PXG 0311 GEN5 irons

Gear: PXG 0311 GEN5 irons
Price: $349 each, $449 each (Black Label Elite)
Specs: Forged 8620 carbon steel body with HT1770 stainless steel faceplate, tungsten weights, polymer insert, and milled back area.
Who it’s for: Players who want more distance, enhanced feel, and extra forgiveness in a club that has modern styling.
The Skinny: Each of the three types of 0311 GEN5 irons are designed to provide more distance and stability than you would expect from an iron of its size, while looking like a better-player’s iron in the address position. 

The Deep Dive: The only people who don’t want a set of irons that delivers more distance are golf’s most elite players, tour pros, and those who aspire to be tour pros. Whether you are a 5-handicap player who dreams of winning the club championship, a 13-handicapper who wants to become a single-digit player, or someone who just started playing golf last season, the rest of us want to hit the ball farther and straighter. 

Since 2014, PXG irons have been designed to look like clubs that good players would use, but that pack more of a punch. With the release of the 0311 GEN5 iron family, the company’s designers used multiple materials and manufacturing techniques to deliver that again. 

All 0311 GEN5 iron bodies are forged five times using 8620 carbon steel, then milled to ensure they have the precise shapes that engineers wanted. The faces are forged from HT1770 stainless steel, an exceptionally hard material, but made extremely thin. The hollow-body construction allows the faces to flex more efficiently at impact to create more ball speed. The faces are so thin, PXG claims that nearly every golfer would dent or crack them if the heads were not filled with a proprietary polymer material that soaks up excessive vibrations to enhance sound and feel while also providing support to the face. 

That polymer, which PXG refers to as XCOR2, is the biggest reason why the company says the 0311 GEN5 irons create more distance and forgiveness compared to last season’s GEN4 irons. The XCOR2 material is 20 percent lighter than the original XCOR polymer used in the GEN4, saving between 5 and 7 grams of weight from the club’s center. The new material is also better at redirecting energy back into the shot, which can help increase ball speed. 

Tungsten weights in the low toe and heel area drive down the CG location and increase stability. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

Taking weight out of the middle of an iron means that more overall weight will be in the perimeter, the heel and toe areas. PXG boosts that effect by adding five tungsten weights to each club, three low in the toe and two low in the heel. Those weights increase the club’s stability on off-center hits without making the heads larger. The dark area around the screws is not a separate piece or made from tungsten; PXG made the heel and toe areas black to call attention to the weights and because designers and the company’s founder, Bob Parsons, thought it looked cool. 

The large adjustable weight in the back of the head allows fitters to easily increase or decrease the swing weight.

The tungsten weights also help drop the center of gravity (CG) location and work with a new technology called Power Channel, a thin channel that runs up the sides and along the top of the face to create a higher initial launch angle and reduce spin. 

The 0311 GEN5 irons are available in three versions: 

0311 GEN5 T – These clubs have the shortest blade length, thinnest topline, and least amount of offset, making them a better choice for skilled players looking for more distance. The lofts are also the most traditional, with a 5-iron being 25 degrees and the pitching wedge being 46 degrees. 

0311 GEN5 P – This version is slightly larger than the T and has a wider sole. The 0311 GEN5 P is a true game-improvement club that looks like a better-player’s iron and should be appealing to a wide range of players. 

0311 GEN5 XP – The XP stands for extreme performance, and this club is the largest, most-forgiving in the GEN5 iron family. It has the widest sole, a thicker topline, and the longest blade length for golfers who want to maximize distance and forgiveness. These clubs have the strongest lofts, with the 5-iron being 20 degrees and the pitching wedge being 41 degrees. 

All three models are available in a chrome finish, a black finish, and a new Black Label Carbon edition that features the company’s black finish and an exclusive, black version of the Steel Fiber Private Reserve shaft.