PXG is the latest major equipment manufacturer to hop on the mini-driver bandwagon by bringing to market the Secret Weapon. With this being very much a growth sector in the equipment space I was keen to see how PXG had tackled its first attempt at this type of club.
This club has been a long time in the making with early prototypes of this club on tour in the bags of two of the brand's flagship players, Eric Cole and Jake Knapp months ago, and has actually already grabbed its first tour win, delivered by Knapp at the Grant Thornton Invitational.
In terms of aesthetics, the Secret Weapon seems to sit very much as part of the Black Ops family, with very similar branding and graphics. Fortunately, I very much liked the visual of the Black Ops drivers, and this continues in my appreciation of the Secret Weapon. It’s tough to say whether it resembles a shrunken down driver more or a blown-up 3-wood, seemingly sitting perfectly in the middle of the two.
Whereas a competitor such as the Callaway Ai Smoke Ti340 mini driver absolutely still looks like a driver, the Secret Weapon has an impressive balance to it in terms of shape and profile that can actually probably flit between the two visually depending on who is looking at it. The sole is somewhat fussy - there are four adjustable weights, which facilitate PXG’s Precision Weighting Technology - but around that is just some simple high gloss and a large PXG logo which offers a fairly striking look.
The headcover is also very cool, featuring some sharp yellow accent color and an interesting skull holding a finger to its mouth! PXG is never afraid to be different, that is for sure.
From a tech point of view, PXG is offering a high-strength ultra-thin titanium face to help provide maximum ball speed and ideal launch conditions which coupled with a high-strength composite construction PXG is promising durability without sacrificing performance. PXG is also providing us with a deep face to optimize performance from the tee and the aforementioned Precision Weighting Technology to allow you to customize your ball flight.
Robotic polishing allows refinement of the bulge and roll characteristics for consistent performance across the face and the adjustable hosel allows players to fine-tune loft and lie angles.
In terms of the performance, I really enjoyed the Secret Weapon. Already being a user of the TaylorMade BRNR Copper mini driver, I had a fair idea of what to expect but there were some subtle differences.
Despite being a touch deeper in the face, I found the Secret Weapon a touch easier to launch than the TaylorMade version off the deck. Now that could obviously also be attributed to the fact that the PXG version comes in at 13° whereas my TaylorMade is at 11.5°, but even when I set them to the same lofts on the adapters, I was definitely seeing a touch more flight out of the Secret Weapon. As someone who plays a lot of my golf in very windy seaside conditions, I actually prefer the lower flight, but this characteristic may open the Secret Weapon up to a wider audience.
In terms of distance output, the Secret Weapon sat neatly between my gamer driver and 15˚ 3-wood in terms of carry, almost exactly dissecting them in fact with an average carry of 280 yards for me. For context, my average driver carry is around 295, and 3 wood just a shade over 260.
The adjustability is something that differentiates the Secret Weapon from its competitors, however, with the four weights on the bottom of the sole – two heavy (15g) weights and two light (2.5g) – which are extremely effective, while the adapter allows this to play anywhere from 11.5° to 13.5°.
Despite being a small and emerging category at the moment, I would slot the PXG Secret Weapon straight in at number two on my mini-driver list, just behind the TaylorMade BRNR Copper and just ahead of the Callaway Ai Smoke Ti 340. Its combined performance both off the ground and the tee just pip the Callaway for me, which is significantly better off a tee peg.
The PXG Secret Weapon is available now at an RRP of $449/£429 and is well worth considering if you want a club capable of finding more fairways without sacrificing too much yardage.
