Monday, December 21, 2020

Naughty or Nice GIVEAWAY 1 (PGAPappas 12 Days of Christmas Golf Giveaway): Tour Edge EXS 220 Driver Review

This Naughty or Nice giveaway might not be what it seems at first blush.  It's not exactly about whether you have been naughty or nice.  It's not about the gift itself being naughty or nice.  Naughty or Nice for this giveaway means no matter if you have a inconsistent (naughty swing) or a textbook smooth (nice swing), this club is going to work for all of you and give you exactly what you're looking for.

And that club is the Tour Edge EXS 220 Driver.  I first told you about EXS 220 in January at the PGA Show, and it was a Show headliner.  And taking it out on the course I can tell you it's a straighter hitting driver than the previous EXS (which was pretty forgiving in its own right), and also delivers impressive distance right up there with the big OEMs.

One of you will win your very own custom made EXS 220 Driver, RH or LH, in whatever loft, shaft (Fujikura Speeder, Ventus, Project X HZRDUS), and flex you want that Tour Edge offers.  You can check out the options here.

I said this is a great driver for those of you with naughty swings.  And can tell you this is one of the (if not THE MOST) forgiving driver I've hit all year.  It's incredibly stable on misses all around the face.  And you don't see much drop off in distance at all if you're anywhere near the four diamonds surrounding the bigger one on the face (I'll talk about forgiveness more below).  If you're interested in learning more about one of the big tech features in this regard, you can read about Tour Edge's Diamond Face Technology here.

Forgiving drivers are great for a lot of us, but often times these can produce too much spin for better or higher swing speed players.  Not the case with the EXS 220.  Tour Edge has designed EXS 220 to still give you fast ball speeds in a forgiving head but without jacking up distance robbing spin.  On center, low, and heel hits spin remains remarkably consistent.  And only on toe strikes did I see spin that dropped probably lower than I'd like.

EXS 220 face is shallower than the previous EXS driver, and there's more weight deep and back (you can get different adjustable weights to change this out).  At address it sits square to maybe slightly closed in the toe.  And the sound is a nice, muted, thwack that appeals to many players. 

Now here's the big Naughty or Nice part about the EXS 220 driver that stood out most to me.  I mentioned above how spin remains very consistent center, low, and heel (and even lower out towards toe).  And this did create some difference in peak heights (heel and toe shots had surprisingly similar heights, with low strikes being lowest).  But distance was still incredibly consistent, and dispersion pretty darn good not producing wild misses.

On center, heel, and toe strikes carry and total distances were all within about 10 yards of each other.  I kid you not.  Only 10 freaking yards.  Shots hit low on the face weren't quite as long in carry, but overall distance on these mishits lagged just a few yards shorter.  EXS 220 is a seriously forgiving club, and clearly has consistently fast ball speeds across the face.

In terms of dispersion, heel strikes were surprisingly closest to center strikes, and my worst misses towards the toe leaked out maybe some 20 yards right.  These aren't great shots if you're playing on major championship fairways, but on most courses this will probably still keep you in play.

EXS 220 is adjustable plus or minus 2 degrees, with plenty of settings that also allow you to change the lie angle and look at address.  I didn't play much with these settings, but have no doubt they'd help tweak your misses for even better performance.  Overall, EXS 220 is one of the stand-out drivers of the season.  And I can honestly see a Tour Pro playing well with it just as much a 30-handicap using it to also play his or her best.

Remember you have three different ways to win the daily gifts in my giveaway this year.  On twitter just retweet my giveaway announcement and follow all; on Instagram like the post, Mention in Your Story, or Repost, and follow all; and here on my blog leave a comment in the section below in the daily review/giveaway/Letters from Santa articles.

And for this one, I'll also ask you tell me if your swing is naughty or nice, and if you're really up to it, tell me why.  Leave comments, throw out gifs that describe your swing, heck even post swing videos if you have em.  Have fun with this for everyone!

These gifts are great prizes of course, but also some of the best equipment and gear in their class that I played and reviewed this season.  And I hope these mini reviews and recaps give you an idea of why I rate them so highly.

Merry Christmas all!

53 comments:

  1. My current driver is the Tour Edge Exotice EXS, and it handles my NAUGHTY swings pretty well, but you say the EXS 220 is even better, and more forgiving of those NAUGHTY swings, SIGN ME UP!

    #ReleaseTheKringle !

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  2. Naughty.

    My drives have been all over the place lately and have been developing a slice which it hasn't had for the last 5 years.

    Josh a

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  3. I have the exs 3 wood that I won on GolfWRX, this would pair up nicely with that

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  4. I have a naughty/ nice snap hook or push depending on your perspective! #releasethekringle

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  5. Naughty for sure. Get this nasty over the top move going whenever I get overly lazy or tired with my swing.

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  6. Thanks again Pete. I have a naughty swing - it comes and goes whenever it feels like I’m performing good. It always tends to show up to late to get me a decent score. Also it’s rude AF since it never apologizes for ruining part of my day. But it always shows up to have FUN!

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  7. My swing is definitely naughty! It is so inconsistent that sometime i will have a beautiful little fade and then others it'll come in out to inside and it'll make that ball slice so bad I should've been a chef, ill be slicing everything. Would you like you carrots chopped, julienne or diced?

    Side not:this is amazing! You are a true gift to growing the game and your giving back is BY FAR hands down the most admirable! Thank you for doing this every year.

    KCLOVESGLF

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  8. My swing.. especially with driver would be at the top of the most wanted naughty list. I could go in any direction.. other than down the middle. Would love to give this bomber a try.

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  9. Definitely not jingling all the way down the fairway with my inconsistent swing. Reducing spin off of their innovative Diamond Face would help.

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  10. This could help me find that elusive consistent drive I've been looking for!

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  11. My half swing is nice. RH for me or LH will go to my son!

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  12. My naughty list swings which consists of pulls to the left just might be taken care of with the EXS 220 😉

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  13. It’s a bit of both. Some days I can’t miss with my driver. Plenty of others it’s a mixed bag. But far and away, the issue always traces back to the hands (whether it’s grip or point of release). But I’m sure this club would fix everything. Because that’s what clubs do. 😂

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  14. Naughty is an understatement for my driving ability... A slice like a cheese grater. I consider it a work in progress to the 3rd power.

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  15. I've been told my swing is nice, yet the ball flight has always been naughty. My driving inconsistency has caused too many L's and cost me alot of beer afterward

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  16. Naughty. Flat swing trying to correct

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  17. Naughty foresure, some holes it’s perfectly straight and other it’s in the woods 200 yards right lol

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  18. Oh my swing is nasty every time is hit a tree...may the Tour EXS 220 be the driver for thee...Ho Ho Ho!!! May the elf’s let it be!!! #ReleaseTheKringle

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  19. ‪My driver swing is both naughty and nice. When it’s nice it’s nice, when it’s naughty it’s really naughty (hard snap left.) this driver could be the fix I need! Have never had a custom driver before! ‬

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  20. I commented on Twitter that my swing has been nice, but naughty comes out frequently!! #ReleaseTheKringle!!

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  21. Swing is mostly nice. Late in a round it can get naughty

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  22. Replies
    1. My swing tries to be nice but when it flattens out, it turns naughty 🙃 hopefully this driver would help that!

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  23. Naughty. Low launch, high spin with a driver, that is the naughtiest possible.

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  24. Naughty slice. I love what I have heard about this driver

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  25. Swing is nice, send of direction terrible .. o see a lot of wilderness out on the course.. tour edge could be my North Star on the course please!

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  26. I thought I had a Rory swing, but everyone tells me i swing like Furyk 🤣😭🤣😭🤣😭🤣😭🤣😭🤣😭🤣😭🤣😭🤣😭🤣😭 No pund to Mr. 58 of course, all that matters is 16 inches before and after contact. I could definitely use some forgiveness in my drives and there's been mostly positive reviews of this driver. I would love to take it for a ride.

    Appreciate all the hard work reviewing and testing equipment to inform all your readers and keeping it real.

    Merry Christmas! 👊🎅🐶🤶🧝‍♂️🦌☃️🎄🎁🙏🏻

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  27. Love the forgiveness aspect of this club. That's exactly what my game needs right now #ReleaseTheKringle

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  28. 😱😱 this is an amazing give away!! Happy holidays!

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  29. I have been very nice Pete

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  30. *Gets new driver still slices the ball 30 yards OB

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  31. My swing is nice, plain and average when smacked. It needs to be more naughty, dirty and goes a long way when smacked.

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  32. My swing is naughty, routinely hit my 6 iron 220

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  33. My swing is very naughty on the course and never listens like my 2 year old. On the range it's a nice little princess.

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  34. Swing is nice, but can always get better with TourEdge

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  35. This would look so good in my bag...

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  36. My swing is nice on distance, but naughty on direction!

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  37. My swing is nice when I keep my head level through impact, but extremely naughty when I get quick and lift my head too early :P

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  38. Being right handed, my swing thought these days on the down swing is 7 to 1. I imagine standing on the face of a clock with 12 as my target and six straight back. This promotes an inside out swing !

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  39. My swing has been naughty. When I pick up my driver, it sings to me that Amy Winehouse song, "You Know I'm No Good", so it's time for a new, FORGIVING driver, and this Tour Edge is gorgeous.
    Twitter handle is @DocJGolfer

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  40. Oh boy my swing Looks very naughty, but don't judge a book by its cover as looks can be deceiving.
    I hit far more fairways than I miss, which is always NICE

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  41. all the way from chicago... #ReleaseTheKringle!

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  42. Definitely naughty. It’s a crapshoot as to what swing is going to show up.

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  43. Way too much naughty in my swing w a super quick tradition and high spin rate. Could really use a spin killer and more stable shaft. Merry Christmas to all and #releasethekringle !!

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  44. Your comments are PHENOMENAL everyone! 👍 I’m getting to and reading every single one. 😁 We’ll draw on this sometime Wednesday. #ReleaseTheKringle 🎄

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    Replies
    1. These giveaways and your Kringle letters are daily reads for me, thank you. It has been so enjoyable to look for them each day.

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    2. You rock Pete!
      And fact you read every comment is beyond awesome

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  45. I don't know if it's my swing or my head. Somewhere we became disenchanted with one another. #ReleaseTheKringle...thanks Pete

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  47. My slice got so bad, I could
    definitely use this next year
    #ReleaseTheKringle

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  48. Congrats Jeff Black @jeff17black Hunting Birdies you won the custom Tour Edge Golf EXS 220 Driver in my PGAPappas 12 Days of Christmas Naughty or Nice Giveaway 1. DM/email for details!

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