PXG Irons: Can a set of irons ever really be worth £2400?

PXG have launched four new iron sets, coming in at £400 a club. We got fitted to see what all the fuss was about…

PXG have come a long way, quickly. News first broke in 2015 that billionaire Bob Parsons, who made his fortune setting up web giant GoDaddy.com, was building a golf club business, and many brushed off the idea as having little or no future. But three years down the road the PXG brand is flourishing.

An elite line-up of tour staff have been recruited (Zach Johnson, Pat Perez, Ryan Moore, Billy Horschel and Lydia Ko to name a few), sales are on an upwards trajectory, staff numbers have risen from 12 in 2015 to 170 today and PXG is carving out a hardcore following among the most serious (and wealthiest) golfers on the planet.

Right from the start, Parsons said: “It’s a tall task creating clubs better than the best, but it’s our commitment”. He promised they’d never launch new products just for the sake of it, adding: “PXG never releases new clubs that aren’t notably better than what we currently offer.”

So after three years of development in PXG’s Phoenix R&D labs, the covers have just been pulled off the brand new 0311 Gen 2 irons, and we were among the first golfers in Europe to put them through their paces.

PXG: What’s changed for 2018?

The original PXG 0311 irons built, lit and stoked the fire under hollow-body irons (TaylorMade, Ping and Titleist have all followed suit), so it’s no surprise all four new models have hollow bodies. PXG said the original 0311s had the world’s thinnest iron faces; its functional area is now 15% bigger, while a new faster polymer inside the head bounces back 20% quicker, preserving more ball speed on misshits. To improve durability there’s also a new 8620 body (the original was S25C), which is more resistant to dings and marking – important when prices start from £400 an iron.

Review: PXG 0311 T Gen 2 Iron

RRP: From £400 per club
7-iron loft / length: 32° / 37”

‘T’ denotes Tour, and it’s the brands iron closest to a blade. Naturally the sole is narrow, there’s less offset and a slightly higher MOI and deeper CG location over the 1st generation model. A straight leading edge, reduced sole camber and higher trailing edge improve turf interaction.

Our fitter reckoned so long as players have a reasonable swing speed and decent downward angle of attack (four degrees), the internal cavity improves playability so there’s a good chance golfers will find them more playable than expected.

Review: PXG 0311 P Gen 2 Iron

RRP: From £400 per club
7-iron loft and length: 31° / 37”

‘A “players” iron designed to suit a wider audience. The “P” is a favourite of PXG’s LPGA professionals, but the brand says it’s a decent match for golfers right up to double-figure handicaps. It’s a cracking looking, thin top-lined iron. Thanks to the shaping, forged head and internal cavity improving forgiveness it’s right up the street of golfers wanting the looks of a better player model, with the playability of a game improver set.

A thicker cross-section of polymer filling behind the face and deeper under-cut towards the sole (a feature of all the new irons) not only helps retain ball speed and distance on off-centre hits, but also improves sound and feel. 

Review: PXG 0311 XF Gen 2 Iron

RRP: From £400 per club
7-iron loft / length: 30° / 37”

Just a few years ago it was unthinkable that a forged iron could deliver lots of forgiveness. But it’s the market in which PXG are successfully making decent gains in. Just because golfers might need extra help doesn’t mean they don’t want the feel and sound of a premium forged iron.

Trust us, irons that feel this good just weren’t around a few years ago. Offset is increased over the first gen product, the top edge has been to regular Slimming World meetings, and sole camber is reduced. There’s also a slight improvement in MOI and forgiveness.

Review: PXG 0311 SGI Gen 2 Iron

RRP: From £400 per club
7-iron loft / length: 29° / 37”

Brand new for 2018 and PXG’s first super game improvement iron. It’s big, bordering on huge, with a wide sole, long blade length, lots of offset and a chunky top edge. Parsons himself played a role in creating them, asking his design team for a club that anyone could play better with, and boy does it deliver.

Looks-wise it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s forged, and it has a hollow body just like the rest of the range, which shows how internal cavities have found their place from better player to super GI models and everything in between.

PXG do fitting differently…

We know £400 is an eye-watering amount to pay for a single iron, and granted there won’t be many golfers at your local club who’ll blow £2,400 on a 5-PW set. But if price (or lack of it) is important, PXG probably isn’t the brand for you.

Just as an Audi or BMW will get you from A to B in the same time as a Ford Focus, people drive the premium models because they’re perceived as being better, and PXG operates along similar lines.

Buying PXG clubs won’t suddenly turn you into a scratch player. But there’s every chance that after one of the most in-depth fitting sessions we’ve ever had that, with a set in the bag you’ll feel part of the family, impress the best players at your club and no matter what your ability hit some of the sweetest feeling and best sounding forged irons available.     

If you can stomach the cost, PXG brings a first-class fitting service to you; there are 384 stock shafts in the UK to choose from and they’ll go to the edge of the earth to make sure you get a set that compliments your game – and puts a massive smile on your face. Options are limitless, and they’ll work with any component suppliers across the globe to make your every need a reality – as long as you’re prepared to pay.