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Tour Edge competes very nicely, thank you
Not the biggest but among the best
By ED TRAVIS
Not the biggest but among the best
By ED TRAVIS
The golf equipment business is dominated by a few
large companies so maybe a smaller firm such as Tour
Edge Golf of Batavia, Illinois might be at a disadvantage.
But, while Tour Edge is several times smaller than any
of the “big four” it has a record of success and a well-
earned reputation for quality products at very
competitive prices.
President David Glod began Tour Edge in 1986 seemly
with the mantra - innovation, constant innovation to create
true performance or price differentials compared to
competitors.
Back in 1999 there was the Lift-Off Iron-Wood (Tour Edge
owns the rights to “Iron-Wood” which has almost become
a generic term) among the first entries into the now
ubiquitous hybrid category. Hybrids, which are neither true
woods nor irons, have made long irons all but extinct by
finding a place in the bags of golfers from touring pros to
40-plus handicaps.
Another Tour Edge pioneering idea was the “combo-set”
made up of both hybrids and game improvement irons.
Often the set is composed of three hybrids (substituting
for long irons) and five mid- to short-irons. This simple
idea is very important as it gives less accomplished
players easier to hit hybrids in place of the hard-to-hit long
irons which means a chance to hit more good shots and
therefore get more enjoyment from their round.
In the hi-tech arena Tour Edge developed a manufacturing
technique known as Combo-Brazing for their “tour line”
Exotics woods. Instead of welding the clubface to the sole
and crown Tour Edge treats the edges of each piece
chemically, presses them together and then vacuum heat
cures the heads to create a permanent bond. The weight
saved from eliminating the welds is distributed towards
the sole, back from the clubface for better performance.
One of the hottest fairway woods right now is the Exotics
XCG-3. It takes a page from driver technology by using
titanium components for the club head rather than steel
as do other manufacturers plus it benefits from the
Combo-Brazing construction technique. The XCG-3 was
the first fairway wood with a titanium cup-face and crown
plus a sole made of tungsten. Titanium (with much higher
strength to weight ratio than steel) gives a similar
distance advantage to fairway woods as it does for drivers
while the heavy sole (tungsten is twice the density of
steel) provides stability and better launch conditions.
large companies so maybe a smaller firm such as Tour
Edge Golf of Batavia, Illinois might be at a disadvantage.
But, while Tour Edge is several times smaller than any
of the “big four” it has a record of success and a well-
earned reputation for quality products at very
competitive prices.
President David Glod began Tour Edge in 1986 seemly
with the mantra - innovation, constant innovation to create
true performance or price differentials compared to
competitors.
Back in 1999 there was the Lift-Off Iron-Wood (Tour Edge
owns the rights to “Iron-Wood” which has almost become
a generic term) among the first entries into the now
ubiquitous hybrid category. Hybrids, which are neither true
woods nor irons, have made long irons all but extinct by
finding a place in the bags of golfers from touring pros to
40-plus handicaps.
Another Tour Edge pioneering idea was the “combo-set”
made up of both hybrids and game improvement irons.
Often the set is composed of three hybrids (substituting
for long irons) and five mid- to short-irons. This simple
idea is very important as it gives less accomplished
players easier to hit hybrids in place of the hard-to-hit long
irons which means a chance to hit more good shots and
therefore get more enjoyment from their round.
In the hi-tech arena Tour Edge developed a manufacturing
technique known as Combo-Brazing for their “tour line”
Exotics woods. Instead of welding the clubface to the sole
and crown Tour Edge treats the edges of each piece
chemically, presses them together and then vacuum heat
cures the heads to create a permanent bond. The weight
saved from eliminating the welds is distributed towards
the sole, back from the clubface for better performance.
One of the hottest fairway woods right now is the Exotics
XCG-3. It takes a page from driver technology by using
titanium components for the club head rather than steel
as do other manufacturers plus it benefits from the
Combo-Brazing construction technique. The XCG-3 was
the first fairway wood with a titanium cup-face and crown
plus a sole made of tungsten. Titanium (with much higher
strength to weight ratio than steel) gives a similar
distance advantage to fairway woods as it does for drivers
while the heavy sole (tungsten is twice the density of
steel) provides stability and better launch conditions.
Tour Edge Golf HT Max “combo-
set” has cavity-back short irons and
hybrids in place of the long irons.
set” has cavity-back short irons and
hybrids in place of the long irons.
Exotics by Tour Edge Golf, their tour line
of clubs, feature the XCG-3 fairways woods
which have gotten great reviews from
professionals and amateurs.
of clubs, feature the XCG-3 fairways woods
which have gotten great reviews from
professionals and amateurs.
Tour Edge has a lot of faith in the XCG-3 fairway woods
line saying they are at least 20 yards longer than any other
fairway woods and back it up with a 30-day play guarantee.
That maybe good marketing but really how good are they?
A measure of their performance is on the PGA Tour. Tour
Edge does not pay touring pros to play their equipment,
however more than a dozen times so far this year players
using XCG-3 fairways have scored top ten finishes. This
is a strong statement of the woods’ performance since
the Tour Edge fairways replaced those provided by the
equipment companies having the players under contract.
In the game improvement iron category (i.e., the irons
used by the majority of golfers) Tour Edge introduced
recently a set of progressive irons, the Bazooka HT Max.
Each iron in the set has a different blade length, face
height, offset, bounce and an undercut cavity varying with
the iron’s length and loft. Long irons (3-iron through 5-
iron) have a longer blade, a taller face, wider sole and top-
line plus more offset and less bounce than the mid-irons
and short irons.
line saying they are at least 20 yards longer than any other
fairway woods and back it up with a 30-day play guarantee.
That maybe good marketing but really how good are they?
A measure of their performance is on the PGA Tour. Tour
Edge does not pay touring pros to play their equipment,
however more than a dozen times so far this year players
using XCG-3 fairways have scored top ten finishes. This
is a strong statement of the woods’ performance since
the Tour Edge fairways replaced those provided by the
equipment companies having the players under contract.
In the game improvement iron category (i.e., the irons
used by the majority of golfers) Tour Edge introduced
recently a set of progressive irons, the Bazooka HT Max.
Each iron in the set has a different blade length, face
height, offset, bounce and an undercut cavity varying with
the iron’s length and loft. Long irons (3-iron through 5-
iron) have a longer blade, a taller face, wider sole and top-
line plus more offset and less bounce than the mid-irons
and short irons.
The best feature though of the HT Max irons is the
sophisticated design and construction comes at a
starting price of only $259 per set and there are HT Max
hybrids complimenting the irons available for substitution
from the 2-iron through 6-iron.
Tour Edge’s innovative products like these are matched
by first class customer service allowing them to compete,
very nicely thank you, with the big boys of the golf
equipment marketplace.
sophisticated design and construction comes at a
starting price of only $259 per set and there are HT Max
hybrids complimenting the irons available for substitution
from the 2-iron through 6-iron.
Tour Edge’s innovative products like these are matched
by first class customer service allowing them to compete,
very nicely thank you, with the big boys of the golf
equipment marketplace.
