Tour Edge Exotics EXS Pro Metals Review

By Connor Dillon, Club Fitter

Are you a skilled golfer looking for tour inspired clubs, the latest technology, and the necessary adjustability to fit your individual game? How about “straight from the tour van” technology? Well, that’s the new moniker surrounding the Exotics EXS Pro line from Tour Edge. These new clubs are bursting with technology and look sensational. I’ll be testing the driver and #3 fairway metal to see if their performance can match up with their killer looks.

Let’s delve into some of the technology that David Glod, president, founder, and master club designer of Tour Edge, has installed into this new premium, limited edition ESX Pro Driver.

First the look, Tour Edge has described their tour inspired look as pear shaped, with a deep face, shorter from toe to heel, and compact from front to back. A very classic shape most advanced players desire. The traditional shape of the driver along with a subtle carbon fiber sheen on the crown makes me wonder if David Glod was listening to Motley Crue’s “Looks That Kill” when designing this head. Internally, we have Tour Edge’s diamond face design, which provides 33 mini trampolines located behind the face to generate more ball speed across a larger portion of the face. The dual carbon crown and toe, which places center of gravity (CG) low and forward to promote a lower spin rate and more piercing trajectory and the internal sound bar for improved acoustics providing a premium sound and feel are there as well. As for adjustability, the “Flight Track” provides moveable CG for fine tuning ball flight, utilizing a 6-gram weight adjustable to a fade, neutral, or draw position and everything in between. The adjustable hosel can alter the loft (+/- 2 degrees) and lie angle. “Flight Track” combined with an adjustable hosel accommodates a countless variety of swing tendencies and player preferences. I personally love “Flight Track”, and as a club fitter, I have had many customers who could benefit from slight heel to toe CG adjustments, rather than a fixed weight that can only provide full heel or toe CG adjustments. Tour Edge also offers a full line of Tensei CK Orange and Project X Hazardous Smoke Yellow shafts with this driver at no additional cost.

For testing purposes, I used the Tensei CK Orange 60g stiff flex. I tested the 9.5* head, set 1* lower to 8.5*. Setting the driver to a lower loft will slightly open the face, which gives it my preferred look upon set up and the proper loft for my swing. I used Pinnacle Gold range balls and measured all shots using Trackman. My averages are based on a 6-shot sample with outliers removed. I also conducted my test with the “Flight Track” in three separate positions, full fade, neutral, and full draw to see how this moveable CG technology affected ball flight.

The first test was in the full fade position. My biggest misses tend to be left, so this also set up well for my individual game. My averages are below.

The first thing I noticed about this driver in the set up, it just wants to go straight. Notice my average curve, 7 ft left. To the naked eye, that is basically dead straight. Although I have only listed my averages, in my original Trackman report I actually had a shot with 0 ft of curve. For a guy who naturally tends to curve the ball left, this is impressive. I also achieved nearly perfect efficiency in ball speed. For those of you who are not familiar with smash factor, it provides a ratio measured by ball speed divided by swing speed. USGA regulates the efficiency of all drivers to a legal limit of a 1.50 smash factor. Given the tolerance of both golf clubs and measuring equipment, it’s safe to say I pretty much maxxed out my efficiency. I averaged 13* of launch at 2393 rpms of spin. The ball reached a peak height of 110 ft and landed at a 39.7* angle, which gave me an excellent carry yardage of 275.4 yards while still giving me ample opportunity for roll out. Although this summer has been particularly hot and dry, typically in Michigan our course conditions are softer than other dryer, hotter climates like many southern states. A bit steeper landing angle (between 35* and 40*) can guarantee that I am getting the most out of my total yardage by carrying the ball as far as possible even in softer conditions. Golfers who typically play dry, firm conditions may want to shallow out that landing angle knowing they will always see a good roll out. I will talk more about that topic in the next two test results.

The second test was done with the “Flight Track” in the neutral position without any change to any other variables. Shaft type, flex, hosel adjustment, etc. remained the same. My averages are below.

This second test starts to really illustrate the significance of “Flight Track.” Although my ball speed and efficiency stayed nearly the same, the difference lies in the ball flight itself. My average spin rate dropped by more than 200 rpms. Doesn’t seem like much? Let’s look at the other numbers. With a slightly lower spin rate, my trajectory became more penetrating. My apex was 101 feet as opposed to 110 ft, leading to another 4 yards of carry and 3.5* shallower landing angle, which can cause more roll out and potentially a greater total driver distance given proper conditions. A mid 30* landing angle is ideal for a driver. This will guarantee you are getting the most out of your carry yardage while still allowing an opportunity for roll. Also, notice the amount of curve. Nearly 30 more feet of left curve. In this setting, my natural shot shape started to show. My natural draw, combined with better trajectory numbers, not only made this an ideal setting for me, but also indicates how effective the “flight track” is for tuning ball flight.

My third test was done in the full draw setting. Once again, with no other variables changed. My averages are below.

Well, after this test I felt like Bubba Watson. I hit nothing but low spin, slinging hooks that could run a mile even on Michigan fairways. “Flight track,” once again, totally changed the trajectory and the amount of curve. My ball speed numbers, and efficiency were similar to previous tests. My spin rate was comparable to the neutral setting test, but everything else about my ball flight changed. I actually launched the ball about a full degree lower than the other two settings, and my apex, curve, and landing angle were all drastically different. My landing angle came down more than 6* from the fade setting and almost 3* from the neutral setting. My apex came down more than 20 feet from the fade setting and more than 10 feet from the neutral setting. And then there’s the curve, 68 feet left! Although hitting hellacious hooks like Phil Mickelson can be fun, it’s probably not always practical. Still, this is a great example of how well the “Flight Track” technology actually works. For me, this setting just offered a little too much hook for a guy who already tends to curve the ball left. But, for someone who is looking to add some right to left curvature to their tee shots, or for a player who struggles to get the driver face closed consistently, this setting could be very advantageous.

Next, we’ll take a look at the EXS Pro fairway metal. Some of the same principles from the driver were applied to the fairway metal. A classic looking pear-shaped head, high-quality beta titanium cup face, forward CG for low spinning, piercing trajectory, a fixed weight flight tuning system, sound diffusion bar, and a slipstream sole. That’s a lot of technology packed into a very traditional looking fairway metal. Notedly, this is one of the few titanium faced fairway metals available in the U.S. Tour Edge has also introduced their combo brazing procedure, which fuses the titanium to steel with no welding. This procedure reduces weight in the face offering a more powerful transfer of energy to the ball. I also love the slipstream sole. Anyone who has played an Exotic’s fairway metal recently will recognize this unique sole. The series of patented “speed channels” improve aerodynamics and reduce turf interaction creating forgiveness and delivering more power to the ball in both favorable and unfavorable lies. Additionally, a fixed weight flight tuning system and four different lofted heads (13.5*, 15*, 16.5* and 18*), make this fairway metal versatile enough to fit many different golfers. As I mentioned earlier, there are some advantages to the “Flight Track” tuning system versus a fixed weight tuning system when dealing with the driver. However, fairway metals are quite different from drivers and therefore require different technology. I’m not a club designer, nor an engineer so any further questions you may have on that matter would be better suited for someone like David Glod. For us amateur golf enthusiasts, all we need to know is there are 2 weights – one positioned in the toe, and one in the heel. One weight is 10g while the other 5g. Tour Edge also offers custom weights to maximize versatility and provide a proper fit for your game.

I tested the 15* fairway metal in a similar fashion to the driver. I used Pinnacle Gold range balls, took an average from 6 shots with outliers removed, measured by Trackman. I used the Tensei CK Orange 60g stiff at standard length. This fairway metal does have a glued hosel, so no adjustments to be made there, and I tested it with the heavy weight in the heel and then again in the toe. The first test was done with the heavy weight in the heel. My averages are listed below.

David Glod said this fairway metal was “designed to hit absolute missiles.” I say it should be regulated by the United Nations because this missile is absolutely nuclear. First, let’s take a look at my smash factor. I love this term and its meaning, but I love it even more when it says 1.49! That’s right, the same smash factor as the driver! When dealing with smash factor, it is important to remember that the driver should be the most efficient club in the bag because it has the least amount of loft, therefore creating the most direct impact to the ball. As the loft of a club increases, efficiency of ball speed, or smash factor should decrease. Well, not with this rocket. I turned my 105-mph swing speed into an incredibly efficient 156 mph ball speed. The ball launched at 10.9 degrees with about 3400 rpms of spin, reaching an apex of 100 feet and carrying 256 yards. Once again, notice the amount of curve, only 9 ft left, and a landing angle of 40.4*. With a fairway metal, the typical desire is to create a landing angle slightly steeper than the driver. This roughly 40* landing angle is ideal for that fine line of maximizing total distance, but also being useful for landing a bit softer onto a green or similar size target. 

The next test was done with the heavy weight in the toe. No other variables were changed. My averages are listed below.

As with the driver, the story is in the trajectory and shot shape. Putting the heavy weight in the toe had little to no effect on ball speed efficiency or launch angle, however, when the ball was in the air, it was a completely different story. I saw 39 feet of curve to the right. This speaks to the effectiveness of the flight tuning system and the versatility this system creates. I also saw a slight increase in spin rate, from 3412 rpms to 3754 rpms, and a slight increase in the apex and landing angle. All are characteristics of a right curving ball flight compared to a neutral or left curving ball flight. You may notice the slight decrease in carry distance which can be caused by a higher spin rate, but my club head speed also dropped 1 mph in the last test. Admittedly, I was probably just getting tired at this point.

Traditional, yet innovative. The EXS Pro driver and fairway have the looks to attract the most traditional players, and the technology and performance to appease the new age, high-tech golfer infatuated with ball flight data. The diamond face design combined with low and forward CG provides fast and penetrating ball flight, while the effectiveness of the hosel adjustments and “Flight Track” tuning system makes your desired shot shape attainable off the tee. The fairway metal, with an even more traditional look, industry leading technology, and premium materials produces impressive ball speed. The external slipstream sole reduces turf interaction and the fixed weight flight tuning system can generate a customized ball flight. All these characteristics unite to make one serious fairway weapon. On the course, this is performance you can trust knowing these clubs came straight from the tour van.