TaylorMade Milled Grind Hi-TOE Wedge Review

TaylorMade Milled Grind Hi-TOE Wedge

TaylorMade designed its new Milled Grind Hi-TOE wedge to be versatile around the greens and a premium performer. With some key design points, TaylorMade was able to deliver a monster of a scoring wedge.

First Impressions

When you first pick up the TaylorMade Milled Grind Hi-TOE wedge, there are two things that immediately jump out at you. First is the Hi-TOE wedge’s cool copper/oil finish. This finish is so classic and it’s nice to see it back on a new wedge. I don’t feel like anyone has gotten this type of “oil can” or copper right since the old 2009 Vokeys, but TaylorMade certainly did.

Next is the Hi-TOE wedge’s hallmark higher toe. With the higher toe, it’s very easy to quickly look like a pointy shovel, but TaylorMade has avoided that. At address, the Hi-TOE definitely has a notably higher toe, but it smoothly blends into the club face for a nice clean look.

Another characteristic that jumps out at you are the “full-face scoring lines.” Traditionally, a wedge will not have grooves cut all the way across the face. As you can see, the Hi-TOE wedge has grooves from the tip of the toe all the way to the back of the heel. This look induces a certain confidence that you’re going to have good grip on the ball no matter the shot.

How Does it Feel?

All of TaylorMade‘s efforts with their Milled Grind wedges are geared toward consistency and precision. This plays a massive role in the feel of TaylorMade’s Milled Grind Hi-TOE wedge. TaylorMade used a soft 8620 carbon and then used surface milling to precisely define the leading edges, sole grinds, and heel and toe relief. Historically, wedges finished by hand can be inconsistent and their feel will suffer as a result. TaylorMade’s milling process removes that risk.

You’ve also likely noticed the red polymer “port” at the bottom of the hosel. This isn’t because TaylorMade randomly decided they want to make “bore-thru” wedges. What TaylorMade did was make the shaft go into the hosel a half inch deeper in order to optimize the CG of the wedge. The CG of the Hi-TOE wedge is now more centrally located due to redistributed hosel weight as a result of the deeper bore.

So what does this all mean for feel? The Hi-TOE wedge has a “sweeter” response and good forgiveness across the face. The Hi-TOE’s sole feels crisp through the turf and as well as the sand.

How Does it Sound?

The TaylorMade Milled Grind Hi-TOE wedge has a sound that lands somewhere between a quiet “tick” and “pop” off the face. Where sound made the biggest impression on me was the sole through the ground on various shots. A clean pick of the ball has a clear “whisp” with a click of the ball. A shallow scrape of the turf for a longer pitch has a really nice “rip” of the grass. Hitting a big flop or popping one out of thick green-side rough has an almost “whip” sound to it. My favorite though is out of the sand. A firmer or wet sand delivers a perfect “slap” from the Milled Grind Hi-TOE wedge. In dry and soft sand, a good swing of the Hi-TOE makes an almost perfect “thump.”

TaylorMade’s ATV Sole

Though the higher toe and the full-face grooves are all great, the TaylorMade Milled Grind Hi-TOE’s clutch feature is its sole. It’s hard to really do the whole sole justice in photos. The leading edge has a higher bounce that quickly transitions into a shallow almost “bullet” sole. (This means the sole is slightly concave in that “D” area.) There’s a good amount of heel and toe relief which helps you lay the wedge in a variety of different positions depending on the shot required. I will tell you, the versatility is real.

On-Course Performance

I’ll be the first one to tell you, I’m far from a magician with my wedges, especially close to greens. With the TaylorMade Milled Grind Hi-TOE wedge, I felt like I unlocked a lot of options I couldn’t previously hit with confidence. I was hitting flops off tight lies, or nice little bumps off the upslope of a collection area with relative ease. Almost as if the Hi-TOE would do all the work itself if you just get out of its way. I even found this shot I haven’t had for years where I could zip in a low 60º pitch and get that nice “skip, skip, settle.” If you are a good spin player, you’ll be able to make the Hi-TOE bite very nicely.

Where the TaylorMade Hi-TOE really sold itself to me was from the sand. I consider myself an average bunker player that can get the ball up and out, but control can be iffy. With the Hi-TOE, dare I say, I would look forward to hitting bunker shots. It was almost effortless to slap the ball out of the bunker. Adjusting trajectories was a breeze and allowed for great shot versatility out of the green-side sand. The Hi-TOE’s sole cut through the sand at the perfect depth and stayed the course you put it on.

Final Thoughts

The TaylorMade Milled Grind Hi-TOE wedge is a versatile wedge designed to have monster performance and great feels around the greens. While nothing in the Hi-TOE wedge necessarily screams innovative, I have yet to play a “high-toe” wedge in the industry that has impressed me as much as the TaylorMade Hi-TOE. That’s not to say anything bad about anyone else with similar designs, but the Hi-TOE was just that good for me. The TaylorMade Milled Grind Hi-TOE wedge rekindled a certain level of fun I’ve been missing in my wedge game and it felt good to get back to that place.