PXG 0311 Gen4 irons Review

Name: PXG 0311 Gen4 irons Review
Brand: Irons
Price: 249 GBP

Last updated: 21 May 2024

At a glance
TG Rating 5 out of 5
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What we say...

The PXG 0311 Gen4 golf irons use a new changeable weight concept to allow golfers to experiment with lighter and heavier weight irons, just like a tour pro.

PXG have come out the blocks faster than Usain Bolt in 2021 and their guns are trained on grabbing more golfers eyes than ever this year. In January the brand revealed a new more affordable family. The 0211 range was designed to be so versatile that everyone from scratch to 25 handicappers could play them, but also thanks to a serious price cut, for the first time a PXG product family would rival the very best on value for money too.

PXG has always promised to only launch new products when they’re significantly better than their predecessors and thanks to new material and construction developments the brand reckon the timing is perfect to pull the covers from their brand new super premium Gen4 family.

The range consists of three new drivers, fairway woods and hybrids plus three new irons, and the focus throughout thanks to a brilliant new weight tech story, means golfers will be encouraged to try both lighter and heavier weighted equipment, for a more personalised fit than ever before.

RELATED: Best Player Iron 2022

PXG 0311 Gen4 irons at a glance

PXG 0311 T Gen4 iron

RRP: £249 per club

Availability: 3 – PW, GW

Stock shafts: True Temper Elevate 95 or Tour (s) Mitsubishi MMT 70g or 80g (g)

7-iron loft: 32°

PXG 0311 T Gen4 Iron

Availability:	3 - PW, GW
Stock shafts:	True Temper Elevate 95 or Tour (s) Mitsubishi MMT 70g or 80g (g)
7-iron loft:	32°

T stands for Tour. The T is designed to be a more forgiving blade style club for lower handicap players who like the look of a smaller iron head with less offset. Expect good workability compared to the more forgiving P and XP.

WATCH: Best 2022 Players’ Iron video

PXG 0311 T Gen4 iron specs

PXG 0311 P Gen4 iron

RRP: £249 per club

Availability: 3 – PW, GW

Stock shafts: True Temper Elevate 95 or Tour (s) Mitsubishi MMT 70g or 80g (g)

7-iron loft: 30°

PXG 0311 P Gen4 Iron

Availability:	3 - PW, GW
Stock shafts:	True Temper Elevate 95 or Tour (s) Mitsubishi MMT 70g or 80g (g)
7-iron loft:	30°

P stands for Player. The P is designed for low to mid handicap golfers who’ll benefit from a good blend of distance, workability and forgiveness. The blade length is longer than the T (not quite as long as the XP) and there’s extra offset. The midsize heads have 1deg less loft across the set than the previous Gen3 irons.

WATCH: Best 2022 Players’ Distance Iron video

PXG 0311 P Gen4 iron specs

PXG 0311 XP Gen4 iron

RRP: £249 per club

Availability: 3 – PW, GW

Stock shafts: True Temper Elevate 95 or Tour (s) Mitsubishi MMT 70g or 80g (g)

7-iron loft: 28°

PXG 0311 XP Gen4 Iron

Availability:	3 - PW, GW
Stock shafts:	True Temper Elevate 95 or Tour (s) Mitsubishi MMT 70g or 80g (g)
7-iron loft:	28°

XP stands for Xtreme Performance. The XP has the biggest head of the Gen4 iron family, which means it’s really well suited to Mid – High handicap golfers. Extra hosel offset helps flight shots from the strong lofts.

PXG 0311 XP Gen4 iron specs

RELATED: The most forgiving irons 2021

WATCH: Best 2022 Mid-Handicap Iron video

What you need to know about the 0311 Gen4 irons

It’s all about the core

Feel and sound were the original driver for PXG using a filling material inside their original 0311 Gen1 irons, because hollow irons can sound appalling if vibration is not controlled. It didn’t take the brand too long though to realise the polymer they’d selected wasn’t just absorbing vibration but also ball speed and energy to. So while Gen2 irons featured a much more COR rich material that boosted ball speed, the Gen3’s DualCor combined the best of both worlds with extra speed and bounce back as well as vibration control.

But PXG now say the Gen3’s DualCor only used two materials because one was a ‘carrier’ needed to get the material they really wanted into the golf clubs inner structure. Now thanks to a multi-year research project with a small but experienced polymer specialist they’re able to fill the whole internal cavity with the material they really wanted (the new XCOR).

And we can see why they persisted along this route, as with all other specs remaining the same the material switch alone adds 2.1 mph of ball speed and 5.6 yards of carry distance to the XP irons performance (it’s 1.8mph and 5.5 yards with the T). Which is a good sized jump forward in anybody’s book.

Face facts

PXG’s calling card is how they make golf’s thinnest face iron. The Gen4’s face is actually so thin if there was no filling behind it, the face would simply collapse at impact. By making the maraging HT1770 steel face ultra-thin there’s additional weight savings that help MOI and centre of gravity positioning as well as boosting ball speeds.

5 x forged

You can’t make an iron with such a complex internal shape as the 0311 Gen4’s by hitting the head just a few times with a heavy forge. PXG forge every Gen4 iron five times to create the shape they’re after and that means a different shaped expensive tool for each hit. That means the right handed set of 0311 P irons alone need 45 different toolings to create 9 different lofts within the set.

Milled for precision

The back of each Gen4 iron isn’t just CNC Milled to create a lovely sharp looking iron. Because forging can’t create very thin surfaces the back of each head is CNC Milled to the desired wall thickness. It means no gram is left in an ineffective position.

Weight a minute

Look on the PGA and LPGA Tour and players use very different head mass properties in their irons, yet consumers never have access to trying lighter or heavier irons. So PXG have come up with a brilliantly efficient way for golfers to try lighter and heavier irons during a fitting.

Each of the Gen4 irons has a weight behind the centre of the face which can easily be switched during the fitting process, all without changing the CG location. PXG say golfers will be encouraged to try both lighter and heavier set-ups during a fitting, as the switch can unlock some good gains that just haven’t been available before.

RELATED: Should you play a PXG putter?

As an example PXG say two of their most senior engineers who swing at the same speed and typically have used the same specs before, found that one benefitted from going a little lighter while the other saw gains by going heavier. So there’s new territory here to explore, even for golfers who’ve been fitted before.

Got a question about the PXG 0311 Gen4 irons? Ask us on Twitter.

ROBOT TESTED: How do the PXG 0311 Gen4 irons compare to the previous Gen3 models?

Verdict: PXG 0311 Gen4 irons

We were as surprised as anyone by the performance of PXG’s 0311 Gen3 irons in our Top Gear test sessions this year. All three models – T, P and XP – were long and powerful, while our drop-off data highlighted brilliantly just how forgiving their tungsten-packed chassis were, too.

But just as we sang their praises PXG were busy rolling out an improved fourth generation 0311 iron family. And unsurprisingly, they reckon the new models are even better.

It’s taken a while for us to get our hands on our Gen4 iron samples, but as soon as we did we wanted to hold PXG to their word. So we asked our Test Pro (Neil Wain) to pit all three Gen3 models against their Gen4 replacements.

And just for good measure, to ensure you can make the most informed buying decision possible, we lobbed in their ‘affordable’ 0211 iron (£119 per club) as well so you can see where it fits within the new family.

PLAYER TESTED: How do the PXG 0311 Gen4 irons compare in data to the previous Gen3 and 0211 models?

Verdict: PXG 0311 XP Gen4 iron

PXG know not all golfers will spend a fortune on a new set of irons, which is exactly why they’ve introduced the 0211 at £80 a stick (so a 5-GW set will set you back £560 where the Gen4 models are £1,743).

Undoubtedly within the Mid-Handicap Iron category more golfers are likely to compare the two, to gauge whether their game justifies the extra cost of the Gen4. For us the XP flat out performed against the Gen3 (remember the Gen3 was the longest and most forgiving mid-handicap iron during our Top Gear tests this year). Adding eight yards of 7-iron carry distance, just by changing the material inside, is an incredible result, especially when shots didn’t launch or fly lower.

The real question in this category though is whether you should be going for the XP or the less expensive 0211, as there’s just a couple of yards of carry distance between the pair. Learning that the 0211 (with no tungsten weight tech) offers 10% less MOI forgiveness might just help you make up your mind.

Verdict: PXG 0311 P Gen4 iron

For Gen4 the lofts of the P have been strengthened slightly (the 7-iron is 1° stronger), which is worth bearing in mind when looking at our data. The P’s slightly longer blade and larger head improves forgiveness over the T so it’s a very good fit for decent club golfers.

We don’t know what it is that PXG put inside these new models, but our test pro saw a ball speed gain of 2.1mph with the 7-iron, which could be expected thanks to the lower loft. But we certainly didn’t expect to see shots launching higher, flying higher and descending onto a green at a steeper angle, while also adding eight yards of carry distance. That’s just out of this world.

Verdict: PXG 0311 T Gen4 irons

Nobody picks up a PXG iron and doesn’t like the shape; they’re exactly what you’d expect of a super-premium model and really important for golfers looking at clubs within the players’ category.

The Gen3 Ts were our longest players’ iron this year, and from the same loft, the new model added four yards of carry distance. But distance isn’t everything with players’ irons, so if you dig a little deeper you’ll also spot how the new material inside has also added 0.6mph of ball speed, while launching shots nearly a degree higher, as well as flighting shots a couple of yards higher and descending them onto the green at a steeper angle.

A seriously impressive performance gain.