Being a part of Dunlop Sports gives the design team that works on Xxio woods and irons a major advantage, because it can cherry-pick technologies and ideas that prove to be successful at Srixon and Cleveland, Xxio’s sister brands.
And Xxio has that advantage while maintaining a focus on a particular segment of the golf market. Instead of making clubs for the masses or major-winners such as Brooks Koepka, Shane Lowry and Hideki Matsuyama, Xxio concentrates on lightweight gear that can help moderate-speed players gain distance and hit shots higher.
So you will not see the new Xxio 13 driver, fairway woods, hybrids or irons at PGA Tour events in 2024, because they were made specifically for recreational golfers who struggle to generate speed and fail to make center-face contact consistently.
Here’s what you need to know about the new Xxio 13 woods and irons, which should be in stores starting Jan. 26.
Xxio 13 driver
Gear: Xxio 13 driver
Price: $699.99 with Xxio MP-1300 shaft and Xxio 13 Weight grip
Specs: Super-TIX 51AF titanium face with titanium chassis. 45.5-inches long. Available in 9.5, 10.5 and 11.5 degrees of loft.
To maximize distance, golfers who swing their driver at 60, 70 or 80 mph need to make impact with launch conditions as efficient as possible, but even the pros sometimes miss the center of the face when they swing their driver. To enlarge the ideal hitting area, Xxio developed the BiFlex Face. The face itself is made from Super-TIX 51AF titanium, an extremely light but strong alloy that allowed designers to make the hitting area thinner.
But the key is that Xxio rounded the toe area and made the heel portion of the face narrower, which stiffened the perimeter of the face and made it work like the frame around a trampoline. At impact, the BiFlex Face allows a larger area to bend back and snap forward, so golfers will not only get solid performance on well-struck shots but also see better distance retention and a straighter ball flight on shots hit toward the heel or toe.
According to Xxio, the sweet spot in the Xxio 13 driver is 125 percent larger than the ideal hitting area in the Xxio 12 driver.
The BiFlex Face is complemented by Rebound Frame, a feature that debuted in the Srixon ZX5 and ZX7 drivers in 2020. By alternating regions of stiffness and flexibilities in the front portion of the chassis, Xxio designers allow the whole cup-face design to bend back, effectively making the hitting area respond like a trampoline with spring-like legs to help golfers generate more ball speed.
Tipping the scale at just 281 grams, the 45.5-inch Xxio 13 driver is lighter than most drivers on the market. And to make it even easier to swing, engineers gave it an updated version of ActivWing that is comprised of a pair of ridges on the crown behind the hosel. In the first portion of the downswing, ActivWing alters the airflow over the head to encourage the ideal face positioning and enhance speed. As the club approaches the ball, Xxio said the increased surface area on the crown encourages the face to get into the ideal hitting position, making it easier to strike the ball in the sweet spot.
Finally, the Xxio 13 driver comes standard with a 36-gram counterbalanced shaft that should help golfers swing the head faster with the same effort.
Xxio 13 fairway woods
Gear: Xxio 13 fairway woods
Price: $399.99 with Xxio MP-1300 shaft and Xxio 13 Weight grip
Specs: Stainless steel face and body. Available as a 3-wood (15 degrees), 4-wood (16.5 degrees), 5-wood (18 degrees), 7-wood (20 degrees) and 9-wood (23-degrees).
Like the Xxio 13 drivers, the fairway woods benefit from the addition of BiFlex faces that have rounded toe areas and angular heel sections that help create a stiffer frame and perimeter for the hitting area. The fairway woods also benefit from Rebound Frame, which alternates rigid and flexible regions behind the face and expands the sweet spot.
While the fairway wood faces are made using stainless steel instead of titanium, the design still helps broaden the sweet spot and protect ball speed on mis-hits toward the heel or toe.
Xxio 13 fairway woods have a step-down crown design, which helps lower the center of gravity, along with an internal floating weight bar that Xxio calls a Cannon Sole. It extends from the toe to the heel behind the face, helping to further lower the center of gravity in the fairway woods, which encourages a higher launch and should make it easier for players to stop shots quickly for better distance control.
Xxio 13 hybrids
Gear: Xxio 13 hybrids
Price: $299.99 with Xxio MP-1300 shaft and Xxio 13 Weight grip
Specs: Stainless steel face and body. Available as a 3 (18 degrees), 4 (20 degrees), 5 (23 degrees) and 6 (26 degrees)
Golfers who struggle to generate clubhead speed and distance should not carry long irons. Instead, they should utilize hybrid clubs because a hybrid’s lower center of gravity and wider sole can help players generate more ball speed and distance while also gaining height.
The Xxio 13 hybrids utilize the distance and speed-enhancing technologies found in the company’s drivers and fairway woods, including a BiFlex Face design and Rebound Frame to broaden the sweet spot and protect ball speed on mis-hits. The hybrids also feature the same step-down crown design and Cannon Sole internal weight bar found in the fairway woods to lower the center of gravity, encourage a higher ball flight and create a steeper descent angle for more stopping power.
Xxio 13 irons
Gear: Xxio 13 irons
Price: $219.99 each or $1,099 for a five-club set with Xxio MP-1300 shaft and Xxio 13 Weight grip
Specs: Super-TIX 51AF titanium face with SUS360 stainless steel body and tungsten-nickel toe weight. Available in 5-iron through sand wedge
Xxio has never shied away from using premium materials if it means enhancing performance, and in the 13 irons, that means using four materials to help golfers hit higher, longer shots.
While most irons have faces made from steel, the Xxio 13 iron faces are made using the same Super-TIX 51AF titanium found in the Xxio 13 driver. It is lighter yet extremely strong, so the faces can be made thinner.
By using a lighter face and designing a small hollow area in the heel, Xxio designers could add an internal tungsten-nickel weight low in the toe area of each head. It drives down the center of gravity and counteracts the weight of the hosel, so the sweet spot is pulled it into the middle of the hitting area.
Combining an extremely low center of gravity and increased ball speed from the titanium face should result in higher-flying shots for moderate-speed players.
