XXIO Prime and XXIO Prime Royal Edition

XXIO Prime and XXIO Prime Royal Edition – Key Takeaways

• Updates for XXIO’s ultra-lightweight line
• Designed for “moderate” swing speed golfers
• XXIO Prime Royal Edition, upscale even for XXIO
• Available at retail and online April 14

 

There are few guarantees in this world but the new XXIO Prime and XXIO Prime Royal Edition golf clubs deliver on several.

First, if you have a moderate (slow) swing speed, you will like the XXIO Prime and XXIO Prime Royal Edition.

Second, if the word “premium” does have meaning and value to you, you’ll like the XXIO Prime and XXIO Prime Royal Edition.

And, third, if you want to howl about the price of clubs, you’ll love the XXIO Prime and XXIO Prime Royal Edition.

You’ll have plenty to howl about.

XXIO Prime and XXIO Prime Royal Edition: What’s the Fuss?

Since the turn of the current century, XXIO has made a name for itself as a premium-priced, lightweight offering for, shall we say, the more mature golfer. It’s also made a name for itself as a premium-priced, lightweight offering for the female golfer.

XXIO Prime and its bolder, richer cousin XXIO Prime Royal Edition, can be considered XXIO’s XXIO. If your standard XXIO is lightweight, XXIO Prime is even lighter. And if XXIO is premium priced … well, you get the picture.

XXIO (pronounced zexy-oh, with the emphasis on zex) is part of the Srixon-Cleveland-XXIO family owned by Japan’s Sumitomo Rubber Industries (the SRI in Srixon) and operates under the Dunlop Sports Americas umbrella. XXIO’s mainstream products include XXIO 12 – a lightweight, premium line for moderate swing speed (see above) players. There’s also XXIO X, a light-ish-weight premium line for better golfers who aren’t ready to give in to Father Time just yet.

Prime is the ultra-lightweight premium line aimed squarely at aging golfers whose swing speed has dropped below the Mendoza line.

How premium is XXIO Prime? How about an $899.99 driver, $599.99 fairway wood and $419.99 hybrid premium?

Seriously, Who Buys This Stuff?

The answer may surprise you. Obviously, aging golfers with money buy XXIO Prime. On a recent trip to Palm Springs, we found the XXIO mothership: golfers of a certain age, male and female, bagging full sets of XXIO Prime. If golfers have the means and want to make the most of what’s left of their golf-playing years, price is but a number.

So, yeah, the target for XXIO Prime is the well-to-do golfer who is losing swing speed as he or she ages and is willing to spend the cabbage to fend off the inevitable. We can scoff at price all we want (and a $900 driver—$1,200 if you go Royal Edition—pushes the limits of scoff-worthiness) but value is up to the buyer.

The entire XXIO Prime line is purpose-built grip to tip and the company piles all of its best technology into it. For example, making a high MOI head that’s also lightweight is a tough engineering feat but XXIO seems to have done it. The company says it uses a proprietary casting technology for the head using a low-density titanium alloy. The new model features ultra-thin walls (as thin as 0.45mm) and a deeper shape to push the CG farther back. The light and forgiving head, when combined with XXIO’s proprietary and lightweight (35 grams) SP-1200 shaft, creates a club that weighs 254 grams with a D1 swing weight.

Does that make it worth $900? If you asked me that question 10 years ago, the answer would have been a hard no. Ask me again in another 10 years and I’m getting longer, straighter and easier out of the deal, the answer might be different.

(Especially if the 401k does well.)

XXIO Prime Drivers, Fairways and Hybrids

As mentioned, XXIO takes a kitchen-sink approach to its technology. If they have it, XXIO gets it. Along with lightweight and high MOI design, XXIO Prime’s metalwoods all feature Rebound Frame.

We’ve seen Rebound Frame in Srixon metalwoods as well as in last year’s XXIO 12 and XXIO X releases, so we won’t belabor the issue. Simply put, Rebound Frame is XXIO’s way of creating as much face flex as possible by backing up thin, flexible portions of the head with more stable, rigid sections. The thin, Super=TIX 51AF titanium face is backed with a rigid frame, a thin, flexible cup face weld and a rigid driver body. The net result is a dual trampoline effect.

Does the tech work? Judging by Srixon’s driver performance in this year’s Most Wanted testing, we’d have to say yes.

The metalwoods also include XXIO’s ActivWing Technology which also appeared in XXIO 12 and XXIO X. It’s an aerodynamic notch on the back of the club head near the heel which is supposed to help keep the club head on path during the downswing and easier to square at impact.

There’s also XXIO’s proprietary SP-1200 shaft. New for this year’s XXIO Prime, the SP-1200 is both lighter and a quarter of an inch shorter than the shaft in previous XXIO Prime models. The shaft profiles out with a stiff butt and a more flexible tip. XXIO says it’s designed to be light but not whippy. XXIO’s Weight Plus technology, basically a counterweight in the butt, also helps keep your swing on path.

As mentioned, the XXIO Prime driver retails for $899.99, the fairways for $599.99 and hybrids for $419.99.

XXIO Prime Irons

The XXIO Prime irons continue with the same lighter, faster, longer theme. They use the iron version of Rebound Frame. The soft, flexible face is made from the same Super-TIX 51AF titanium as the metalwoods. It’s backed up by a rigid SUS630 stainless steel body. The 5- through 7-irons have the requisite tungsten-nickel alloy deposited in the sole for a lower CG. That helps the slower swing speed golfer get the ball in the air with his or her longer irons. The 8-iron through SW don’t have the extra sole weighting.

Additionally, XXIO has made tightened up the sole width for the XXIO Prime irons. They’re more compact and essentially the same width as XXIO 12. XXIO says its testing shows the new Prime 7-iron is just over two yards longer than the previous Prime and is just under a yard longer than “Competitor A,” whom we can only guess is the more premium-priced Callaway Great Big Bertha.

The shaft is the iron version of the SP-1200 and the standard set features the 7-iron through PW. The idea, of course, is the aging golfer may opt to go with hybrids or fairways in lieu of long irons. XXIO does offer a full line of Prime irons from 5- through SW.

The standard 7-PW (4-piece) set retails for $1,199.99. Individual irons sell for $299.99. The XXIO Prime packaged set is $4,499.99.

XXIO Prime Royal Edition

Just in case XXIO Prime isn’t premium enough for you, XXIO has the Royal Edition. The overall technology is essentially the same as the standard XXIO Prime but the Royal Edition is blinged-out fancy.

XXIO says it’s “state-of-the-art meets work-of-art.”

There’s a men’s and women’s Royal Edition. The men’s version features plenty of gold accents while the women’s version has gold accents with plenty of pale pink and magenta. There are slight weight differences from the standard XXIO Prime, but nothing substantive.

The biggest difference is price. The Royal Edition driver goes for $1,199.99, the fairways are $799.99, hybrids $499.99. A six-piece iron set (7-SW) goes for $2,099.99 while single irons run $349.99. A lady’s package set will go for $5,299.99.

Final Thoughts

This is where we’re compelled to repeat the following:

The existence of premium-priced golf equipment does NOT mean the elimination of lower-priced options. Value brands such as Sub 70, Takomo, Heywood or the newly reborn Ram (don’t sleep on those, price shoppers!) are still in business and are still selling high-quality stuff at pretty sweet prices. If you don’t want to spend $600, $900 or $1,200 on a new driver, you don’t have to.

It may sound odd but the ultra-rich, ultra-premium consumer may, in fact, be largely underserved. Palm Springs, where the XXIO mothership resides, also features McLaren, Maserati, Lamborghini, Bentley and Rolls dealers next to one another. Where there’s a will, there’s a market.

As Fitzgerald wrote all those years ago, the rich really are different. You know the rest.

If you were of a certain age with a limited number of golf-playing years ahead of you and if money wasn’t an issue, if someone handed you something longer, straighter and easier, what would you do?

Me, too.