PXG Secret Weapon — Mini Driver

[ChetlovesMer]

Okay, so last night I went to my local place that does PXG fittings. I had every intention of testing out the PXG Allan Putter... which I did. But then, I ended up making either the greatest purchase ever or the worst. Time will tell.

I ended up getting fit for and buying a PXG secret weapon... Yeah, I impulse bought a mini-driver.  🤷‍♂️

Clearly PXG saw me coming. Because it's a really good looking club and ... I like shiny things. They've done a great job on the look of this mini driver. I mean it looks great.

When sitting down by the ball it looks like a 3-wood. It's actually kind of hard to tell from the top which is bigger the 0311XF or the Secret Weapon. But then you pick it up and realize there's more face than a 3 wood. I think the best way to describe it would be it's the look and color scheme of the Black Ops 3-wood, but the footprint of the 0311XF with a slightly taller face. Which in my opinion looks awesome. 

My swing right now is a bit of a work in progress. But I was able to hit the club off the deck and off a tee, with about a 10 yardish advantage hitting off the tee. I also found I had the best results teeing it pretty low. I know, I was hitting it off a mat, so I had a perfect lie every time, but I was very surprised how well it performed off the deck. Currently I don't try to hit my 3-wood unless I get a perfect or near perfect lie anyway, so I think this club will be just fine as a 3-wood replacement. 

One thing that was kind of cool, is the best shaft for me turned out to be the Hzrdus Black, 6.0 60. It was a pretty clear winner; Even in terms of feel. That shaft is one of the no upcharge shafts. I will say the Ventus Blue 6 Velocore performed very well. The Ventus Blue 6 Velocore is $300 upgrade. The Ventus also looked great. It's a great color, but the Hzrdus actually gave me better numbers so kudos to the folks at Project X. 

Lastly, I broke all my personal rules when it comes to buying golf clubs. 

• 1 - Never buy a club after only hitting for one session. Come back and see if you can repeat the results before buying .... I didn't do that. I just bought it. 
• 2 - It's always a good idea to wait until the newest models come out and then buy the previous or even 2 years back models deeply discounted. ... I didn't do that. 
• 3 - Never impulse buy a club. Always be certain the club fills a certain need in your bag. ... I didn't do that. I was perfectly happy with my 3-wood, until.... 
• 4 - Always bring the club you want to replace with you so that you can test it side by side on the same day against the new club. .... I didn't do that either. 
• 5 - Never buy new clubs while you are in the middle of a swing change. ... Looks like I'm 0 for 5. 

So, I'm probably an idiot for impulse buying a mini-driver. But man, it's so cool. And I can't wait to get it. 

[iacas]

Down goes another one.

[Typhoon92]

Good Luck!!  I saw today about Cobra getting in on it by “dropping a duece” 

[ChetlovesMer]

  On 1/16/2025 at 8:16 PM, Typhoon92 said:

Good Luck!!  I saw today about Cobra getting in on it by “dropping a duece” 

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I saw The Deuce as well. ... At least pictures of it. 

Seems everyone is bringing out a mini-driver this year. 
I actually had no intention of getting one, but the PXG salesperson tricked me. He said something to the effect of "Hey, you wanna try this mini-driver?" ... Sneaky bastard. 

[iacas]

Hey, @ChetlovesMer, wanna try some drugs?

[ChetlovesMer]

  On 1/16/2025 at 11:41 PM, iacas said:

Hey, @ChetlovesMer, wanna try some drugs?

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Will they make me a better golfer? ???? 

[WillieT]

Hey @ChetlovesMer - Is it going to replace your regular driver or the 3 wood or another club elsewhere?  I saw the email about the mini-d from PXG and all the other emails pretty much making this the year of the mini-d.  It must have hit well for you to walk out with it….

[ChetlovesMer]

  On 1/17/2025 at 1:03 AM, WillieT said:

Hey @ChetlovesMer - Is it going to replace your regular driver or the 3 wood or another club elsewhere?  I saw the email about the mini-d from PXG and all the other emails pretty much making this the year of the mini-d.  It must have hit well for you to walk out with it….

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I feel safe in saying its going to replace my 3 wood. In all probability I will also lower my 5 wood loft 1 degree. 
All of that is subject to change depending on how the swing changes I'm working on play out. 

I can tell you I immediately liked it. 

[WillieT]

  On 1/17/2025 at 2:40 AM, ChetlovesMer said:

I feel safe in saying its going to replace my 3 wood. In all probability I will also lower my 5 wood loft 1 degree. 
All of that is subject to change depending on how the swing changes I'm working on play out. 

I can tell you I immediately liked it. 

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I can see that….when it speaks to ya, it just screams “Take me with you!” and you have to comply because resistance is futile as the Borg would tell Captain Picard..

[ChetlovesMer]

  On 1/17/2025 at 12:20 PM, WillieT said:

resistance is futile as the Borg would tell Captain Picard..

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Oh my goodness. The fact that I get that reference from 35 years ago proves I'm old. .... The fact that you used that reference. ... Well? 

[saevel25]

  On 1/16/2025 at 11:52 PM, ChetlovesMer said:

Will they make me a better golfer? ???? 

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Certain psychedelics help with curbing bad habits, so maybe? 

[Typhoon92]

Why has nobody here called dibs?

[WillieT]

  On 1/17/2025 at 1:21 PM, ChetlovesMer said:

Oh my goodness. The fact that I get that reference from 35 years ago proves I'm old. .... The fact that you used that reference. ... Well? 

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I am that old.....born in the 50's, started school in the 60's, finished high school in the 80's, married and divorced  in the 90's, remarried in the 00's - still married and now I'm just north of 65....yes I am that old

[Clemsonfan]

I love the thought of these clubs and hit the TM version well. I just love hitting my TM Sim 2 Max driver too much! I chip it when I need a fairway finder and drop-down to my turned down 5-wood, from 19* to 17*, when I need something less. If I could find a spot in my bag for one of these, I would love to have one! Eager to hear your results!

[GolfLug]

Ahh the 'gap wood'. Allegedly more control than a traditional driver and more distance than a 3-wood. While it sounds logical on paper, the more I think about it, the more I am confounded by the existence of this tool. Bit skeptical that most us weekenders that are not better than maybe a 2- handicap can effectively land in this 'uncharted' thin gap between a 3 wood and a driver with any sort of reasonable consistency. For me the venn diagram of these two traditional clubs from a control perspectives is almost a single circle given the wide (and diffused) yardage and direction spreads. 

@ChetlovesMer, name her "Minnie" and maybe will hunt you some good will..😝. Kidding aside, I am interested on how it works out for you. Not too proud to be singing a different song if convinced. Have fun!

[ChetlovesMer]

  On 1/18/2025 at 1:56 PM, GolfLug said:

Ahh the 'gap wood'. Allegedly more control than a traditional driver and more distance than a 3-wood. While it sounds logical on paper, the more I think about it, the more I am confounded by the existence of this tool. Bit skeptical that most us weekenders that are not better than maybe a 2- handicap can effectively land in this 'uncharted' thin gap between a 3 wood and a driver with any sort of reasonable consistency. For me the venn diagram of these two traditional clubs from a control perspectives is almost a single circle given the wide (and diffused) yardage and direction spreads. 

@ChetlovesMer, name her "Minnie" and maybe will hunt you some good will..😝. Kidding aside, I am interested on how it works out for you. Not too proud to be singing a different song if convinced. Have fun!

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I promise to keep everyone posted. 👍😁👍

[Typhoon92]

I thought PXG’s secret weapon was the “desert club”.  Golf companies must be running out of regular clubs🙄

[ChetlovesMer]

Quick update.

So, I got the PXG Secret Weapon and I have to say I like it... mostly. (see below) I spent some time with it on the range and I even gathered some data in doors. I'm not going to post data yet, as my swing is still a bit of a work in progress and I'd like to gather some more data after I settle down a little bit more. But here's my review. 

First as a driver replacement. ... IMO it is not a replacement, it's clearly more of a supplement... for me anyway. Not long enough to really replace the driver. For me it's about 20 yards short of my driver. It is longer than my 30-wood off the tee. (15 yards-ish) I will say it is easier to hit off the tee than my 3-wood. I get some of my best shots teeing it low, but I also get some of my worst. If I tee it about a full inch off the ground I get very consistent shots. Super repeatable. Amazingly repeatable even with my messy swing. Off the tee, I find it draw biased just a bit. You can tinker with the set up if that isn't your personal cup of tea. 

As a 3-wood replacement. For me it's about perfect. It's longer than my 3-wood off the deck (my data showed 10 yards longer) and it has a gentle fade to it, which I love. You do need a clean lie, but I never hit my 3-wood off anything but a clean lie anyway. I found it interesting that I hit a gentle fade off the deck and a slight draw off a tee. I'm sure that's not uncommon. Again, you can tinker with the set up to optimize that if you wanted to... I don't want to. 

It's clearly a lot longer than my 3-wood off the tee. Easier to hit off the tee than my 3 wood, and off the deck it's also longer. So, it's a no-brainer 3-wood replacement for me. I will say that over the years I've learned to use my 3-wood for this low-flying-100-yard-punch-out-from-under-a-tree shot.  I'll have to see if the Secret Weapon can handle that duty. But it's going in the bag to replace the 3-wood. 

I also turned my 5-wood down from 19 degrees to 17 degrees. ... Incidentally my 3-wood had been 16 degrees. I used to always hit my 5 wood and my hybrid about the same distance. This adjustment helps my gapping a bit at the top of the bag. I can clearly hit my 5-wood farther than my hybrid now. 

Overall on the PXG Secret Weapon.

The good:

1. It's clearly longer and easier to hit off the tee than my 3-wood.
2. It's a bit longer off the deck than my 3-wood. 
3. It's super forgiving... surprisingly so. 
4. It's uber adjustable. ... Although I do suggest getting fit for it. That will save you having to (or wanting to) buy a weight kit just to try out the infinite number of set ups.
5. The headcover is super cool. 

The maybe not so good:

1. Shots out of the middle sound great. Shots off the heal sound great. Shots off the toe sound ... what's the work... clangy? It's very forgiving off the toe and the heal. The flight and the distance are incredibly consistent. But the sound off the toe isn't great. 
2. For me I tend to draw it off the tee and fade it off the deck. You can set it up to be biased either way, but in my hands I think if I set up a draw off the deck, that might induce a duck hook off the tee. ... In fairness that could also be where my swing is at right now. 
3. It's pretty spendy. ... If I really stop and think about it, I paid $450 for a new 3-wood. Granted it's a better performing 3-wood. But for me it's really a 3-wood replacement.