Cleveland RTX 6 Zipcore Wedge

The new Cleveland RTX 6 Zipcore Wedge is the latest iteration of the RTX lineup from renowned wedge maker, Cleveland Golf. So what’s different? New Hydrazip milling to maximize both spin and control and UltiZip grooves with the sharpest radii (cool word) grooves for serious bite. All while bringing a sweet looking wedge to market that lives up to the Cleveland standard.

The Looks

In comparison to the RTX Zipcore wedge, the new Cleveland RTX 6 Zipcore looks somewhat similar, but with a few key differences. The new RTX 6 still has a traditional teardrop shape, like the RTX Zipcore, but with a bit more compact head. Nothing drastic, but it is slightly smaller. The Zipcore also had a higher toe, and I think the RTX 6 brought it back down to a more reduced profile.  Additionally, the leading edge of the RTX 6 is slightly more rounded in the higher-lofted wedges compared to the RTX Zipcore. The topline has the same thin look of a player’s wedge and the satin chrome finish looks incredible. Not a ton of glare, which is great, and they look amazing in the bag.

But what I really need to talk about is the amazing milling on these wedges.  Yes, the RTX Zipcore had milling that runs across the entire face, however, the RTX 6 milling is much deeper. The darker groove areas (which get darker the higher loft you use), have an amazing mill pattern. The toe of the club also has a rounded, deep mill pattern that just looks incredible. You can notice a real contrast between the two millings that makes for one of the coolest looking wedge faces out there. Stick tap to Cleveland on the face milling.

How Does it Feel?

The new Cleveland RTX 6 Zipcore still leverages the same Zipcore technology as previous models which is a low-density core that helps lower Center of Gravity and increase forgiveness. This impacts the overall feel quite a bit. The RTX 6 are SUPER soft on well struck shots in the center of the face, however, they RTX 6 are super soft on the hands across the entire face. I didn’t really get the “clickly” feedback in the hands I was expecting on toe misses. Now, with thin shots, that’s a different story. You will definitely get more feedback there. The club seems to feel much more balanced overall compared to other wedges, which tend to feel heavier in the head than the RTX 6. For what it’s worth, the swing weight is still D5, but that’s what I’m feeling in the club.

How Does it Sound?

Does the sound match the feel?  With the Cleveland RTX 6 RTX Zipcore wedges, sort of, but that’s not a bad thing. What do I mean?  Well, center strikes have super soft feel and produce a very soft/deep click sound compared to other wedges I have tested. This matches up. However, those toe or heel misses produce a much firmer, louder click, but still have a pretty soft feel. In my opinion, this is reducing the harsh feel of mis-hits, and instead, provides feedback via sound. It’s not really something I always experience with a wedge, but I actually liked it a lot. I know when I don’t hit it well by sound without a “sting” in my hands.

On-Course Performance

Since we’re talking wedges, let’s talk spin. We had two people (shout out guest tester Shane!) test out the Cleveland RTX 6 Zipcore, and we both had similar findings. We compared directly compared the RTX 6 to the previous RTX Zipcore wedge. On mid-swing shots with a 60º or 54º, the new RTX 6 generated about 200-300 more RPM of spin (both clubs had fresh grooves). I would attribute this to the new UltiZip grooves matched with deeper grooves in a tighter pattern. They’re sharp and can hop/stop or zip the ball back if needed with ease. On full swing shots with a 50º, the spin seemed to be fairly similar between the two.

Where that similarity ended was on consistency of distances. The RTX Zipcore is a very consistent wedge, however, the accuracy and distance consistency of the RTX 6 was an improvement from the RTX Zipcore, especially on full swings. In summary, we found the center line on all types of shots more frequently with the RTX 6 versus the RTX Zipcore. Dispersion was much tighter as well.

Shorter pitches and chips had predictable distance control with the RTX 6, which is what you want in a wedge. Unfortunately the only thing we couldn’t test was the “hydra” part of the Hydrazip groove that tout maximum spin in wet conditions.  Being in Arizona, it’s hard to find a good place to test this, but the RTX 6 has a “dynamic blast media and laser pattern” for each of their loft groupings to give better performance in wet conditions.

Final Thoughts – Cleveland RTX 6 Zipcore

Yet again, Cleveland has delivered a winner with the new RTX 6 Zipcore wedge.  The wedge looks phenomenal, has a nice soft feel, and generates a ton of spin with predictability and control. Cleveland wedges are known to be some of the best on the market, and the RTX 6 is no exception. Cleveland offers a variety of lofts and grind/bounce options to fit any swing, so when looking for new wedges this golf season, make sure you test out the RTX 6.

Stock Cleveland RTX 6 Zipcore Specs

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