As a tester, I always look forward to utility irons arriving on my doorstep as this is generally my weapon of choice to fill that tricky gap between my irons and 3 wood. Even the best hybrids don’t quite suit my launch conditions and high lofted fairway woods just seem to produce too much spin for me, so I was very much looking forward to seeing what PXG had in store with the 0317 X driving iron.
From a tech point of view, PXG claims the ‘thinnest iron face in golf’ with the 0317 X, along with a longer blade length and its proprietary XCOR2 interior material aimed at increasing ball speed and enhancing feel.
The head has been three times forged from 8620 soft carbon steel, robotically polished, and both face and back have been precision milled to the tightest possible tolerances. I have to say the results from an aesthetic point of view are outstanding.
When I pulled the 0317 X driving iron out of the box, the quality of the finish on the head is what struck me first. The milling and polishing give this iron such a premium feel.
The good news continues down behind the ball. A pretty generous blade length inspires confidence and the leading edge sits very squarely at address. Another element I enjoyed was the minimal bulging from the back of the head when looking down. Quite often in this category I see a lot of head material protruding backwards beyond the top edge which I find off-putting and detracts from the aesthetic. Not so with the 0317 X, which helps it retain a much more iron-like appearance than other driving/utility irons.
The club head somehow seems to show more than the 18 degrees of loft that it actually possesses, which also adds to the friendly set up feel.
In fact, the only aspect of the club that I maybe didn’t enjoy as much visually was the big, bold PXG logo which feels a little too brash and in your face to me, but this is somewhat of a hallmark of Bob Parsons and the PXG brand, so that wont be changing any time soon!
I tested the PXG 0317 X driving iron at Saunton Golf Club using TaylorMade TP5x golf balls and my SkyTrak+ launch monitor and the results were extremely interesting!
Firstly, you didn’t need a launch monitor to see the penetrating flight produced. My ‘flushed’ strikes took off seriously low and continued on this course with minimal rise from spin. This was the hottest ball flight I have seen from any utility iron that I have tested and the numbers would corroborate this.
Launch was predictably low at 7.2 degrees and a spin number under 3000 rpm is fairly punchy too! Some really impressive ball speed at 160 mph helped to offset this a little for me and still allowed for a reasonable peak height average of 71 feet and a healthy 240 yard carry.
Happily, I found some really strong levels of forgiveness and my poorer strikes didn’t suffer too much from a distance, dispersion or even feel point of view. The strike feel remained dynamic and lively even low on the face which is a predominant miss for me.
For a relatively high speed player like myself, this is a genuinely potent option from the tee in the right conditions, however I would suggest slower swing speed players may struggle to flight this club enough to see the benefits. Personally, I had great fun piercing this rocket ship of a utility iron through the wind and saw some extraordinary total distances on the firm links fairways of my home course. For this style of golf, I will most definitely be gaming the 0317 X driving iron on a regular basis, and when I am travelling to tournaments at particularly tree lined venues, it will be lurking in my car ready for action if my driver isn’t behaving.
The PXG 0317 X driving iron is priced sensibly at £189 with an abundance of shaft offerings. It comes at a standard loft of 18 degrees but can be adjusted either way with a custom fitting to make it stronger or weaker as desired.
A fantastic addition to an already extensive iron line up from PXG. I look forward to hitting some low stingers with the 0317 X driving iron over the course of the season!
