Opinion & Analysis

Explaining PXG: The supercar analogy

Published

7 years ago

Aug 19, 2019

Every idea has to start somewhere.

Whether it be in a garage, basement, or in a conference room with a blank piece of paper, it’s how the idea is executed that will ultimately determine its success. When you’re Bob Parsons, execution is your specialty. When you have an idea to build some of the most technologically advanced clubs on the planet—you bring in some of the world’s best mad club scientists to help you bring them to life.

Product design is a difficult space, regardless of industry, and certainly in golf. With almost any consumer product you have to work within a lot of different constraints

Technology: Not every company can afford to innovate to create real breakthroughs
Materials: Just like with technology, some materials become too expensive to use in the consumer marketplace
Time: Time is money, especially when you have smart people on board that deserve proper compensation. You need to see a return to justify products and design, and that often leads to forced product cycles.

All of these factors add up to products being designed into price categories. For example: economy car vs. luxury vehicle. No chance an economy car is going to have the horsepower or options of the luxury version because of what the inherent cost to produce is.

Where you don’t see this model is in supercars—they design what they design, use whatever materials and technology they can, then worry about price.

PXG is building supercars!

What started with a phone call and a piece of paper has become one of the golf industry’s most talked-about brands. Designers Mike Nicolette and Brad Schweigert have been given the opportunity to create products as they see fit, and with input from Bob, a self-professed golf club nut, these mad scientists are changing the industry.

Watch the fourth installment of our video series with PXG, The Disruptors, to find out how.

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Ryan Barath

Ryan Barath is a club-fitter & master club builder with more than 17 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. He is the former Build Shop Manager & Social Media Coordinator for Modern Golf. He now works independently from his home shop and is a member of advisory panels to a select number of golf equipment manufacturers. You can find Ryan on Twitter and Instagram where he's always willing to chat golf, and share his passion for club building, course architecture and wedge grinding.

17 Comments

Aztec

Aug 20, 2019 at 11:52 am

You could probably get away with this marketing nonsense with the general public but amongst golfwxers? Umm…no.

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DJ

Aug 20, 2019 at 10:43 am

Zach Johnson, James Hahn, Lydia Ko, and Billy Ho… no longer relevant with switch to PXG.

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Curt

Aug 20, 2019 at 3:29 am

Gimmick. If they were so advanced they’d be banned on tour. Hopefully they charge so much because they use every companies patents and need to pay off those debts. Extreme also starts with an E.

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Undercover

Aug 19, 2019 at 4:54 pm

I think PXG’s are a joke as well. BUT, your comment is the dumbest thing I’ve seen in awhile. Shut up, just shut up.

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dat

Aug 19, 2019 at 4:45 pm

But it ISN’T a supercar. There is NO governing body of street cars besides safety requirements and even then if you produce a low number you can get away with nearly anything – ask TVR. In golf, much like in F1 racing, we have major governing bodies who control exactly how good a club can be, much like how good a Ferrari or Ford or any other F1 car can be. It is down to the driver to win. Down to the golfer to win. Not the equipment.

These clubs are NO better than any others according to many tests on independent sites who do not receive paid placements or promotional articles.

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- Rascal
  
  Aug 19, 2019 at 11:50 pm
  
  Well said. But everyone’s gotta eat so…
  
  Reply Report comment
JP

Aug 19, 2019 at 4:24 pm

I’m no pxg fanboy, but you’re way off base with that reply. Pull back on the reins man!

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Dwight

Aug 19, 2019 at 4:04 pm

This is a terrible analogy… except in the respect that just like you can find a car like say the Kia Stinger that will beat most any production “super car” in a 0-60 for a fraction of the cost, you can also ship around and find as good or better performing clubs at a fraction of the cost. Swing and a miss there but enjoy your PXG commission.

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HDTVMAN

Aug 19, 2019 at 3:59 pm

So you’re comparing a Yugo to a BMW in this article…some companies can and some can’t? Don’t think so. I’d put my Ping i500’s, Callaway Apex, TM P-series, Titleist T-series up against PXG…YOU ARE PAYING FOR MARKETING FOR EVERY BRAND, BUT MUCH MUCH MORE FOR PXG! Hey Bob, how many majors and tournaments has PXG won? You’re better than the rest? Prove it to me. I said the same to Titleist when the TS series came out, and they DID prove to me that they are the real deal. I’m in Phoenix in 3 weeks…prove it!

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TLW

Aug 19, 2019 at 3:28 pm

How much did Parsons pay for this article?

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Comish

Aug 19, 2019 at 2:38 pm

Have to agree w/JP here, I’ve had a set (what a waste of money) Apex iron longer, straighter, and a lot less expensive. So now they have come out with a less expensive model…must not be hitting their numbers.

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Ryan

Aug 19, 2019 at 10:03 am

Bob Parsons: Here’s my business model. I am going to make the same clubs as the competitors, but add some little spins on it and then market it as amazing technology that can’t be matched. Then I will charge 5x as much for the clubs as the competitors. People will buy it because its a status symbol.

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JP

Aug 19, 2019 at 9:01 am

Super cars perform at a way higher level than say Camrys or Accords. PXG golf clubs are simply on par with Ping and others.
.
Bob Parsons decided to build Honda Civics and charge a million dollars for them by making claims they run like Ferrari’s.

Reply Report comment
- TStrom
  
  Aug 19, 2019 at 3:18 pm
  
  Agree totally; if PXG clubs were so superior to “average” clubs, you’d expect to see the results from tour players making the switch…but you don’t…case closed…
  
  Reply Report comment
- blake
  
  Aug 19, 2019 at 5:11 pm
  
  So maybe PXG is like the Civic R?
  
  Reply Report comment
  - JP
    
    Aug 19, 2019 at 10:13 pm
    
    with a big aftermarket wing bolted on….!
    
    Reply Report comment
Ryan Mextorf

Aug 19, 2019 at 8:51 am

The supercar analogy would make sense if the clubs performed any better than it’s “economy car” counterparts (i.e. Mizuno, Titleist, Srixon…). Every PXG staffer has fallen off the face of the planet with their new supercars in the bag – funny how that works.

Just because something is expensive does not make it inherently a better product.

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Opinion & Analysis

AVL: My U.S. Amateur local qualifying experience

Published

2 days ago

Jun 5, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

This past Monday, I played in the U.S. Amateur local qualifier at Rock Creek Country Club in Portland, Oregon. A full tee sheet from 7:30 a.m. to 1:55 p.m., the top 11 scores would make it to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying.

I teed off at 10:48 a.m.. With the 7:30 am tee time, you can get a feel for the leaders’ pace, and they were off and running on the challenging setup at Rock Creek.

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Getting to the highlight of the round on the par five 17th, a drive up the left side and 212 yards left to the front hole location. I took out a 5-iron with plans of middle of the green. The ball ended up 8 feet left of the hole, pin high. A slight downhill putt dropped in for an eagle 3 on the 17th. With the cut line looking to be anywhere from -2 to even par. This was the boost I had been waiting for all day.

With making par from the trees on 18, it was time to wait for a potential playoff with a posted score of one under par 71.

Three hours later, it was playoff time. 8 players for 6 spots. I made par on the playoff hole, which was good enough to advance to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying in July. USGA qualifiers sure deliver on all of the emotions in golf!

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