What if I told you that for just a bit more than the cost of a set of Tour Edge EXS Irons you could get your hands on the latest iron from PXG – the 0311 ST (Super Tour)? You’d probably wonder if there’s a catch, and brother, there sure as hell is.
$599 gets you a full set of EXS irons. $650 gets you just one – just one – of PXG’s new Super Tour Blades. That’s the ever-increasing cost of doing business in the ultra-premium end of the industry where nobody has figured out where the ceiling is, or if there even is one.
Let’s take a brief look at the recent history of the category.
Just a few weeks ago Callaway spilled the beans on its Epic Flash Irons. Targeting slower swing speed golfers of high means, those can be had for the low, low price of $325 an iron. TaylorMade just announced its goo and tungsten filled P790 Ti. The cost of that set is $2800 (that’s $350 per). And of course, earlier this year Titleist re-set the bar with its massive tungsten CNCPT line. Retail price there is $500 per club. PXG’s previous highest-priced offerings topped out at only $450 an iron. By comparison, PXG was practically a discount brand.
You had to know that wasn’t going to last.
PXG’s First True Blade
According to PXG, the 0311 ST is designed for accomplished golfers who desire pure performance and outstanding workability. Marketing aspects aside, that’s an important distinction. While its competitors’ highest-priced offerings generally cater towards lower swing speed (and presumably older) affluent golfers, PXG’s newest top of the line offering isn’t an age play; it’s the company’s first-ever true blade, and by definition, that means it’s for elite (and also affluent) ball-strikers. It’s fair to say that the 0311 ST is a niche product within an already exceptionally niche category.
PXG isn’t going to sell many of them, I expect it knows it, and I suspect that’s precisely the point. Rarity, scarcity, whatever you want to call it, that’s all part of the appeal for the prospective buyer. The 0311ST is the Kobe beef of irons.
The story of the 0311 Super Tour – and a good bit of the justification for the cost – is found in the manufacturing process. If you’re familiar with PXG’s line of Milled Wedges, you know where this is headed. Every PXG 0311 ST is 100% milled from a triple-forged billet of 8260 steel. It’s not entirely dissimilar to how guys like Scotty, Bettinardi, and Tyson Lamb make their putters. The process of crafting each head is exhaustingly time-intensive (it takes literal hours to make a single head), but the result is a product that offers unrivaled consistency from part to part. Manufacturing tolerances are razor-thin.
The design elements are what you would expect from a muscleback. While there is some perimeter weighting (they offer PXG’s signature screws), the heads are compact, soles are narrows, and toplines are thin. It’s not a stretch to assume that offset is absolutely minimal.
Dude, it’s a blade.
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8620 isn’t the softest material available, but it’s soft enough, and it’s more durable than softer metals like 1025. 8620’s versatility has allowed for its use in both cast and forged designs. The irons are Nichrome plated to prevent corrosion and eliminate glare at address.
It’s not lost on me that at $650 per stick, PXG’s 0311 ST is going to price itself out of the consideration set for most of us before it ships. That’s fine. As we’ve said countless times, so long as the emergence of higher-priced options doesn’t preclude the availability of lower-priced alternatives, what does it matter?
My thinking that any serious player in the golf equipment space needs a pure muscleback in the lineup, and while it’s never going to be the top-seller for any brand (not even Mizuno), in most cases, it should be the highest priced iron in the lineup. While the 0311 ST should prove popular with PXG’s Tour staff, for the retail market as a whole, it’s a status play, but it’s one I’m entirely comfortable with. PXG needed a blade in the lineup, and now it has one.
PXG 0311 ST Availability
If you’re a world-class ball-striker or just a guy who loves blades and you’ve got $5,200 ($650/per iron) or so burning a hole in your pocket, you can reserve your set of PXG 0811 ST irons now. Shipping is expected to begin in late September.
In Other PXG News
In other PXG-related news, the company has announced the signing of World Long Drive competitor, Troy Mullins. Formerly a PING staffer, Mullins won the 2017 Mile High Showdown in Colorado. While she continues to compete in Long Driver, her stated goal is to play on the LPGA Tour.
In Troy’s Bag:
- Long Drive Driver, PXG 0811 X GEN2 Driver, 9°, 47.75”
- PXG 0811 X GEN2 Driver, 9°, 46.75”
- PXG 0341 X GEN2 2-wood, 15° with Tensei White 70TX, 43.5”
- PXG 0317 X GEN2 Hybrid, 19° & 22° with Tensei White 90HY S
- PXG 0311 T GEN2 Irons 4-PW with Project X 6.0
- PXG Sugar Daddy Milled Wedges 50° & 56° with TT Elevate 95 R
- PXG Closer Putter
For more information, visit PXG.com.
Rick
4 years ago
Well, I’m one of those rare birds…… Last October I was fitted for the 4-PW , and two Other sugar daddy wedges to round out the irons…. My Handicap has gone from a 6.6 to 3.7 as of this writing….. The dispersion on the irons is tremendous. the yardage is very consistent….. Say what you want I’m a convinced customer. I had used Mizunos for the last 20 years prior to this…….