The most playable low-spin driver for high-speed golfers? Our PXG 0311 Black Ops Tour-1 Driver Review

Aggressive, explosive, and uncompromising – the PXG 0311 Black Ops Tour-1 driver is ready to battle it out with the best.

Many of the recent metal launches across the golf industry could easily be mistaken as names for the next James Bond movie. Stealth, Paradym Ai-Smoke, Darkspeed, Blueprint. Even Qi10 has a 007-esque feel about it.

Perhaps coincidental, but more likely to symbolize the hours, weeks, and months of undercover ingenuity directed toward unlocking unparalleled distance and forgiveness in a golf club – the engineer’s holy grail.

Showing their hand in 2024’s arms race is PXG’s family of drivers, fairway woods, and hybrids, featuring the company’s breakthrough technology – Black Ops.

The Arizonia-based brand, led by military veteran, entrepreneur, and golf nut – Bob Parsons, is committed to only releasing products that are “markedly better” than its predecessor.

And while it took a while for PXG’s wood game to catch up with their acclaimed irons, 2023’s GEN6 models landed PXG “at the top table of drivers” as put by Simon Daddow, TG Equipment Editor.

One year on, with growing credibility in the woods market and an uncompromising approach to marginal gains, PXG is understandably bullish about its ability to compete with the best and disrupt the hierarchy of golf’s best driver brands.

Let’s take a look under the headcovers and see the tech behind what PXG believes will help high-swing-speed players achieve unmatched ball speed, distance, and control.

Black Ops Tour-1: The Tech

Precision Weighting Technology

As per the GEN6 models, Black Ops drivers present three weight ports with the default set-up being one heavy (12.5 g), and two light (2.5 g) that are interchangeable to support preferred spin and shape. Available weights range between 2.5 and 20 g in 2.5 g increments so players can fine-tune their ideal head weight and shot bias.

Pulling the CG towards the toe will create a fade bias, with weight in the heel helping to square the face and add draw. Those seeking higher MOI, launch and forgiveness can distribute more weight in the back.

AMF Face Technology

PXG attributes significant distance gains to employing a propriety high-strength titanium alloy face material called AMF (Advanced Material Face) that supports increased face deflection during impact. Sourcing alloys that strike an optimal balance between strength and flexibility is key for golf club engineers, and PXG has looked for inspiration from external industries to keep pushing the boundaries of performance in this area.

The face is further optimized through a variable thickness design that helps to ensure consistent and efficient energy across multiple impact points on the clubface, resulting in more ball speed and improved distance.

Further still, a non-uniform bulge and roll face design, refined for consistency through robotic polishing, strategically adjust the horizontal and vertical curvatures across the face. This design supports enhanced forgiveness and improves overall performance by optimizing the club’s reaction to off-center hits. 

High-strength composite construction

The Black Ops lightweight composite crown and sole inserts have been constructed from high-grade carbon fiber using a sophisticated compression molding process. Using such a lightweight, yet strong component, has allowed PXG to optimize weight distribution in the clubhead, pushing mass to the perimeter and increasing MOI.

With CG now able to sit lower and further back, engineers have been able to create a high launch angle and low spin rate combination that reportedly delivers increased distance performance and forgiveness.

PXG 0311 Black Ops Tour-1 Driver

RRP: $649.99 / £599.00 | Lofts: 8° / 9° / 10.5° | Headweight: 203 g | Lie: 58.5° | Length: 45.5″

The Black Ops Tour-1 driver and PXG’s hero 0311 Black Ops counterpart have been meticulously designed with custom fitting in mind, which PXG says makes them “some of the most versatile and high-performing clubs in the industry.”

The Tour-1 is geared toward more advanced players with high swing speeds who seek extremely low spin performance and penetrating ball flights and will be pitched in competition against the best low-spin drivers of 2024.

The Tour-1 is available in a range of premium shaft options and comes with PXG Z5 Black grips as standard.

How to choose between Black Ops models

The Black Ops Tour-1 (right) has a noticeably different profile to the standard Black Ops with a significantly more compact profile and aggressive look at address which features a taller face and a more curved crown. The Tour-1 also lies at 58.5° in an unadjusted set-up, compared to 60° in the Black Ops model.

The Black Ops model is geared towards a wide range of players and is characterized as a high-launch, yet low-spin option by PXG. It’s a combination that will appeal to those whose preferences edge towards forgiveness but are reluctant to compromise on ball speed.

It’s why PXG has stopped short of pitching the Black Ops driver as the mid-high handicap option, anticipating it to be the preferred choice of some high-level players too.

How do 0311 Black Ops drivers compare to GEN6?

	0311 Black Ops	0311 Tour-1	0311 GEN6	0311 GEN6 XF
Ball Speed (mph)	150.1	151.5	150.4	150.1
Carry Distance (yds)	260.4	254.8	257.9	258.3
Launch Angle (°)	11.5	9.8	10.9	11.0
Backspin (rpm)	2260	1821	2412	2386
Dispersion (yds2)	749.8	1558.4	1277.7	1968.8
L-R Dispersion (yds)	23.3	28.3	29.5	23.5

The Black Ops Family

Committed to its mandate of delivering maximum forgiveness without compromising distance down the bag, PXG has launched the equally innovative and versatile Black Ops Fairways and Black Ops Hybrids.

As per the driver models, the fairways and hybrids boast a high-grade and lightweight carbon fiber crown, saving mass so it can be redistributed low and to the clubhead’s perimeter for optimal CG positioning and added forgiveness.

Players also maintain the ability to dial in their preferred spin and bias settings with PXG’s Precision Weighting Technology. 

What PXG says

Billed as a “complete and total victory in woods engineering”, it’s fair to say PXG expects Black Ops to be the breakthrough they’ve been waiting for in their bid to ruffle feathers in the world of big sticks.

“I have often wondered why golfers are content to give up distance to achieve forgiveness, said PXG founder and CEO Bob Parsons.

“We’ve spent much of our R&D efforts focused on that challenge, and I am proud to say we’ve cracked that nut. Black Ops Woods are straight like an arrow, more forgiving than a priest on Sunday, and absolutely stunning to boot!”

Linnea Strom (LPGA Tour Pro): “My first couple of weeks practicing with the new Black Ops driver has been great. I love the look of it but it is also more forgiving with miss-hits. The good hits I’ve gained more height while keeping my spin rate which is exactly what I was looking for.”

Erik Cole (PGA Tour Pro & Rookie of the Year): “The new Black Ops Driver is a great blend of forgiveness and speed. Switching to it, I’ve noticed more speed with solid shots, as well as with off-center strikes. It also looks great over the ball, which makes it easy to have confidence in it on tour.”

Verdict: PXG 0311 Black Ops Tour-1 Driver

“This is the ‘most playable’ driver in the industry,” said Director of R&D for Woods, Caleb Kroloff when I sat down with the senior engineer at PXG London South. Caleb described how discovering a surprisingly strong relationship between launch angle and ball speed data led to a driver design concept that launched high while minimizing spin to create performance without compromises.

As a medium-swing speed player, I was naturally fitted in the more confidence-inspiring Black Ops model, but from a looks perspective, I found very little not to like with either model. The PXG customary blacked-out livery continues to wrap around the clubhead with raw metallic detailing on the sole and light grey accents on the glossy black crown.

The in-house testing data from PXG suggests the Tour-1 will be highly competitive with the best low-spinning drivers on the market in 2024, and as soon as we can get it in the hands of our testing pro, we will update this review with their reaction on how it compares.

The early uptake of the Tour-1 by PXG’s tour staff however is a good early indicator that the driver will stack up well at the elite level, although the standard Black Ops driver is also turning the heads of very competent players.

SUBSCRIBE TO TODAY’S GOLFER: Print and Digital access, discounts and rewards!

About the author

Ross Tugwood

Golf Equipment Writer

Ross Tugwood is a golf equipment writer for todays-golfer.com, specializing in data, analytics, science, and innovation.

Ross is passionate about optimizing sports performance and has a decade of experience working with professional athletes and coaches for British Athletics, the UK Sports Institute, and Team GB.

He has post-graduate degrees in Performance Analysis and Sports Journalism, enabling him to critically analyze and review the latest golf equipment and technology to help you make better-informed buying decisions.

PXG 0311 Black Ops Tour-1 Driver

RRP: $649.99 / £599.00

Lofts: 8° / 9° / 10.5° / 12° (LH: 9°)

Lie: 58.5°

Headweight: 203 g

Standard shaft length: 45.5”

Stock shaft options: EvenFlow Riptide CB, PX Cypher, MCA Diamana S+, ProjectX HZRDUS Smoke Yellow, MCA Tensei AV Raw Blue, MCA Tensei AV Raw White, Aldila NVS Pink NXT

Stock shaft options: PXG Z5 Black (Midsize, Oversize, Standard, Undersize)