DUBLIN, Ohio. — Some club launches are louder than others. You can count TaylorMade’s new wedge among the “others”.
At the Memorial Tournament this week, TaylorMade is quietly bringing out its new MG Prototype wedge to its Tour staff.
There isn’t much out there about the new prototype except what we can tell from photos taken on site this week at Muirfield Village.
First looks
Noticeably, the shaping of the wedge doesn’t appear to be much different from TaylorMade’s current MG4, aside from a different shaping of the muscle pad on the back of the wedge. The finish is much darker than the standard chrome finish of the MG4 and almost has a bit of a blue or grey hue to it.
The back of the wedge is free of most stamping, with only the words “Milled Grind” etching and a Milled Grind logo stamped with the word “PROTO” around it on the toe. The TaylorMade logo only appears on the hosel along with the word “FORGED” stamped under it.
There are also two new grinds, the SX and SC, the former being a wider sole with some slight trail edge relief, while the latter appears to be a narrower C-grind shape with more extreme heel and toe relief. Both were seen on 60-degree lob wedges.
Tommy Fleetwood apparently gave the wedges a test run in the morning at the Muirfield Village practice facility, but we’ll have to wait and see if he adds them to the bag before Thursday.
What to make of the MG Proto
With the MG4 approaching the two-year mark since its introduction, it’s curious that this new prototype doesn’t feature “MG5” branding anywhere on as its potential successor.
It’s possible TaylorMade could be giving us a tease of what’s to come later this summer. MG4 was released in August 2023, so seeing a prototype pop-up could be a sign that we will see a wider release in just a few months.
Seeing TaylorMade’s grind options continue to grow is also welcome, as they have seriously filled out their offerings over the past few years.
But perhaps most interesting about this wedge is the fact that it’s forged, which would make TaylorMade one of the few OEMs currently offering a forged wedge. Ping’s Glide Forged family still sees action on Tour and Ben Griffin just won with Mizuno’s forged T-1 wedges in the bag, but most other manufacturers offer milled wedges.
A forged wedge would presumably allow for a softer feel and help players better match the feel of their irons.
For now, we’ll have to wait and see what becomes of this prototype and if anyone puts in the bag this week or over the next few.
