Indoor Golf: First Look: PXG 0311XF Iron

“Trust me, forgiveness has never felt so good.”

It might be premature to say that PXG’s latest offering, the 0311XF iron, rounds out the company’s lineup, but it definitely expands its reach into a new performance segment.

As should be clear from the XF in the name, the 0311XF is PXG’s first foray into the Xtreme Forgiveness, game-improvement space. At least that’s how PXG is telling the story.

Me, I look at it a bit differently.

While the original 0311 looks like a player’s iron – I’d call it a slightly oversize blade - the performance characteristics are very much game-improvement. If the new XF plays as advertised, what we’re talking about is really super-game improvement playability engineered into the footprint of an iron only moderately larger than PXG’s first.

PXG’s engineers didn’t so much build on the existing platform as they did expand it. Literally. As in they stretched the 0311 in three dimensions with the goal of creating a larger, and by extension, more forgiving version of the original.

“We’d all love to hit the ball perfectly every time, but the truth is many of us don’t. Most players struggle with imperfect swings and for some playing, a blade can be intimidating. So, we engineered a game improvement iron that is even more forgiving than the original PXG 0311 irons and just as sexy. Trust me, forgiveness has never felt so good.” – Bob Parsons, PXG Founder

I’m not trying to undersell PXG’s latest efforts, but the XF is basically a 0311, only bigger. And that’s the point.

As you would expect from any iron explicitly positioned in the game-improvement space, the 0311XF features a wider sole, longer blade length, thicker topline, a bit more offset, and more mass in the back cavity as the clubhead transitions from center to sole.

While those changes aren’t insignificant, in isolation the XF is nearly indistinguishable from the 0311. It’s not a bulky iron, but side by side with the 0311 it is noticeably, though not significantly, larger. In my mind, these distinctions can be summarized with a single word: scale.

Expansion not Evolution

You’re not getting any revolutionary new technology story this year. PXG uses the same Thermo-Plastic Elastomer (TPE) filling to support the 0311XF’s ultra-thin face. You’re not getting any of that clichéd stuff about undercut cavities, and you’re most definitely not getting an aggressive color scheme and the elaborate badging that often comes with it.

You’re not getting anything that screams Look at me, I’m a game-improvement iron.

What you’re are getting is a larger version of the 0311, and with that comes more forgiveness (higher MOI), and higher (apples to apples) launch due to the resulting increase in dynamic loft.

While that may sound a bit too straight-forward, and perhaps overly simplistic, the true-to-PXG design creates a kind of continuity within the lineup that rarely exists elsewhere. Seriously. Where else does the most forgiving iron in the lineup look nearly identical to the tour model? Where else can you get a clean aesthetic (screws/weights notwithstanding), in a legitimate game-improvement iron?

My point is that while there are always geometric trade-offs between game-improvement irons, cavitybacks, and blades, it’s exceedingly rare that geometry is the only major distinction. While that may not seem like that big of a deal, for PXG the 0311XF allows it to expand into a new segment without deviating from its established identity. For the PXG player it means you now have three distinct, but not incohesive choices for the bag. Feel free to mix and match, and create one hell of a combo set.

“I love my PXG 0311XF 4-iron. Off the tee I hit it 260 yards and when someone looks in my bag it blends perfectly with my 0311 irons. You would never know that it’s a game improvement club – and I like that.” – Charl Schwartzel

Specs and Pricing

Stock lofts are, across the board, a degree strong than the 0811. PXG would likely tell you that’s, in part to offset the inherent center of gravity differences. I’d tell you it that it doesn’t matter. Trust your PXG fitter to get your lofts right.

PXG 0311XF irons are available for $350/head in Chrome finish and $500/head in PXG’s Xtreme Dark, a black Diamond-like Carbon (DLC) coating.

For more information or to schedule a fitting visit www.PXG.com.