The Legend of Tour Edge Exotics Grows

Tour Edge’s new Exotics driver will enhance the brand’s reputation still further.

Tony Dear

Tour Edge Exotics drivers are the epitome, the quintessence, the very embodiment of the “if-we-could-just-get-them-in-people’s-hands” golf club.

But not everyone who plays the game has had the good fortune to have gotten them in their hands.

Why? In the 30 years since David Glod launched the company, Tour Edge has never been in the habit of forking out mega-endorsements to Tour stars, or advertising on TV. Those familiar with it, however, know well how consistently good Tour Edge clubs are, specifically the Exotics line—Tour Edge’s Lexus, if you will.

“Exotics golf clubs are for those who demand the finest-performing clubs in the world,” says Glod. “With experienced designers and smaller production runs, Exotics brings futuristic technologies to the marketplace. Exotics manufactures the finest quality, high-tech golf clubs and hand­‐assembles them one club at a time.”

The latest Exotics drivers, announced last Wednesday, are the EX9 and EX9 Tour which supersede the EX8 which hit stores a year ago (the EX8 Tour Fairway Wood, which we featured in February, followed a few months later).

The standard EX9, constructed using 6A4V titanium—a strong, titanium alloy incorporating aluminum and vanadium, has a 460cc head and is available with either ten or 12 degrees of loft, although a newly-designed hosel allows players to effect launch conditions with eight settings altering both loft and lie. A 6g sole weight housed in an 8­g weight pad, and positioned toward the heel, gives a total of 14g in the sole promoting a draw (additional weights – 3g, 9g and 11g can be purchased individually or as a kit).  

The CG is positioned deep and toward the back of the clubhead which increases the club’s MoI, effectively increasing the size of the sweetspot. The Power Grid—a groove cut in the sole behind the face to increase the clubhead’s COR (trampoline effect) and an increasingly common feature in modern clubs, increases initial ball speed.

And if all that isn’t enough to help you carry more of the fairway with every drive, the crown has a uniquely sloping profile that reduces drag and helps you generate an extra few miles an hour of clubhead speed.

The Tour model has a 430cc head meanwhile, and comes with either nine or ten degrees of loft. The CG is located higher and further forward than in the standard model ensuring less spin and a more penetrating ball-flight. The hosel offers the same adjustability.

Stock shafts for the EX9 are the Mitsubishi Bassara E­‐Series, Fujikura Exotics PRO and PRO Tour, Matrix Exotics White, Red, and Black Tie; and in the EX9 Tour you can choose between the Aldila Rogue Silver 60 and 70, and Mitsubishi Diamana S+, M+, and D+. 

Suggested retail for the EX9 is $299.99; $399.99 for the EX9 Tour. Drivers are projected to ship on November 15.

More info: touredge.com and exoticsgolf.com

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