PXG has reinvented itself a few times over the past couple of years with fluctuating price points and one of the largest product ranges within the game, but one thing that has remained fairly constant is the 0311 family. Inspired by founder Bob Parsons' service as a rifleman (0311) in the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, this family is now onto its seventh generation and I wanted to find out if the PXG 0311 XP Gen 7 iron to see if it can hold its own against some of the best golf irons in the game.
From a technology perspective, PXG has tried to push the C.O.R (coefficient of restitution) number to the limit to produce its longest and most forgiving irons yet. With what PXG claims to be the thinnest face in golf, and a new internal polymer called QuantamCOR, I was interested to see how they would perform. Furthermore, there is both internal and external tungsten weighting and a lightweight titanium insert to increase MOI and optimize the CG positioning. This same technology is on show in the new sibling of this iron, the 0311 P iron, essentially the XP is just a supersized version of that.
Down in the playing position, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the look of the XP. As a PGA Professional, I am generally more drawn to a compact profile with minimal offset, but the additional real estate of the XP and pretty substantial blade length couldn’t help but inspire confidence. The offset became a little too much for my taste in the 5 iron, however, but many will love this look. I wasn’t totally enamoured with the looks of the XP in the bag if I am completely honest, something about the slightly fussy aesthetic didn’t quite do it for me, but this is a fairly minor point and I would much prefer to like the look behind the ball as opposed to the rearview.
I tested the PXG 0311 XP Gen 7 irons at Saunton Golf Club using my FullSwing KIT launch monitor and TaylorMade TP5 golf balls and the performance numbers were impressive.
The 7 iron has a base loft of 27˚ which is obviously fairly punchy, and this, coupled with the ultra-thin face produced some very high carry numbers. To be perfectly honest, the numbers were almost unplayable for me personally, but these irons are not aimed at me and they will provide a welcome ball speed boost to players slightly deficient in that area. It should also be noted that for all of the power that the XP offers, it was a reassuringly consistent yardage producer. There were no outliers in my session that would worry me by carrying 10 yards further, the front-to-back dispersion was impressive and a testament to the technical features of this club.
I didn’t have too much trouble launching these fairly strong-lofted irons into a usable flight window, but I am a pretty high-speed player, so I do wonder how easily slower swing speed players will find the XP to get airborne based on the loft. However, the high-quality custom fitting service that PXG offers would likely address this through appropriate shaft profiles or loft manipulation.
Speaking of custom fitting, the titanium weight on the back that I mentioned earlier in terms of looks, is interchangeable during a PXG fitting, providing the fitter with the opportunity to fine-tune and test swing weight variations during the fitting session. This is not something on offer with many irons currently, and I think is a valuable tool.
The 0311 XP Gen 7 will be a really strong option in the game improvement/distance iron category making it a great iron for beginners. The confidence-inspiring profile, high levels of forgiveness, and hugely impressive distance output provide just about all you can ask for, and they are a nice continuation of a very successful franchise for PXG.
The XP Gen 7 irons are available in two finishes, Chrome and Xtreme Dark with a slight price difference between the two. The chrome option comes in at $229.99/£209 per club, while the Xtreme Dark is slightly more at $239.99/£219. They will be available in 4-9 iron plus W, G, S, and L wedges.
