Curated Golf Expert Ryan Hernandez got his hands on the TaylorMade Hi-Toe 3 Wedge to test this spring. Check out how it performed, but consider the fact that each and every golfer is different; if you have any questions about the Hi-Toe 3 Wedge or need recommendations on which club would be best for you, reach out to a Golf Expert here on Curated.

Before we get started, it's worth noting that Curated Experts are not sponsored by any brands. All of these reviews are completely unbiased.

Brand Claims

What does TaylorMade claim about this club? They're saying it's one of the most versatile wedges ever made. It's going to be something that you can control around the greens that is going to give you more spin, more control on full shots, and have kind of a wider sole for more forgiveness.

Overall Impressions

What are the specs of the club you are testing? I tested the Hi-Toe 54 degree wedge with the Tour Issue S200 Dynamic Gold Spinner Leg Shaft and the TaylorMade grip, which is just a stock grip that comes on the wedges.

What is your overall impression of the club? I really, really enjoyed it. My first impressions are that it is weird to see a full face on wedges nowadays. I actually love it. I know that's kind of the minority of people's opinions, but I actually have a full-face wedge in my bag already, so I was used to that look, which I know some people obviously are not, because wedges have been made one way for a long time. Now we're kind of changing it up here with a couple of these options.

Review

How is it for distance? Distance wise, again, it's a 54 degree. I didn't see a ton of distance difference between that and other wedges kind of in that category in the specialty wedge category — the Jaws Raw, the Vokey, the RTX, that kind of thing. All of those wedges are very similar from a distance; there's not a lot that kind of juts out as far as distance goes. If you want to get a gap wedge or a sand wedge from an iron set, that's where you're going to start to see those distance differences, like a Paradym X or a Stealth sand wedge. Those are going to give you those distances that are going to probably be a significant difference from a wedge like this. However, this is not made to be a distance club.

How is it for forgiveness? The forgiveness is definitely there because of these full-face grooves. This allows you to tip the club open. For those of us who like to have flop shots or just get some more launch, this is definitely going to improve that. You can hit this anywhere in the face.

How is it for workability? The club is not as workable and is more suited to those players who need more forgiveness than workability. Players who want to work their wedges, like Tiger Woods who hits draws and cuts with his wedges, might find this club less suitable.

How is its launch? It launches lower. The scoring lines, the weighting, the high level, the higher line, the center of ground is higher up on the face here — definitely a lower-launching club — again, which I appreciate as a lower-handicap player.

How is it for spin? It did have a lot of spin to it. There's some scoring, which is really hard to see here, but on these grooves are some scoring, kind of like you would score meat or bread. That really helps that to get a little bit extra spin, which I really, really enjoyed as well.

What do you find unique about its appearance? What’s unique about its appearance is obvious.The full face, that's kind of a new thing in the game of golf here. These full face grooves are going to be very, very new to it. Also the high tail. You can kind of see where most wedges would cut off. It's got this little extra, like, pinkie hanging out for a little bit extra forgiveness as well. The chrome kind of really looks good. I've also hit the copper, a little bit darker look to it.

How would you describe the sound of this club and feel at impact? I mean, it's a wedge, so you're not really playing it for sound and feel as much as other clubs. I really enjoyed it. I love the kind of thoroughness that I get from it. I didn't have an issue with the sound. It wasn't clunky, it wasn't tinny, wasn't anything like that. It absorbed well, which is what I want to wedge to do.

Are there any drawbacks to this club? You're not going to be able to work it, but it may not appeal to the eye. Some may have an issue with the full-face grooves.

What is the bounce and grind? Anything related to climate, terrain, grass, location, weather conditions that would have any impact on this club’s performance? For bounce and grinds, there's a couple of different options. This is a 10, this is kind of a mid-bounce, wider-sole grind. Bounce is how it's going to bounce off the turf, right? You want higher bounce for more or less greens, softer sand, those kinds of things. It’s going to have a little bit of give to it. You want lower bounce if you play courses that are very hard, very firm, not a lot of grass or thin grass. Low-bounce wedges are going to be good for those that are tough, rough, have more packed sand. Grinds are different. Grinds have to do with turf interaction, steepness, do we take divots, do we not, those kinds of things.

Recommendations

Who would you recommend this club to? I recommend this to players who are not as good of a short-game player, who want more forgiveness, and players who like to lay their wedges open. If you're one of those people who like to add loft, lay the face open, this is for you, because this is going to allow you to spin it from anywhere. Hit after to hit it off the heel, you still get that spin.

Who should avoid this club, and what type of club would be a better option for that player? Players that are going to shy away from this are your better short-game players, people who want more of a forged wedge, smaller head. They really want to work their wedges. Right. Tiger Woods would want to hit, draw and cut wedge shots, and really put a lot of different workability on that. This is probably not going to be the club for you.

Golf clubs work differently for different types of golfers. If you are wondering whether the Hi-Toe 3 Wedge is the right club for you, chat with Ryan or any other Golf Experts here on Curated, and they’ll put together free, personalized club recommendations on the best wedge for your needs.