PXG Stick ‘Em Wedges Review (Do Full-Face Grooves Work?)

A triple-forged wedge line where the grind you need decides which lofts are actually available to you.

Is the PXG Stick 'Em Wedge worth buying?

My verdict

Paul’s score: 4.6/5

This is a well-specified wedge family with one detail most buyers miss: the two grinds don't span the same lofts. Get that right and it is a genuinely strong short-game option; get it wrong and you have bought the wrong bounce.

Best for

Mid to low handicappers who open the face around the greens and want full-face grooves where they matter.

Know before you buy

The BP-Grind starts at 54 degrees, so a gap wedge in this line is an S-Grind by default.

If you’ve ever stood over a pitch shot and felt like your wedge was working against you, you know how maddening the short game gets. The ball jumps off the face with no predictability. The sole digs into the turf like it’s trying to reach China. So when PXG dropped the Stick ‘Em wedges, I’ll admit I was curious but cautious. PXG has a reputation for premium engineering and equally premium price tags, and the question is whether the performance backs it up, from tight lies to fluffy bunker sand.

Quick Overview

• 3X forged 8620 soft carbon steel heads
• Six lofts: 50, 52, 54, 56, 58 and 60 degrees
• Two grinds: S at 10 degrees of bounce, BP at 13 degrees
• Full-face grooves in the 54 through 60 degree heads, traditional grooves in the 50 and 52
• High-toe weighting with progressive CG placement and a universal face shape

Specifications

Stick ‘Em Forged heads are 3X forged from 8620 soft carbon steel in six lofts, with two grinds that don’t cover the same range.

A Universal Face Shape Rather Than a Dramatic High Toe

PXG went understated with this one. The Xtreme Dark DLC finish is designed to cut glare at address. The shape is what PXG calls a universal face shape, a blend of a high-toe and a traditional profile, so you get the high-toe benefits without the dramatic high-toe look. There’s a confidence that comes from setting a well-shaped wedge behind the ball, and this profile is built for it. The sole grinds are clearly defined, and in the 54 through 60 degree heads the grooves run the full width of the face. No garish colours, no branding overkill, just a serious-looking tool you’d be happy to pull out of the bag.

What Triple-Forged Steel Buys You

Feel is the headline PXG leads with, and the construction is the reason. The head is 3X forged from 8620 soft carbon steel, which is the recipe behind most of the wedges people describe as buttery. Forged soft carbon steel is what separates a wedge that gives you information at impact from one that just makes a noise.

Each forging pass refines the grain structure of the metal, compressing and aligning it into a tighter, more uniform block. The result is a head that feels softer at impact without going soft on you. “Triple-forged” has a nice ring to it as a marketing line, but the process behind it is real.

My PXG Sugar Daddy II wedges review covers those high-toe wedges.

What that buys on the course is information. A crisp strike from the fairway sounds and feels different from a thin one, and on delicate pitch shots that difference is how you learn to control distance. When you’re trying to land a 30-yard shot on a specific patch of green, what comes back through your hands is worth as much as the spin number.

Is triple forging worth the fuss? The honest answer is that extra forging passes refine grain structure, and that shows up as feel rather than as a number on a launch monitor. If you’re the kind of golfer who values feel as much as performance metrics, it’s the part of this wedge you’d notice first.

If forged feel is what you’re after, my Proto Concept RR Forged wedges review covers a cold-forged soft carbon steel wedge in three grinds, though there are no lefty models.

Wider Grooves Earn Their Keep From Bad Lies

Every wedge manufacturer on the planet talks about grooves like they reinvented the wheel. Sharper edges, tighter tolerances, maximum spin: you’ve heard it all before. What’s actually specified here is worth knowing. PXG uses the same groove geometry as its Sugar Daddy III wedges, wider and tuned to the USGA limit, with the full-face pattern kept for the high-lofted heads.

Where this matters most is in less-than-ideal conditions. On a clean, dry lie from the fairway almost any decent wedge spins fine. The real test is moisture on the face, grass trapped between the ball and the clubhead, or a ball sitting in light rough. The wider grooves are built to channel grass and debris away so the edges can still do their job, and that’s where you’d see the difference against an older wedge.

The 54° through 60° lofts have grooves running right across the face. On open-face bunker shots or flops, you can catch it out toward the toe and still have scoring lines there. That’s the point of the full-face pattern. The 50° and 52° keep a traditional layout. Those are the lofts you’re more likely to use for full swings and centre-face contact. You aren’t getting the same groove pattern on every loft.

High-Toe Weighting Is Built for Open-Face Shots

The toe weighting is the part that isn’t obvious at address. PXG loaded weight into the toe of the head, and the performance reason for it is worth understanding.

First, high-toe weighting increases the moment of inertia, the club’s resistance to twisting on off-center hits. You can’t blade a chip and expect a miracle, but a wider margin on the small misses is what PXG is designing for here.

The high toe is the other half of it. Open the face for a bunker shot or lob and your strike moves toward the toe. PXG puts the centre of gravity in line with that contact area. That’s the design idea: keep the CG near the strike when the face is open. You want predictable flight on those shots. This shape is built around that job.

Greenside bunkers and open-face flops are where this design either works or doesn’t. On a traditionally weighted wedge, opening the face can produce a frustrating range of outcomes from one swing to the next, and PXG’s answer is to move the CG to where the strike actually happens. For a player who likes to get creative around the greens, that’s the whole argument for the high-toe shape.

Two Grinds, and They Don't Cover the Same Lofts

PXG offers the Stick ‘Em in two sole grinds, and I’m glad they didn’t turn it into six options nobody can choose between. Two choices, clearly defined, each built for a type of player and swing.

The BP-Grind comes with 13 degrees of bounce and a wider, fuller sole. PXG describes it as the grind with the highest effective bounce, built to glide through turf and sand rather than dig, which points it at steeper attack angles and softer conditions. It’s offered in the 54, 56, 58 and 60 degree heads only. If you play soft turf or heavy sand, or your natural swing is on the steeper side, that’s the one aimed at you.

The S-Grind is the versatile one. You get 10° of bounce, a tapered sole and relief at the heel and toe. PXG says that relief lets you open or square the face across more greenside shots. Think low spinners or high flops, without the sole sitting too far off the ground. If you like to manufacture a shot from a tight lie or firm turf, this is your grind.

The key is matching the grind to your swing and the conditions you play most often. PXG doesn’t pretend one grind fits everyone, and that honesty is refreshing. Steeper swing, softer conditions? BP-Grind. Shallower swing, firm turf, creative shotmaking? S-Grind. A fitting is where that gets settled, because loft, bounce, shaft and grind all get chosen together.

The six lofts run 50°, 52°, 54°, 56°, 58° and 60°, which covers every gap from your gap wedge down to your lob wedge. The detail to catch is that the grinds don’t cover the same range. The S-Grind spans all six, the BP-Grind starts at 54°. Gapping decides which of these would go in my bag or yours, and a 50° or 52° is an S-Grind by default.

Shaft and flex options run across the lineup in both steel and graphite, and PXG ties its flex recommendation to how far you consistently hit a 7-iron. Whether you’re building a two-wedge setup or a full four-wedge complement, the loft range lets you set yardages instead of manufacturing half swings, and that’s where wedges actually save strokes.

What I Don't Love

Two grinds is a clean lineup, but it is also the whole range. If you have been fitted into something between a low-bounce C grind and these two, or you need very low bounce for firm turf, this family doesn’t have it. That is a fitting limitation rather than a quality one, and it is worth checking before you fall for the finish.

Who It's For

Buy it if:

• You open the face around the greens and want grooves out toward the toe
• You play soft turf or heavy sand and want the higher-bounce BP option
• You want forged feel and are choosing loft and bounce in a fitting
• You are building a full wedge set and want consistent heads through the gaps

Skip it if:

• You need a low-bounce grind for firm turf and tight lies
• You are still building consistent contact and want a more forgiving, cheaper wedge
• You want the most options on the shelf rather than two well-defined grinds

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts: PXG Stick 'Em Wedge Review

Work it from the gaps backwards: set your 50 or 52 first, since those are S-Grind only, then choose bounce on the scoring wedges based on your turf and attack angle. A fitting settles the last part faster than any amount of reading.

About the author

Paul Liberatore

Paul Liberatore is the founder of Golfers Authority and a former three-year golf gear contributor to Sports Illustrated. He tests golf equipment hands-on to help golfers make better buying decisions.

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