Cleveland RTZ Wedges: Life-Tested Review

Cleveland didn’t just introduce new wedges for 2025, they introduced a whole new material in their wedges.

The new Cleveland RTZ wedges are made from Cleveland’s Z-Alloy, which the company spent years developing. The Z-Alloy is less dense, giving Cleveland engineers more wiggle room to optimize weight placement. It also produces a softer feel, a perk Cleveland is touting with its slogan New Steel, Better Feel. 

I put the RTZ wedges through an extended short-game test during the 2025 PGA Show demo day, so let’s take a closer look at what’s inside these new short game tools, and how they perform.

Cleveland’s own Z-Alloy is the biggest, but not the only, story of the RTZ wedges. The lower-density alloy gave Cleveland engineers freedom to move more weight where they want it, and less where they don’t. In the end, Cleveland was able to move six grams of mass to where it felt it would be best positioned.

Not to put you to sleep, but we have a few more Zzzs to discuss. Beyond the Z-Alloy, the RTZ wedges feature ZipCore technology, a HyrdaZip face, and UltiZip grooves.

ZipCore is not new to Cleveland wedges, but the fact that it’s carried over into RTZ demonstrates Cleveland’s faith in the tech. ZipCore is a low-density core that replaces the heavier metal of the rest of the club to optimize CG and increase MOI.

HydraZip is a feature you can actually see. The unique pattern of milling and face blasts between the grooves is designed to boost wedge performance from wet turf.

Finally, UltiZip sharp grooves work in tandem with deeper grooves to cut through and wisk away grass, dirt or other debris through impact, resulting in more consistency from shot to shot.

In a word, the Cleveland RTZ wedges are versatile.

Sure, I enjoyed the mildly softer feel at impact, but with the naked eye, I couldn’t tell you how much the ZipCore helped MOI or UltiZip cleared debris through impact. 

However, I was giddy about the amount of spin and control I had while hitting all kinds of pitch and chip shots in rainy, wet, soggy conditions. So thank you, HydraZip.

In all seriousness, I found it exceptionally easy to control short game shots with these wedges. I could open up the face and take it upstairs, and just as easily hit a low spinning, two-hop-and-stopper, stopping both varieties inside the circle of friendship with consistency. I hit shots from various lies as well, from tightly-mown areas to rough and trampled fescue. 

Throughout testing, it was easy to see the right shot, and execute it.