First Look: Cleveland Golf's CBX ZipCore is (Mostly) About the Cavity Back

If cavity-back irons can be forgiving, why can't wedges? The sole and face deliver that result, while two additional grooves increase contact and spin.

Cleveland Golf's CBX ZipCore

• Sole Grinds/Lofts: V-Shaped Sole (44°-52°, Men; 48°-52°, Women), S-Shaped Sole (54°-56°), C-Shaped Sole (58°-60°).
• Price: $149.99 (steel shaft); $159.99 (graphite shaft).
• Available: Dec. 17.

If you play cavity-back irons for their forgiveness properties, Cleveland Golf thinks it makes more sense to play cavity-back wedges, as well, for the same reason. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up versatility and shot-making ability that you get from traditional wedge designs.

The company introduced the CBX wedge in 2017 as an option for higher-handicap players to more easily get the ball on the green on both full shots and with chips and pitches around the greens. Cleveland’s third iteration of the CBX is the CBX ZipCore, which combines cavity-back forgiveness with the same technology it uses for the company’s RTX ZipCore that is played by Cleveland/Srixon players on professional tours.

First, the company believes that the CBX ZipCore has a more forgiving sole and face, which makes it easier to hit when compared to more traditional wedges. A hollow cavity near the heel is the basic technology of the CBX design, which places more weight in the toe, producing higher moment of inertia (MOI) and more perimeter weighting for forgiveness all across the face. A TPU insert in the back of the wedge dampens vibrations, which the company says improves feel.

The ZipCore facet of the design places a low-density core into the hosel of the wedge, which removes weight better locates and pinpoints the center to the center of the face. It also increases MOI high and low in the face, as well as across the heel and toe. All of which means better performance no matter where on the face the ball is struck.

The most measured wedge metric is spin and it’s the aspect by which wedges are judged. The CBX ZipCore uses the company’s UltiZip grooves, which are 11% sharper, 7.3% deeper and 7.4% closer together than in previous models. That enables these wedges to have two more grooves on each face, which the company says creates more groove contact and increased spin.

You won’t find a plethora of sole grind options in the CBX ZipCore but the company believes that higher-handicap players aren’t looking for such. The lower-lofted wedges have a V-sole, which is designed for full shots and the company offers a CBX ZipCore 44-degree pitching wedge. In between is an S-sole, which is conducive for playing open-faced shots around the green and in bunkers. The highest-lofted wedges have a C-sole, making it even easier to open the face with chipping and pitching.

“We’ve included all the same technology and spin performance that we offer to our Tour staff and put it into the CBX ZipCore,” says Jeff Brunski, vice president of research and development at Cleveland Golf. “It’s no wonder the entire line of CBX wedges has been so successful — it’s Tour technology built into a wedge made for real golfers."