50 Words or Less
Offering tremendous value, Costco’s wedges — the Kirkland Signature three-piece set, also provides surprising feel and performance. What they lack in customization, they make up for in quality.
Can Costco make a driver? Check out the $200 Kirkland driver HERE
Introduction
I know what you’re thinking: a store that’s famous for its hot dogs and free samples can’t produce a quality wedge. That’s what my first thought was when I saw that they were on offer. However, getting these in my hands quickly changed my mind. Costco has produced great wedges in the Kirkland Signatures. The set — made up of a 52° gap wedge, a 56° sand wedge, 60° lob wedge — was beyond a pleasant surprise. At just $170 for the whole package, they demand attention from both new and established golfers especially with the industry-standard Titleist Vokey SM8 wedges (review HERE) selling for $159 per club.
Looks
These wedges don’t look like they cost $57 apiece and yet, they do. They look just as sleek and classy as any other OEM’s wedges, and at that price point, it’s actually shocking. The wedges feature a wide sole, milled faces, and a traditional silver color. Sporting True Temper shafts, these wedges aren’t devoid of technology either. Besides the CNC milling across the faces designed to generate more speed, there’s also a clear movement of weight into the toe for higher CG, similar to Cleveland’s Zipcore wedges (review HERE) among others.
Speaking of other OEM’s, it’s often said that imitation is the best form of flattery. While many wedges look similar to one another as designs across all clubs are streamlined, there’s one club I found to be very similar — the Titleist Vokey SM7 wedges (review HERE), minus Kirkland Signature’s… well, signature logo on the backside of the club.
Sound & Feel
The Kirkland Signature wedges are not forged clubs, so don’t expect butter (that’s down a different aisle in Costco). That said, the wedges feel satisfying but thin at impact. Compared to other wedges I’ve recently hit, it felt as though there was less mass behind the ball, despite the club head being the same size. As a result, it strangely felt like the sweet spot was larger when striking the ball. The feeling of a larger sweet spot didn’t keep me from being able to diagnose where exactly either.
The sound was also different to some like the SM7. Kirkland wedges are noticeably higher-pitched and what many would call “clicky.” Normally, I would say go try it yourself to determine if that’s something you’d enjoy or at least could deal with. However, buying these in a box means you can’t “try before you buy.” Although Costco has quite the generous return policy saying, “If you’re not completely satisfied with this Kirkland Signature product, your money will be refunded.”
What I will say is that the grips are disappointing. Don’t get me wrong, they’re not terrible, but the quality of the grips feels noticeably worse than the quality of the shafts and club heads. After all, they are True Temper shafts. Thin and a bit slippery, they feel like knock-off Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips (review HERE). This is doubly surprising because Costco’s other Kirkland Signature club, the KS1 putter actually has a SuperStroke grip on it. Since the putter has also seen a lot of success, and because of the established relationship between SuperStroke and Costco, I would have loved to see SuperStroke grips on these wedges.
Performance
While the looks and price were surprising, the most shocking aspect of these clubs was their performance. My expectation was that they would spin noticeably less than other wedges I’ve used and tested lately. This, however, just wasn’t the case.
I tended to see more spin than usual with Kirkland Signature wedges when compared to my gamers. That extra friction of the face-milling is absolutely noticeable and I saw tons of spin being produced around the green, from chips around the green, and even out of bunkers. In fact, I saw so much spin that I was consistently losing a couple of yards of carry compared to my gamer wedges. That is something I was happy to deal with seeing shots check-up quickly or rip back across a green.
While the performance for me was great, I know there are a wide variety of golfers with different skills and styles of swing. Besides the grips, the only major downside of these clubs to me is the lack of fitting or customization. Because of the lack of customization, some golfers will inevitably have worse performance.
Unlike Vokey wedges that offer almost countless options of grinds, bounce, and lofts… Kirkland Signature does not. They offer three lofts, and no deviation in grinds, or bounce. In my testing, what this meant was somewhat of a lack of ability to finesse shots. With the lack of any grind relief and the high bounce, it was difficult to open the clubface and add loft. Also, unfortunately for those of you who are lefties, at present, there’s no option for you.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, I won’t be able to convince wedge snobs that Costco produces the ultimate wedges. Just to be clear, they do not. These are not the best performing or the best feeling wedges in the market right now. But Kirkland Signature have made surprisingly great wedges. They offer comparable spin and performance from the biggest OEMs at a fraction of the price and don’t look bad either. For those who are seeking to save some money on a new club, or for those who would rather get some fresh sharp grooves on new wedges as opposed to buying used, these need to be considered.
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30 Comments
That butter comment. Comedy gold. Bravo sir 😂👏 good review also.
Thanks so much for the kind words Graeme!
Thanks for the great review! The wedges are thr only clubs in my bag that are not fitted. Would you know the flex and weight of the shaft? They definitely feel heavier than my other clubs.
Good review. Ideally the bounce should vary with the three wedges to be able to hit different situations. Low bounce for hard pan and creating divot, medium bounce for most conditions, and high bounce for special situations. From your review it appears to be a high bounce. Is that correct?
Thanks for the compliment, Jerome! Good question on the bounce of these wedges. I would describe these wedges more as mid-bounce rather than high. Both the gap wedge and the sand wedge have around 10 degrees of bounce, while the lob wedge has 8.
They are fine. You get three wedges for the price of one. Replaced my really old Vokey wedges and these work just as well. Mickelson my not buy them, but for the 15+ handicapper they will work well.
Agreed Tom, I think these are probably best suited for a newer, or mid/high handicap golfer… but I am gaming the 56-degree wedge at the moment and I’m at a 5 handicap, so they’re also versatile!
One get what one pays for. Thanks for the laugh comparing these to an SM7, I’m sure Bob Vokey will enjoy the comparison.
You’re welcome for the laugh — thanks for the comment and for reading Héctor!
If your mind says so. That means price vs. performance doesn’t exist. I will custom make you a set of my special wedges out of aluminum foil and charge $1000. Please send me a check and your address. Remember when you get them, you get what you pay for.
It’s good that another company is making the game more affordable even if it says “Kirkland,”
Couldn’t agree more Jerry, inclusion is the best policy for the future of our game!
People often change the grips out anyways. The Vokeys I saw on the Golf Galaxy rack recently didn’t even HAVE grips, bare shafts only. Buy your grip separately and they’ll install the grip for you. of course the price of the Vokey didn’t change any whether the Vokey sold with a grip on it or not. ;-\
Exactly J! I typically use mid-size grips anyway, so I would change these out to use them regardless! It’s really not a huge deal, but I figured I’d mention it because it was my biggest gripe with the club set! Thanks for reading!
Costco does nothing to support golf they only profit from it. When they start sponsoring junior golf in a big way then they will be worth buying thier equipment.
I have to respectfully disagree. But thanks for the comment Paul, and thanks for reading!
Picked a set of these bad boys up. Honestly couldn’t tell the difference between the Kirkland and a Vokey performance-wise. Solid performing wedge , on par with fashionable/popular brands.
Hey Mark! I’m thrilled to hear you got them! A year in, are they still holding up for you?
To Paul Schofield: Not true! Costco DOES support golf by making it more affordable for the less fortunate and the uninitiated to enter the sport.
Don’t think they are making tons of profit on those, as per the Costco business model. If they are, then what does it say about the obscene prices at the Golf snob shops?
Unfortunate to read your negative comments. Those wedges are nice ! And not just for the price.
That was my thought too Mark. Making golf and golf equipment more affordable does inherently support golf as a general concept and grow the game, full stop.
I have the set of 3 Kirkland wedges and have found them to be very good. Not failed to get out of a bunker with the sand wedge since I have had them which is 5 months.
Oh, I’m so happy to hear that. That’s gotta’ feel awesome!
So you’re saying that there’s zero grind on the soles of any of these wedges? I would think there would be something, even if very minor. That might be a deal breaker because I do like to open the face on a lot of my shots. Of course having the 60° might mean I don’t need to do that anymore.
Tom — Yeah, as you can see from these photos there’s nothing on them in terms of grind. That’s definitely a downside compared to other wedge manufacturers that create different grinds to promote more versatile wedge shots.
Lots of players have had a lot of success with a classic full sole design for decades, so I don’t know that it’s a deal-breaker for everyone. You can still open up the face but you’ll just have to deal with the extra bounce.
Besides, these are cheap enough that you won’t feel bad customizing them the old fashioned way like my dad used to do…just drag the back of the wedge on the cartpath between shots until the trailing edge has the profile you like :)
Hahaha ZJ the cartpath strategy is not one I’ve heard of before. To each their own! But you’re not wrong. They’re at a pricepoint that if you wanted to, you could grind them down to suit your own eye!
Costco does support golf by offering quite a view products that are high in quality and affordable. I originally purchased the Callaway Razr Edge club set and it was $350 10 yrs ago. Great starter set and I still use them today. Their golf balls aren’t too bad and the set of 4 gloves is an incredible value for the price. I have been looking to add a gap wedge to my bag so going to run out and buy these. Your write up inspired me to try them because I was on the fence.
Hey Stephen!
I’m thrilled that I had an impact on you. I’m hoping these wedges did too. How are you hitting them?
Also, I couldn’t agree more. I think it’s pretty clear Costco is supporting golf in a big way.
Drew
Just bought these. Can’t wait to try them out. If swapping grips makes a big difference, it’s still a great savings.
I love this wedge! It’s a great value and it’s easy to hit.