The Genesis Invitational

Torrey Pines Golf Course (South Course)



    New Equipment

    Tour Edge Exotics Pro 721 metalwoods give better players something more, or actually something less: spin

    July 13, 2021
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    WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Tour Edge taps into its stable of PGA Tour Champions players to produce limited-edition versions of its Exotics 721 line of drivers, fairway woods and hybrids. The new Exotics Pro 721 lineup features slightly more compact heads, more open- or square-faced setups and an expanded emphasis on producing shots with lower spin.

    PRICE: Driver, $450; fairway woods, $300; hybrids, $250. Available in stores Aug. 13.

    THE DEEP DIVE: In recent years, Tour Edge has dramatically upped its interest in tour-player input. According to the company, its clubs have been used by more than two dozen participants in pro tournaments, and in the past few years, it’s added a staff of six PGA Tour Champions players, including Tom Lehman, Scott McCarron and the recently signed Bernhard Langer.

    The effect of that presence, and more specifically the input of those players, has led Tour Edge founder and lead designer David Glod to push the design envelope of his metalwoods toward lower and lower spin. That’s been a key ingredient in the ball flight of higher swing speed better players who are looking to maximize distance. The company’s current Exotics C721 drivers, fairway woods and hybrids used weight-saving carbon composite to wrap around the crown, skirt and sole to help drive the center of gravity lower for what Glod calls “spin killing” designs.

    But that tour staff apparently wanted more, or actually less, so Glod and his design team are introducing a new limited-edition lineup of drivers, fairway woods and hybrids that aim to reduce spin for better players even more. The Exotics Pro 721 lineup, which the company says is limited to a thousand pieces per head, will target better players and all those seeking metalwoods that reduce spin at all costs, while catering to the looks, address appearance and feel that better players (like that tour staff) insist upon.

    “These designs lead to penetrating shots with an extremely tight dispersion that maxes out distance, while still offering healthy launch angles,” Glod said in a press release.

    Glod said the Exotics Pro 721 driver aims to reduce initial spin by approximately 10-15 percent compared to the Exotics C721 driver. By reducing clubhead size to 440 cubic centimeters, the effect of the wraparound carbon-composite wings helps push the center of gravity lower and forward by reducing the amount of titanium in the frame even more.

    It’s not just the role of the composite pieces, though, Glod said. Like on the original C721 driver, the strip of titanium that runs from front to back and joins the crown to the face (what the company calls “ridgeback”) is designed to improve stability and energy transfer at impact. Another big part of the speed package, just like on the C721, is the distinct variable face thickness pattern called “Diamond Face 2.0.” The back of the face features 43 cross-hatched diamond shapes of varying thicknesses to create more deflection across a wider area of the face.

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    Glod said the input of its tour staff led to the face angle being more open in the standard setting, again something many better players will gravitate toward. The driver also features adjustable heel and toe weights set in the front portion of the sole. A three- and 12-gram weight are standard, but additional weights can be purchased separately.

    The driver also features the company’s adjustable hosel to tweak loft by plus/minus two degrees.

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    That same idea of a more compact frame and more weight saved for a lower more forward CG position is seen on the Exotics Pro 721 fairway woods. Glod said the head, which is designed to bring the line back toward earlier low-spin Exotics metalwoods like the CBX and CBX 119 from 2018, might serve as a backup driver with one of the lofts at 13.5 degrees and its emphasis on low spin, but the 155cc volume remains smaller than the original C721 model to let it play easily off the ground.

    In addition to the wraparound carbon composite pieces and the central metal ridge on the crown, the Exotics Pro 721 fairway woods feature the adjustable sole weights (again, forward in the sole) and the variable thickness face design made of a high-strength steel alloy.

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    The Exotics Pro 721 hybrid, ultra-compact at just 85cc (or nearly 30 percent smaller than the company’s game-improvement Hot Launch E521 hybrids), uses the same conventional full carbon-composite crown design as found in the Exotics C721 to save weight, which also makes room for the adjustable sole weights. The diamond-shaped variable thickness, high-strength steel alloy face design extends the thin regions toward the heel and toe for a better overall trampoline. Like the fairway wood, the body is made of 450 stainless steel. Four non-adjustable but specific (and triple checked) one-degree loft increments are designed for players looking for very specific distance gaps in the set from 17 to 20 degrees.

    The Exotics Pro 721 driver (9.5, 10.5 degrees, $450), fairway woods (13.5, 15, 16.5 degrees, $300) and hybrids (17, 18, 19, 20 degrees, $250) will be in stores Aug. 13.

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