MAZEL 70° Lob Wedge Review: a weirdly useful high-loft club for short game experiments

I picked up the MAZEL 70° lob wedge mostly out of curiosity. I already play a pretty standard wedge setup (50/54/58), and honestly I thought this would just be a fun toy for flop shots with the guys. But after a few rounds and a couple of practice sessions, I ended up using it more than I expected, especially around tight pins and nasty bunkers. It’s not a magic club, but it does a specific job quite well if you accept its limits.

The first thing you notice is how high the ball goes on anything close to a full swing. We’re talking moon balls that go maybe 40–50 yards max for me, then drop and stop very fast. If you’re looking for distance, this is not it. If you want height and stopping power from short range, it actually makes sense. I’d say it behaves more like a specialty tool than a regular wedge you’ll use on every hole.

I tested it over a couple of weeks on my local course: short par 3s, greenside bunkers, and those awkward 10–25 yard chips over bunkers or mounds. I’m around a 15 handicap, so not a pro, but not totally clueless either. Once I got the feel for it, I started to trust it for very specific shots where my 58° sometimes runs a bit too far.

It’s not perfect. It’s easy to hit it too high and short, and if your technique is bad, it will punish you. But for the price and for what it does, I’d say it’s a pretty solid specialty wedge for messing around with high loft shots or copying some of those YouTube chipping methods. Just don’t expect it to suddenly fix your short game by itself.

For what this club costs compared to big-name wedges, I’d say value is pretty solid. You’re not paying premium-brand money for something that you’ll probably use only a few times per round, if that. If you’re just curious about super high loft wedges and don’t want to spend a lot, this is a low-risk way to try the concept. Worst case, it becomes a fun range toy or a backup club. Best case, it earns a spot in your bag for those tricky shots.

Compared to my main wedges from better-known brands, yes, you can feel and see the difference in finish, feel, and consistency. But those cost two to three times more, and I’m not ready to drop that much on a 70° wedge that I’m still not sure I’ll use long-term. At this price, I’m fine with a club that’s good enough rather than perfect. It spins enough, feels okay, and does what a 70° wedge should do: launch the ball high and short.

The Amazon reviews (around 4.6/5) line up with my experience: most people seem pleasantly surprised, a few treat it as a gimmick that turned out to be actually useful. The 2-month free return policy is also a plus. If you try it and really hate it, you’re not stuck with it forever. That makes the purchase a bit easier to justify if you’re on the fence.

So in terms of value, I’d say: if you’re a gear nerd or short game experimenter, it’s worth the money. If you already struggle with basic wedge play and don’t practice much, you might be better off putting that cash into a lesson instead. But as a cheap specialty tool that opens up some fun and useful shot options, it’s hard to complain about what you get for the price.

Design-wise, the MAZEL 70° wedge is pretty straightforward. Cavity back head, wide sole, high loft – that’s the whole story. In the bag, it looks like a normal modern wedge, just with a loft number that makes your buddies raise an eyebrow. The silver finish on mine is standard, nothing fancy, but it doesn’t scream “toy” either. It actually blends in fine with my other wedges, especially from a distance. Up close, you can tell it’s not a premium brand, but it doesn’t look like a random no-name clone either.

The wide sole is the key part of the design. It’s clearly made to help you not dig into the turf or sand too much. When you set it behind the ball, you can feel that it wants to glide more than dig. For beginners or mid-handicappers, that’s helpful, especially in bunkers or rough. The flip side is that on tight lies, if you don’t strike it clean, you can bounce the sole into the ball and send a thin rocket. So it forgives fat shots more than thin ones.

At address, the 70° loft looks a bit wild at first. The face is almost staring at you. If you’re used to a 58° or 60°, this will look extreme. After a few swings, you get used to it, but don’t expect a traditional look. The topline isn’t super thick, but the cavity back makes the head look slightly bulkier than a blade wedge. That said, it gives some confidence that there’s a bit more mass behind the ball.

One thing to note: the alignment and leading edge are fine, but not razor-precise like high-end wedges. For a club at this price, I’m okay with that. The grooves look uniform and the CNC milling is visible, which at least gives you some trust in the face tech. Overall, the design is practical: wide sole for forgiveness, crazy loft for height, cavity back for a bit of stability. It’s not a beauty queen, but it’s not ugly, and it matches its purpose pretty well.

The head is made of 431 stainless steel, which is pretty standard for budget and mid-range wedges. It’s a bit softer than some cheaper stainless options, so you get a reasonable feel without that harsh, clicky feedback you sometimes get from very cheap clubs. The CNC milled face is a nice touch at this price. You can see and feel the milling lines, and they do seem to help with spin when you strike it clean. I wouldn’t compare it to top-tier wedges, but it’s not just cosmetic.

The shaft is an alloy steel regular flex. It feels a bit on the lighter side compared to my other wedges, but not by a huge margin. For a club that you mostly use for 10–50 yard shots, I’m not too picky about the shaft tech. It feels stable enough, no weird whippiness or vibration. If you’re super sensitive to shaft feel, you might notice the difference from your main set, but most casual players will be fine.

The grip is basic rubber. It’s usable out of the box, with a simple texture that gives enough traction in dry conditions. In the wet, it’s just okay – not terrible, not great. If you’re fussy about grips, you’ll probably re-grip it to match the rest of your set anyway. For the cost of this club, I’m not expecting a premium grip, and what they put on is serviceable.

Build quality overall feels solid enough. No weird rattles, the head is firmly attached, and after a couple of weeks of range and course use, there’s only normal face wear and some minor scuffing on the sole. Nothing that suggests it will fall apart quickly. It’s made in China, which is pretty standard now, and for this price bracket, I think the materials and construction are fair. If you’re used to high-end wedges, you’ll feel the difference in refinement. If you just want a functional 70° wedge that doesn’t feel like a toy, it gets the job done.

I obviously haven’t used this club for years, but after a couple of weeks of range sessions, bunker practice, and a handful of rounds, it’s holding up fine. The face shows normal wear—some ball marks and a bit of scratching—but the grooves still look sharp enough. The CNC milling is still clearly visible. I didn’t notice any sudden loss of spin or weird performance drop-off, which can sometimes happen with very cheap wedges when the face wears too fast.

The sole has a few scuffs from sand and turf, which is totally expected. Nothing that affects play. The finish on the silver version is basic, so it will show scratches like any other wedge. If you want something that hides wear better, the black QPQ version might be a better choice, since they claim that treatment hardens the surface and resists fading. I can’t speak from long-term experience on that, but the tech itself is a known process in the industry.

The shaft and hosel connection feel solid. No loosening, no rattling, even after some heavier bunker swings. I stored it in my normal bag with no headcover, and it took the usual banging around with other clubs without any obvious damage beyond light bag chatter. The grip is still fine after a few sweaty rounds, although I can see myself re-gripping it down the line just to match the feel of my main set.

For the price point, I’d rate the durability as perfectly acceptable. It doesn’t feel fragile or like it’s going to snap or wear out in one season. If you’re playing a lot (multiple rounds a week), you might eventually see faster wear than with a premium wedge, but given how situational this club is, most people won’t be using it on every shot anyway. So in practice, it should last long enough to get your money’s worth.

This club has one main trick: very high, very short shots that stop quickly. On a full swing (my 7-iron is around 150 yards for reference), I’m getting roughly 45–55 yards carry with the 70° wedge, and the ball goes straight up. It’s almost funny the first time you hit it. The ball lands soft and usually doesn’t roll much, sometimes even backing up a bit on softer greens. If you’re used to a 58° or 60° going 70–90 yards, this will feel like half a club in distance, but much higher.

Where it really helped me was from 10–30 yards around the green, especially when I had to go over a bunker or steep rise and stop the ball fast. Instead of trying to open my 58° and play a complicated flop, I could just make a more normal swing with the 70° and let the loft do the work. When I struck it clean, I was leaving myself inside 6 feet pretty consistently, more so than with my usual high-risk flop attempts. Miss-hits are still punished, but the margin for error feels a bit kinder on fat shots because of the wide sole.

In bunkers, it’s a bit of a double-edged sword. Out of steep-faced greenside bunkers, this thing can absolutely pop the ball up and out with very little effort. I had two shots where I was almost under the lip, and it got me out where my normal sand wedge might have struggled. But if the sand is very fluffy and you don’t commit to the swing, the extreme loft can leave you short in the bunker. You need to be confident and hit through the sand; if you baby it, the ball can die quickly.

One warning: if you set up wrong and catch it thin, the ball can come off low and very fast, because there’s still a lot of loft but you’re effectively hitting it with the equator of the face. I had one or two of those that went screaming over the green. So it’s not a cheat code—your technique still matters. Overall, though, for short, high, accurate shots inside 30 yards, it does exactly what you’d expect a 70° wedge to do, and it’s actually pretty fun to use once you get the feel.

The club I used is the right-handed 70° version, 35 inches, regular flex steel shaft, silver head. MAZEL also sells it in 68° and 72°, all with the same length and lie (64°) but different bounce (5°, 7°, 9°). Mine is the 70° with 7° bounce. It’s basically a super-high loft lob wedge meant for short, high shots and soft landings. The head is a cavity back style, so a bit more forgiving than a thin, blade-style wedge.

The head is made from 431 stainless steel, with a CNC milled face and grooves. On paper that means more consistent spin and control. In practice, it grips the ball pretty well on decent contact, especially with a clean ball and dry conditions. You can feel the face bite a bit on half swings and chips. It’s not at the level of top-tier wedge brands, but for this price range it’s more than decent. The shaft is a basic alloy steel regular flex, nothing fancy, but it feels stable enough on those short swings.

The club is clearly not designed as a full set wedge replacement. It’s more of a specialty lob wedge you pull out for certain situations: ball short-sided, need to go over a bunker, tight pin with little green to work with, or those YouTube-style chipping tricks where you stand the club up and basically putt with it. I tried the Jimmy Tropicana-type method with it, and it does work, but you really need to practice to avoid blading it.

Overall, the presentation is simple: one club, basic grip, no fancy packaging, no big accessories. You get a single lob wedge that fills a very narrow role in the bag. If you expect a polished, premium-feel package, you’ll be a bit underwhelmed. If you just want a cheap way to test a 70° wedge and see if that type of shot fits your game, the concept makes sense.

If you’re a mid-handicap or casual golfer, the big question is: does this club actually help your short game, or is it just a gimmick? From my experience, it’s useful, but only if you’re willing to practice a bit and accept that it’s a very situational club. After about two range sessions and one short game practice session, I was comfortable enough to pull it out in real rounds for certain shots. It didn’t replace my 58°, but it gave me a safer option for super high shots where I usually get too cute and mess up.

For chipping using the upright, putting-style methods (like some YouTube guys show), the wide sole and high loft do help. If you set up with the shaft more vertical and use a putting stroke, the ball pops up and lands soft, without needing a big wristy motion. I tested this from about 10–15 yards off the green, over a small fringe, and the results were consistent once I got the feel: the ball landed soft and rolled out just a little. It’s less touchy than a standard lob wedge for that specific method, but you still need to control distance.

Where it’s less effective is when you try to force it into roles it’s not built for. As a general-purpose wedge from 60–90 yards, it’s basically useless; it just doesn’t go that far. On firm lies where you want to bump-and-run, it’s also not the right tool. The extreme loft means everything wants to go up, not forward. So if you’re looking for a single wedge that does everything, this is the wrong choice. It’s more like a specialty tool you carry alongside a normal wedge set.

Overall, I’d say its effectiveness is high within a narrow window: short-sided shots, steep bunkers, and specific chipping methods. Outside of that, it’s just a very high loft club that doesn’t add much. If you know that going in and you’re okay using a club only a few times per round, it can genuinely help in those tricky spots where you otherwise get into trouble.