Just Who Is The XXIO Prime Royal Edition For?

If you enjoy getting riled up over the cost of today’s golf equipment, we’re going to have some fun today.

If you feel compelled to voice your frustrations over $600 drivers in our comments section or on social media, consider this my gift to you.

Yes, friends, today we’re going to talk about the new XXIO Prime Royal Edition lineup. Before we go any further down this road, however, you’ll probably want to know these numbers:

Driver: $1,199.99
Fairways: $799.99
Hybrids: $499.99
Irons: $2,099 (five pieces)
Add-on irons: $359.99
Ladies’ packaged set: $5,299.99

No, those numbers are not a typo. XXIO Prime is a premium, upscale product and Royal Edition is an additional jump up the upscale scale. The good folks at Srixon-Cleveland-XXIO consider XXIO the “kitchen sink” line. That means XXIO throws every bit of tech it can into the product, including the proverbial kitchen sink. Not surprisingly, some of that technology eventually finds its way into Srixon and Cleveland products so you could even consider XXIO to be a “concept car” type of product.

So, yeah, the prices are high, but there is a market for this type of product. Not a big one, mind you, but a market nonetheless. XXIO has been aggressively working the North American market for the better part of a decade and has succeeded in establishing itself both at retail and green grass.

With that out of the way, let’s get on with the article. I can’t wait to read your comments.

XXIO Prime Royal Edition: What is it and who is it for?

XXIO is the upscale wing of the Srixon-Cleveland-XXIO triumvirate. Specially crafted from grip to tip, XXIO is an ultralight offering for what the company calls “experienced” golfers. That’s code for seniors and older golfers who don’t have the same swing speed as they did back in the day. It also includes women of varying ages who will benefit from a lighter offering.

What makes XXIO different is that it’s not an OEM’s regular offering with a lightweight grip and shaft. Heads, grips and shafts are all made by XXIO for XXIO for the purpose of being light and easy to swing.

XXIO considers its standard lightweight offering to be “premium” performance for the target audience and is priced accordingly. XXIO Prime is its ultra-lightweight premium offering and is ultra-premium priced.

As its name suggests, XXIO Prime Royal Edition is a luxury version of XXIO Prime with gold trim, fancy milling and enough bling to make any queen, princess or duchess blush.

A top-selling brand in Asia, XXIO has found a foothold in North America. The target demographic includes most women as well as aging males who play a lot of golf and want to make the most of what’s left of their golf-playing years. That’s a demographic OEMs from Callaway to Wilson are starting to pay attention to with their own lighter-weight options. Those offerings are usually standard to slightly modified versions of those OEMs regular products, built with a lightweight shaft and grip.

XXIO’s claim to differentiation is that its products are designed specifically for a surprisingly large subset of that target demographic. They’re golfers who have money and don’t mind spending it on something they believe will make their remaining golf-playing years easier and a little bit more fun

“But $1,200 for a driver????”

 We’re talking jewelry here, people.

XXIO Prime Royal Edition has nothing – as in zero, nada, nuttin’ – to do with any mainstream product. The driver has a 39-gram, gold ion-plated shaft for heaven’s sake. The entire line is engineered from grip to tip to provide lightweight performance. The entire package, from head to shaft to grip, is designed as one holistic unit to be light, easy to swing and even easier to get up in the air.

While the typical XXIO player is what we’d call a slow swing speed player, the average XXIO Prime player is an even slower swinger.

If you really want to know who buys XXIO Prime Royal Edition, take a trip to Palm Springs. You’ll see McLaren, Bentley, Ferrari and Lamborghini dealerships and plenty of those cars parked at some swanky country clubs. Palm Springs is the XXIO mothership and, to those golfers, the price tag is couch-cushion money.

(As Fitzgerald said: “The rich really are different.” And, as Hemingway responded: “You’re right. They’ve got more money.”)

XXIO Prime Royal Edition: The techy stuff

The XXIO Prime Royal Edition tech story is boilerplate from the standard XXIO Prime. It’s for the “experienced golfer” who, quite simply, is trying to make the most out of whatever golfing years he or she has left.

The metalwoods feature a BiFlex Face, a rigid frame around a highly flexible face to reinforce key areas of the face to expand the high COR area and optimize ball speed.

Additionally, they also feature ActivWing, an aerodynamic ridge on the heel side of the crown. Exen XXIO says ActivWing is hard to explain but it uses aerodynamics to help get the clubhead square at impact. Cleveland uses ActivWing on the new HiBore XL.

There’s the Cannon Sole on the fairways and hybrids to bring CG to subterranean levels. The irons are a four-piece construction with a super-light and flexible titanium face. That face is Super-TIX 51AF, the same material as used in the driver face.

XXIO’s proprietary SP1300 graphite shaft is standard in the entire line. The driver shaft is 39 grams and the shafts get progressively heavier as the line transitions from woods to irons. The standard models come in SR and R flexes. The ladies’ packaged set comes in L flex. That set adds a touch of lavender accent to the gold bling.

All of the clubs feature CNC-milled faces and gold ion plating on the clubheads and shafts. It’s not my cup of tea, but if you got it, flaunt it, baby.

The new XXIO Prime Royal Edition hits retail and online on Feb. 14.

For more info, visit the XXIO website.

XXIO is discounting the previous edition XXIO Prime 12 on its website. Click here for details.