Cleveland RTZ review: in 11 of the 80 tour bags we track, and marked down now that RTZ 2 is out

Cleveland cut the price of the RTZ on its own US store this autumn, from $180 a wedge to $150, and the reason is the most ordinary one in golf: the RTZ 2 went on sale on 4 September at $200. That makes this an odd moment to review a wedge and a good one. The Cleveland RTZ is in 11 of the 80 tour bags we track, eight of them as the entire wedge set, and the successor changes the grinds rather than the head. For most golfers buying three wedges this winter, the original at its new price is the better spend.

What the RTZ is

Cleveland launched the RTZ on 17 January 2025, and the headline was a material rather than a shape. Z-Alloy is a steel Cleveland developed itself, softer and less dense than the 8620 carbon steel most forged-feel wedges use. Cleveland's figure is that the RTZ is 10 per cent softer than the RTX 6 ZipCore it replaced, measured on a Vickers hardness test in its own lab. That is a brand number, not an independent one, but it is a measurement of the metal rather than an adjective about feel, which is more than most wedge launches offer.

Around that sits technology Cleveland had already proved. ZipCore swaps heavy material in the heel and hosel for a low-density core, which moves the centre of gravity toward where the ball is struck and adds stability. HydraZip is a face blast plus laser-milled lines aimed at spin in the wet, set differently by loft group. UltiZip grooves are sharper and deeper so grass and water have somewhere to go. If you play through a British winter, HydraZip is the most relevant line on that list; it is a design brief built around a damp lie, which is where most of us hit our wedges from November to March.

The fitting menu runs from 46 to 64 degrees across four grinds and twenty configurations. MID is the 10-degree all-rounder from 46 to 60. FULL carries 12 degrees of bounce for soft sand and steep swings. LOW has 6 degrees and heel, toe and trailing-edge relief for firm turf and shallow swings. ADAPT, new with this generation, has 8 degrees, a higher toe and the line's only full-face grooves, built for players who open the face. Stock shaft is a True Temper Dynamic Gold Spinner Tour Issue at 128 grams. One detail worth knowing: on Cleveland's US store the raw Tour Rack finish, the one the tour players use, was cut to the same price as the satin heads.

The tour count, and how to read it

Across the bags we maintain, the RTZ turns up in 11 of 80 tour bags: 8 of 42 on the PGA Tour, 3 of 26 on the LPGA and none of the 12 LIV bags. Eight run it as the whole wedge set: Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka, Keegan Bradley, Ryan Fox, Nico Echavarría, Carlota Ciganda, Miyu Yamashita and Hannah Green. Fox won the Open at Royal Birkdale in July with three of them. Three more mix one in: Justin Rose's 60-degree RTZ prototype sits beside Vokey SM10s, Maverick McNealy's 60 sits beside TaylorMade MG4s, and J.J. Spaun has a single RTZ at 54 between older RTX 6 heads. I left out Hideki Matsuyama's RTX4 Forged prototypes and Dustin Johnson's RTX ZipCores, because neither is an RTZ. These are bags we maintain and re-verify against named sources, not a census, and bags change week to week.

Read it carefully. Srixon and Cleveland are sold by the same company, Dunlop, off the same website, and most of the eight full-set bags belong to players paid by one or both brands. Those are staff bags, not eight free choices. The rows that tell you more are the mixed ones. Rose and McNealy play another brand's scoring wedges and still put an RTZ in the lob-wedge slot, the club where feel around the green matters most and where a pro has the least reason to accept anything he does not like.

One more caveat. RTZ 2 went on sale in September and most WITB sources simply write RTZ, so a few of these players may already have the new head in play. The sources we could read do not split the generations, and we have not guessed.

What RTZ 2 changes, and what it doesn't

RTZ 2 keeps Z-Alloy, HydraZip and UltiZip, and the back design carries over too. The changes are in the sole and the hosel. Roger Cleveland reworked every grind, and the 588 grind returns: 8 degrees of bounce, more in the toe and less in the heel, from 54 to 60 degrees, aimed at moderate and shallow swings. ZipCore iQ tunes the hosel core separately for each loft and grind instead of using one core throughout. Golfalot's reviewer found little to separate the two heads beyond the new grinds, and gave the newer one a positive score on exactly that basis.

So the decision is simple. If a fitter has put you in the 588, or you want the per-loft core tuning, buy RTZ 2 and pay the difference. If MID, FULL, LOW or ADAPT already suits your swing, the old head is the same steel and the same face for a quarter less.

Against the Vokey SM11 and the Opus SP

The Titleist Vokey SM11 launched in February with six grinds across 27 configurations from 44 to 60 degrees, and that grind menu is the real reason to pay its price. If your strike is unusual or your turf is extreme, Vokey's fitting matrix is wider than Cleveland's four grinds, and a good fitter will find you something the RTZ does not make. Vokey still leads the tour wedge count by a distance. What the SM11 does not offer is a reason to pay more if you sit in the middle of the bell curve, which is where most club golfers sit.

The Callaway Opus SP is the other credible alternative and a different idea. Its two-piece Spin Pocket construction raises the centre of gravity for a lower, more penetrating flight on full shots, which suits firm summer turf and players who flight their wedges. Our Opus SP review covers it in detail. In a wet winter on soft ground I would rather have the RTZ's wet-weather face than the Opus's lower flight.

Who should buy it, and who should skip it

Buy it if you know your lofts and want three or four matching wedges this winter. The saving compounds across a set, and the how many wedges you need maths usually lands on three or four. Buy it if you play in the wet, because HydraZip is built for that. Buy it if you open the face around the green, because ADAPT gives you full-face grooves for not much money.

Skip it if you are left-handed and want ADAPT. Cleveland makes the 54 and 58 ADAPT, the 58 and 60 FULL, the 46 MID, the 62 LOW and the 64 ADAPT for right-handers only, which is seven of the twenty configurations. Skip it if you want the 588. And do not wait too long if you want it, because a marked-down outgoing model sells through, and the loft and grind you want may be gone by the time the ground firms up.

The bottom line

This is the wedge I would buy at the money. Cleveland has made the case for the old head itself: a successor that keeps the steel, the face and the grooves, changes the grinds, and costs a third more on its own store. If your grind is already in the original line, the new one is paying for something you do not need. The best irons and wedges guide has the alternatives if you want a different shape.