William L. Coney Blog: First Look: Tour Edge EXS Fairways and Hybrids

Pound for pound, nothing else comes close. That’s the tagline for the Tour Edge EXS series of clubs. Chiefly, it’s a line tasked with bringing golfers the technology and performance expected of flagship models from major OEMs at a more budget-friendly price point.

Golfers bemoan increases in equipment costs and largely cite niche brands and special releases as the primary culprits – though the established norm of $500 drivers is a worthy talking point as well. However, more expensive options do not preclude the existence of less expensive ones. In fact, equipment narrowly targeted at the economic fringes of the market creates the need for lines like the EXS to serve the budgetary and performance needs of most golfers.

TECH PACKAGE

The foundation of both the EXS fairway and hybrid is quench-hardened, hyper-strength steel construction. High-density Carpenter steel in used in the fairway while the hybrid has a Japanese HT980 steel cup face. The heating technique requires 750° to produce a thinner, stronger face for greater energy transfer (think ball speed) and forgiveness while the hexagonal Variable Face Thickness (VFT) apportions different levels of thickness across the face to improve forgiveness on both heel and toe strikes. Additionally, in the fairway brings a bit of carbon fiber to the toe. By replacing the heavier steel, extra mass can be placed in the heel to create a native draw bias.

The Flight Tuning System (FTS) allows for players to move around interchangeable weights (two in the fairway and one in the hybrid) to modify ball flight. An 11-gram and 3-gram are standard in the fairway, with a separate kit including 6-gram, 9-gram and 14-gram weights available for purchase. The hybrid comes stock with a 4-gram weight and 7-gram, and 10-gram weights can be purchased separately.

The premise of moveable weights is elementary. Pushing more weight toward the heel further increases draw bias and placing heavier weights rearward increases launch and promotes a straighter ball flight. With the hybrid, it’s not a matter of changing right-left flight bias, but swingweight and CG location. Replacing the 4-gram weight in the hybrid with either a 7-gram or 10-gram weight increases swingweight and all things being equal, decreases spin for a more penetrating flight.

The improved aerodynamics are the result of wider speed channels in the patented SlipStream Sole, which make far more sense in the hybrid and fairway offerings than the driver, though I suppose it gives the line some aesthetic continuity. In this context, aerodynamic improvement is less about how efficiently the club moves through the air and all about how it glides through the turf.

The stock shaft offering for the EXS fairway is the Mitsubishi CK Blue 2g. A 50-gram weight will be available in Ladies, A-flex and Regular, a 60-gram shaft available in Regular, Stiff and X-flex and a 70-gram shaft available in Stiff and X-flex. The 3-wood is offered in 13°, 15°(RH and LH) and 17°. A 5-wood (18°) and 7-wood (21°) round out the lineup.

Like the EXS fairway, the stock shaft offering for the EXS hybrid is the Mitsubishi CK Blue 2G. A 60g weight is available in Ladies, and A-flex ladies flex, 70g in regular and 80g in stiff and x-stiff. The hybrid is available for right-handed players in lofts of 17°, 19°, 22°, 25°, and 28°.

MOVING ON

The EXS line is built around curing what ails the greatest percentage of golfers – the choppy, weak slice – while providing a boost in distance. That alone doesn’t make Tour Edge stand out, but at prices which are roughly 20% less than competitors who offer similar technology, it’s sure to garner some degree of attention.

Tour Edge is a savvy brand. It hasn’t turned a profit every year of its existence by making bad bets or taking fliers on equipment releases. At face value, the EXS line sits comfortably between the previous Exotics and aggressively priced Hot Launch lines. It allows Tour Edge some room to make an argument that its performance per dollar spent ratio is as good, if not better than any OEM, especially for golfers with sub-105 MPH swing speeds.

That’s the overwhelming majority of the market.