In our forums, our members have been discussing Costco’s new Kirkland Signature wedges. WRXer ‘johnnied’ has managed to get his hands on a set and has shared his early experiences of the wedges with our members. Check out his review below.
“I PIcked up a set of the new Kirkland wedges at Costco (San Diego Morena) today. $159.99 Came as a set of three; a 52-10, a 56-10 and a 60-8. All lies are 64deg. The 52 is D3, the 56 and 60 is a D4. I went and hit a bucket off of mats, but more on that in a second.
The wedges are a tour chrome finish with a basic plain back with the words Kirkland Signature. The toe has the degrees and bounce inscribed. The face is cross milled and looks like the Vokey SM5’s The bounce pattern is similar to a Vokey “D” grind, and is the same on all wedges. The words “Carbon Steel” are etched into the back of the hosel. The shaft is a stepped pattern in steel. Don’t know whose. The grip is a black composition grip similar to a tour velvet with the words Kirkland Signature on it.
Overall the presentation is nice and professional looking. No razzle dazzle.
I hit the 52-deg first. Swing weight is D3, and it felt fine. I hit it about 105 yds, or about 10 yds shorter than my 50deg, which is expected. Hits and results were repeatable. One thing I found was that the shaft seemed lighter and a little softer than my Vokeys and if I tried to swing hard the head couldn’t catch up fast enough, and it felt like a hockey shot. But just slowing down a little produced the 105 yds over and over again. I could feel the clubhead on the entire swing, which I like. The wedges are tour chrome, and I’m used to black finish so looking down was different, but got used to it after a few shots. Lining the grooves up to the target line was easy.
Now the 56deg. Swing weight is D4, and felt fine. I hit it about 95 yds or about 5 yds shorter than my 54 Vokey (bent to 55). Same thing happened when trying to hit it hard, the shaft tip wouldn’t catch up, so timing was a little bit of an issue. Clubhead feel and lining up was good.
The 60deg has a bounce of 8 deg, is a D4, and seems to have a higher toe than the others.The high tow is good for when you open up the clubface to “loft” it up. Well, this is where the grind becomes a problem. With the “D” grind on the 60deg, opening up the clubface caused the hosel area and back center of the sole to dig. You could see the mat stroke lines at the back of the sole. What should happen is that the center of the sole should be the highest bounce, but because the sole is so deep when you open the clubface the back of the sole and hosel area catches, which closes the clubface, and shots went left.
My first thought was to take it into the garage and change the grind to more of an “M” grind. This would remove metal from the back of the sole and some from the hosel area. But before I do, I thought I’d experiment some more. So I hit some in-between shots and chips.
Chips and pitches were good and predictable. I could control the distance OK. Spin was excellent. Pitching 20-30 yds with the 60deg was the easiest of the three wedges.
I would have no hesitation putting these in my bag but would need a few mods first. 1. I’d grind down the 60deg so I could open up the face without digging. 2. Adjust the lies to 62deg (2 deg flat) and 3, change the grips to Lamkin cords. The last two are personal fitting issues that have nothing to do with the clubs.
So do I keep them or do I take them back? It was $159 for 3 wedges, great deal. My Vokeys are $184 each. I think I’ll do some grinding and tweeking and see if I can dial these in. And, at $159 I might just see if I can beat my buddy at the helicopter game.”
Our members have been reacting to the review from ‘johnnied’ in our forums.
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion at the link below.
- TheMoneyShot: “Nice review! I’m kind of surprised these are not being sold online yet.”
- tbowles411: “Good review. Thank you. This will help get people in the game at an affordable price. Equipment without the excessive markup is great.”
- nick_CO: “Great review. I might have to drag my buddy who has a membership to Costco to go get a set.”