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TaylorMade Hi-Toe Raw and Big Foot Wedge
Key Takeaways
TaylorMade Hi-Toe Raw wedges: full-face grooves, full raw face TaylorMade adds more lofts to the Hi-Toe line, 50 through 62 degrees. Big Foot wedge line gets an added loft. MSRP $180, available Feb. 19The TaylorMade Hi-Toe Raw and Hi-Toe Big Foot wedges are a mouthful. And very soon they’ll be a “raw” mouthful.
TaylorMade is updating and expanding the Hi-Toe lineup, giving you more lofts and more bounce options. And the entire line is going with a raw face and full heel-to-toe grooves.
So what is this mouthful of a wedge all about? Let’s break it down.
TaylorMade Hi-Toe Raw: Niche is the Word
Full-face wedges aren’t for everyone and Hi-Toe-style wedges aren’t for everyone. Super-wide-soled wedges aren’t for everyone, either. The math, therefore, is telling you that you have wedges that might not be for anyone. In this case, however, versatility trumps math.
High-toe wedges are officially a thing now. You can trace the idea back to the PING Eye 2 but Callaway made them mainstream with the Mack Daddy PM Grind in 2015. Callaway gave the PMs the full-face treatment and, since then Wilson, Cleveland and others have followed suit with their own high-toe, full-face groove options.
The TaylorMade Hi-Toe has been in TaylorMade’s lineup since mid-2019. This year, however, Hi-Toe is going full face. The combination of a high-toe wedge with full-face grooves actually makes sense. The whole point behind a high-toe wedge is versatility around the green. You can open the sole way up on tight lies and in heavy rough and full-face grooves mean even slight miss-hits out of the rough will find some groove and have some spin.
The new models also feature sharper, narrower and thinner grooves as well as TaylorMade’s signature laser face etching. The face itself is raw (as opposed to the entire head) so it will rust over time. As we’ve shown in wedge testing, raw wedges retain spin, particularly in wet conditions. However, it’s the lack of plating and not the rust that makes that spin happen.
Another update you’ll find from the previous Hi-Toe model is Taylormade’s Thick-Thin Design. First introduced in the MG2 wedge series, Thick-Thin features a thinner topline, a thicker face and additional mass high in the clubface for a higher CG. That creates a lower ball flight and enhanced spin.
TaylorMade Hi-Toe Raw: A Full Line?
The high-toe, full-face combo is a niche club. They can be stupid-easy to hit out of the sand and, for fans of the flop shot, they’re Christmas, New Year’s and another Tom Brady Super Bowl all rolled into one. As a result, most high-toe, full-face offerings are in higher lofts only. TaylorMade, however, is offering a full line, from 50 up to 62 degrees, in two-degree increments.
Callaway, on the other hand, offers its PM Grind in 54- through 64-degree options. It’s a curious decision for TaylorMade. You may be one of the chosen few who has the ability to open up and flop a 50- or a 52-degree wedge with nine-degrees worth of bounce.
If it’s a shot you face often, well, here’s your tool. For most, however, the value of a lower-lofted, high-toe, full-face wedge is debatable.
And speaking of bounce, the TaylorMade Hi-Toe Raw wedges feature nine-degrees worth of bounce in the 50- and 52-degree models. The 56-, 58- and 60-degree models have 10 degrees of bounce and the 62-degree goes back to nine degrees. TaylorMade is offering a low-bounce (seven-degree) option for both the 58- and 60-degree models.
The 50- through 60-degree models are available for both lefties and righties. The 62-degree standard bounce and the 58-degree low bounce are right-handed only.
The new TaylorMade Hi-Toe Raw wedge also includes TaylorMade’s milled sole grind. CNC milling the sole grind isn’t as sexy as hand-grinding but it is more repeatable and consistent. And despite being relatively low-ish bounce, the Hi-Toe Raw sole itself is wide – some 26 millimeters.
Big Foot Sighting
Now comes the real mouthful: the TaylorMade Hi-Toe Raw Big Foot. Let that roll off your tongue a time or two.
All kidding aside, the Big Foot is a wider-sole, higher-bounce version of the Hi-Toe. Big Foot comes by its name honestly, with a 32-millimeter wide sole and 15 degrees of bounce. The milled sole is more of a modified C grind, offering more heel-to-toe relief to be more playable for a wider range of golfers. The closest comp you’ll find out there is the Cleveland CBXs Full Face wedge.
Like its smaller-footed brother, Big Foot features a raw face and TaylorMade’s aggressive milled and laser-etched groove pattern. Both wedges come in what TaylorMade calls its Aged Copper finish.
The original Big Foot was available in 58- and 60-degree options for both lefties and righties. TaylorMade is adding a 56-degree model to the new lineup, in right-handed only.
The entire lineup is 8620 carbon steel.
The new TaylorMade Hi-Toe Raw wedges will retail for $180. They’ll be in stores on Feb. 19.
For more information, visit TaylorMade.com.
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