Parsons Xtreme (PXG) Irons Review: A Club Unlike Any Other

I am not a ‘gear head,’ and do not typically write about golf clubs on this website. I believe down to my core that large jumps in scoring ability come through hard work and changing your approach to the game. Equipment can certainly be a part of that, but ultimately I believe the burden of performance always falls on the golfer’s shoulders.
But that doesn’t mean I am not a lover of golf clubs. I do believe that players can improve their results on the course by seeing an experienced club fitter. Golf is a difficult game, and the last thing you want to do is make it harder for yourself by playing the wrong clubs for your swing. Unfortunately most golfers base their decisions on the marketing claims by various manufacturers.
Recently there has been a story that has caught my eye, and it’s Parsons Xtreme Golf. These are clubs unlike any other I have ever seen, and the company is making some big claims about their performance.
When I heard that Pete’s Golf was going to be carrying the line, I called them up and asked if they were willing to do a test with me. Pete Makowski and Woody Lashen have been helping golfers in the New York Metro area improve their games for over 35 years. These guys are second to none when it comes to experience and knowledge with equipment. It’s the reason why their business has stood the test of time in a very competitive market. So I knew I could get the straight story from them.
After testing the clubs for over an hour in their facility, and then bringing them out on the range, I can say that Parsons is not full of it.
To take a cue from Jason Day’s funny quote from the other week…It’s like a tour-level blade and a game-improvement iron had a baby, and it was the PXG irons.
Update: check out our review of the budget-friendly PXG 0211 clubs
The Story
For those of you who don’t know, Parsons Xtreme was started by billionaire Bob Parsons, who is the founder of GoDaddy. You might remember his Super Bowl commercials with Danica Patrick.
Bob is an obsessive golfer, and apparently is even more obsessed with equipment. Long story short, he gave a blank check to former Ping engineers, and essentially told them to make the best golf clubs ever.
No pressure guys.
Major golf manufacturers are generally restricted by profit requirements when they go to design clubs. They are tasked to make clubs within a certain budget, and that limits engineers on the materials they can use, and how far they can push design concepts.
PXG engineers had no such restrictions.
I won’t go into too much detail in what makes these clubs different from a technical standpoint. It’s a combination of the materials they used, and a unique weighting system that is centered around a colletion of adjustable screws. You can check out their website to learn more.
For the purposes of this article, I am concerned with how they performed.
First Impressions
I did my test with Woody Lashen, who is the co-owner of Pete’s Golf. They are one of the few golf shops in the whole country who carry the PXG line. These are not clubs you are going to be able to purchase off the shelf at your local golf retailer. You have to see an experienced club fitter to make sure they are adjusted for your particular swing.
I have been playing the same Ping i5 irons that Pete’s Golf fitted me for over 9 years ago, and I still love them because they provide a ton of forgiveness. At my level (2 handicap right now), I could be playing a tour iron, but I generally stay away from them because I’m more worried about how my clubs will perform when I hit them less than perfectly on the course.
I’ve always felt great golf was about limiting your mistakes (check out my new book to learn how to fix them), and that’s what my Pings help me do.
This is precisely why I wanted to try the Parsons irons. They claim to have the performance and feel of a blade, with the forgiveness of a game-improvement iron. That is an extremely bold claim. But it’s one thing to hear about it, I wanted to see it in person.
Woody had me do a baseline test with my current 7-iron on his Foresight system. Based on my results, he built a PXG 7-iron that he believed would be as close as possible to my current setup so we could see what the difference would be.
The club itself is beautiful. When you address the ball it doesn’t feel like you are necessarily holding a players iron. The face isn’t intimidating, and I didn’t feel as though I was going to have to strike the ball on a sweet spot the size of a penny (which is the impression I get with some pro-level irons).
After 10 swings the feedback is immediate. The clubs feel absolutely amazing. I know that I didn’t hit a few perfectly, but the contact still felt very solid. In other words, these clubs feel forgiving.
A Ferrari and SUV at the same time
I asked Woody what he thought of the irons in terms of how they performed, and he gave a great analogy. I thought they were like a Ferrari because they were built to be the best without any regards to cost, and had superior performance.
He said he wouldn’t go that far to call them Ferraris. He suggested that if you had a Ferrari, you wouldn’t want to drive it between New York City and Connecticut. That stretch of I-95 is full of potholes and uneven road where the car would perform terribly. You would actually be better suited to drive an SUV to handle that.
In golfing terms, the blade is the Ferrari, and the SUV is a game-improvement iron. Blades are amazing under perfect conditions meaning when they are struck properly. If you hit some potholes though, and don’t hit them on the sweet spot, they feel terrible and you lose a ton of distance.
Woody felt that the PXG irons were both a Ferrari and SUV wrapped up into one, and that they could handle all of the different shots you’ll hit during a round without sacrificing any performance.
The Data
I’m painting a very pretty picture here, but what’s probably most important is what do the numbers say?
If you take a look at the averages from my Foresight summary you can see a few differences from my current irons. I am hitting the PXG irons almost a full club longer. I don’t normally hit 7-irons 179 yards! Also, my spin rate has decreased a bit.
The jump in distance is to be expected because lofts on irons have decreased over the years, and my current irons are over 10 years old at this point. Typically the tradeoff is that you are sacrificing control, but companies have tried to get around that by adjusting the center of gravity on the club, which is exactly what the PXG irons are doing with their unique weighting system.
My biggest takeaway from this session was that I was adding an extra club length of distance without sacrificing any accuracy or drop-off in distance on my mishits. You can see that my worst shots with the PXG irons were still going much further than my current set while remaining on the target line.
That is a huge advantage on the golf course. If I can have an 8-iron in my hands rather than a 7-iron, I will hit more greens on average over time. I still have to make the putts, but there’s no question that increasing greens in regulation percentage will help lower your scores.
On The Range
It’s one thing to evaluate numbers on a computer screen that simulate my ball flight, but I had to see the club perform under real circumstances. So I brought them to my course to experiment in different lies.
I tried to throw every single shot in the book I had. I probably hit over 75 balls. High fades, low draws, big sweeping hooks. There’s no question that I am getting an extra level of maneuverability than my current irons, which is to be expected from a blade.
When I strike the ball perfectly its obvious I am switching into “another gear” of performance. The contact feels amazing, and the ball just takes off. However, that is the case with most pro-level irons. Many players become intoxicated with the feeling, and I think they get tricked into playing clubs that are too much for their ball-striking ability.
What I am more concerned with is what happens when I don’t hit the ball well. I am not a machine, and have plenty of mishits on the golf course. I’ve tried hitting all kinds of tour irons from various manufacturers in the past, and the reason I don’t switch is because of what happens when I don’t strike the ball well. It doesn’t feel very good, and the ball won’t travel nearly as far.
I had quite a few mishits with the Parson Xtreme irons, either on purpose, or just naturally. I would say that the loss of distance and accuracy was comparable to my current set of Pings, which is maybe 5-8 yards at most.
That is where the advantage lies with the Parsons irons. I can get improved distance, feel, and the ability to work the ball without sacrificing that much with my errant swings. If I had made those same swings with a blade I might lose anywhere from 10-20 yards in distance.
There’s just one catch…
These clubs are awesome. I love them, and want to own them. Coming from a guy who constantly engages in debate over club technology, that is saying a lot. Just thinking about returning the 7-iron to Pete’s is a sad thought.
There’s just one problem. They are expensive. All of that advanced engineering and high-end materials that Bob Parsons and his team invested in costs a lot of money.
If I want to buy a set of irons from 4-PW it will run me about $2100 to $2300 (not including the cost of the fitting). That’s twice as expensive as any of the other high-end irons out there with the exception of a brand like Miura. If you want a full set of clubs including a driver, fairway wood, hybrids, and wedges it could run you as high as $5000-$6000. That is a shocking amount of money for most people.
I’ve got a two year old son, and a daughter on the way. College isn’t getting any cheaper, so it would be a bit irresponsible to divert funds away from their 529 accounts to benefit my golf game!
Are these clubs twice as good as their competition, which are priced almost at half? No, I would say not. I could play an iron like the RSi 2 from Taylor Made, which is extremely forgiving, but still offers the performance that low-handicap players want.
Am I going to shave serious strokes off my game if I use them? Possibly, but it’s not a guarantee. Maybe I can squeak out a 1/2 – 1 strokes on average if things go really well, which is saying a lot when you are playing close to scratch golf. There is a major psychological advantage when you feel you are playing equipment that is right for your game in addition to any gains in performance on the course. That is why I have always been a proponent of getting fitted for golf clubs.
Parsons is aware that they have an extremely limited market at this price point. My guess is that serious golfers who are obsessive gear heads will be purchasing these. The performance is there, and they are certainly off-the-charts cool. I would say that they could appeal to a player who has a handicap as high as 15 depending on how skilled of a ball striker they are.
Overall, this is a pretty amazing first attempt for Parsons. I love seeing companies who can break the mold with design, and challenge the status quo of any industry.
These clubs are better than anything I have ever hit. I wouldn’t say it’s a gap the size of the Grand Canyon though. Of course this is just one guy’s opinion. There are certain players that might not respond well to these clubs.
Are they worth the money though? That’s the million dollar question!
It will be interesting to see how the market responds to Parsons over the next couple of years. I’ll certainly be paying close attention
I play i15s for the same reason as the reviewer. I bought them when I was only playing 3 times a month and was an 8 HCP who used to be a 3. I’m back to a 4 and am still playing the i15s. I won a club championship with them and am still thinking that a players iron might be worth a try. However with an 8 month old I’d need a lot of guarantee that the 4 hcp goes down immediately.
I got my PXG’s today they look amazing. When I hit them on the range as it was too late for me to take them out for a round I was stunned to say the least. The feel is amazing and the distance as long as any club I’ve ever hit. Will let you know how they do on my first round but if they play anything like that hit on the range I’m positive I will shave a few strokes from my game .
Overpriced, forgiving but not anything as good as the mizuno TN-87! Just one guys opinion. ?️
After playing around with them I’m amazed Semper Fi Bob Semper Fi can’t believe these big companies could not produce anything like this and I’ve hit and owned them all from Mizuno, Titleist to Taylor made there is no competition 0311 hooo yaaa amazing bob
Got a fitting in Tokyo and the cost for a 5-PW set of irons came out to USD4,000 (around USD672/iron).
Opted for a graphite shaft steel fibre 95.
Mid sized PURE grips.
I guess the graphite shafts are expensive too.
My two cents’, the nos came out better than the TM790s – better, yes, but not “double the price better”.
The biggest differences for me were:
1) Forgiveness is way superior.
2) Misses still give me better range in terms of distance.
3) Last, and certainly not least, the feel is just so solid – even on not so perfect hits (like a Miura but only on perfect strikes).
I have a set of gen ones and a set of gen two,i really like forgivness and the feel but something very disappointing is the fact that gen ones mark up so bad they look like crap already they should of had a trade in program because the gen 2 dont really mark up at all and still look like new.Very disappointed
Callaway Rogue irons compared to new Pings, Pings are twice the price are they worth it
I just ordered a set of the new Gen 3 which won’t be shipped until next year. The cost is $425 a club. What upsets me is that when I upgrade the grips to to a grip that costs $10 a grip, they want $20 a grip. The standard procedure is the simple charge the difference between the cost of the grips not double the retail of the upgraded grips. Everyone says they can not ask the person who set the price how they got $20 because they are too high up. I’d sure like someone a Parson who knows how they came to $20 to contact me.
Do not trust PXG!!! This company is one of the most unprofessional outfits I have ever dealt with. I do not review companies much, but I feel compelled to do so in this case.
I ordered a 3-Wood and a Hybrid, with a stock shaft on both. This order was placed 22 DEC 2019. I was told i would have the clubs delivered 4-6 weeks later. No problem I thought. But I was wrong.
4 weeks after placing the order I was called and told that the shaft I ordered for the hybrid was out of stock and I would have to pick a new one from a list. A pain, but I understand this does happen sometimes. At this time I was assured the clubs were going to be “built” and shipped out in the next couple days. That was a lie.
I waited two and a half more weeks, they still did not come. So I decided to call and speak to someone about the status of my order. When I called I spoke to Grant. Grant informed me during the call to find out how much longer it would take that….. they were completely out of stock of both the hybrid and the 3 Wood that I had ordered and paid for over 6 weeks ago!!! I asked how long I would have to wait for them to be back in stock? His answer was to tell me they were not making them anymore but I could upgrade to the newer, more expensive version for more money. This is absurd.
This unprofessional, lying, money stealing Company has had my money for over 6 weeks and never told me i was not going to receive the order I had placed with them. They knew at some point that they would not be able to fulfill this order and instead of letting me (the customer) know. They said nothing!! Never reached out, never sent an email.
I would not recommend this company to anyone who values their time or money. PXG will take both and not blink an eye. As far as reviewing their clubs, I have nothing to say because I have never actually used them. They sold me clubs they were not making anymore!
“If I can have an 8-iron in my hands rather than a 7-iron, I will hit more greens on average over time.”
Unfounded assumption when the new 8-iron has the same loft/spin as the old 7-iron. No?
My Gen 3’s are a very nice set. Went with a blended P and XP make up. The XP 4,5,6 look like game improvement irons. Would rather have an entire set of the P model. I’m still in my 30 day trial. They tell you when you buy them that you can exchange whatever model you don’t like. That is not true. You must purchase again and the return what you want to exchange. At some point they credit your card. It’s a hassle to say the least. Know what you want or like before ordering. Ping is much easier to deal with.
I have read lots of reviews about PXG, and they all say how great they look, feel, sound, and how much they improve distance. I haven’t heard anything about lower scores. I won my golf league using 11 year-old Ping G20s and 100% used golf balls. The guy who finished last had a set of PXGs and used only Titleist PV1s. I regularly play with two guys who both have full PXG sets (driver to putter, including bag). I have yet to see either one of them break 90.
Just my opinion: If you’re not striking the ball correctly, it doesn’t matter what kind of club or ball you use. I would love to sample a PXG club on a range just to see what all the hype is about. But to truly lower my scores, I need to work on my game from 100 yds out to the pin. Kudos to PXG for superb marketing: Creating a club with great looks and pairing that sex appeal with a “Yes, I’m expensive but I’ll make it worth your while” message. Well done.