed Chrome)

T Grind: 58-06 (Brushed Chrome, 60-06 (Brushed Chrome)

A Raw option is available through Callaway Customs (for right-handed golfers only).

Retail price is $179.99

But Wait, There’s More!

Callaway Opus Platinum Wedge

As part of its Opus release, Callaway is launching the Opus Platinum Wedge. It’s billed as one of those what if there were no limits on cost type of products but the bit that matters is that it’s the result of Callaway engineers, who are not Tour players, asking how they could design a product that would make themselves better.

I touched on it above, but taking consistency in a general sorta way out of the equation for a minute, one of the biggest differences between Tour players and average golfers is that the Tour guys hit their wedges significantly lower than we do.

They make crisp low-face contact and compress the ball where, for most of us, we tend to hit it a little high on the face, resulting in higher launch, lower spin and a less penetrating trajectory.

Ultimately, that’s center of gravity stuff so the real question the Callaway R&D guys tackled was how can we raise the center of gravity to promote ideal wedge trajectory in a way that doesn’t result in a goofy looking club?

The answer, as it so often is in the golf equipment world, is tungsten.

So, yeah, slightly off topic here, there isn’t any actual platinum in the Callaway Opus Platinum wedge but there are 17 grams of tungsten anchored in the topline.

MIM Construction

Unlike the standard Opus wedge, which is cast, the Platinum version is MIM’d. Callaway has used MIM’d parts before and others (COBRA) have made fully MIM’d heads.

Your requisite refresher: MIM is short for “metal injection molding.” The MIM process involves mixing powered metal with polymer binding agents to create a metal paste that’s injected into a mold to form the shape of the clubhead.

Once everything solidifies, the head goes through a sintering process to melt away the binders, fuse the metal particles together, leaving the final shape.

The MIM process has two advantages over more traditional manufacturing methods.

• It creates more precise final parts (aka tighter tolerances).
• The resulting heads tend to feel softer than those created using other methods.

The “feel” thing is obviously desirable in a wedge while the “tighter tolerances” thing is all but necessary when your design requires you to fit two different materials together in a precise manner. For example, if you were trying to seamlessly blend a 17-gram tungsten weight into the top line of a wedge, MIM construction would be an excellent choice.

In the case of the Callaway Opus Platinum wedge, the center of gravity chases the tungsten higher into the head, resulting in lower launch and higher spin than the standard Opus wedge. And it does it without looking goofy.

Callaway Opus Platinum Grinds

With the added tech comes added cost and that likely puts Opus Platinum into more of a niche wedge category, so it’s understandable that Callaway is offering only two grinds.

The now-familiar S Grind is available in 54, 56, 58 and 60 degrees (still with 10 and 12degrees of bounce).

For now, the Z Grind will be unique to the Opus Platinum offering. Improved (particularly out of sand) from previous iterations of Z, Callaway describes it as a friendly low-bounce option, though with eight- and 10-degree bounce options, I’m going to say it’s more of a mid-bounce option.

The sole features a chamfered leading edge with a bit of trailing-edge relief. Both work to add versatility while maintaining the forgiveness of the comparatively wider sole.

Callaway Opus Platinum Wedges – Stock Options and Pricing

Callaway Opus Platinum wedges come stock with either a DG MID 115-gram steel with a gunmetal finish or UST  Recoil DART HDC 65-gram graphite shaft (Blackout finish).

The stock grip is a Golf Pride MCC Grey/Black.

The finish options are Platinum Chrome and Platinum Blue.

Left-handed options are again limited to:

S Grind: 56-12 (Platinum Chrome, Platinum Blue), 60-10 (Platinum Chrome, Platinum Blue)

Z Grind: 60-08 (Platinum Chrome, Platinum Blue)

Retail price is $229.99.

Callaway Customs

Additional customization is available through Callaway Customs. Options include Black, Chrome and Raw finishes, stamping, custom paint-fill in up to six zones, custom shaft bands and custom ferrules.

Callaway Opus Wedges – Availability

Fitting/pre-sale for Callaway Opus wedges begins July 19. Retail availability for the Opus wedge starts July 26. Opus Platinum availability begins Aug. 16.

For more information, visit CallawayGolf.com.