Distance and Forgiveness: Meet the new Tour Edge Exotics Iron Lineup

Tour Edge sure has been busy the last few weeks. We’ve already seen an entire metalwoods lineup, and now it’s time to start talking about irons.

For 2016 Tour Edge has offered up 3 distinct iron sets, and as should be the case, each iron in this reasonably well-differentiated trio is aimed at a specific segment of the market.

So which Exotics iron might be right for you? To help figure that out, we think it makes the best sense to start in the middle.

Tour Edge Exotics EXi

As you can see, Tour Edge is billing the EXi as offering Power, Control, and Workability. To me that suggests a balanced iron aimed right at the middle of the market.  It’s a Goldilocks offering…not too big, not to small, not too much offset, not too little. Basically Tour Edge hopes this iron will be just right.

We start with the EXi because its where Tour Edge technology overlaps, and that should save us some time.

With this release Tour Edge joins TaylorMade in offering a sole slot. This particular adaptation is designed to promote distance and feel. A dual undercut cavity further helps to promote distance, while Tour Edge claims its VFT (variable face thickness) technology helps maintain speed across the face.

Let’s call that forgiveness.

Finally, a Thermo-plastic elastomer insert helps to dampen vibrations and improve feel.

If we’re being honest, from a technology standpoint, there’s nothing truly unique about the EXi, but it does give Tour Edge some skin in the game at a competitive price.

The EXi will retail for $599 with KBS Tour 90 Steel Shafts and $699 with UST Recoil (460, 670, or 680) Graphite.

Tour Edge Exotics EXd

The true game-improvement option in the new lineup, the EXd features much of the same technology as the EXi bundled into a larger, longer, and more forgiving package.

The EXd has a slot, VFT technology, an unsupported face (more distance), the deepest undercut cavity of any Tour Edge iron (more distance and forgiveness), along with Tungsten sole weights for added stability.

To further promote distance where golfers need it most, Tour Edge has, by its own admission, jacked the lofts on the 3-6 irons.

Once again, we don’t see anything truly unique with this particular iron, but the specs do suggest Tour Edge is taking strides to catch up with its competitors within the iron category.

Retail price for the EXd is also $599 steel/$699 graphite, and the stock shaft offerings are the same as found on the EXi.

Exotics CB Pro

The most intriguing offering within the 2016 Tour Edge iron lineup is, in my opinion, the CB Pro. While Tour Edge is calling the Pro the most technologically advanced set of exotics irons ever, what’s of particular interest to me is that the Pro is such a radical departure from previous iterations of Tour Edge’s Pro irons.

The last time we took a hard look at Tour Edge Pro iron it was a blade, and a pretty damn good one at that. While perhaps a bit unexpected from Tour Edge, the Pro was among the most compact blades on the market, and it offered outstanding feel.

Even if most didn’t realize it at the time, the old Pro was just about everything a purist could want from a blade.

This CB Pro is different. Its overall story reads like that of a distance iron wrapped in a smaller package. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The reality is that the market for true blades is not only small, it’s dwindling as more and more golfers wise-up to the benefits of not playing blades. For a company the size of Tour Edge, getting any sort of ROI on a blade is difficult. As I said, it’s a limited market to begin with and Titleist, Mizuno, and a few select others meet what demand there is exceptionally well.

Doing something different makes sense.

The Exotics CB Pro features hollow body design (distance and forgiveness), with a wide sole bolstered by a significant amount of Tungsten weighting. Once again, we’ve got VFT (distance and forgiveness).

Obviously we can’t say for certain until we have the CB Pros in-hand, but it’s a story that sounds a bit like that of the PXG 0311. Effectively we’re talking about an iron built to be long and forgiving, squeezed into a package that could appeal to better players, and even average golfers who want a traditionally-lofted iron that’s a little less in your face.

It’s entirely possible that Tour Edge looked at the larger iron market, and saw an opportunity to offer something slightly unexpected. The CB Pro would seem to fit the description.

The Tour Edge Exotics CB Pro will retail for $799 (steel) and $899 (graphite). As with the rest of the new lineup, KBS Tour 90 and UST Recoil are the stock shaft offerings?

Does Any Of It Matter?

While Tour Edge metalwoods, and fairway woods in particular have a sterling reputation and enjoy a bit of a cult following, the company’s irons have never resonated quite the same way – even among Tour Edge fans.

Will these new irons change that? Do you see anything in these new designs that makes you excited to try Tour Edge irons?

For more information, visit the Tour Edge Golf Website.