TourEdge XCG5 11.5 Degree Fairway - REVIEW!

[Tony Covey MGS]

TourEdge XCG5 (Super)Strong 3-Wood Review

 

When we sat down with TourEdge at the 2012 PGA show we talked a little bit about their new XCG5 lineup. Sure, we talked about the drivers (reviewed here), and the combo-brazing process they use to build their woods to exceptional tolerances. All of it sounded pretty interesting to me, but when they mentioned (almost in passing) their 11.5 degree strong 3-wood, my head snapped around, and I was like say whaaaaaat?

 

Sure, I love testing the assortment of clubs we get in here, but for all the technological benefits most claim to offer, the clubs themselves are fairly standardized. Some drivers are 9 while others are 9.5, but apart from a degree here or there, nobody in the industry is venturing too far off the script.

 

Me, I like the unusual. Whether it's a driver with an unusual design like the PowerPod II, or a wedge with an unusual grind, I'm basically most curious about that which is most different. While I'm not going to sit here and tell you that a 3-wood with a relatively conventional head is completely unique, you have to admit that 11.5 degree 3-woods are a bit of a rarity in the industry. I definitely had to check this one out.

 

I'll be doing a review of the standard XCG5 3 and 5 woods in the coming weeks, but for this review I wanted to focus on the most intriguing of the specifications offered. Is it a 3-wood, a strong 3-wood, or perhaps a mini-driver? There really is only one way to find out.

 

 

The TourEdge BulletPoints

 

· Titanium cup face & crown with Beta titanium face insert for astounding distance

 

· Heavy tungsten sole plate accounts for 68% of head's total weight and optimizes center of gravity

 

· Boomerang face technology maximizes spring effect from more contact points for consistently long shots

 

Specs:

 

Loft: 11.5°

Lie: 57°

Shaft Length: 43” (Aldila RIP Sigma)

Face Angle: Square

Flex: L,A,R,S,X (I was fitted for an X-flex)

 

 

How I Tested

I hit two series of shots with the TourEdge XCG5 (super) strong fairway wood. The first set I hit from the tee, the 2^nd from a fairway lie. For most fairway wood tests I'll be hitting a 3-wood off the tee for pure distance, and the 5-wood of the fairway to a target (accuracy).

 

Practically speaking, the11.5° clubs is likely one you'd bag either as an alternative off the tee, or a hit-the-damn-ball-as-far-as-I-possibly-can option from the fairway. If there happens to be a target somewhere down there, fine, but this is a club I view as a pure distance alternative.

 

Off the Tee

 

Off the tee I averaged 252.20 yards of total distance. That's probably in the ballpark of 12 yards less than I'd expect to get with a driver, but it's not half bad.

 

The distance looks even better when you consider that on average I was only 12.42 yards off the target line, which based on previous driver (and fairway wood) reviews, is borderline excellent.

 

As the often are, my spin numbers were a tad high (I'm working on it week by week), but 3830.85 is tolerable when you consider that abnormally high spin numbers will impact averages more than unusual low numbers…and I don't hit that many balls with unusually low spin.

 

At 10.75°, my launch angle was also a bit lower than I would like, but the lower profile head does make it a bit more difficult to attack the ball with a steeper angle of attack than an 11.5° driver would (tee height), so for me, these are all acceptable numbers.

 

 

From the Fairway

 

On paper hitting an 11.5° club from a flat lie reads like a scary proposition. The guys at TourEdge told me that what was unique about the 11.5 XCG5 is that, despite the lower loft; it's relatively easy to get the ball up in the air. Mostly that's true.

 

While a single shot with a whopping 3.82° launch angle lowered things (the ball went 240 yards, and was less than 10 yards offline, so I can live with it), brought down the average (9.2 yards) a bit, most shots were in the 8° range, with the best distance coming from a shot with a launch angle of 8.23°. I've averaged lower with a driver, so again, these are numbers I can live with.

 

Total distance average was 249.05 yards, with best of 259.65 yards, and a worst of 242.43.

 

GolfSpy T by the Numbers

 

 

The Subjective Stuff…OneGuy's Opinion

 

Looks: Simply put, the design of the club is what it needs to be to get the job done. The head is large-enough so that I actually feel like I can hit it consistently off the tee, and yet the face is shallow enough that it doesn't look too big to hit from the fairway.

 

The shape is a bit more rounded that some other fairways on the market today, but overall it looks reasonably traditional at address.

 

As I mentioned in the review of the XCG5 Driver, I'm not a huge fan of the sole graphics, but I'm far from put off by them. Worth noting is that the red paint fill is a little rough around the edges in a couple of spots.

 

Sound & Feel: Most significant (to me anyway), the fairway wood isn't nearly as loud as the driver (it's head-volumething, I'm sure). While I didn't care too much for the feel of the driver, the XCG5 fairway wood is crisp at impact. Mis-hits translate well without being overly harsh.

 

Forgiveness: Call it forgiveness if you like, but the thing I most enjoyed about the XCG5 3+(+) is that I really felt like I could take a good rip at the ball without fear of repercussions. As you can see from the performance charts, the club does a reasonably good job of keeping the ball within the boundaries off the golf course, and distance loss on mistakes, while noticeable (as it should be) isn't excessive either.

 

Conclusion

 

The 11.5° TourEdge XCG5 is an intriguing option in the fairway space. It offers near driver distance off the tee, and yet remains playable off the deck.

 

The question is, what do you pull from the bag to make room? If you're simply looking for a longer 3-wood, it's a simple answer. The problem is that, as a true 3-wood replacement, it might be too long, and it could create too big of a gap between it and the next longest club in your bag.

 

Of course, there's an argument to be made, particularly for those who struggle with the driver (I've been there…I had a stretch a few years ago when I became so disenchanted with my driver, I didn't pull it out of the bag for half a season), it's a viable, and certainly more versatile option – especially if you play on shortercourses.

 

The bottom line is thatthe TourEdge Exotics XCG5 11.5° is a club I quite enjoy hitting, but from a practicality standpoint, I'm just not sure where it would fit I my bag (but it sure would be fun to find a spot for it).

 

More Pics:

[JMiller]

Wow, 3++ wood at 11.5*, heck we might as well bust out the old wood headed drivers that are 11* roughly and use that as a fairway wood, I guess the higher CoR more forgiving metal would still win but you get the idea

 

I must say there has to be a point that playability is effected by the lofts getting so strong. I know a ton of people that can't get a 16* hybrid high enough in the air to optimize distance with it, same is true for the 13* 3 woods. For some people they would benefit more from a 4 wood 16.5 then a 15* 3 wood.

 

Do you feel that this 11.5* is as easy to get into the air as say a 13 degree?

 

I just have a hard time thinking this would be useful for anything other then removing the driver and using this 11.5* so called 3 wood.

[GolfSpy WD]

Why not call it a 2 wood?

[JMiller]

Why not call it a 2 wood?

 

if this is called a 2 wood I would hate to see what loft a 1 wood would come in if they made it, next thing you know we will have a 9* 1 fairway wood

[JBones]

You can hand select a Wishon 929HS 2W and get it bent to 11*. I've been debating a 12.5* 2W/3W with a mid-high launch shaft. As I've stated numerous times, I mostly use my 3W for accuracy off the tee, but at the same time, I want to get length. What I've been thinking about doing is going 12.5* 3W for tee shots, a strong 5W at 17* to help close that gap and to get a little more height than what my current 18* hybrid has, and a 20.5* hybrid.

 

Is that a real RIP of made for?

[Tony Covey MGS]

You can hand select a Wishon 929HS 2W and get it bent to 11*. I've been debating a 12.5* 2W/3W with a mid-high launch shaft. As I've stated numerous times, I mostly use my 3W for accuracy off the tee, but at the same time, I want to get length. What I've been thinking about doing is going 12.5* 3W for tee shots, a strong 5W at 17* to help close that gap and to get a little more height than what my current 18* hybrid has, and a 20.5* hybrid.

 

Is that a real RIP of made for?

 

The Sigma is a made for variant, but in our driver tests (as well as previous FW and hybrid tests of TE clubs) it has proven to be a low spinning shaft.

[GolfSpy Tim]

would love to try and strike the ball with one of these. I know that my typical 3-wood play is dismal, but I have been improving with some instruction.

 

my new driver will be too long for some holes I've been using my old driver for, so this would actual fill a hole I didn't have before.

[Tony Covey MGS]

 

Do you feel that this 11.5* is as easy to get into the air as say a 13 degree?

 

 

6 of 1... I can't say there was any real appreciable difference between the TE 11.5 and the RockeBallz Spoon that is in my bag now as far as getting the ball in the air is concerned (though I don't hit either particularly high). Really...unless you remind yourself "Oh my god, it's only 11.5*", it doesn't look much different on the ground.

 

It's an intriguing club, but one longer hitters probably don't need. Although I'm probably too stubborn to do it, it is an interesting option as a more controllable driver replacement.

[JMiller]

6 of 1... I can't say there was any real appreciable difference between the TE 11.5 and the RockeBallz Spoon that is in my bag now as far as getting the ball in the air is concerned (though I don't hit either particularly high). Really...unless you remind yourself "Oh my god, it's only 11.5*", it doesn't look much different on the ground.

 

It's an intriguing club, but one longer hitters probably don't need. Although I'm probably too stubborn to do it, it is an interesting option as a more controllable driver replacement.

 

Yea I guess I am a freak of nature in terms that I dropped my 14.5* Adams 9032Ti 3wood and went into my gamer 16.5* TE CB3 4wood because the 3 wood is too long for the gaps I want.

 

Yesterday I hit a terrible strike at 4wood at 275 into a par 5 trying to get there in two came out thin as heck and a low slice burner, still made it out to 245 carry 260 total in the front right green side bunker and 275 to center. so i got up out of the bunker then lipped the birdie putt... *sigh*

 

For me I have an issue many people probably would want, I have too much distance I don't need more distance I need control over what I am doing accuracy. I see 4 wood as a scoring club not a driving club

[Addicted2Golf]

I don't know... guess I would have to try it. The problem is Exotics are rarely available for demo and therefore this becomes the proverbial leap of faith and probably an expensive one at that.

[Matt Saternus]

I don't know... guess I would have to try it. The problem is Exotics are rarely available for demo and therefore this becomes the proverbial leap of faith and probably an expensive one at that.

 

Yeah, $300.

 

Credit where credit's due: I like that TE did something different here. Not sure that it's for me, but at least they're trying.

[Tony Covey MGS]

T, nice review..Have you had a chance to hit the Adams Speedline Super XTD fairway metal?..How did it stack up to the XCG5?..Fairways & Greens 4ever...

 

I haven't hit the XTD yet. Still trying to get some in for review.

 

 

 

[Kor.A.Door]

I know this is an old thread, but I love TEE, I hit about 20 balls at a demo day in Charlotte, nc and I was sold, if you don't want to pay the price for one, don't hit it, because you will want it, they don't make the LH models in The 3++ 11.5* but I do have the standard 15 * and I hit that thing a very long way. I actually used this off the tee from the deck on occasion on some short par 4' s because I hit it so well off the deck that I was confident I could get about 260 with roll and I would be in the fairway. I have the Fuji. Blur stiff in mine, usually I extend my clubs, but I hit this so well with standard I haven't felt the need to it. The first hole at my home club is 386 from the tips, I will use this club and if i hit it well,I will be around 100 yards, if I miss it a little I still get to around 115 to 125, and if I really hit it badly, not the clubs fault, I will still be at 130 to 140, which is

a 3/4 PW or a really hard GW, I have tried many other brands of woods, and I hit this one easily 15 yards farther than any of them. I didn't care for the driver either, but mainly because all they had in lh was 10.5 degrees, and that is just too much loft for me, I see that the xcg6 driver has it in 9 deg. And is adjustable somewhat, I may give it a try if I can find somewhere who has one to demo.