XXIO releases updated X woods and irons
XXIO, the ultra-premium sister brand of Cleveland and Srixon, has for the past several seasons focused on making lightweight golf equipment designed for slower-swinging and moderate-speed players who struggle with a lack of distance. The drivers, fairway woods, hybrids, and irons have been easy to swing and made to maximize carry distance for golfers who struggle to break 90 or 100.
Now with its latest clubs, the X family, XXIO is taking some of the technologies and features used in its maximum-game-improvement clubs and adding them to equipment designed for more accomplished golfers. In many ways, it makes sense because the better-player distance category is among the hottest in golf, with irons for aging-but-skilled players selling like hotcakes.
The XXIO X family features a full lineup of woods and irons that should appeal to a better player’s eyes while remaining light and easy to swing. The new XXIO X gear should arrive in stores February 11.
XXIO X driver
Price: $699.99 (at xxiousa.com)
Available in 9.5-degree and 10.5-degree versions, the XXIO X driver shares many features and technologies with the new XXIO 12 driver (another recent release from XXIO), including ActivWing. It is a lifted section of the crown toward the heel that breaks up air currents around the clubhead on the downswing and creates lift. However, unlike when lift pushes an airplane wing upward, the lifting force helps square the club’s face so golfers can make better contact, XXIO said.
While the XXIO 12 comes standard at 46.75 inches long to promote maximum speed, the X arrives at 45.5 inches, which should provide better players more control.
The Rebound Frame head includes a large hitting area designed to flex at impact. A rigid leading edge and topline support it. Behind the topline is another flexible area in the crown, which has another rigid area behind it. XXIO said these alternating flexible and stiff sections activate more of the hitting area and broaden the sweet spot to protect ball speed on mis-hits.
Unlike the XXIO 12, the X driver has an adjustable hosel that allows players and fitters to change loft and face angle.
The lightweight titanium crown helps reduce weight and lower the center of gravity to encourage higher-flying tee shots that maximize carry distance, and internal sound ribs improve what golfers hear at impact.
XXIO X fairway woods
Price: $399.99 (at xxiousa.com)
Available as a 3-wood (15 degrees) and a 5-wood (18 degrees), the XXIO X fairway woods were designed to perform well off the tee and from the turf.
XXIO said the Rebound Frame head design and Flat Cup Face-designed hitting area create consistent ball speed and distance on shots that are hit in the center and on mishits.
The step-down crown design and an internal weight pad in the front of the head, which XXIO refers to as a Cannon Sole, help lower the center of gravity to help golfers hit higher shots more easily. However, the weight position does not stop the face from flexing, so ball speed is maintained.
The stainless steel hitting area is divided into six regions with slightly different curvatures. By adjusting the bulge and roll, XXIO designers hope to optimize spin and increase accuracy.
XXIO X hybrids
Price: $199.99 each (at xxiousa.com)
Available as replacements for a 3-iron (18 degrees), 4-iron (20 degrees) or 5-iron (23 degrees), the XXIO X hybrids have a shape with many of the same technologies and features found in the fairway woods.
The hybrids have a Rebound Frame head design for more forgiveness and ball-speed consistency. A step-down crown design and Cannon sole lower the center of gravity and increase the launch angle.
XXIO X irons
Price: $199.99 each/$1,199.99 per set in steel; $224.99/$1,349.99 per set in graphite (at xxiousa.com)
Sold as individual irons or in a six-club set (5-PW, with 49-degree attack wedge also available), the XXIO X irons have a more compact head size than the also-new XXIO 12 irons. However, they are still game-improvement clubs with wide toplines, thick soles and significant offset to help golfers square the face more easily.
Each club has a large undercut cavity-back design that pulls the center of gravity down and back, away from the face, to encourage a higher launch. The 5-, 6- and 7-irons also have an internal tungsten weight added to the toe area to pull the ideal hitting location into the center of the face and increase stability.
The high-strength stainless steel face plate is just 2.1 millimeters thick, so it can flex more efficiently to boost ball speed and distance at impact. The V-shaped soles were designed to help the irons get in and out of the turf more efficiently to help maintain speed through the hitting area.
XXIO also adjusts the grooves based on the loft of each iron. Transitioning from the long irons to the short irons, the grooves grow deeper and more tightly packed to enhance spin and control on approach shots.
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