Cleveland Golf is launching a sweet group Limited Edition 588 Tour Action Wedges and I, for one, couldn’t be happier.
You knew these were coming, right? I mean, the minute Cleveland announced that founder last year Roger Cleveland was returning to the companyyou knew
How could you not know?
And, friends, Cleveland did it beyond the pale. There’s David Ortiz’s game-winning grand slam, Bobby Orr’s end-to-end slam, a Larry Bird trey to seal another flag, and a Brady-to-Moss bomb for the go-ahead TD.
(OK, so you know where my hometown crushes lie.)
With that, let’s take a closer look at this special limited edition landing and discuss why the original Cleveland 588 Tour Action wedge redefined what a wedge can and should be.
What are Cleveland’s limited edition 588 Tour Action Wedges all about?
Simply put, these limited edition clubs are reproductions of Roger Cleveland’s original 588 Tour Action wedges. They have the same iconic shape, the same (for the day) unique sole mills and the same shiny chrome finish.
However, under the hood, Cleveland has packed all its latest wedge technology. It has ZipCore for improved feel and optimized center of gravity placement and HydraZip to help wick away moisture for improved performance in wet conditions. The new 588 wedges also include UltiZip and Rotex Face Milling which Cleveland uses to optimize spin stability across its wedge line.
However, unlike the original 588 wedges, these limited edition models are not fakes. Instead, they are thrown from Cleveland’s proprietary Z-Alloy material. Z-Alloy was invented by Srixon-Cleveland-XXIO and is softer than the 8620 steel commonly used in wedges and is also, surprisingly, more durable than 8620.
It is also rust resistant.
of Cleveland limited edition 588 Tour Action wedges sold as a set. It includes a 53-degree ditch wedge (with 10 degrees of bounce), a 56-degree sand wedge (with 12 degrees of bounce) and a 60-degree wedge (with eight degrees of bounce).
What made the original 588 wedges such a game changer?
The original Cleveland The 588 wedges were released with an accompanying set of irons (the wedges were launched first) in 1988. They were also the fifth generation of clubs released by Cleveland, so 588. To understand why wedges were so influential, however, you have to remember what wedges were like in 1987.
“When I started, the best wedges on Tour were Wilsons,” Roger Cleveland tells MyGolfSpy. “Guys were using Dynapower wedges from 1958 or 1959. They had a nice shape, silhouette and offset, but they were 20 years old.”
Cleveland knew he couldn’t compete with irons like Wilson, MacGregor or Spalding, but wedges at the time were treated more like 10, 11 and 12 irons, as opposed to specialized short game tools.
“There just wasn’t a lot of interest in wedges on Tour,” Cleveland says. “So I took advantage of that and started working with players and getting some advice from them.”
Cleveland had some ideas and added input from Tour players. He quickly began studying sole geometries and quickly realized how important added heel relief could be.
“Back then, the highest pitch wedge that most players used was a 56. They learned how to open it and that’s when you increase the bounce and expose the heel a lot more. When the face is open, the first interaction of the turf is with the heel.
“You have to handle this so you can take some of the heel off.”
The original 588 wedges had that extra heel relief as well as a sharper leading edge. They also featured multiple loft and jump options.
The Cleveland 588 wedges were an instant hit
Original 588 Tour Action wedges put Cleveland Golf on the map as a leading short game company and it is no exaggeration to say that they redefined what wedges can and should be. The 588 became the template for modern wedge design, combining a large teardrop shape, a high toe profile and a versatile sole. It could be played by touring pros as well as regular players, which was rare for the time.
It is not unreasonable to suggest that the 588 did for wedges what the PING Anser did for joints.
“The original 588 was not made in a vacuum,” says Cleveland. “I’ve had a lot of great people. We had guys working at the college level. Someone did a survey at the NCAA Championships at the time and about 95 percent of the guys were playing 588 wedges.”
As mentioned, the 588 wedges came out first in 1988, followed by the 588 irons. However, those irons didn’t have nearly the same impact. They were muscle-back forged blades, but were more of an in-line update to the previous 485 irons. Additionally, they were competing directly with three of the most category-defining iron sets in history: the PING Eye 2, the Tommy Armor 845s, and the Hogan Edge.
Cleveland Limited Edition 588 Tour Action Wedges: Specs, Price and Availability
As mentioned, these limited edition 588 Tour Action wedges sold only in sets of three wedges. The set includes a 52, 56 and 60, and comes with S400 shafts, limited edition True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour shafts and very retro limited edition Golf Pride Victory grips.
They are only available with the right hand. The wedge kit will come in a premium collector box and a brushed brass plate.
When Cleveland says, “limited edition,” they mean it limited edition. As of this writing, only 588 sets are being made. Despite its limited status, the wedges are priced pretty well at, you guessed it, $588 for the set. There are no plans to sell the wedges individually.
