Join Jason Ashley in eGolf Megastore’s Al Wasl shop simulator as the custom fit specialist explores the new technology in this year’s Hot List ‘hybrids’ category.

For full specs and analysis of all the award winning models in this years Hot List, grab your copy of Golf Digest Middle East’s June issue out now.

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Making a club larger might naturally lead to the club being more forgiving on off-center hits—drivers are a natural case in point—but making a club larger that a player must hit off the ground presents particularly difficult challenges. Most notably, a larger body can raise the club’s center of gravity, producing shots that fly too low and spin too much. That can lead to less distance.

The Cobra King OS hybrid makes the forgiveness of its wider, large volume frame work as a playable club off the ground thanks to a lower CG. The lower CG comes about through the King OS hybrid’s multi-material construction. That includes a thin-ply carbon composite crown called TeXtreme that saves eight grams and internal tungsten weighting.

While the wide frame of the King OS hybrid provides more stability on off-center hits, the entire face’s flexibility is enhanced by extending the low portion of the face plate around the leading edge. This moves the weld line away from the face to the lower stress area of the sole, allowing a broader area of the face to flex more similarly to that of the center of the face. It’s a similar idea found in the company’s King OS irons.

“The oversized head will provide golfers with even more speed and distance on off-center contact without sacrificing forgiveness or control,” said Cobra’s Tom Olsavsky, vice president of R&D. “The key to distance is lower CG and less spin, which is a big challenge when you create a larger clubhead.”

Not lost in the midst of all this technology is the one simple benefit of the design: The oversized shape of the King OS hybrid breeds confidence. According to Cobra, the King OS is the largest hybrid the company has ever introduced.

The 3-4H version’s volume is 122 cubic centimeters, or 12 percent bigger than the corresponding King F7 hybrid and close to the size of the King F7 5W-6W fairway wood (150 cc). The King OS hybrid features the company’s eight-way adjustable hosel (+/- 1.5 degrees of loft). It’s available in three heads (3-4H, 4-5H, 5-6H) that cover a range of lofts from 19-28 degrees.

The King OS hybrid also will be offered as a combo set with the King OS irons that includes two hybrids. The King OS hybrids will be available in stores June 2 (US$250) and the combo sets will arrive July 8 ($1,100 steel, $1,200 graphite).Editor’s note: Middle East prices and availability dates TBC.

—Mike Stachura/@MikeStachura

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While in many cases metalwood technology has trickled down to influence iron design (think thinner, hotter faces), the new PXG metalwoods collection borrows a key technology from its successful family of 0311 irons: Each of the new metalwoods incorporates the thermoplastic elastomer compound that coats the internal structure and supports the ultra-thin face of its hollow irons. Weighing 14 grams on the 0811X and eight grams on the 0811LX (a lighter head weight model designed for slower swing speeds), the TPE compound fills the base of each metalwood design and works with a carbon fiber crown to save weight, lower the center of gravity and reduce spin.

“As people have tried to push the levels of performance and really thin out all the geometry, especially extremely thin geometry, it creates a lot of harsh vibration,” said Brad Schweigert, chief product officer at PXG. “Some people have gone in and tried to create rib structures to try to mitigate that. We found a more efficient way and a better way by using TPE. We can save all that mass from putting it in extra structures, make the thicknesses as thin as possible and really put the mass where we want it, and create an even softer more unique sound than we could ever do with any internal structure.”

While the TPE pad uses a honeycomb structure to save even more mass, the even larger savings comes from the carbon-fiber crown design. On the new 0811X and 0811LX drivers, the crown saves almost 14 grams compared to the all-titanium crown on the original 0811, Schweigert said. It saves a similar amount of mass on the new 0341X fairway woods and approximately 10 grams on the new 0317X hybrids.

On the 0811X and 0811LX, the major intent was to reduce spin compared to PXG’s original drivers. Schweigert explained that the use of carbon fiber in the crown and TPE internally allowed the design to yield a center of gravity that’s some 3.75 millimeters lower than on the 0811 driver and below the club’s neutral axis (an imaginary line perpendicular to the loft and through the geometric center of the face) while maintaining a high moment of inertia measurement for stability on off-center hits. Schweigert said that stability is possible because the CG wasn’t moved closer to the face, something some other drivers have done to reduce spin.

Both drivers also utilize a revised variable thickness face design. The new face insert weighs less to help improve CG location and maintain MOI.

The new 0811X and 0811LX drivers reduce the number of trademark PXG weight ports from 16 to 10, but the combination of heavy (tungsten) and lightweight (titanium) screw weights still provide the ability to customize ball flight to mitigate slices and hooks or further reduce spin.

The new fairway woods (0341X) and hybrids (0317X) also are designed for lower spin compared to the current models through a lowered center of gravity.

“On the fairway woods, one of the things we wanted was to drive the CG down and forward,” Schweigert said. “Because you’re hitting the ball off the ground, we’ve got to get that CG more in line with the neutral axis to try to get the most energy out of it, generate a little higher ball speed and significantly lower spin.”

Schweigert noted that the 0341X fairway woods feature more mass in the heel and toe and as a result have a higher MOI compared to the original 0341. The mass is moved slightly forward in the 0317X hybrids, as well, to help lower the CG for reduced spin. The fairway woods feature a high-strength maraging HT1770M face insert to improve face flexibility. Both the fairway woods and hybrids also utilize PXG’s adjustable screw weights. There are nine ports on the fairway woods and seven on the hybrids.

According to PXG founder Bob Parsons, the new metalwoods reflect a fairly direct design mandate.

“There were four characteristics that we were concerned with in designing these clubs,” he said. “One is distance, but there are three more that are very important: dispersion, sound and feel.”

The latter two seem to especially resonate with the man in charge. “With most titanium drivers for most golfers, each drive you lose a teensy-tiny bit of hearing,” Parsons said, only slightly tongue-in-cheek. “I believe with this new process that we use we’re going to mitigate that effect.”

As for feel, Parsons was just as succinct with his directive.

“I’m 66 years old now,” he said, “and one thing I’ve learned in my life is that I tend to enjoy things that feel good.”

The 0811X and 0811LX drivers ($850) are offered in 9-, 10.5- and 12-degree lofts, each with an 8-way adjustable hosel (plus/minus 1.5 degrees).

The 0341X fairway woods ($650), which also feature the adjustable hosel, is available in 15-, 18- and 21-degree lofts, as well as a new 13-degree 2-wood that features a slightly taller face for improved ballspeed.

The 0317X hybrids ($550), also with the adjustable hosel, are available in 17-, 19-, 22-, 25- and 28-degree lofts. – By Mike Stachura

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Canadian-born PXG brand ambassador Alex Riggs runs you through the stress-fee solution on the fantastic new short game area at Trump International Golf Club, Dubai.

Photo/video by Kristina Nabieva

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