Odyssey Golf Marxman X-Act Putting Wedge

Designed to help your short game, the Odyssey Gof Marxman X-Act is a chipper—a club that looks like a putter with an angled face. The idea is that when you get to those tricky, just off the green shots, you can use this club with a relatively straightforward and safe putter stroke. The angled face will pop the ball up and then quickly get it rolling toward the hole.

In addition to the putter length and the angled face, the X-Act has a wide sole to help eliminate stubbing, and a two-stripe alignment system. A polymer insert like other Odyssey putters has no grooves and is supposed to limit backspin, allowing the ball to roll more true.

I had the opportunity to try one of these and really liked it.  The only question would be which club you would remove from your bag to put this one in. I’d actually suggest the driver, since most higher handicappers—the ones who most need a chipper—should be teeing off with a three wood anyway. But if you really can’t give up the big dog, you could get rid of that lob wedge you can’t consistently use.

CLEVELAND Lady CG11 W-series Wedge

Designed for the ladies, this model of the CG11 is designed with a lighter swingweight. The look was inspired by the popular 588 model, while the back cavity and wide sole design makes it more forgiving and easy to hit out of green side bunkers.

Dynacraft Avatar Chipper

One of the fastest ways to improve your scores is to improve your short game. Your average amateur misses a lot of greens, and then has to scramble for par or bogey.

Most players, when faced with a shot around the green automatically pull out a wedge. But while that may be the club of choice for pros, there are better options for amateurs. Chipping is one. Putt before you chip. Chip before you pitch. Pitch before you lob.

I’m generally good chipping with my irons. But like any other shot, there’s a trick to it. And you need to practice.

Another option is to get a specialty short game club—a chipper. You could leave out that lob wedge that you can’t hit most of the time ... or a long iron that you never really use (for me, that’s a five iron. For some reason, I’m never at five iron distance). You’ll use a chipper a lot more often.

The Avatar chipper has several features that make it practically foolproof. First, the unique gooseneck hosel design works to help prevent shanks—Hireko claims that is shank-proof. The non-offset design makes it easy to get the ball going straight. A wide sole prevents catching the turf.

To use it, just place the ball in the middle of your stance and take a normal putting stroke. The ball will pitch up and then start rolling.

I have a (now unavailable) version of this and when my short game is not working, often will stick it back in the bag. A chipper like this is very versatile, and you can use it from a variety of distances.

Pursuit s510 True Forged

Nothing feels as nice as a forged wedge. The Pursuit s510 scoring wedge is manufactured using a true 5 step high pressure forgoing process that compacts the carbon steel molecules close together for exceptional feel and control. It comes in 52, 56 and 60 degree lofts.

Best of all, you can get this forged wedge for as low as $41.

Pursuit s510 True Forged

A lot of the guys I know play with cast cavity backs, but insist on forgings for their wedges. There’s just something about the feel of a forging that helps many players develop that “touch” around the greens.

The Pursuit s510 is a five process forging of 1035c carbon steel. And you can’t beat the price: $37.20

Like all GigaGolf products, this one comes with a 30 day playability guarantee.