Why some wedges rust, some don't—and how much it matters
We robot-tested wedges with and without rust on the face to see if spin was affected.
Question: It seems like the wedges tour pros use all have some rust on the head, and wedges in amateurs' bags look better. Is the rust from excessive use? Answer: What you're seeing isn't abuse, it's intent.
The wedges in tour bags are almost all raw, meaning the manufacturer skipped the plating process and shipped the head as bare carbon steel. That steel oxidizes on contact with air and moisture, so a raw wedge can start rusting before a player ever hits a ball with it. For the most part, the wedges at your local pro shop are plated with chrome, nickel or a PVD coating, and that's the reason they look like they just came off the assembly line, even after they've been used for a while.
A wedge face is steel. Steel rusts. A plated finish adds a microscopic layer over the grooves and face surface, protecting the head from the elements and keeping the grooves from degrading as quickly.
The trade-off is that a finish can slightly dull the micro-texture between the grooves found on some wedges. A raw wedge skips the plating entirely and has a patina finish that some golfers prefer ( below ). But the real argument from some manufacturers has always been that raw faces deliver a little more friction on partial wedge shots from 30 to 60 yards, where spin and control matter most.