Edison 2.0 Forged Wedges – Key Takeaways

Updated 1025 forged wedges from “The Wedge Guy,” Terry Koehler More mass higher on the clubface – brings flight down and spin up $199.99 in steel, $214.95 in graphite with a 30-day risk-free trial Pre-sale starts today at edisonwedges.com.

Should the new Edison 2.0 forged wedges be on your radar? Well, that depends.

Are you a wedge-neck?

If, at some point over the past 20 years, you’ve been a fan of Eidolon, SCOR or Hogan wedges, you might just be a wedge-neck.

If you find you hit your approach wedges a tad too high and a tad too short, you might just be a wedge-neck.

And if you don’t think playing a wedge from someone other than Vokey, Cleveland, Callaway, PING or TaylorMade is foolishness or heresy…

Well, you really might just be a wedge-neck.

So, should the Edison 2.0 forged wedges be on your radar? Wedge-neck or not, it might not be a bad idea.

Edison 2.0 Forged Wedges: “Distancency”

Terry Koehler may be the original wedge-neck. His new Edison 2.0 forged wedges are the latest in a wedge-neck family tree that includes the Hogan TK15 and his original SCOR and Eidolon wedges. In fact, the tree’s roots go all the way back to the old Reid Lockhart company in the ’90s.

“My work with wedges over 30 years is to try to help give you management and control over ball flight,” he tells MyGolfSpy. “If you control ball flight, you control distance.”

Spin may be the sizzle that sells wedges, but consistent distance is the steak.

We already have “spinsistency.” Since we’re making up words today, is there any reason we can’t call it “distsistency?”

“With wedges, your objective is pinpoint distance control,” says Koehler. “If you miss the sweet spot by a quarter of an inch or even an eighth of an inch, what you really want is to get the same distance.”

What’s the opposite of “fargiveness?”

Shortgiveness?

“Whether you hit your gap wedge 75 yards or 118 yards doesn’t matter. You need to be able to hit that distance with consistency.”

And while a sizable chunk of that comes down to the archer, Koehler believes we weekend warriors can benefit some by using the right arrow. And in this case, the right arrow includes more beefed-up mass behind the impact zone than your standard Tour-style wedge.

Mass Displacement

Over his 30 years as a designer, Koehler has studied the impact locations of thousands of recreational golfers’ wedges. He found that even low single digits tend to make contact higher on the face and over a larger area than Tour pros. That’s one reason, says Koehler, why we mere mortals can’t get consistent wedge performance.

“The physics of the golf club don’t know who you are, only where the impact is made. A high face or high toe impact is going to lose up to 15- to 18-percent impact efficiency.”

Koehler’s original Edison wedges featured a sizable amount of mass high in the impact zone. The new Edison 2.0 forged wedges feature even more.

“There’s this multi-level back on the new wedges,” he says. “There’s a little cutout on the sort of swoosh right below the top pad on the back. The weight came out of that center depression.

“Depending on loft, we were able to move 14 to 17 grams of weight up above the point of impact by about an inch. That’s a big move on a golf club.”

That means, essentially, a higher center of gravity. If you go back and read any MyGolfSpy article on virtually any iron release over the past six or seven years, you’ll find everyone is trying to move iron CG lower. That’s to help the less-than-perfect ball striker get the damn ball up in the air. What Koehler is talking about is more mass higher on the club – a higher CG, if you will –  to bring ball flight down, even if you tend to hit it around the seventh groove instead of the third groove.

An Industry Trend?

Koehler and Edison certainly aren’t the only wedge makers raising the center of gravity (high-toe wedges, anyone?). But you can make a case Koehler has been doing it longer. He had his first aha moment in the early ‘90s on a trip to St Andrews in Scotland. After a miserable round, he convinced the folks at Auchterlonies Golf Shop to let him experiment with a new sole grind on his Cleveland 588.

“I ground the crap out of that thing,” he says. “I took a good 15 or 20 grams off the sole – it looked awful. But to get the weight back, I had to put a whole bunch of lead tape on the middle of the golf club.

“One of the first things I saw was my ball flight changed immensely.”

That inspired the thickness of Koehler’s Reid Lockhart wedges and, later, similar designs for Eidolon, SCOR and Hogan. And now Edison.

“The SCOR wedges came from testing new groove geometry after the USGA changed the groove rules,” he says. “I had to move weight up even more to make up for lost spin with the new grooves.”

A man who’s never afraid to have an opinion, Koehler also says groove enhancements over the years probably have more to do with moisture management than adding spin.

“When you look at the minute, microscopic changes we can make to groove geometries and still stay within the USGA rules, what we can do with spin is minimal,” he explains. “Milling techniques are better, and we’ve learned if we angle the edges of the grooves, we can technically make the edge play a hair sharper, but I can’t actually sharpen the groove. The rules won’t let me do that.”

 

Edison 2.0: The Sole Story

The other evolution that came out of that afternoon at Auchterlonies was the birth of what’s become known as the Koehler Sole. It’s the original – and often imitated – versatile V-sole that makes grind and bounce lovers’ heads explode.

“The wedge category suffers from what I call the ‘G and G Syndrome.’ It’s all grooves and grinds,” says Koehler. “OEMs want you to think there’s a perfect sole grind for you. I’m like, ‘that’s great, but what’s your next wedge lie going to look like? Is it in the fairway? The left rough? A fairway bunker?

“I’ve always found the notion of ‘bounce fitting’ to be absurd because the texture of the turf, the array of possible lies, and every golfer’s divot pattern are all variable. How can anyone claim to fit things that are constantly changing?”

In theory, the “Koehler Sole” is high bounce on the leading edge and low bounce on the trailing edge, depending on how you use it. In the 2.0 models, the sole on the leading-edge side has been widened a bit, while the bounce on the trailing edge has been reduced a bit to help with soft sand play.

And if you’re going to ask if this is so good, why don’t Tour players use it, don’t. Koehler says Tour players don’t play this type of sole – or this type of wedge, for that matter – because they simply don’t need it.

“They’ve got magical short games,” he says. “I don’t worry about them. My market is the six- to 20-handicapper. He’s not playing Tour cut fairways. He’s playing out of the rough more often, and doesn’t consistently hit it down on the third or fourth groove.”

On Course With The Edison 2.0

And speaking of not hitting it consistently on the third or fourth groove, we were able to give the Edison 2.0 forged wedges a try over the weekend. It was the first round of the year up here in New England, so we were pleased to hit any of the grooves. And while it’s hardly an actual test, we can share a few findings with you.

The Edison 2.0 is made from 1025 carbon steel with a five-step forging process. The result is a crisp sound and feel with enough feedback to know the difference between flushing it and a slight miss. The high mass was most evident on 30- to 50-yard partial shots, with low trajectory and hop ‘n stop spin.

If you’ve never chipped with a Koehler-type V-sole, it can take some getting used to. The learning curve, however, isn’t very steep, and the versatility is welcome. After the round, my playing partner asked if the Edison 2.0 forged wedges would stay in the bag. It’s hard to make that call after just one round (I’ve been playing Cleveland ZipCore wedges since 2021 and am a big fan), but there was enough to warrant more on-course trial.

The original Edison wedges were included in MyGolfSpy’s 2022 Most Wanted Wedge testing. They finished almost smack-dab in the middle: 13 points out of first place, 13 points out of last place. Edison did, however, rate well with testers on the intangibles of style and feel.

Edison 2.0 Forged Golf Wedges: Specs, Pricing and Final Thoughts

There’s no real “stock” Edison 2.0 wedge. You pick the shaft, grip and loft you want, and Edison will make it for you. The heads are available in odd numbers from 45 to 59 degrees (just to be different), and Edison will bend them to an even number if that’s what you order.

As for shafts, the KBS Tour in R, S, and X flex are standard steel. The KBS PGI in A, R and S are standard graphite. If you want something else, tell Edison and they’ll get it for you, most likely at an upcharge.

It’s the same with grips. Lamkin Crossline Grey in regular or midsize are standard, but they can get you anything. Things like grip wraps and loft, lie and length adjustments are no extra charge.

If you’re looking for a cheap wedge, look elsewhere. The Edison 2.0 forged wedge will run you $199.95 in steel, and $214.95 in graphite. That’s a bit of a pill to swallow, especially for a direct-to-consumer wedge. Edison does, however, offer a straightforward, risk-free 30-day trial. You get a month to hit every shot imaginable at your home course. If you don’t like it, send it back and Edison will refund your money.

There’s still a cult-like following for Koehler’s previous wedge work (particularly SCOR), and the new Edison 2.0 forged wedges share the same DNA. It might be hard to get past the $199.95 per wedge toll, especially for the golfer on a budget. But if you are a fan of Koehler’s previous work, the new Edison’s should definitely be on your list.

And if you’re willing to take a shot with that 30-day risk-free trial, dare I say…

You might just be a wedge-neck.

For more information, visit edisonwedges.com.

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