Historically PXG has been anything but discreet when it comes to marketing but deep undercover, the troops at PXG have been creating something that I believe could be one of the best fairway woods we see released this year. The Black Ops fairway offers very close to the perfect blend of performance and playability.
As someone who quite likes traditional looking heads, I was a little skeptical when I first laid the PXG Black Ops fairway wood down at address, but over time the head design really grew on me. The black and silver tones alongside a high-grade carbon fiber crown give this golf club some serious shelf appeal and a really premium look. The carbon crown has allowed the engineers at PXG to save mass and redistribute it lower around the head's perimeter, creating what it is calling 'the optimal CG dispersion for forgiveness', similar to that of the new TaylorMade Qi10 fairway wood.
The phrase ‘X marks the spot’ has been taken quite literally by the PXG design team in order to highlight the center point on top the crown. I feel this really helps give this fairway wood a rounded, symmetrical look behind the ball. On the flip-side, there are three weight ports that can be chosen individually when custom ordering your fairway wood, ensuring you are going to see the exact ball flight you desire.
As someone who tends to launch and spin the ball a lot with all of my clubs, I actually ended up going with lighter weights, which does remove some forgiveness, but ultimately gave me fast ball speeds, a strong ball flight and the correct amount of spin to maintain carry. The face itself has been made 12.5 percent thinner than the predecessors and when testing the Black Ops fairway wood, I noticed straight away how good these clubs felt off it. The sensation was springy and the numbers proved that, with ball speeds reaching up to 162mph. Last year the 0211 fairway wood made it into our best fairway woods guide as well as our most forgiving fairway woods guide and I'm confident the Black Ops fairway wood will follow suit.
This fairway performed just as well when struck off the deck as it did from a tee which is testament to how forgiving and easy this club is to use. I saw a high but forward-looking ball flight off the tee which I love, yet it got the ball launching high when struck from the turf. Mishits were really impressive when testing indoors on a Trackman 4 launch monitor, with shots rarely wondering more than 10 yards from my target - that said, I was hitting it well that day!
The acoustics are something I’ve never been overly keen on with PXG clubs as I prefer a more muted ‘thud’ so to hear the improvements in sound on the Black Ops fairway wood when testing was music to my ears (not literally, but you get the point). The sound now matches the ball speed and flight characteristics, which is something I’m sure nearly every golfer will love.
There really was very little to grumble about when it came to the PXG Black Ops fairway wood. If I was to be super picky I may take off some of the detailing towards the rear of the crown to make it less busy, but it might just be that I'm used to seeing a traditional looking head.
What I like about most when it comes to the PXG Black Ops fairway wood is the simplicity of their only being one model. With the head design, adjustable hosel and precision weighting, there was no need to release more than one head model as this one not only offers performance, but would rival some of the most forgiving fairway woods in certain settings. It still pays to get fitted by a PXG stockist so you know which weights will suit your game, but you don’t have to worry about making the right decision when it comes to the model - some brands like TaylorMade and Callaway offer three fairway wood models, for example.
The Black Ops head is by no means the most compact or traditional looking fairway wood on the market, but it really is a solid all-rounder that is going to be on par with releases from other major brands this year.
The PXG Black Ops fairway wood is available to purchase from the 11th January 2024 and will retail at $349/£319.
