The TaylorMade Hi-Toe 5 Wedge arrives with a useful trick: it still looks like the club you reach for after the sensible shot has left the premises, but underneath that familiar tall-toe silhouette it has become a considerably more serious piece of engineering.

For 2026, TaylorMade has moved Hi-Toe to forged soft carbon steel, fitted its latest saw-milled grooves across the face and built the range around five sole grinds.

Pre-orders open on 13 August, retail sales start on 3 September and the UK price is £179. UK launch coverage and retail listings corroborate that price and September release.

A forged first changes the Hi-Toe proposition

The headline change is construction. Hi-Toe 5 is forged from soft carbon steel, putting it on the same fundamental construction platform as TaylorMade’s MG5.

The point is not that forged possesses mystical powers. Golf equipment already has enough mystical powers, most of them apparently activated immediately after somebody enters their credit-card details.

The more relevant development is that golfers can now choose between two distinctly different TaylorMade wedge shapes without stepping away from the company’s forged platform.

MG5 remains the compact teardrop. Hi-Toe 5 keeps the larger footprint and raised toe, and TaylorMade says its centre of gravity sits higher, intended to produce a lower, more penetrating flight with spin.

Matt Bovee, TaylorMade’s Senior Director of Product Creation, Irons & Wedges, says: “Hi-Toe has always been designed to be different. The expanded toe, the full-face grooves, the willingness to look different in the bag.

Those are the unique features that drew players to this wedge line in the first place. The carbon steel construction delivers a softer, more responsive feel at impact, and the precision tolerances of a forged head produce the kind of consistent feedback that allows golfers to dial in distance and trajectory shot after shot.

Pair that with a broad selection of grinds to fit all different swing types and playing conditions, and there’s a configuration in this lineup to help everyone play with more confidence around the green.”

The important bit is that Hi-Toe no longer asks golfers to choose between the unconventional shape and TaylorMade’s premium forged construction. You can now have both.

Full-face grooves now do more of the work

Hi-Toe 5 uses the same saw-milled groove concept as MG5, with steeper sidewalls and sharper internal radii engineered to generate more friction. The grooves extend from heel to toe across the face.

That represents a genuine generational change. TaylorMade previously described Hi-Toe 4 as having full-face grooves in the 54° to 60° lofts. Hi-Toe 5 broadens that full-face approach across the new family rather than reserving it principally for the higher-lofted end of the range.

For golfers who open the face, play frequently from sand or discover that delicate pitches have an alarming habit of migrating towards the toe, the logic is straightforward. Grooves are most useful where the golf ball actually arrives.

The RAW face is partnered by Spin Tread Technology, using laser-etched channels designed to move moisture away from the impact area. TaylorMade’s stated aim is to retain spin when water gets between ball and face.

There is at least some early independent evidence behind the broader performance story. Golf Monthly’s launch-day test of a 54° Hi-Toe 5 recorded more than 7,600rpm on 50-yard pitch shots, alongside a 26.9° launch angle.

One tester, one wedge and one particular shot should not be mistaken for tablets brought down from the mountain, but actual launch-monitor data is considerably more useful than another paragraph about “confidence”.

Five Hi-Toe 5 sole grinds make fitting the real story

The grind menu may be the cleverer part of the launch.

ATS is the broad all-rounder, using four-way camber and appearing across the widest spread of lofts. TaylorMade lists it from 50° through 60°.

ATV uses a concave sole and asymmetric bounce, behaving with more bounce when square and less as the face is opened. It should appeal to golfers who enjoy altering face angle rather than playing every chip with the creativity of a parking meter.

ATX uses three sole ledges and is aimed towards steeper deliveries, with the leading section designed to resist digging and the trailing portion helping the club leave the turf.

ATW is the widest, highest-effective-bounce option, intended for softer ground, bunkers and players who favour a squarer face.

Then comes ATC, the low-bounce specialist for firm turf, tight lies and shallower attack angles. TaylorMade’s specification table lists ATC at 8° of bounce in 58° and 60° models and marks it as custom-only.

This degree of sole differentiation is valuable, but only if golfers resist choosing a grind because its three-letter designation looks pleasing on the sole. Delivery, turf and the shots you actually play matter rather more.

Who should play the TaylorMade Hi-Toe 5 Wedge?

Hi-Toe 5 makes most sense for golfers who appreciate visual reassurance behind the ball, manipulate the clubface around the green or want their wedge sole matched properly to their delivery and course conditions.

It should also hold obvious appeal for players whose strike pattern moves towards the toe on open-face pitches and bunker shots. That larger grooved area has a practical purpose rather than merely giving the club something interesting to do with all that extra real estate.

The reservation is equally obvious: the shape is not discreet. Golfers raised on neat, traditional wedge profiles may put one behind the ball and wonder who left a small gardening implement in their bag.

Pros: fully forged carbon-steel construction; heel-to-toe grooves; genuinely differentiated sole options; a clear performance and visual alternative to MG5.

Cons: the shape will divide opinion; £179 is firmly premium territory; five grind choices are only an advantage if the golfer chooses the right one.

TaylorMade Hi-Toe 5 vs MG5

TaylorMade’s wedge hierarchy is now easier to understand.

MG5 is the conventional compact option, with the familiar teardrop shape and cleaner look that many golfers prefer on fuller swings. Hi-Toe 5 offers the larger profile, expanded toe and higher-CG design.

Both are forged and both use TaylorMade’s current saw-milled groove, RAW face and Spin Tread concepts.

A mixed set therefore makes considerably more sense than it might first sound: MG5 in the lower lofts, where conventional shaping can feel more natural on fuller approaches, and Hi-Toe 5 higher up the bag where face manipulation and imperfect strikes become more common.

Not compulsory. Golf already contains quite enough commandments.

TaylorMade Hi-Toe 5 price, release date and verdict

The standard TaylorMade Hi-Toe 5 Wedge costs £179 in the UK, while MyHi-Toe 5 is £209. Pre-orders begin on 13 August 2026, with retail availability from 3 September.

Independent UK launch coverage and retail listings corroborate the £179 standard price, while launch-day testing coverage lists the £209 MyHi-Toe 5 figure.

Stock wedges come in the signature Aged Copper finish, with Satin Chrome available through custom ordering. MyHi-Toe 5 broadens the aesthetic menu with Charcoal Black and Tour Raw alongside copper and chrome, plus personalised text, logos, paint fills and ferrule choices.

On paper, though, this is the most coherent Hi-Toe yet: forged, properly configurable and technically distinct from MG5 without sanding away the eccentricity that made the franchise recognisable.

The final judgement belongs on turf — preferably damp turf, with a launch monitor nearby and a bunker carrying some emotional baggage.

Hi-Toe has not become normal. It has simply become harder to dismiss.