Review: PXG Black Ops driver

PXG Black Ops driver review

I made the journey to the PXG London South store to try out the new Black Ops metal woods. It’s an impressive venue to test out golf clubs, particularly with the Trackman equipped bays in the store. If you want to get the same experience bunkered had, then you can, and we’d very much recommend it.

But how did the clubs perform? Let’s dive into it.

The First Look

I was really pleased when I saw the PXG Black Ops driver. I’m a big fan of the way it looks, particularly behind the ball. It sits very square and I didn’t feel I had to manipulate the way the club was sitting on the ground to get it pointing down the fairway. The crown is made of carbon, which not only helps with weight distribution, but makes a great look.

It comes in two head options, less than what we’ve come to expect from big brands launching new driver ranges. We’ll get to the reasons for that shortly, but they both look smashing.

|

|

|

The PXG Black Ops driver offers fantastic adjustability. (Credit: PXG)

The PXG Black Ops Driver Tour-1 head will suit very high-spinning players. (Credit: PXG)

The Tech

The first thing you need to know about the PXG Black Ops range is the AMF technology. AMF stands for Advanced Material Face (although PXG chief Bob Parsons has a different meaning for that acronym, which we’ll get to shortly). AMF stands for Advanced Material Face, which is going to give you big gains in distance, without compromising on forgiveness. It’s a variable thickness face design, meaning that you’re going to get increased ball speed on your mishits. Personally, I found that it worked, strikes from the heel in particular weren’t producing a drop off in speed.

Oh, and Bob Parsons, the ex-marine, likes to call AMF ‘Adios, Mother F-’, which is a common military saying, apparently. Also, a great thing to say when your ball is flying down the fairway.

PXG say that when they tested their new club face in the body of the PXG GEN6 driver, there was noticeable performance gains, but they knew things could be improved still. That’s where the new high-strength composite body comes in. The lightweight composite crown and sole inserts are made from high-grade carbon fibre. This helps improve weight distribution within the clubhead to increase the moment of inertia (MOI) and push the centre-of-gravity (CG) lower and further back.

That’s right, PXG are also making big claims about their MOI. 10K is the number on everyone’s lips at the moment, and if set up in the right way, the PXG Black Ops will give you that number.

On both driver heads, three weights sit on the extreme perimeter of the club, and these weights have lots of adjustability options.

As standard, Black Ops drivers present one heavy (12.5 grams) and two light (2.5 grams each) sole weights that are interchangeable to support preferred spin and bias settings. Additional weights are available in 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, 15, 17.5, and 20-gram options, so every player can easily fine-tune their driver. These weights can be changed during the fitting process, but golfers can make changes at home between rounds, too.

The bunkered Verdict

I’m a big fan of the PXG Black Ops driver. I’m very much a creature of habit when it comes to clubs, particularly at the top end of the bag, but this is almost certainly going in as my driver for 2024.

The PXG Black Ops driver looks great, sounds fantastic and goes high and a long way. For me, it ticks all the boxes required.

It’s worth noting that there’s only two models here, the Black Ops and the Black Ops Tour 1. PXG predict that almost everyone will be using the standard Black Ops model, which is what I was fitted for. Even PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Eric Cole is gaming the standard head. If it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for me. Unless you struggle with really spinning the ball a lot, you’re almost certainly going to get on best with the standard head.

Bob Parsons probably put it best, saying: “Black Ops woods are straight like an arrow, more forgiving than a priest on Sunday, and absolutely stunning to boot!” I can’t disagree with that.

My driver is getting shipped from London, so once I get it, I’ll be taking it straight to the driving range.

Want to know more about PXG London South? Watch our video on the venue below

The Details

RRP: £549

On Sale: 11 January

More from PXG

• PXG Black Ops fairway woods review

• PXG Black Ops hybrids review

• PXG Xtreme golf balls

Want to stay up to date on all the latest new gear? Make sure you check out the bunkered YouTube channel!