Pros: Edel wedges are offered in eight different grinds. Whether your swing is steep, shallow or in between, Edel has a sole to match it. The center of gravity on each wedge is located closer to the toe than other wedges in the market, which makes a head-scratching amount of sense.

Cons: Each wedge starts at $195, and some stamping and shaft options are offered for an additional up-charge. Remember those eight grind options previously mentioned? Only three are available for lefties.

Bottom Line: Whether you have good taste or bad taste, Edel is leaving the stampings up to you, so try not to design a catastrophe. When picking your specs, it’s best to have previous knowledge of your game, or even better, get fit by a professional. Get fit correctly, then you’re on the way to owning a beautiful set of custom wedges that could transform your wedge game.

Overview

David Edel is well-renowned in the golf industry for building a comprehensive putter fitting system. He had a vision to put clubs in golfers’ hands that are truly fit for their game and brought that vision into wedge and iron making, allowing golfers to develop a wedge to their needs and preferences.

Edel has worked extensively with tour players on his designs, and prides himself on his company’s quality and artistry. It’s hard to argue that he’s not an artist, because he’s designed some seriously awesome looking wedges (click here to see Edel Golf photos from the 2014 PGA Merchandise Show).

Lucy Li, the 11-year old phenom, gamed Edel wedges on her way to making history as the youngest qualifier for the U.S. Women’s Open. Check out Li’s WITB here. Most of us normal golfers, who have certainly been playing golf longer than she’s been alive, are probably still searching for the perfect set of wedges. That’s where Edel and the custom wedge fitting options from companies like Cleveland, Hopkins and Vokey can help.

“Everybody thinks a wedge is a wedge but it’s not,” Edel told Golf.com. “People are confused by it. Nothing humiliates anyone worse than hitting two good shots up by the green and then chunking or blading a wedge shot over the green. They don’t know why it’s happening, but it’s probably their wedge and the methodology.”

The fitting system does its best to make sure each golfer gets the right wedge to help them avoid the awful mistakes a poorly fit wedge can cause around the greens. Golfers can choose from the following options to personalize their wedge online:

Generally, golfers who tend to take shallow divots from the turf do best with wedges with less bounce, while golfers who take big divots do better with wedges with more bounce. They can also be helped by a wedge with a wider sole to further reduce digging. Edel has a wide variety of grinds that will suit almost any technique, but it’s important to select the one that’s right for you.

Stamping Options (in a variety of colors)

Degree numbers can be stamped with “stylized” or “numeric” options. The wedges offer 17 loft options, ranging from 46 degrees to 64 degrees. In a stylized font, they would be written as “forty six” and “sixty four.”

The choices for additional stamping on the back of the club are — None, Monogram (3 Letters), Leaderboard (10 letters), Scattered (3 Letters), Bubbly (5 Letter) +$25, Birdies (6 Letters) +$25. Color coordination is up to the customer.

Shaft Options

You can also personalize club length, lie angle, grip size and the stock grip is an Edel Lamkin 3Gen Scoring Grip. It’s suspicious that in such a personalized custom building process that more grips wouldn’t be offered, but if you want to add wraps underneath your grip, or a different grip than the stock option, you can always have them just ship it to you in the box (separately from the club).

In terms of the stock club head design, a shortened hosel works to move unwanted weight from the heel and pushes the center of gravity (CG) toward the center of the club face. To match that movement, the 17-groove pattern on each wedge has been extended farther onto the toe of the club. Most short game shots are played with a toe bias, so little energy is lost at impact. Also, the implementation of aggressive heel relief and a rounded profile is said to work better through tough lies including long grass and sand, and that means the face is square when playing a variety of shots (toe down, toe up, closed face, open face, etc.).

Edel Wedges are made using 304 Stainless Steel with CNC milled face and grooves and a “fly cut” face that is said to ensure a flat hitting surface, according to the company.

Hand ground forged wedges are also available, but customers will need to contact Edel directly through their website for those. Check out Edel’s FAQ page for any other questions that you may want answered about the club making process. Click here to browse custom fitter events, or here to find an Edel fitter near you.

The Review

I did not participate in a custom fitting. Instead, I took my time designing a wedge online, browsing the options and matching the grind descriptions to the necessities of my game. It’s important when designing your wedge to either have a full understanding of your technique and tendencies or to seek professional advice from a fitter or teaching instructor. Don’t spend $200 or more solely on a guess.

The grind that best suited my game seemed to be the “driver” grind, which, according to Edel’s website, has a split sole design with a V-shaped bounce surface. It’s a high bounce grind with a narrow sole and a lot of camber, which is the curvature of a sole. It’s made for players like me who tend to take deep divots. The driver grind’s bounce with added trail relief from the V-shape ensured that as I came down steeply into a wedge shot, the sole allowed the club to get under the ball, go into the ground and come out smoothly without “sticking” in the turf.

Performance

The online customization fitting is not only fun, but it’s also really easy to use. Throughout the process, Edel allowed full freedom in designing the precise look and color scheme that I wanted. What’d I go with? Right-handed, driver grind, “Sixty” degrees in a stylized font, “Tursky” stamping in the Birdies design, a red-and-black color scheme, a KBS Tour (S Flex, +0.5 inches), standard lie angle and a standard grip size.

This is the blank canvas for an Edel wedge. Each of the design steps came with several options, and as you choose between colors and stampings a large picture of the wedge gets updated immediately with visual feedback. Shipping options are available as well if you want to pay extra for quicker delivery.

I have been gaming the 60-degree Edel wedge for more than two months, so I would like to think I’ve gotten to know it very well.

Strengths

The driver grind has allowed me to be more aggressive and confident on all of my short game shots. The club glides along the grass, protecting me from my steep tendencies. Even when I take a divot, the club doesn’t get stuck in the ground through impact like it tends to with other wedges. I’ve lost my fear of digging, even in wetter playing conditions. I originally thought tight lies would be a problem with such high bounce, but I’ve yet to experience any problems blading shots in drier conditions or tightly mown areas.

Its dual grind allows me to use the full amount of bounce when I aim the club at the target, but with an open face, the leading edge doesn’t lift too high off the turf to cause any concern at address or with turf interaction through impact. This definitely helps with confidence, because seeing the leading edge raised up toward the equator of the ball can be an uncomfortable visual, especially on shots requiring a soft touch.

Chipping and pitching from the rough and difficult lies has gotten easier as well. The club seems to work through long grass better than wedges from other brands, probably due to the heel and toe relief. It doesn’t get “caught” as much on thick lies, which keeps the face from inadvertently turning over. The bounce/loft combination also allows me to be aggressive on thick lies around the green. Even when I caught the ball on the toe, not a lot of ball speed was lost at impact. I rarely miss on the heel, so that wasn’t an issue.

The ball flight on shorter shots is high and soft, producing very dull action once it hits the green. The ball has a “land, stop and roll a little” type action on well struck chips/pitches. On fuller shots (30-to-70 yards), the ball drops in nicely without too much movement after it lands, meaning great ball control.

As you’d expect with a high bounce club, bunker play is made simple from most textures of sand, producing high-flying, dead-landing shots on the green. More compact or wet sand may cause players to catch it skinny, but I haven’t had an issue. Longer bunker shots proved to be difficult given the high launch, so I usually opt for a 56-degree wedge or less for those shots.

I found the KBS shaft to be light and responsive, but with plenty of shaft options to choose from, any feel you are looking for can be achieved.

Weaknesses

The low-launch shot has been difficult for me. Obviously, with this club you wouldn’t expect to be playing low shots anyway, but some players like to use one wedge for most short game shots. It could just be a visual thing, but I’ve had trouble shutting down the face enough to get the low-spinning action with my 60-degree Edel. The ball tends to pop into the air more than anticipated, even when I try to deloft the club. I would have had to make major adjustments to hit a low-spinner with the Edel, so it’s just been easier to use a different club. I would probably take down the bounce a few degrees to add versatility in this regard if I could customize another wedge.

I’ve also had difficulty hitting shots longer than 80 yards with the wedge (I hit a full 60-degree wedge about 100 yards), which has always been a weakness of mine. It may be a fundamental flaw in my technique more than anything, but the issue is exaggerated with the wedge I customized.

The high bounce tends to cause impact issues as I increase my swing speed, which is when my angle of attack naturally becomes less steep. My full shots (80-to-100 yards) seem to launch higher with my Edel wedge than with wedges with less bounce, which cause them to come up short of the target. Many times, I’ll catch the ball a groove or two low because I feel that I have to hit the ball harder, and that has sent many shots sailing over the green.

When testing this wedge against 60-degree wedges from other manufacturers, I noticed that the other wedges flew about 8-to-10 yards farther on good shots. If I had a chance to do this review over, I’d like to try a model with a little less bounce because I think it would eliminate these issues.

Looks and Feel

One look down and the wedge smacked me in the face with common sense. If golfers tend to hit their short game shots towards the toe, why don’t all wedges have a sweet spot more toward the toe? The center of gravity matches the center of the club face, with grooves that extend farther out towards the toe than most other wedges. Visually, it suits my eye very well and many others will feel the same.

The club head has a generally round shape, with a rounded leading edge caused by heel and toe relief. Many of the wedges on the market today have a more squared-off look that golfers enjoy because they look and behave more like irons. Personally, I like the way this wedge looks.

I ordered a forged wedge, which has the soft, solid feel you’d expect from the finest of wedges. The sound is subtle and the feel is buttery. Even on mis-hits, there’s nothing “clicky” or off-putting about the sound off the face.

Although the hand-engravings were sharp with colors that make the design pop, it still has that hand ground, raw look. Maybe it’s the dull color or hand forging, but it definitely produces a nostalgic feel.

Based on the color coordination and fashion sense of the customer, the wedges have the potential to be artistically superior to any other club I’ve played. The “Birdies” stamping font really suits my eye, but Edel offers plenty artistic options for its customers.

Although the back portion of the clubs may produce some glare in the sunlight, the face is more dull, helping to fend off any distracting glare. Having gamed the club for more than a two-month duration, the club has shown no signs of aging aside from normal wear and tear of a golf club.

The Edel Lamkin 3Gen Scoring Grip has a rubbery feel that stays dry in most conditions, and doesn’t lose its grip. How a grip feels is subjective, but most players won’t be disappointed. Only one grip option leaves a little something to be desired, however.

The Takeaway

Regardless of the wedge you decide to purchase, a fitting is necessary. It may be tempting to self-customize using Edel’s online system, but there’s no sense in paying $195 dollars or more on a wedge just to find out it’s not the right one for you. If you’re interested in buying an Edel wedge, I highly recommend seeing an Edel wedge fitter. Get fit, and then you can have fun designing stampings and color combinations online.