So I've had my XCG4 fairway wood for a month or so now and I'm just blown away by it. I hadn't seen anyone else talking about it, so I wrote up a review from my perspective on it. As with all Tour Edge Exotics fairway woods, price is always the detriment. I got my 4 wood brand new, but for an absolute steal. I know this isn't always possible or desired, but I personally feel like these clubs are worth the price if you can get them at a price you are comfortable with.
If you just look at the specs on the website, you may be intimidated at first. 184cc is not a small 3 wood head. The 4 wood, which I tested, is the same size. In comparison to previous Tour Edge Exotics fairway woods, the XCG4 is about the same overall size as the XCG3 and is noticeably bigger than the XCG-V. Going all the way back in time, the original CB1 nearly looks like a hybrid in comparison. Starting with the XCG3, Exotics clearly wanted to add distance and forgiveness by enlarging the head. Enlarging the head generally increases the surface area of the face, enhancing the sweet trampoline effect that titanium gives you. Much like the XCG3 before it, the XCG4 gave me an initial shock to the eye. The head is very wide and very deep, but the face appears to be a lower profile than previous models, which I personally like. To compare it to something more common, it looks like a slightly larger PING G10 fairway wood.
On the sole, the XCG4 is fairly similar to the XCG3. The weight ports are apparent and the badging stands out. I personally thought that the XCG-V was hands down the best looking sole in the XCG line and maybe ever. It exuded a look of class that justified the price being paid. To me, the XCG4 sole is probably the second best in the XCG line. It looks refined, yet displays its nod towards the technology in the club head. The second thing I notice on the sole, and really more from the profile shot, is the aerodynamic difference between this and previous models. There is more of a slope up on the sole, which should help with swing speed as well as turf interaction.
The shaft on my 4 wood is the stock Fujikura Motore Exotics 65 gram, stiff flex. The paint job on this shaft is a little flashy, but not offensive. I am a moderately fast swinger at about 95 MPH driver swing speed and I found this shaft to be true to flex compared to other stiff flex shafts I own. While there is definitely a camp of people that detest Exotics' stock shafts, I'm generally not one of them (except for the X-Quad... ick). After testing for a few weeks, I'm convinced that the stock Motore shaft in the XCG4 is a very good pairing to the head. It is active enough to help you shoot far, but still allows for plenty of consistency. It also feels very similar to the Motore 70 that my R9 fairway wood had.
To round out the club, the men's grip is a Golf Pride New Decade Multicompound with Exotics branding. It's a premium grip that, while I don't personally care for its feel, is a solid choice for a club at this price point that will appeal to the masses.
The first course of business, as with all new clubs, was to take this club out to my neighborhood range. After warming up with my hybrids, I took the XCG4 out of the bag and hit about 15 balls with it. With range balls, on mats that were fairly wet, and in about 60* temps, I was dropping most of my shots right in-between the 200 and 225 flags, which is good distance for me at this particular driving range. I had 3 observations. First, the balance on the wood is very good. The heavy sole can definitely be felt, but the head feels alive when you impact the ball, not heavy. Second, this is the best sounding wood I've hit yet. There is something very satisfying about the titanium sound. Third, I was fading the ball a good 10-20 yards. It was almost bad enough to be a slice.
I mention the 3rd point only to stress something that I've always found with the Tour Edge Exotics fairway woods. While Tour Edge has been working diligently to add forgiveness into their designs, these clubs are not for beginners. These clubs have always been geared more towards the low and mid handicap players. If you are counting on this club to help with or cure a slice, you are looking at the wrong club. This isn't to say that this is an unforgiving or a difficult to hit club, but it isn't here to fix or cover up a swing flaw. Since the XCG line began, Tour Edge has always listed the face angle on their fairway woods as "square" and I have always looked at them and seen 1 to 2 degrees open. I'm sure that this is a result of a lifetime of playing "draw" and other closed face fairway woods.
The other thing I've noticed that this club struggles with is the rough. I'm not altogether shocked by this fact, but I think it is worth mentioning. It's performance out of the deep rough was borderline terrible and even medium rough (2 inches or so) left a lot to be desired. The wide face really grabs the grass and the wide, flat sole does almost nothing to assist in this situation. I feel that previous Tour Edge Exotics models such as the CB1 and XCG-V performed much better in this area. I don't want to be too harsh about this because it's fairly obvious that this isn't an area it would excel at. I don't believe that Tour Edge went into the drawing room with performance out of the rough in mind. In fact, as far as I can tell, this club has exactly one mission: get your ball as far away from point A as possible.
Mission accomplished. As I continued to work my swing out and practice with this club I discovered two things. First, I like to swing a fairway wood like a baseball bat. Unless your name is Tommy Gainey, nearly no good can come from this. Once I mostly fixed that little issue, I found item two: this club is long. Wicked, insane, sick long. Just two nights ago I had this fairway back out at my neighborhood range. It was late in the day, about 50 degrees, and I was dropping range balls out past the 225 sign. Off the deck. I had really liked the XCG-V for the short time that I owned it, but this fairway really takes the design to the next level. Across the face forgiveness is very good. The launch angle is high, but the Motore shaft controls the flight very nicely. My distance in rounds played has been about the same as the range: 225-240 depending on roll. This is the longest fairway wood I've ever hit and I'm convinced that as my swing improves, it will only get better.
If you just look at the specs on the website, you may be intimidated at first. 184cc is not a small 3 wood head. The 4 wood, which I tested, is the same size. In comparison to previous Tour Edge Exotics fairway woods, the XCG4 is about the same overall size as the XCG3 and is noticeably bigger than the XCG-V. Going all the way back in time, the original CB1 nearly looks like a hybrid in comparison. Starting with the XCG3, Exotics clearly wanted to add distance and forgiveness by enlarging the head. Enlarging the head generally increases the surface area of the face, enhancing the sweet trampoline effect that titanium gives you. Much like the XCG3 before it, the XCG4 gave me an initial shock to the eye. The head is very wide and very deep, but the face appears to be a lower profile than previous models, which I personally like. To compare it to something more common, it looks like a slightly larger PING G10 fairway wood.
On the sole, the XCG4 is fairly similar to the XCG3. The weight ports are apparent and the badging stands out. I personally thought that the XCG-V was hands down the best looking sole in the XCG line and maybe ever. It exuded a look of class that justified the price being paid. To me, the XCG4 sole is probably the second best in the XCG line. It looks refined, yet displays its nod towards the technology in the club head. The second thing I notice on the sole, and really more from the profile shot, is the aerodynamic difference between this and previous models. There is more of a slope up on the sole, which should help with swing speed as well as turf interaction.
The shaft on my 4 wood is the stock Fujikura Motore Exotics 65 gram, stiff flex. The paint job on this shaft is a little flashy, but not offensive. I am a moderately fast swinger at about 95 MPH driver swing speed and I found this shaft to be true to flex compared to other stiff flex shafts I own. While there is definitely a camp of people that detest Exotics' stock shafts, I'm generally not one of them (except for the X-Quad... ick). After testing for a few weeks, I'm convinced that the stock Motore shaft in the XCG4 is a very good pairing to the head. It is active enough to help you shoot far, but still allows for plenty of consistency. It also feels very similar to the Motore 70 that my R9 fairway wood had.
To round out the club, the men's grip is a Golf Pride New Decade Multicompound with Exotics branding. It's a premium grip that, while I don't personally care for its feel, is a solid choice for a club at this price point that will appeal to the masses.
The first course of business, as with all new clubs, was to take this club out to my neighborhood range. After warming up with my hybrids, I took the XCG4 out of the bag and hit about 15 balls with it. With range balls, on mats that were fairly wet, and in about 60* temps, I was dropping most of my shots right in-between the 200 and 225 flags, which is good distance for me at this particular driving range. I had 3 observations. First, the balance on the wood is very good. The heavy sole can definitely be felt, but the head feels alive when you impact the ball, not heavy. Second, this is the best sounding wood I've hit yet. There is something very satisfying about the titanium sound. Third, I was fading the ball a good 10-20 yards. It was almost bad enough to be a slice.
I mention the 3rd point only to stress something that I've always found with the Tour Edge Exotics fairway woods. While Tour Edge has been working diligently to add forgiveness into their designs, these clubs are not for beginners. These clubs have always been geared more towards the low and mid handicap players. If you are counting on this club to help with or cure a slice, you are looking at the wrong club. This isn't to say that this is an unforgiving or a difficult to hit club, but it isn't here to fix or cover up a swing flaw. Since the XCG line began, Tour Edge has always listed the face angle on their fairway woods as "square" and I have always looked at them and seen 1 to 2 degrees open. I'm sure that this is a result of a lifetime of playing "draw" and other closed face fairway woods.
The other thing I've noticed that this club struggles with is the rough. I'm not altogether shocked by this fact, but I think it is worth mentioning. It's performance out of the deep rough was borderline terrible and even medium rough (2 inches or so) left a lot to be desired. The wide face really grabs the grass and the wide, flat sole does almost nothing to assist in this situation. I feel that previous Tour Edge Exotics models such as the CB1 and XCG-V performed much better in this area. I don't want to be too harsh about this because it's fairly obvious that this isn't an area it would excel at. I don't believe that Tour Edge went into the drawing room with performance out of the rough in mind. In fact, as far as I can tell, this club has exactly one mission: get your ball as far away from point A as possible.
Mission accomplished. As I continued to work my swing out and practice with this club I discovered two things. First, I like to swing a fairway wood like a baseball bat. Unless your name is Tommy Gainey, nearly no good can come from this. Once I mostly fixed that little issue, I found item two: this club is long. Wicked, insane, sick long. Just two nights ago I had this fairway back out at my neighborhood range. It was late in the day, about 50 degrees, and I was dropping range balls out past the 225 sign. Off the deck. I had really liked the XCG-V for the short time that I owned it, but this fairway really takes the design to the next level. Across the face forgiveness is very good. The launch angle is high, but the Motore shaft controls the flight very nicely. My distance in rounds played has been about the same as the range: 225-240 depending on roll. This is the longest fairway wood I've ever hit and I'm convinced that as my swing improves, it will only get better.
