PXG has quickly established the brand has one of the best iron manufacturers in the market and the last 0211 irons have emphasised that statement. Now they are turning their attention to the driver market with the 0211 driver. Having been blown away their latest 0211 GEN2 irons I had great expectations for the 0211 driver.
I’m familiar with their woods, having played their low spinning 0811X driver for a number of months last year. It was long and moderately forgiving, but the honest attraction was how it looks. I fell foul of my number one rule by opting for athstetics first and not all round performance. The stealth appearance and that glorious matt carbon crown just looked completely different to all the other fussy-looking drivers at the time. For a low spinning head the feel was exceptional and it didn’t sound like the usual dead bedpan.
So with this in mind, I was anticipating to be blown away by the 0211 driver.
FIRST THOUGHTS
Once again, I was drawn to the stealth appearance and its similarity in design to the 0811X head. If anything the sole of the head looked more in keeping with a matt finish compared to the gloss black of the 0811X.
Ironically I had moaned to PXG about the cream head cover of the 0811X and how quickly it became dirty. So it was great to see the 0211 arrive with a fitted black head cover. It will wear better and is more aligned with the club’s image.
THE TEST
As I expected the spin rate was greater than the 0811X and I struggled to get it below 3300rpm, so the flight wasn’t penetrating and just stalled. I wasn’t on my game during the test and struggled to neutralise my swing path and was on average two degrees left, so I was cutting the ball slightly. This would also contribute to the spin rate. Though it’s good to test a club when you are not dialled in, as that’s when you need the most support from the club. We can make any driver look good when we bring our ‘A’ game!
I hit a few with the 0811X at the same time and the spin rate was sub 3,000 rpm and the flight was dramatically improved. Though my heel and toe strikes were punished more that the 0211 head. The 0211 felt very stable in the face with great acoustics and overall feel.
THE VERDICT
This is not a driver you can just buy off the shelf. It is a very forgiving head and the speed is there for sure. But the challenge is setting up the head weight, shaft and loft to get the launch and spin rates optimised for your swing. The price is very competitive, but upgrading the shaft would definitely be worth considering. With the 60gram stiff shaft I wasn’t comfortable to step on a few drives, as I knew that spin rate would just rocket and the ball would balloon.
I would have spent the extra $150 on upgrading to the Fujikura Pro 2.0 6 shaft in either an X or S flex and dropped the loft to 8 degrees. The centre of gravity in the 0211 head naturally wants to launch the ball quickly, so even at 8 degrees I would not be concerned about getting the ball airborne.
