“I want a golf club that looks like a blade. Plays like a cavity back. Launches higher. Goes farther. Feels amazing. Is incredibly forgiving. And is unbelievably sexy.”
It’s the unusual charter devised by Bob Parsons that set the wheels in motion for what is now a global phenomenon – PXG.
PXG Founder and CEO Bob Parsons’ passion for golf and obsession with the tools of the trade came to a head following a serendipitous nine holes when he met former PGA TOUR player and golf club designer, Mike Nicolette. The two struck up a friendship and an ongoing dialog about equipment.
A few years later Parsons established Scottsdale National Research Center, which would eventually become PXG, bringing Nicolette and Brad Schweigert on board to explore the science behind the equipment industry.
From the go, PXG has been a very different kind of equipment manufacturer. Fundamentally, the company bears little relation to the established big beasts of the golf equipment market. It boasts a no cost constraints, no time constraints approach to product engineering, and maintains an unapologetic focus on performance. Its mission … to unlock the potential of existing and new technologies to develop and deliver the world’s finest golf equipment.
The resounding difference – a company determined to elevate individual performance and increase enjoyment on the course.
To get the ball rolling and tick the first box in Parsons’ lofty charter, “looks like a blade, plays like a cavity back,” the team determined that a hollow-body design was required. The challenge, hollow-body irons feel like swinging a lead pipe.
Parsons, thinking about his service as a U.S. Marine Corps 0311 Rifleman during the Vietnam War, suggested the cavity be filled with something like Sorbothane, frequently found in the butt of a rifle to absorb recoil.
Bang! The “aha” moment inspired an engineering breakthrough that would not only put PXG on the map, but also turn the golf industry on its head. PXG 0311 Irons debuted an injection molded TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) core, a not so sexy name for a material that added a whole new level of “wow” to striking a golf ball.
A similar moment inspired PXG’s signature industrial look. To demonstrate mass properties in layman’s terms, Schweigert drilled holes in a club head and manually added weights around the perimeter. Not only did the perimeter weighting achieve the performance goals desired, the look stopped Parsons in his tracks. Tick! Tick! The weights were distinctive, functional, and 100 percent PXG. And so, across the board, visible weighting became PXG’s calling card.
These two pivotal moments, and a series of others, laid the foundation for the introduction of PXG’s groundbreaking technology. Technology so good, it was actually put in play on the PGA TOUR by Ryan Moore months before the company ever sold a stick.
With every club engineered to be customized, a personalized fitting experience is the standard for PXG. Which means, effectively, no two sets of PXG clubs are exactly alike.
From day one, PXG’s Fitting Specialists have been considered among the best in the business. They are both product and fitting experts, trained by the engineers who had a hand in designing PXG clubs. And, like Parsons, they’re golf enthusiasts.
The process first offers a comprehensive overview of a player’s current setup, natural tendencies, and personal goals. During the data rich experience, fitters also look to identify the metrics that will help each golfer put together consistently better rounds.
Whether fitted in person or over the phone, the one-on-one experience leaves you thinking, “why would anyone purchase golf clubs off the rack?”
Following a fitting, club specifications are provided to PXG Master Builders. These guys are true craftsmen – the tailors, blacksmiths, and brewers of golf. They assemble every club with painstaking care and precision.
Once built and closely inspected, clubs are black-boxed and prepared for delivery.
So out of an unusual charter rises the best opportunity that technology currently allows for golfers to maximize their game on the course.
PXG currently offers a full lineup of high-performance drivers, fairway woods, hybrids, irons, wedges, and putters, as well as a bold, fashion-forward apparel collection.
Ready to get fit? Click here to find a fitting location near you. Rather Get Fit By Phone? Call 1.844.PLAY.PXG, we’re available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
