The 588 Forged Black Pearl Wedge is the latest club we’ve had in rotation from the Cleveland lineup for review on Fresh.

I’ve been excited to review new wedges, as my personal collection has been a bit… well, shall we say… antiquated. My 55 degree wedge has been in my bag since 1993 (remember Founders Club?) and a 60 degree wedge given to me by an old friend 10 years ago who swore off the game. Needless to say – I was due for an update – and here’s to advancing into the new millennium of wedge technology.

Right off the bat, the first impression was the weight of the club head through the swing. It was an adjustment, to say the least, but not unique to more updated wedge technology. I liked the solid feel at contact – and I really liked the swing thought that helped me not feel like I had to put an extra turn on the ball to really get through it.

The club I reviewed was a 56 Degree loft, 14 Degree bounce sand wedge – in the milled black finish. The tour zip grooves provide a nice unique look on the club face and performed nicely on the course.

I found through the course of play that the wedge provided its best results on shots just inside 100 yards – from the rough. I have traditionally played a lower bounce in my wedges, which has done me well given the tight lies of my home course.

Bounce is an interesting concept that – I believe – is not completely understood by most common golfers. I hope that comment does not offend anyone out there. The reason I mention it, is primarily because the wrong choice in bounce can severely impact your impression of the golf equipment you’ve chosen to purchase. To my comment above, my home course has very tight lies through most of the year – which really requires a lower bounce than 14 degrees.

I recently reached out to a fellow East Coaster who has a fantastic book called “It’s All About Impact”. I’m sure there are a number of places you can go read about bounce – but Andrew Rice’s book spends almost the entire text talking specifically about the moment the club impacts the ball. There is not a more critical time in the golf swing where bounce plays a bigger role than impact.

I bring all this up in my review of this Cleveland 588 Forged Black Pearl Wedge because the most tell-tale results I can comment on about the club are the times where the lie called for the loft/bounce combination of the specific club I tested. Now, there are – of course – limitations in quantities of clubs you carry on a given round, so it’s not exactly practical to consider carrying the perfect combinations for every lie. But, if you consider the course you are playing that day – and the clubs you will need in order to score on your game plan – you can start to better prepare yourself, and your club inventory, to score within your expectations.

I have enjoyed the Cleveland wedge so far – but have not included it in everyday play in my bag. That’s not because of the club, construction or feel – but rather because of the makeup of the course I play 80% of the time. It’s on my personal wishlist to go purchase a set of wedges that would likely include the 56 degree wedge at something more along the lines of an 8 degree bounce.

If you are finding yourself in the market for a new set of wedges to give you a competitive advantage on your short game – I would strongly recommend putting Cleveland 588 series of wedges to the test. They provide great construction, feel, look and weighting – all necessary to shave valuable strokes off your game.

If you’d like to see a few more images of the Cleveland 588 Wedge that we reviewed, check out our Facebook page and the Cleveland 588 Black Pearl Wedge photo album.