Callaway’s Full Toe SP wedges use full-face grooves, a high center of gravity and two specialized sole grinds to improve short-game versatility.
Gear: Callaway Full Toe SP wedges
Price: $199.99 each with a True Temper Dynamic Gold S200 shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grip
Specs: Available in 54, 56, 58, 60 and 62 degrees with full-face Spin Gen 2.0 grooves. The J Grind is offered in 54 through 62 degrees, while the wider JW Grind is available only in 62 degrees.
Available: Sept. 4
Who it’s for: Golfers who frequently open the face around the green and want more spin on high-toe strikes, along with players who need extra help from bunkers.
What you should know: The Full Toe SP combines an enlarged toe area, heel-to-toe grooves and Callaway’s largest Spin Pocket to date. The design is intended to produce low-launching, high-spin shots with a square face while giving golfers more hitting area and groove coverage when they open the face.
The Deep Dive: There is rarely a single correct way to play most shots around the green. One golfer might keep the face square and drive the ball in low, while another opens the face and sends it upstairs. Move into the rough or a bunker, and the possibilities multiply.
That creativity is what Callaway had in mind when it developed the Full Toe SP, a specialty wedge designed for golfers who manipulate the face and use different trajectories to escape difficult situations.
The Full Toe SP has a taller toe and more hitting area than the Opus SP+, the original Opus SP or conventionally shaped wedge. That becomes especially useful when the face is opened and impact tends to move higher and farther toward the toe.
On a traditional wedge, those strikes can approach or move beyond the grooved portion of the face. Callaway addresses that issue by extending its Spin Gen 2.0 grooves from heel to toe. According to the company, the Full Toe SP has 44 percent more groove area than a traditionally shaped wedge. The grooves also have 17-degree tighter pitch spacing, creating more groove edges to interact with the cover of the ball.
The goal is to help golfers maintain spin when contact moves toward the toe, particularly on open-face shots from thick rough or sand.
Like Callaway’s Opus SP wedges, the Full Toe SP has a hollowed-out area low in the back of the head called the Spin Pocket. Removing mass from that area allows Callaway to relocate weight higher and raise the center of gravity.
The taller toe gives engineers additional space to redistribute mass, allowing the Full Toe SP to have Callaway’s largest Spin Pocket and highest wedge center of gravity to date. The pocket is 18 percent larger than the one in the Opus SP+ and 35 percent larger than the standard Opus SP Spin Pocket.
With the face square, the elevated center of gravity is designed to lower the launch angle while increasing spin. When the face is opened, the wedge’s offset works with the high center of gravity to help produce higher, softer shots with plenty of stopping power.
The result is something of a Swiss Army knife for the short game. Golfers can play a lower, checking shot with a square face, then open the face and attempt a high flop shot without changing clubs.
Because the Full Toe SP is designed to be manipulated around the green, Callaway created sole grinds specifically for its shape and intended uses.
The J Grind has lower effective bounce, aggressive heel relief and added camber from heel to toe and from the leading edge to the trailing edge. The heel relief allows the leading edge to remain closer to the ground when the face is opened, while the additional curvature helps the sole move through the turf without losing as much speed if the golfer strikes slightly behind the ball.
The JW Grind, offered only in the 62-degree model, is a wider and higher-bounce version of the J Grind. It is designed primarily for golfers who struggle from bunkers and want the sole to resist digging. The wide sole should allow players to use the club from the sand without dramatically opening the face, making it easier to produce a high, soft shot.
The Full Toe SP will not be offered in pitching- or gap-wedge lofts. Callaway designed the lineup specifically as a sand- and lob-wedge option, starting at 54 degrees and extending through 62 degrees.
David Dusek is a senior writer at Golfweek covering golf equipment.