Costco Wholesale Corporation, under the Kirkland Signature™ brand, has started to make waves in the golf equipment market. In case you didn’t know, Costco is a membership-based, buy-in-bulk warehouse store with headquarters in the United States. A few years ago, the store released its first golf ball design, Kirkland Signature golf balls, and it took the world by storm. After they were sold out, Costco sent it back for a redesign. The new version was not as good as the original, and golf experts were thinking that might be the end for Kirkland golf products, despite providing good value for golfers searching the shelves of their local Costco warehouses.

Then, earlier this year, Costco introduced the first of the Kirkland golf clubs, the KS1 or Kirkland Signature Putter. I have not personally tested it, but the reviews say it is okay. Now, golf wedges just launched under the Kirkland Signature line in a three-wedge pack. I wanted to see how they compare to other clubs in the market, so I went to my local Costco and bought a set. The Three-Piece Wedge Set from Costco comes with a 52-degree gap wedge, 56-degree sand wedge, and 60-degree lob wedge. Currently, it only comes in a right-handed version. The clubs, like the golf balls, are produced under the Kirkland Signature brand and are made to be a quality and affordable brand of golf equipment that won't hit the wallet as deeply as more expensive wedges.

In this review, I will put the wedges up against other wedges on the market. I reviewed and currently play the Cleveland ZipCore wedges, and I also checked the Honma TW wedge in the past. These two clubs are great to use as comparisons because they are on the opposite side of the price point spectrum. You get a high-performance cast wedge—created by pouring molten metal into a form—in the ZipCore wedge, and a forged club—made by pounding a club out of a solid piece of metal—that has a super-soft feeling in the TW wedge. The results reported are based on my own conclusions; players of various skill levels or budgets should consult

Appearance and Components

First off, let’s look at the finish of the wedge. The Kirkland Signature (KS) has a very shiny chrome finish. This is going to be great for durability, but the downside is that it really reflects light when you are trying to hit a shot, which can be distracting. The other two clubs feature a satin-chrome or tour-chrome finish, which are also durable. These different finishes still have a glare as well, but they’re not as bad as the chrome.

Next, the shafts. The KS comes with a generic True Temper® shaft. True Temper makes a lot of the steel shafts found in golf clubs; some of the models include Dynamic Gold, Elevate, and AMT. The Honma TW comes with the Modus 125 wedge shaft from Nippon. The ZipCore comes with the newly-redesigned Dynamic Gold Spinner. The older version had a weird notch in the shaft just below the grip to add spin, which I did not like. Now, it is a cut-down longer shaft, helping to produce more spin. All three of these shafts are wedge flex, which means the shafts are designed to make wedges spin more with consistency. The generic True Temper on the KS wedge did not feel bad when I hit it, but it is on the softer-flex side.

Lastly, the grip: not much to say here. It comes with a KS logo grip that feels very similar to the Golf Pride Tour Velvet grip. The other two wedges by Cleveland and Honma have similar grips to the Kirkland Signature.

Testing

Chips, Flops, and Pitches:

All of these clubs performed well on most of the shots I tried, including chips, flops, and pitches. All the clubs were very accurate and I had no issue chipping or pitching with them. The Honma TW definitely felt the softest, but that is expected, since it is a forged club. The ZipCore had the most spin and stopped the fastest. The KS wedge and the Honma were very close seconds. The only issue I found with the Kirkland wedge was the sole: There are no grinds or sole relief on it, so when you have to manipulate the club head to hit a shot, like a flop, it had very poor turf interaction and made the shot more difficult.

50-Yard Shots:

I was using the 56-degree sand wedge from KS for the 50-yard shot. All the wedges were very consistent. The Cleveland wedge would spin back a bit, while the Honma was a bit on the short side. I have always had problems loading the shaft, so I am not surprised there. The KS wedge did well—it would hop once and stop usually a little longer than I intended to hit.

Full Swing:

The Honma did not even come out of the bag for this one, because I know I cannot hit a full swing with it. The Cleveland and KS wedge performed about the same, except the Cleveland flew a bit higher and landed a little softer. They both flew the same yardage and stopped where I wanted them to. Cleveland's wedges have a premium feel and solid wedge forgiveness, so it was interesting to see how similar the results were on this test.

Final Thoughts

Kirkland Wedges: Are these Signature Brand Golf Clubs from Costco Worth It or Not?