PXG's 'Gen6 Driver Challenge' Makes a Believer Out of a Player Reluctant to Switch

If PXG can't beat a customer's regular driver with its new Gen6 model, the company will pay up. Spoiler: It hasn't paid up too often.

Bob Parsons is at it again, putting his money behind his golf company.

Though this time, he's giving customers a chance to take it.

Throughout August, PXG is inviting golfers into stores to take the "Gen6 Driver Challenge," putting their new Gen6 drivers up against a customer's driver. If after a fitting the Gen6 can't beat the competition (the three best shots with both drivers are compared), for distance or dispersion, the customer is given a $100 Mastercard gift card.

"We're trying to get people to know what PXG is," said PXG master fitter Michael Jaynes. "We get a lot of people saying ‘I've seen the commercials, I’ve seen the advertisements, I’ve never hit a PXG club.’

"The driver challenge is, 'hey, let’s try to show them how good the driver is, get it in their hands and fitted.' Not only do we want them to hit the stuff, we want them to experience in-house our brand, our style at the store."

At PXG's Indianapolis location, it was game-on for the author in the Gen6 Driver Challenge / Courtesy PXG

I visited Jaynes at my local PXG store last week in Indianapolis, which opened late last year in a busy golf corridor that includes a Club Champion, PGA Tour Superstore and Golf Galaxy all within a mile.

His task was to beat my driver, a TaylorMade RBZ Tour that's older than my 10-year-old daughter but has long been the steadiest presence in my shaky game.

As of Aug. 9, PXG reported a 94 percent success rate in the challenge, winning hundreds of showdowns across its 22 U.S. retail locations (the free challenge is only available in the stores and there's no obligation to buy anything). 

I am now among those success stories, as the 0311 XF Gen6 driver proved more accurate and longer—not by a massive amount, but enough for me to consider breaking up with my longtime mate. 

The 0311 XF is the more forgiving of the two Gen6 models, with a more forgiving head shape allowing for off-center hits to remain stable off the clubhead and still provide distance. That was useful for me, along with higher ball speeds.  

"We’re pretty confident in the technology and the design on this driver, that we can beat anybody out there," Jaynes said.

When asked about what he's seen so far during the challenge, he laughed and said "a little bit of everything."

"I kind of joked and said we’d see a lot of Frankenstein combos," he said. "We saw a driver that was 46 inches and had lead tape all over it. We beat it by almost 20 yards.

"We see all kinds of stuff, whether it’s guys that haven’t bought a driver in 15 years, but also plenty of the guys that buy drivers every year, they’ve been fit several times and it’s a good fit. Those are the ones that are tougher, and we’ve been winning those as well, which is pretty impressive. Kind of hammers home that Gen6 driver is for real."

For more on the Gen6 Driver Challenge and where you can take a shot, visit PXG.com.