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REVIEW: Bridgestone Tour B XW-1 Wedges

Simple Forged Goodness

Figuring out what the right wedges are for your game can be difficult. What shape, what loft, what lie, what grind, what material, and what finish are all questions that every golfer must navigate when purchasing new wedges. I would imagine that most often we gravitate toward a favorite brand based on past experience or wanting to try something different. Even if we settle on a brand, the list of options can derail our decision making process. I’ll say this, maybe less is more in this case with Bridgestone. There are fewer options in terms of grinds, bounce angles and lofts. Keeping it simple means you can enjoy the forged goodness of these wedges. If you really have your game dialed in, maybe you’ll want something more, but for many, these simple forged choices will be a good one.

The new Bridgestone Tour B XW-1 wedges come in two finish options, black oxide or satin chrome. Both look good and have a very durable finish. I’ve got a number of rounds in with them and they still look like new, even after hitting balls off the hard AZ turf. The standard DG Spinner shaft and Golf Pride Dual Compound grip make these a solid package right off the rack.

One of the big features of the Bridgestone Tour B XW-1 wedge is the large raised B right in the sweet spot on the back of the wedge. It places a good chunk of mass on the ball at impact. Some wedges have moved to cavity back designs with perimeter weighting or low weight, these raise the weight to directly behind the ball. The feel is noticeable how the mass is directly behind the ball. You’ll also notice when you don’t hit the ball solid with the change in feel of being off-center. The CG on this wedge is different than others and really liked the solid almost heavy feel of this CG.

The new Bridgestone Tour B XW-1 has a nice sole grind that will be useful for most golfers on most shots. It isn’t extreme or outrageous, it is just a nice blend of heel and toe relief. The camber is fairly flat, but edges are all blunted so they don’t want to dig too significantly on any shots. The head shape is really nice behind the ball. The teardrop shape isn’t too rounded on the leading edge and fairly straight transition off the hosel fits my eye. I didn’t feel like I would blade it or have trouble getting under the ball either.

The Bridgestone Tour B XS-1 wedges performed very nicely on the course. I can’t they did anything different compared to other wedges; they have good spin, accurate distance and nice trajectory. I hit the shots I expected to hit and had very few misses with them. The grooves and micro-grooves combined with the DG Spinner shaft mean these wedges have some serious RPMs. It wasn’t off the chart, but consistent from many different lies.

Flightscope Xi Tour Launch Monitor

Bridgestone Tour B XW-1 58* Wedge

Spin: 10,437 rpms
Launch Angle: 51.1*
Dispersion: 2.8 yds
Club Head Speed: 78.1 mph
Ball Speed: 80.2 mph
Total Distance: 89.1 yds
Carry Distance: 86.0 yds

8.8 yds

Bridgestone makes the most underrated clubs on the market. I’m regularly impressed by their clubs. The Tour B XW-1 wedges are really good. While the options might be simple, they are solid performers. Hopefully they are available at more pro shops in 2018. The new wedges come in less options which is both a positive and potentially a negative. If you want a clean looking, solid feeling, good performing forged wedge, this is an excellent option.

Check the price online here

For more information: www.bridgestonegolf.com

Quick Hits
+Excellent forged feel
+Great Spin
+Simple, yet effective grind
+Black Oxide or Satin Chrome
+Solid at impact
+Less options

–Fewer choices

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