PXG is unveiling an all-new clubface material, and it looks to be a huge breakthrough. Fully Equipped’s Ryan Barath put the new drivers and woods to the test to find out. He and Jonathan Wall chronicle PXG’s rise to prominence.
In Clubtest Debriefs, Wall and Barath interview GOLF staffers who are testing all the OEM’s 2024 products.
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Welcome back to another edition of Club test debrief where our writers and editors thoroughly vet the latest gear on the golf course on the range and then offer their takes on what they thought about it maybe offer a few standup products today we’re going to get into
The new pxg Black Ops with RB how was testing it at Scottdale National I was there for about half a day and got to go through all the new product go go through the presentation for it and then obviously get fit for it and you know
They got something with these I I I don’t say that like they didn’t have something with the last one but you know we’ve talked about factors that play into what causes like viable Improvement and one of those things is face material and they’ve got a new face material for
Their drivers and Ferry Woods that for me based on also what they’ve done with shaping and creating these different profiles of drivers they got some speed they got some speed and uh when it comes to the the model which I was fit into they they’ve definitely found a formula
For very low spin which for me is a big win you know pxg is an interesting brand because if you think about where they started when they very first came out they were by far the most expensive Golf Club company on the market and I think
That was a little bit of the Allure you thought for for that much money you must be getting something incredible and they had a lot of really incredible products a lot of game-changing products that we we now see some of that Tech starting to seep into to other manufacturers but
It’s interesting they’ve now since gone to a much more I would I would say budget friendly model and I think some golfers out there probably see the price and they think man that seems crazy low for for a company that was once at the top end of the price point you mentioned
Like the face materials the these aren’t you know while the prices have gone down exponentially the performance of these is right in line with a lot of the other products that I know that you and I have both tested yeah and I think the way that they’ve done it as well is like
They’ve segmented obviously we’re talking about the new product but the way they’ve kind of let older models live a little longer allowing people to get value into the brand which is something that they’ve achieved really well as far as the new stuff is concerned I think the biggest the
Biggest development for them is really looking at the the way that these drivers are designed to fit different profiles of players um I tried the Black Ops like kind of what we call the core the standard model and it was really good because it was very it was it’s a
It’s a very large head it’s very very forgiving I know the the 10K number gets thrown out a lot right now for moi and it gets there with a uh a certain weight configuration that is not stock that for them so they I mean it’s very very close
To that already and then change of weight consider um weight configuration and you get to that point pretty easily actually but for the tour driver it’s really not designed for that it is designed for premium low spe Spin and someone who is on the faster end someone who might just need spin reduction
Overall to help gain distance it is the lowest spinning driver that they’ve ever created and it was kind of one of the reasons why they wanted to offer both models there was the the one that kind of fits a lot more players and then there is the tour one which is you know
I don’t say tour one as in that’s the actual model is the tour number one and what that allowed them to do is really segment the two drivers and then with weight configurations and all stuff they could kind of bring them closer together and find that middle ground for other
Players ERS for me on the high end of someone who tends to spin the golf ball too much not un necessarily you know tour Level Club at speed but just as far as spin creation which I’m I’m always trying to eliminate the tour one for me worked so well it was actually extremely
Impressive to see the the numbers off of that driver and to get not just ball speed which is obviously like kind of right in the Wheelhouse of what I would expect to see kind of on the highest level of what I would achieve but also where the spins at to like find
Something that spins around like 2500 for me is like a huge win especially when this is the big one we always talk about playing a cut you know like you can do that with a draw and you know kind of find one that falls out of the
Sky but when you’re playing a cut and you can find that flat ball flight hey Plus for me yeah would you say compared to your gamer driver that was probably the the biggest Improvement that you saw when you were testing the new Black Ops yeah I would say there’s probably a
Couple hundred RPM of difference especially in that cut shot you know for me without getting into too much specifics if I want to hit a really low spin shot I kind of basically hit a straight pull I aim a little right and just pull it and it doesn’t really draw
Too much but to actually hit a a fade that doesn’t over spin or doesn’t kind of spin a little too much I kind of accept that in my golf game generally I’m like okay I’m G to spin it you know probably closer to 28 2900 but I’m gonna
Find a lot of Fairways and be very happy with that but to be able to essentially make the same go swing and find something that launches at basically the same height but spins less for me is a huge win um and I’ve played pxg drivers
In the past and I’ve always had to go to their lowest Loft setting to find that low spin window and with the black I actually just played it one click lower at 90 degrees which when my fitter Nick was helping me kind of get in there goes
Let’s start with a nine degree before we get down into that eight degree and I was like okay well end up there anyways but you know I I want to let you showcase the product because I don’t I don’t know anything really about it yet and we hit that window right away and
For me that was like the big Telltale sign if you can go up and Loft and maintain spin now you’re finding a window where you’re going to carry it further and you’re going to get a little bit more roll and that that for me was
Why I saw such a big win with that one it’s funny you mention that because I was talking to Eric Cole now the PJ tour Rookie of the Year and he was saying the exact same thing as you and you know we talk about like what are the what are
The like intangibles that you need in a driver and having consistent spin on your go-to shot where where you’re not going to get get too much and it’s going to sap distance it’s going to you know kind of float up on you we’ve all seen that driver where it just kind of tails
Up a little bit the very top of the Apex instead of instead of kind of boring through the wind that’s such an important shot to have but it all comes down to spin so to be able to see that I’m sure was was a massive win for you
All right let’s get into the Fairway Woods driver we know what you saw go-to shot fade lower spin but what about the Fairway what was it about the Black Ops that really impressed you with unlike the driver there is only one line of Fairy Woods as well as hybrid so there
Is just the Black Ops Fairy Woods the thing that I found and again I’ve used the in the past the Gen 6 like the lower lofted versions of certain Fairy Woods and the more like what we you quote unquote call The Players line versus the the XF line and what they’ve been able
To do with multi material just like with the driver with carbon on the on the crown and on the sole they don’t have Carbon on the sole of the f wood but using Carbon on the crown very strong carbon that allows them to save a lot of
Mass thei or the Forgiveness on the Fairy Woods is almost identical to the XF while still being lower Spin and that’s kind of that you know that’s what you’re looking for when you’re trying to put these two things together these two factors and to be able to hit something
Off the deck with again normally I’ve used the psgs in the past I use the two-wood as the three-wood I use the two-wood which is the 13 degree and I would Loft it down even just because I would like to see that bullet 3-wood fly I’m not really concerned too much with
Carry distance with that golf club just for my own personal game but again same thing up and Loft just clicked open a couple degrees and I saw higher launch with less spin um and that to me was probably one of the most impressive elements of that because for me a 3-wood
Is designed to go as far as possible and really push it I’m not trying to carry water and get to a part five that’s not my game so if I can just get it to go as far as possible and run that’s a huge Advantage for me and I saw that while
Again seeing higher flight that to if I can know that I can carry at a certain distance off the deck that is where I really am going to utilize a three-wood the most and then I saw that kind of same thing with the fivewood as well and
I just again clicked it open and I really like that it’s it’s a little bit more compact than the previous generation but it still offered that forgiveness and same thing as well new face material allowed it to I mean it’s kind of the intangible but they do feel
Really good as well which I think is you know we always talk look sound feel it’s always those kind of buzzwords that we that do kind of factor into how a golf club performs but they do feel different and that feel which is caused by the material change saw an actual numbers
Difference and that’s what I care about I care about the numbers I saw it on the launch monitor and that for me is is where I I know that it’s it’s a winning product yeah I know the the goal of going through a fitting is to find the
Club for you but when we have the opportunity to to see everything I know I’ve watched you test before you you like to test it all did you test all the different models in the furwood lineup or did did they just kind of zero you in
On that one and that was the model that you tested so they only do have that one model so I I did um as far as the fivewood is concerned I did go in to try test the hybrid as well so again one model of hybrid just the Black Ops
Hybrid and they’ve really squared them up again they they what pxg does with their Woods is is pretty interesting because a lot of them get a little bit more rounded on the toe they like to keep them more square and that does a couple things one is it helps the golf
Club look a little bit more open it shows more face so it’s pretty confidence inspiring from a dress but it also allows the face to flex because it’s a little bigger rather than kind of pinching down more and I found with the hybrid kind of similar to like the two
Or one driver was really hit down on it it wouldn’t spin too much and you know we we found in testing that a lot of hybrids don’t really spin that much now anyways but to be able to hit down and see a really good ball flight and have
That deeper face where you can feel like you can get down on it I think a lot of better players if you look at shallow faed hybrids it’s like yeah they’re great but like you know if I’m trying to hit one out of the rough or I’m using it
As like quote unquote a a get out of jail free Club a shallow face if you hit it high on the face you’re pooched there’s no other way to put it like it’s going to come out really high it’s going to come out really soft it’s
Not going to have any ball speed and you I found that with you know speaking of testing and kind of nerding out a little bit I like to find the bad lies with the hybrids and the and kind of the fivewood to really see if you can dig it out of
There and that for me is where that stood out when it comes to the hybrid but being someone who actually in a weird way needs more spin in their longer clubs less so with the driver but with a fivewood I want it to go high and
I want it to land softer so that’s why I ended up with the fivewood instead but I think for players that might be down on it a little bit more there are a lot of options in that that hybrid that are going to work for players I want to know
What was your biggest win from testing PG’s Black Ops oh like a a 2600 spin fade that to me was insane um you know we talked about the numbers a lot um to be able to see 270 roughly around that area of carry for me is like awesome like that’s my
Target if I can get to that Target every time I’m a very very happy golfer and to be able to achieve it with a fade versus trying to like squeak out a draw or try to do something where manipulating the golf club for me um is is something I
Don’t want to have to do and in some cases I do it to play a golf club that might be more forgiving or something but with this golf club the tour one I got the Forgiveness enough forgiveness that I that I needed it’s a 460 Club head but
It’s offers that low spin performance that I really liked it offered some stability and then being able to go out and use it and they got to play nine holes quickly that afternoon with that driver I was like yeah I really like this thing I like to be able to aim down
The left side of the Fairway and just swing as hard as I can and just watch it kind of cut and just be pretty happy with that ball do you see the driver making the bag right now it’s my and I’ll be very Frank about it it is the
Number one driver to beat right now for me in my because because of that low spin fade that’s the hardest thing it’s the hardest shot for me to hit um and I really liked how it performed and how it felt so you know people can call me on
If they see me on the golf course I’m not using it but uh right now that would be the one that uh I mean it’s it’s January I’m not going playing anytime soon but uh if if you see me it’s probably the driver that’s going to be
In my bag right now High Praise from RB RB thanks for taking us through uh PG’s new Black Ops line hey glad to talk about it it was it was a fun experience and it’s uh exciting exciting series of Clubs
2 Comments
Nice to see Nick Jahnke got you dialed.
What is the head size of the 4 fairway wood? They list it only in head weight grams not cc.