Surviving the Hot List: Season 2

What happens when you drop a golf-crazed Hollywood actor and a retired NFL player into the most grueling gig in golf? At the 2023 Hot List summit, Golf Digest's cameras followed Michael Peña and Danny Woodhead's quest to ace their new jobs as rookie club testers.

Wedges

Wedges serve multiple purposes. From the full shot to the flop shot, the low checker from a tight lie to the chunk and run out of the sand and so much more. To accommodate such a wide variety of shots (and ability types), the best new wedges primarily come in a wide array of loft/bounce options with soles designed to work across a wide swath of swing types. Many also boast different types of grooves depending on loft, as designers know a full swing with a 50-degree wedge compresses the ball more and provides more spin, thus requiring less-aggressive grooves, while the higher lofts need all the spin they can muster for those shots around the green that need to stop quickly. Research also has led some to design for the mis-hit, whether that be with a cavity-back design or by moving weight to a place where the toe hit (a common impact spot for wedge shots) is enhanced. Multiple purposes, indeed.