Tl;dr: The perfect wedge can completely change your golf game. If you put in the time to find the tiny tweaks, like how many degrees of bounce fit your typical playing conditions, you can have the confidence to get up and down from anywhere. There might not be a company in the world that can match Mizuno’s craftsmanship with irons and wedges, and with their litany of wedge options, there’s a perfect fit for everyone in their inventory.

Few things in golf feel more satisfying than a consistent wedge game. Not only can trusting your wedge game put less pressure on your iron shots, but it’s also the easiest way to annoy your playing partners and save a stroke in any match.

However, for a group of clubs that seem relatively simple, there’s a lot of math that goes into trying to find the perfect set of wedges for you. There is an assortment of loft options, with wedges everywhere from 46° to 60° that you can space out however you’d like. There are different bounces and grinds and slight alterations to the sole of the club that are better suited to different conditions.

I first started playing golf 15 years ago, and I’ve cycled through dozens of different wedges in my time on the course. I’ve tried different brands, different loft combinations, different bounce options and wedge grinds. I know how overwhelming it can feel and how sometimes a wedge that feels perfect one day feels foreign the next. Mizuno wedges are some of the best on the market, however. I promise, if there’s a wedge out there that’s perfect for you, Mizuno has a version of it. Here’s a blueprint on how to find it.

Who is Mizuno?

Mizuno was initially founded in 1906 by a Japanese kimono shop worker named Rihachi as a baseball company. The company began to branch into golf equipment in 1933. In an era when irons were forged from a mold and hand-grinded into shape, Mizuno created a two-mold system that minimized inconsistencies and lowered the need for hand grinding, meaning there was more consistency from club to club.

Now, the company uses its famous grain flow forging process to shape its boron-infused steel irons from Mizuno's iconic facility in Hiroshima and prides itself as one of the most popular brands among the professional ranks. Former World No. 1’s Nick Faldo and Luke Donald were Mizuno players. The company’s website lists PGA Tour players Keith Mitchell and Ben Griffin and LPGA Tour players Stacy Lewis and Bailey Tardey as current Mizuno tour players. It says players have won majors with Mizuno clubs they weren’t even paid to play.

What to Consider When Choosing a Mizuno Wedge

How Many Degrees of Bounce Are You Looking For?

This is less of a question to help you decide between two different wedges in Mizuno’s inventory and more to make sure you get the wedges you decide on perfectly suited to you and your game. Wedges now can be made with different degrees of bounce, a gentle manipulation of the clubface that changes the way the blade interacts with the turf. A wedge with low bounce, something like 4° or 6°, provides cleaner contact. They are perfect for people who play in firmer conditions or bunkers with firm sand. If you’ve ever seen a pro golfer hit a ridiculous flop shot off of a tight lie, it was probably with a low bounce wedge. A high bounce wedge, something closer to 12° of bounce, is perfect for players who have lots of greenside hazards and long rough near the greens. The club promotes a steeper attack angle, which means to get the ball up and stop it fast out of soft bunkers or thick grass. Most Mizuno wedges in the inventory are easily customizable here, so this decision won’t rule out any of their products for you.

What Loft Dispersion Do You Want?

Most PGA Tour players and most golfers carry three wedges in their bag. That normal dispersion calls for the strongest wedges to come with lower lofts, serving as something between a pitching wedge and a short-game short (often called a gap wedge), the lowest wedges to come with a high loft to be used around the greens to generate as much height and spin as possible, and one wedge to be the Goldilocks of the two, right in the middle to prevent being between clubs.

Some longer hitters are known to put four wedges in the bag. If you’re a shorter hitter and need more control from distance, it’s possible you could survive with two wedges in the bag. However, normal loft alignments for these wedges include the stronger lofts, either 50° or 52°, the medium lofts, either 54° or 56°, and the highest loft, either 58° or 60°. Many companies sell wedges in complete sets spaced out like this. Whichever option you pick is up to personal preference, but I advise keeping at least four degrees of loft between each wedge in your bag to keep them all in their own category. Otherwise, the difference is too minimal to matter on full shots and partial swings.

What Do You Want the Wedge to Look Like?

This is a sillier question you can only really answer by looking around, but Mizuno offers a surprisingly wide selection of finish options for its wedges. The T24 models have the standard raw finish or satin chrome, but there are custom finish options available, like the denim copper look. The S23 has the copper cobalt look. It might seem unimportant, but a club that gives you confidence does genuinely make you a better golfer, and if there’s a unique design that catches your eye, Mizuno has it.

Features to Look for in a Mizuno Wedge

A company like Mizuno doesn’t get the reputation it has without coming up with some pretty impressive technology.

Soft Copper Underlay

Some Mizuno wedges are designed with an additional soft feel copper underlay, a microlayer of copper just under the face meant to create even just an extra millisecond of control at impact. This creates more consistency and stability in each wedge shot.

Benefits:

• Incredibly soft feel around the greens
• More forgiveness on shots that aren’t in the exact center of the clubface

Be Aware:

• Players who want tangible or audio feedback on their mishits will have a harder time figuring out what went wrong

HydroFlow Micro Grooves

Mizuno also developed the HydroFlow Micro Grooves, precise grooves constructed with a laser into certain wedge models like the T22 that limit how much moisture affects spin. The groove design frees moisture trapped in the grooves more easily, meaning you can still get grab on the ball in wet conditions or from particularly juicy rough.

Benefits:

• The wedges can still generate spin on rainy days
• Wedge shots from thick, wet grass will perform closer to normal wedge shots

Be Aware:

• Golfers who play in the rain consistently without these grooves could have a hard time adjusting to such a stark difference in spin rate

Clubface Shape

Wedges like the T24 have an exaggerated teardrop-shaped club face and a tapered upper blade.

Benefits:

• Penetrating trajectory
• More consistent ball flight
• Higher spin

Be Aware:

• The wedge can look off-putting at address to those who prefer rounded wedges

Nickel Chromoly Finish

Several of the brand’s wedges feature the same nickel chromoly finish as their famous irons, a nickel chrome look that is stronger and thinner than traditional blade material that allows the club to make firmer contact with the center of the ball.

Benefits:

• Increased ball speed
• Larger coefficient of restitution, meaning less ball speed and distance is lost on mishits

Be Aware:

• The new material will increase your ball speed, but it won’t dramatically change the distance you hit your wedges if you’re looking for big distance gains

How to Choose the Right Mizuno Wedges

I know this whole article is a lot of information being thrown at any reader, so I understand how it can all feel overwhelming to read. After all, golf club fitting primarily relies upon the individual, so there’s never a sure bet to find through someone else’s words on a computer screen. However, I’ve drawn up a few anecdotal examples that could help paint a better picture. If either of these hypothetical golfers sounds something like you, it could be a push in the right direction.

Penelope: The Shot-Making Savant

Penelope loves variation with her wedges. She plays a course with a lot of thick rough around the greens and doesn’t mind playing in the rain, so she ends up using her wedges in a variety of different surfaces. She typically turns to different grinds for different wedges, preferring one for fuller swings from the fairway and another to gauge the ball out of the rough. She doesn’t have a go-to shot around the greens, either. She likes the ability to visualize either a high spinning shot or a low runner, and she likes a wedge that can pull off both.

Features Penelope Should Look For:

• Soft copper underlay for extra control at impact
• A centered sweet spot built for higher consistent spin on greenside and partial shots
• A teardrop-shape blade design that tapers the upper portion of the blade for maximum creativity and spin from different lies and distances

Recommended Mizuno Wedge: Mizuno T22

Nathan: The Steady Hand

Nathan tries to hit every wedge shot the exact same. He hasn’t been playing golf for very long, and he finds that not getting too fancy eliminates a lot of simple mental errors. He wants a medium ball flight with decent spin reliably, and he plays almost every shot inside of 60 yards like a regular pitch shot unless absolutely necessary. He wants a wedge that can feel the same on impact time and again so he can take as many variables out of the equation as possible.

Features Nathan Should Look For:

• A One-Piece Grain Flow Forged wedge for more uniform construction and consistency across the face.
• Toe-weighted design to center the sweet spot and more consistent performance on center strikes

Recommended Mizuno Wedge: Mizuno S23

Find the Right Mizuno Wedges for You

If you’ve read this article and still don’t know which of these wedges is perfect for you, or if too many of these options sound good, don’t hesitate to reach out to a Curated Golf Expert today! We have experts with years of experience always on call to provide free, personalized advice to turn you into the best golfer you can be.