PXG celebrated Women’s Day to Play on June 5 and just released its new Summer 2023 apparel capsule.
PXG celebrated Women’s Day to Play on June 5 and invited all their female employees out of the office for a paid day off to experience golf.
This day off was celebrated within PXG in their North America, United Kingdom, and Japan regions. In Scottsdale, Arizona, home of PXG, Renee Parsons hosted more than 75 PXG employees at the Parsons’ private golf oasis, Scottsdale National Golf Club. LPGA Tour Professional and PXG Ambassador Christina Kim joined the festivities of clinics and shotgun scrambles.
PXG also hosted a panel where social media and comedian star Becky Robinson and Kim joined others for engaging golf conversation.
“Last year, I played my first round of golf at Scottsdale National Golf Club during PXG’s 2nd Annual Women’s Day to Play. At that time I was pregnant a week out from giving birth,” shared Rachel Beach, PXG resale associate. “PXG was super supportive in helping me be a first-time mom, spending time with my son while continuing my career and gaining exposure to the game of golf.”
PXG new Summer ’23 capsule. (PXG)
PXG has already had a busy week, but also just released its Summer 2023 apparel collection.
This summer capsule contains navy and yellow hues for both men and women. It contains 11 classic course-ready styles with PXG signature details of six for men and five for women. The men’s capsule features 4 core polos and two new silhouettes of a layer-able, four-way stretch golf vest and a new slim golf short.
The women’s capsule introduces five figure-flattering pieces of two polos, two core classic skirts and one new dress. The polos, featured in solid yellow and Fairway Camo navy, complement the Fairway Camo Big Logo Pleated Skirt and the Classic Side Logo Tape Skirt.
Putters that cost $450 or more might be a wise investment in your golf game.
Golf is costly, but over the years I have shared many ways to save money and make wise purchasing decisions on gear. Get shoes with replaceable spikes to prolong traction, buy tees in bulk online and invest in good rain gear that will last for years instead of two or three cheap pieces that leak every time you try playing through a shower.
So, what I’m about to write might come as a shock, but I think it’s true: An ultra-premium putter, which easily can cost $450 or more, might be one of the best values for your game.
I get it: Paying a driver-like price for a putter is insane to many golfers. There are many high-quality putters that cost less than $200 and feature helpful technologies.
Getting custom fit and purchasing a putter such as the just-released Scotty Cameron Super Select Newport 2, a Toulon Design Memphis or a Ping PLD Milled Oslo 4 – all of which have a retail price of $449 – requires a significant outlay of cash. But consider these things before you completely dismiss the idea of owning one of these clubs.
1. The shapes are timeless.
If you put any of the aforementioned putters down behind the ball and like it, you will always like it. Shapes like these never go out of style.
2. The technologies are timeless.
When it comes to drivers, technologies change all the time. Faces are made thinner and faster, crowns become lighter and advancements in manufacturing lead to new ways to hit the ball farther every year.
In contrast, putter technologies change slowly. Many of the most high-end putters are still milled from a single block of stainless steel, and in many cases materials such as aluminum and tungsten are strategically added to improve performance. Some of these putters have special face inserts or unique weighting systems to help you roll the ball more effectively. But as with their looks, the technologies you typically find in ultra-premium putters are time-tested.
3. Over time, they’re cheaper than drivers per shot. Let’s do a little math. If you buy a new driver such as a Callaway Paradym, Cobra AeroJet or TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus+, you will pay $550 or more. If you are an avid golfer and play 30 rounds in a season, and you hit your driver off the tee on every par 4 and par 5 (14 drives per round), you will hit driver 420 times in a season. That works out to $1.31 per shot. If you skip a few generations of drivers and play the same club for five years, that’s 2,100 shots at $0.26 per shot.
If you buy a $450 putter and need 30 putts per round, in your first 30-round season you will pay 50 cents per putt for those 900 putts. A properly fit, ultra-premium putter can easily be played for five years or longer, so if you play 30 rounds a year for five years and take 30 putts per round (4,500 putts), your cost per putt goes down to $0.10 per shot.
So, per shot, an ultra-premium putter is cheaper than today’s modern drivers.
4. They maintain resale value.
Everyone should be careful when buying used equipment online to avoid counterfeit gear. If you are looking for bargains and check the prices of used putters such as the Bettinardi Queen B Series putters, you won’t find any for less than $150 to $200, and many are still fetching $300 or more. The supplies are limited, the demand is high and the value of ultra-premium putters can remain strong for years. So if you decide to part ways with a high-end putter, you can expect to obtain a nice trade-in credit at your local store or sell it outright for a good price.
Being a good value does not mean something is inexpensive. Paying $450 or more for any golf club represents a real investment in your game, so be sure to get custom fit. Below are several ultra-premium putters that nearly any golfer would love to use.
“With the stuff that went down at 9/11, I have a hard time getting involved with them.”
Bob Parsons, the founder of GoDaddy and Parsons Xtreme Golf (PXG), was not a Vietnam War protester in the 1960s. The Baltimore, Maryland, native enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and was a part of the 26th Marine Regiment before serving as a rifleman in Vietnam in 1969. He spent two months in a naval hospital after being wounded in action and earned a Purple Heart, the combat action ribbon and the Vietnam Vietnam Gallantry Cross.
But in a recent interview in Esquire, Parsons, who is now 72, made it clear that he is with the people who have protested outside LIV Golf events against the Saudi-backed tour.
“I will say this here, on the LIV tour, I consider myself a patriot,” Parsons said. “With the stuff that went down at 9/11, I have a hard time getting involved with them. I know, sometimes, bygones got to be bygones, and I’ve forgiven a lot of people. One of them is Jane Fonda for what she did during the Vietnam War. I’m no longer angry at her. I get it. She was young and stupid. But I just cannot bring myself to do anything with [LIV], and the guys who are heroes, they all agree with that.”
Bob Parsons, founder of PXG, at Scottsdale National Golf Club (Photo: Tracy Wilcox/Golfweek)
Parsons is a fan of wearing all black, riding powerful motorcycles (he owns Harley-Davidson dealerships) and loves nothing more than supporting American veterans. He has donated millions of dollars to veteran-related charities, give members of the military and first responders get a discount on PXG gear and even gave holes at Scottsdale National Golf Club, which Parsons owns, military-inspired names and plaques.
Knowing that, LIV golfers should not bother calling Parsons or PXG regarding future sponsorships.
“Well, we really don’t have guys on that tour,” Parsons said. “I mean, we’ve had some guys that had contracts that went on that tour, and I honored the contracts. But now that the contracts are up, I have no contract with them, and I don’t think they can contract with sponsors with the LIV tour, at least. I don’t know. I could be speaking out of school, but if I had an opportunity to come up and do it, I wouldn’t do it.”
Pat Perez had previously had an endorsement deal with PXG and Patrick Reed signed a deal with PXG in January 2022. Both players are now with the LIV Golf League and neither appears on the PXG website. The company’s current staff is headlined by U.S. Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson, along with Joel Dahmen, who was a star in the Netflix series “Full Swing.”
PXG’s new cavity-back delivers excellent feel and control with a touch of forgiveness.
Gear: PXG 0317 CB irons Price: $169.99 each Specs: Forged 8620 carbon steel with milled back and adjustable swing weight. Available in chrome and dark finishes
Who It’s For: Accomplished golfers who want to shape shots but need more forgiveness than a muscleback blade offers.
The Skinny: Forged for a soft feel and featuring classic looks, PXG’s newest better-player offering is a cavity-back designed to deliver excellent feel and control with a touch of forgiveness.
The Deep Dive: In March, PXG released the 0311 GEN6 P and XP irons, which can be classified as a better-player’s distance iron and a game-improvement club, but last September, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based company released the 0317 ST, a blended-iron set that combined cavity-back 3- and 4-irons with muscleback blades in the 5-iron through pitching wedge. The idea was that the game’s best players want the ultimate in precision and feel with their mid- and short-irons, but they will gladly accept a little forgiveness on long-iron shots.
The 0317 CB has a thin topline, narrow sole and very little offset. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Now PXG is breaking that set apart and releasing the new 0317 CB as a stand-alone set of cavity-back irons for low-handicap golfers and players with a powerful, repeatable swing who are looking for control and feel around the course.
Like the previously released clubs, the 0317 CBs are triple forged using 8620 carbon steel, and the back of each head is milled to precisely create the shapes the designers intended. PXG engineers have also added a weight in the back of each head that can be changed during the fitting process to allow golfers to try different swing weights. It is a unique way for golfers to feel the difference between heavier and lighter versions of the same iron and discover which performs better. Once PXG installs the weight during the clubs’ assembly, it is not designed to be removed or swapped.
The 0317 CB has perimeter weighting to add a touch of forgiveness. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
While the 0311 GEN6 irons are hollow and then filled with a polymer to soften the feel and enhance the sound, the 0317 CB irons are solid metal. They have a shorter blade length, thinner topline and narrower sole than the 0311 GEN6 P irons.
The 0317 CB irons can be purchased as a set or bought individually, making it easier for control-oriented golfers to work with fitters and create a personalized blended set of 0317 CB and 0317 ST muscleback blades.
The 0317 CB irons are available in chrome and Xtreme Dark finish.
PXG made the faces of the GEN6 irons thinner to increase ball speed and provide more distance.
Gear: PXG 0311 P GEN6, 0311 XP GEN6 irons Price: $219 each Specs: Hollow-body construction with a forged 8620 carbon steel body and a milled back area, forged HT1770 stainless steel face, tungsten weights and internal polymer.
Who They’re For: The updated 0311 P and XP are for golfers who want a soft feel at impact with more ball speed and stability in a club that looks like a better-player’s iron.
The Skinny: PXG made the faces of the GEN6 irons thinner to increase ball speed and provide more distance. The 0311 P is a better-player’s distance iron, while the 0311 XP is a true game-improvement offering.
The Deep Dive: PXG has made irons that play bigger than they look for a decade. The brand’s designers aspire to create clubs that look like they belong in a single-digit-handicap golfer’s bag but deliver more power and forgiveness than a muscleback blade.
The 0311 P GEN6 and 0311 XP GEN6 irons continue that tradition by utilizing multi-material construction and a unique perimeter weight system.
Both clubs use a five-strike forging process that transforms a rod of 8620 carbon steel into the chassis. To ensure the engineers’ designs are replicated precisely every time, the back of each head is milled using a fast-spinning, computer-controlled bit that passes back and forth over the club and shaves off tiny pieces of metal.
PXG 0311 GEN6 irons have a thin HT1770 stainless steel face. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The HT1770 stainless steel faces in the 0311 P GEN6 and 0311 XP GEN6 irons are 15 percent thinner and 5 grams lighter than the faces in the GEN5 irons. On the inner-facing side of the face, PXG added a horseshoe-shaped area that PXG refers to as a Power Channel, allowing the face to bend more efficiently around the perimeter.
PXG said that by working as a system, the lighter, more-flexible faces of GEN6 irons helps generate more ball speed and distance, especially on shots hit outside the center of the hitting area.
The U-shaped Power Channel encourages the face to flex, while the XCOR2 material supports the hitting area and absorbs vibrations. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Inside each head, PXG adds a proprietary polymer it calls XCOR2. It fills the entire inner chamber of each head, absorbing excessive vibrations to enhance sound and feel. The material also supports the face, which PXG said would bend or break after only a few hits without the added reinforcement. While the XCOR2 supports the face, it does not inhibit the hitting area from flexing, so ball speed is not sacrificed.
To add stability, PXG added two tungsten weights screws to both the heel and toe areas of the 0311 GEN6 irons. In addition to adding perimeter weighting, the tungsten screws lower the center of gravity to encourage higher-flying shots that come down more steeply, enhancing distance control and stopping power on the greens.
The small tungsten screws add perimeter weighting, while the large center screw allows fitters to change the swing weight. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
There is also a larger screw in the middle of the back of the clubs that fitters can adjust to change the swing weight of each iron.
The 0311 P GEN6 irons are a better-player’s distance iron, and they have a shorter blade length with slightly less offset and can help golfers produce a draw or a fade more easily than the 0311 XP GEN6 irons.
The 0311 XP GEN6, in addition to being larger, is more stable and forgiving, and it should produce a higher ball flight than the 0311 P GEN6 irons.
Both clubs are available in a chrome finish accented in black or a Black Label Elite version with Xtreme Dark finish and black Steel Fiber Private Reserve shafts.
Who They’re For: Golfers who want maximum stability and forgiveness without sacrificing ball speed.
The Skinny: With three movable weights positioned around the edges of the sole, the sixth generation of the 0311 and 0311 XF drivers are more forgiving than their predecessors. The standard model emphasizes ball speed, while the XF model has the highest moment of inertia – for extra stability – of any driver PXG has made.
The Deep Dive: Before it became an inspirational quote you might find on the wall in an office lunch room, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote that perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. The idea is that you can make something better by removing unnecessary elements and focusing just on what is needed.
The engineers who developed PXG’s newest drivers – the 0311 GEN6 and 0311 XF GEN6 – appear to have taken that inspiration to heart, because several of the brand’s previously used technologies are gone. The internal honeycomb-structured, thermal plastic elastomer system that dampened vibration, goodbye. The aluminum-vapor coating that stiffened the carbon fiber crowns, nope. What remains are features meant to help golfers gain ball speed, stability and forgiveness.
PXG 0311 GEN6 drivers have faces made from Ti412 titanium. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The standard 0311 and 0311 XF GEN6 drivers have a 460-cubic-centimeter volume with a face of proprietary titanium alloy called Ti412. PXG said it is strong but has a low elastic modulus, which means it is flexible, making it an ideal material for a driver’s face. The variable-thickness hitting area is thinner in the perimeter to broaden the sweet spot and protect ball speed on off-center hits.
The large carbon fiber crown has a matte-black finish that should reduce glare on sunny days, but its most significant benefit is it saves weight on top of the club.
The weights in the GEN6 drivers are located around the perimeter of the sole to maximize the shifting of the center of gravity. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
That allowed designers to add three weight ports in the sole of both the 0311 and 0311 XF. Each club comes standard with a 7.5-gram weight in the back and the heel ports, and a 2.5-gram weight in the toe, giving the clubs a draw bias.
However, fitters have access to eight different weights that go up to 20 grams. Putting more weight in the heel encourages face closure and a draw, while adding extra weight to the toe creates a fade bias. Putting more weight in the back of the head boosts the moment of inertia, increases stability and promotes a higher-flying shot.
The 0311 and 0311 XF GEN6 drivers have an adjustable hosel that allows players and fitters to increase or decrease the loft by as many as 1.5 degrees.
The 0311 GEN6 XF driver (left) is larger from front to back than the standard 0311 GEN6, which has a classic pear shape in the address position. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The standard 0311 GEN6 driver has a slightly higher crown, a taller face and a pear-shaped look in the address position that should make it appealing to golfers who prefer a traditional-looking driver. It is slightly more aerodynamic than the 0311 XF GEN6, so with the same effort, golfers can expect to obtain more clubhead speed and distance with it.
The 0311 XF GEN6 is larger from face to back with a flatter crown and a bigger overall face, making it appealing to many golfers who want extra forgiveness.
PXG’s retail stores will be transitioning from being open seven days a week to five.
Parsons Xtreme Golf (PXG) made a name for itself a decade ago by releasing ultra-premium woods and irons, boldly advertising them and making the claim that, “Nobody makes golf clubs the way we do. Period.” An apparel line soon followed and last month PXG released its first line of golf balls.
Monday, however, the brand informed its employees that approximately 125 workers would be laid off as part of a restructuring operation.
The story was first reported by mygolfspy.com.
According to PXG, the company’s retail stores will be transitioning from being open seven days a week to five, and with that move, about 65 people would be laid off. PXG currently has 21 retail outlets.
The other 60 people who are being laid off work in other areas of the Scottsdale, Arizona-based PXG. According to a brand spokesperson, the company is “rightsizing” itself as the golf equipment market contracts and the pandemic-spurred boom in golf equipment sales slows.
The total number of employees being laid off represents approximately 10 percent of PXG’s workforce.
According to the National Golf Foundation (NGF), on-course participation was up in 2022, with a net increase of 500,000 golfers to 25.6 million. However, according to Golf Datatech, a service that tracks golf equipment sales and other industry information, equipment sales were down over 12 percent year-over-year in January 2023, continuing a downward trend.
“January 2023 was a continuation of what we saw in the fourth quarter of 2022, with significant headwinds such as inflation, asset value declines, and the threat of an impending recession impacting woods, irons, putters, bag and shoe sales,” said John Krzynowek, the co-founder of Golf Datatech. “At the same time, ball and gloves – products that correlate more closely with levels of play and are lower in cost – held close to level.”
That would imply that people who play golf are continuing to play, but golfers who bought equipment during the COVID-19 boom in the sport may not be looking to buy new gear right now. If that is the case, PXG’s layoffs could be a sign of the golf equipment industry, like other parts of the economy, contracting slightly in the months ahead.
The spring collection is full of vibrant hues of pink and green.
PXG Apparel has released its brand new 2023 spring collection full of vibrant hues of pink and green.
PXG is historically known for black tones, but the company typically picks a color or two to feature within each apparel drop. The hot pink and green are perfect colors for the spring season and heading into summer.
“The seasonal collection is made to move, highlighting and modernizing golf essentials in a bold and vibrant way. This collection offers a variety of distinct, elevated pieces that provide maximum performance for both on and off the course,” said Renee Parsons, President and Executive Creative Director of PXG Apparel.
Athletic Men’s Athletic Fit Turbo Polo- $125. (PXG)
The Men’s Athletic Fit Turbo Polo is a staple with a pop of neon green. There is green stripe detailing on the chest and back shoulders which adds an extra flare with silicone PXG logos.
The Women’s Eclipse Sleeveless Knitted Pleat Dress is not your traditional golf dress. With hot pink accents and a pleated bottom, this is a flattering and modern take on today’s golf apparel.
Shop or learn more about PXG’s new collection here.
Golfweek’s guide to wedges for 2023 is the perfect place to learn about the latest wedges.
Finding the right wedges, and learning a few basic techniques, can dramatically lower a recreational golfer’s score because suddenly instead of needing three shots (or four) to get the ball in the hole after your approach shot misses the green, you only need two. Chipping, pitching and hitting the ball closer from greenside sand takes some pressure off your putting and allows you to relax from the fairway.
So how to you find the ideal wedges? Easy, work with a good custom fitter, ask a lot of questions and if you can, take some time to think about where you play and how you play before you buy anything. Here are some things to consider:
What pitching wedge do you want? Back in the day, many iron sets came with a 10-iron, but that club transformed into today’s pitching wedge. You should still consider it an extension of your irons because you are going to use it most often from the fairway (or fairway rough) to hit approach shots. The pitching wedge that comes with iron sets should blend seamlessly from the 9-iron, making gapping between those clubs easy. If you want a specialty pitching wedge, find out the loft of your 9-iron and then talk with your fitter about what loft will be appropriate for your pitching wedge. Iron lofts have strengthened over the last decade, you don’t want to buy a 48-degree pitching wedge if your 9-iron has 37 degrees of loft.
Your gap wedge needs to be stronger, too. If the loft of your pitching wedge has to be stronger to make the gap between it and your 9-iron appropriate, your gap wedge loft will also likely need to be stronger. The most-popular loft for a gap wedge these days is 50 degrees
Bounce: Give yourself options. There are lots of different sole configurations in sand wedges and lob wedges, but it’s smart to have one club be a low-bounce option and the other be a high-bounce club. Which should be the low and which should be the high is up to you (and your fitter, hopefully), but having a low-bounce and a high-bounce option means that from hard-pan lies, in sand and from all kinds of rough, you will have something you can use confidently.
If you play a lot, replace your lob wedge often. Pros on the PGA Tour get a new pitching wedge and gap wedge about once a year, but they replace their sand wedge two or three times a year. Lob wedges (58, 60 and 62 degrees) can be replaced as much as six or seven times a year because elite golfers demand the grooves stay sharp. They practice with their lob wedges a lot, and sand, dirt and debris can dull the grooves quickly. You likely are not practicing and playing as much as a tour pro, but if you play year-round and notice that short chips and pitches are releasing and rolling out more than your expect, it might be time to get some fresh grooves in your bag.
Here are the wedges that you are likely to see in pro shops and golf specialty stores right now.
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Who It’s For: Golfers who want a premium golf ball that delivers distance off the tee and control around the greens.
The Skinny: PXG enters the golf ball market for the first time with a urethane-covered ball that is designed to provide golfers with more distance off the tee, better aerodynamics in flight and enhanced spin on short-game shots.
The Deep Dive: Bob Parsons launched his golf equipment company, Parsons Xtreme Golf (PXG), in 2013 and the first product that made its way to the public was a set of irons that looked like nothing golfers had seen before. Ringing the back of each head were tiny weight screws, made from tungsten, that allowed blade-looking irons to perform like perimeter-weighted, game-improvement clubs. Other irons followed, then woods, wedges, putters and even apparel. However, that was not the original plan. The first product that PXG engineers worked on was … a golf ball. As all the clubs and apparel keep coming, the work on the PXG golf ball stayed in the background, until now.
Today, the first PXG golf ball is here, the Xtreme ball, and it will be available on the company’s website and in its retails shops.
The PXG Xtreme golf balls is a three-piece ball with a synthetic rubber core, mantle layer and a urethane cover. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The Xtreme golf ball has a large synthetic rubber core that is surrounded by a firm ionomer mantle layer, which in turn encased by a urethane cover. The idea is that energy created during your full swings will activate the core and create speed, but on slower, partial-swing shots, the softness of the urethane cover will allow the grooves in your wedges and short irons to grab the ball more easily and create spin.
PXG also gave the ball a 338-dimple pattern that the company claims will help the ball hold its line effectively in windy conditions.
