Mastercrafted Control: The Callaway Opus Wedge Review

With Roger Cleveland now taking a step back from his role as Head of Wedge Design for Callaway Golf, it seemed fitting to create one last outstanding product. The Opus wedges are just that.

I’ve had plenty of experience with Callaway wedges in my golfing life. In my garage, there’s a set of original Jaws wedges from before the 2010 Conforming Groove Rule came into effect. There are also various Mack Daddys, PM-Grinds, and more recent Jaws releases kicking about in there, so it’s fair to say I’ve often considered Callaway’s options to be some of the best wedges on the market.

Most recently, though, I’ve moved away from Callaway into Titleist SM9 wedges due to the Jaws wedges having too straight of a leading edge for what I want to be able to do in my short game.

With the announcement and release of the Opus wedges, Callaway are doing their best to pull me, and you, away from what’s often been labeled as the gold standard in wedge design. During Today’s Golfer’s visit to the 2024 BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, I had the chance to work with the Tour Truck team on-site to build a pair of Opus wedges to my spec so it would be rude not to give the new line a fair test after having them made up!

Professional curiosity

One of my biggest reasons for wanting to test the new line of Opus is also one of Callaway’s main selling points.

While Opus wedges are just releasing to the public now, they’ve actually been on Tour for over a year. The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed certain Jaws wedges stamped with ‘S6’ in the hands of your favorite Professionals throughout the year. The S6 stamping actually denotes that this is the 6th edition of Callaway’s wedge overhaul, and it’s the one that the pros have decided was the best version of the new design for their needs.

In not so many words, that means Tour Validation. The best players in the world wanted wedges with a specific shape to them, with increased offset and a more rounded leading edge, so Callaway has catered to these demands.

Requests like more offset might seem like an odd choice from Tour players when we know that irons typically have less and less offset as we move into player-orientated models like the Apex MB and CB, but there’s a good reason for that.

If you’re looking to open up your wedges for more height and spin, you’re still going to want to keep that clubface square to the target so the ball doesn’t start offline to where you’re swinging. With more offset, you can do that while maintaining a neutral amount of shaft lean and remove any worry of thinning the ball during high risk-reward shots. The rounded leading edge is also designed to help keep the lower parts of the wedge tight to the ground when opening the face.

This is what I’ve been wanting from Callaway for a few years now, a return to a more friendly shape for versatile shotmaking.

Being a lefty, there’s an obligation to take inspiration from Phil Mickelson in some way or another and my chosen discipline was always to copy Phil’s short game. As a result, I’m always looking to play around with different shots and flights around the greens so versatility in a wedge is paramount.

The Opus wedges have delivered on every front. I chose to go into a 60º T Grind for my highest-lofted club and it glides through the turf regardless of how tight the grass is; I love the way the wedge sits, giving me confidence that I can play aggressive, near-side flop shots or take on longer chips that want to release even with the higher loft. Equally the 52º S Grind, the second wedge I picked out, bites nicely into open-face shots as well, meaning my only decision on the course has been whether I want to see the ball exit high or low when picking a shot.

Creating friction

Trust is easy to place on these wedges because of the aforementioned spin, or more specifically the consistency of the spin. Callaway’s Spin Gen Face Technology utilizes three design elements, each helping to complement the other.

The first is a new material – mineral quartz – being used to sand blast the face. Face blasting creates roughness across the hitting space, and a rougher surface means there’s more area that can ‘grab’ the skin of the golf ball, helping to generate spin.

Mineral Quartz is a harder blasting material than simple sand grains, meaning Callaway can increase the depth of the minute indentations created from the grains, increasing spin further than ever before.

Callaway have also continued to use their previous grooves, a design they label as “the most aggressive grooves in golf,” although the spacing has been tightened from groove to groove. Tightening the gaps between them means that the company can actually add more grooves to the face, further increasing the amount of interacting they can have with the golf ball. The grooves are cut at a 37º angle, helping to bite into the ball even on partial shots around the green.

The final aspect of Spin Gen is the return of Micro Grooves. These are smaller grooves, cut at a 20º angle towards the hosel of the wedge, that help increase spin when the wedge is played open for more height and this is what I was seeing the benefit of during my practice sessions and repeated out on the golf course.

I prefer to bed in wedges during a few short game sessions before I feel happy adding them to my bag for play but the Callaway’s have been easy to slot into. Maybe it’s the previous familiarity with the family tree but it’s taken no time to find my comfort with the Opus. The sole design translates just as well from short side shots to full swings and everything in between.

What’s particularly impressed me is that, even with the low bounce I’m accustomed to, I haven’t yet felt like these wedges want to stick into the ground and refuse to come back out. They slide underneath the ball as well as any other but I’ve got more confidence taking these into heavy bunkers and wet conditions and have them perform like they’ve got significantly more than the 6º stamped on the sole.

It’s not that my current setup doesn’t do what I want but having the ball stop so much faster has opened up more options for me. Granted this could just be from going into fresher grooves but the lower lofted wedges seem to offer spin more than I can ever remember seeing from the SM9.

Final thoughts

The one thing I haven’t taken to in the Opus wedges is the firmer feel. I’m not sure what it is. Whether they’re actually firmer, whether its a different pitch of sound, whether the Vokey’s are particularly soft, but there’s certainly a more solid feeling at impact.

This is something that I’ll no doubt get used to, but I do have to rely more on trust in my swing than the feedback as every strike gives the impression that the ball is leaving the face faster than needed and it still gives me the occasional brief feeling of panic that I’m about to overshoot the target by 5 or 6 feet.

With the reliance on Ai design in their other clubs over the last few years, its been nice to see Callaway go back to a more feel-orientated approach with their latest wedges and you can certainly see the difference that the Tour input has had on the playability of the Opus.

If you’re playing a soft wedge currently, the feel may take a little time to get used to, but these are a well-crafted set of wedges that will certainly bite into Callaway’s market share as well as into your golf balls.

About the author

Lewis Daff

Lewis joined the Today’s Golfer digital team in 2024, having spent more than a decade in both big box golf retail and independent stores, working as a club fitter and builder.

Experienced with every level of golfer, from beginner to professional, he has achieved Master Fitter and Builder status with most major manufacturers, including Mizuno, Taylormade, and Callaway, helping him to cement both a wide and deep knowledge base, ideal for helping guide golfers towards the correct equipment for them. Lewis specializes in Clubs, Shafts, Training Aids, Launch Monitors and Grips.

In Lewis’ bag is Titleist GT3 Driver (9º) with Fujikura Ventus Black, Titleist GT2 Fairway Wood (15º), Wilson Staff D9 Forged 3-iron, Srixon ZX7 MKii Irons (4-PW), Titleist SM9 Wedges (52º, 60º), Toulon San Diego Putter, and Callaway Chrome Tour Ball.

Talk to Lewis about why steel shafts are now dead and graphite is the only way forward, or any other equipment you’d like to debate, via his email, Twitter, or Instagram.

RRP: £179, $179

LH: Yes, selected lofts and finishes

Lofts and Grinds

S-Grind: 48º / 50° / 52° / 54° / 56° / 58° / 60°

W-Grind: 50º / 52º / 54º / 56° / 58º / 60°

C-Grind: 58° / 60°

T-Grind: 58º / 60º

Finishes: Brushed Chrome / Black Shadow

Stock shaft: True Temper Dynamic Gold Mid 115g

Stock grip: Tour Velvet CHEV Black/Grey

Customizable: Yes, through Callaway's websites - Callaway Europe and Callaway US