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The shafts are how light? XXIO’s new Prime drivers, fairway woods, hybrids and irons

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XXIO (pronounced zek-si-oh), the No. 1 golf brand in Japan year-in and year-out, has unveiled to America new XXIO Forged irons, as well as a new line of Prime clubs — drivers, fairway woods, hybrids and irons — that take drastic measures to help golfers hit longer, straighter shots.

The feathery-light club heads have an inherent draw bias to help fix a slice, as well as a high moment of inertia (MOI, a measure of forgiveness) to help improve performance on mishits. To achieve a lower and deeper center of gravity (CG), which translates to a higher launch and more forgiveness, the rear portions of the crowns in the driver, fairway woods and hybrids were made more shallow, helping to push weight down and back in the heads.

Extremely light, XXIO Prime SP-900 graphite shafts are the stock option throughout the line. The shafts are made with premium materials, including Toray T110G, and use different constructions in the tip, mid and butt sections to improve performance. Key to their design are shock-absorbing, flexible tip sections, which can help golfers create more club-face closure at impact to increase draw bias. The weight of the shafts is just as critical. The XIOO Prime SP-900 driver shaft measures 46 inches, yet it weighs just 36 grams. The 3-wood shaft measures 43 inches and weighs a mere 38 grams. The 5-hybrid shaft measures 39 inches and tips the scales at only 48 grams. All of the stock shafts in the woods are available in SR- and R-Flex.

The new releases are priced at the higher end of the American golf equipment market, as you may have guessed from the ostentatious gold color schemes.

  • Driver: $849.99 each
  • Fairway Woods: $579.99 each
  • Hybrids: $379.99 each

The XXIO Forged irons will be available on Dec. 10, while the Prime clubs will be available on Dec. 17. See what GolfWRX members are saying about the clubs in our forums.

XXIO Prime Driver 

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The XXIO Prime drivers, which have a total weight of 252 grams, are designed to quell the common slice that average golfers fight. In addition to its draw-enhancing weighting and shaft design, the club heads also have a smaller toe section and an expanded heel section. The heel section of the club face is thicker to reduce a slice on open-face, heel strikes, according to the company.

Also, a very thin crown that measures just 0.35 millimeters in most spots helps lower the center of gravity (CG). For even more forgiveness, the drivers have what the company calls a “Wing Cup Face,” which uses variable face thickness and a channel in the sole — both to produce faster ball speeds across the forged faces.

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Compared to XXIO’s previous driver model, the club head is 4 grams lighter, the shaft is 0.25 inches longer, the swing weight is two points heavier (D3), the shaft is 2 grams lighter and the grip is 2 grams lighter. The changes, as well as the driver’s higher average COR area, will create an increase of 4.3 more yards on average, according to XXIO.

The XXIO Prime driver comes in lofts of 10.5 and 11.5 degrees.

XXIO Prime Fairway Woods

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Like the XXIO Prime drivers, the fairway woods have a cup face with variable thickness for more forgiveness and speed across the face. They also use an extremely light shaft and lower CG from the head construction to pick up 3.4 yards on average compared to their predecessors, according to XXIO. The total weight of the clubs range from 273 gram (3 wood) to 285 grams (7 wood), making them some of the lightest fairway wood offerings on the market.

The fairway woods — 3 (15 degrees), 5 (18 degrees) and 7 (21 degrees) — will sell for $579.99 each.

XXIO Prime Hybrids

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The XXIO Prime hybrids have a HT17709 maraging steel cup face for forgiveness on off-center hits, and have a taller face to increase the sweet spot, according to the company. Compared to the predecessors, they also have a more shallow rear crown — like the drivers and fairway woods — for lower and deeper CG. A single weight in the heel portion of the sole is made from tungsten-nickel and weighs 4 grams.

The clubs are available in U5 (23 degrees), U6 (26 degrees) and U7 (29 degrees), and will each sell for $379.99 each.

XXIO Prime irons

4d93d97ca22883fbc6ccc43aefaac3c0According to XXIO, its Prime irons irons boast the lowest and deepest CG ever used in a XXIO iron, leading to a higher launch and more forgiveness, partially a result of faces that have been lengthened near the sole.

Their soles are also made with a tungsten-nickel weight — it weighs 28 grams in the 7-iron — and a high-density, tungsten-nickel inner weight in the long irons, as well. The iron bodies are made from 630 stainless steel with a mirror, satin and high-gloss, bead-blast finish. Total weight of the clubs, like the rest of the line, are very light, coming in at 339 grams (5 and 6 iron) and 349 grams (7-9 iron).

XXIO Prime irons come stock in either SR or R Flex and are available as a set for $1,039 (7-9, PW), and individually for $260 each (5, 6, AW, SW).

XXIO Forged irons 

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The XXIO Forged irons have bodies made from mild carbon steel and a HT1770 maraging steel face. The V.T. Soles have slightly higher bounce than previous models to prevent digging and improve turf interaction, ultimately tightening dispersion. The faces are made thin for high ball speeds, and the thin area has been expanded by 20 percent compared to the previous model to expand the sweet spot, according to the company.

The irons are available in either N.S. Pro 930GH DST steel, XXIO MX-6000 graphite, or Miyazaki Kusala 8 shafts available at custom, each offered in SR or R Flex. Pricing is as follows:

  • $1,019 (Steel: 5-9, PW), $1,259 (Graphite: 5-9, PW)
  • Individual clubs (4, AW, SW) can be purchased for $170 each in steel and $210 each in graphite.

Related: See what GolfWRX members are saying about the photos in our forums.

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He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. Leftienige

    Nov 17, 2016 at 1:05 pm

    How much bling would have to be glued to the top, back, and sides to bring the price up to $5000 ? After all , a club cheaper than 5K is just not worth having .

  2. John Krug

    Nov 16, 2016 at 1:43 pm

    Everyone has their own unique swing. There is no such thing as the best clubs. You need to be fit and what works for one person may not work for another person.

  3. Oskars

    Nov 14, 2016 at 9:21 pm

    They look like something from the early 2000’s, wow are they ever ugly. What is exactly the appeal of JDM golf equipment?

    • Jack

      Nov 14, 2016 at 10:27 pm

      I think there are two lines, one is this type of club which is destined for folks who need all the help they can get. The lightest, flexiest, highest launching highest COR clubs you can find that are draw biased. They are like the ones shown, often gold and brown and conservative in looks (in an old japanese man way).

      The other clubs are higher tech players clubs which are pretty similar to what US companies are doing now anyway. They usually have a more edgy look and look techy. There’s really no reason to pay the premium.

      There are also some blades too which people just like to play no matter their skill level LOL. But that happens everywhere. Blades all have muscle backs now no more butter knife 3 irons.

    • Skip

      Nov 15, 2016 at 1:26 pm

      You won’t know, unless you’ve actually tried them. Just like anything, they’re good for some, not for others. Personally, my all-time favorite irons are from Miura Giken and Epon.

  4. JLJ

    Nov 14, 2016 at 3:32 pm

    You can’t have a Driver shaft that is 36grams with headweights of 252grams.
    You made a typo there, I think, you meant to say that the total weight is 252. Even if the grip weight they use is around 40grams, that headweight has to be around 175-ish

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Whats in the Bag

Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)

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Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX

Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4

More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.

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Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.

The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?

Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.

When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.

To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.

Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.

“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.

“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”

Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.

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Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird

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With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.

On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.

Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?

Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’

So that’s why I went back.

 

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A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)

OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?

It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.

Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.

It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.

Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.

Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.

So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?

Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.

Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play? 

Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.

There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.

It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.

Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.

And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?

Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’

If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’

My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’

I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”

And you’re going with it this week?

Hundred percent.

Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week. 

Thanks, man.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

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