The Green Fee I talk about golf equipment shopping on a budget a lot on here and on my social media pages. I show how I was able to get various golf items and not pay abhorrent prices for these items and still have a pretty kick ass bag set up. As someone who pushes for less expensive golf clubs I would be doing a disservice to not mention the all new Tour Edge Hot Launch 523 series.
Tour Edge? Hot Launch? What the hell are you talking about?
Lets clear the air. When people hear of golf brands outside of the major brands they often think of them as bullshit knock off brands. To be honest thats complete horseshit and you could be missing a ton of great products.
Tour Edge started back in 1986 by David Glod and has been owned by Glod ever since. Its rare that a company stays under one owner for that long in this industry. Its a testament to the products Tour Edge has been putting out for decades. When the people who know about Tour Edge think of Tour Edge the first thing that comes to mind is Fairway Woods. I believe they also get a bad reputation because they are used mostly on the Champions Tour. That being said they win A LOT out on that tour.
One thing I love about Tour Edge is the fact they dont blow you away with marketing and crazy claims but the money they spend on high quality materials is unmatched. The value for the price is just incredible. Another awesome aspect of their complete lack of marketing is the absolute steals you can get on the preowned market.
When looking at Tour Edge products there is one thing to remember. They have their value branded clubs called Hot Launch and their better players line up is called Exotics. Remembering that lets jump straight into the newest Hot Launch…launch
2 Different Series in 1 Series…
Within the Hot Launch Series of clubs there are 2 different models. We get a C523 and an E523. The C stand for Competition Spec and is designed for a better higher handicap player. Then we have the E523 which is the Extreme Spec and is the club designed with the highest launch and spin and the clubs are designed to a draw weighting spec.
Lets start with the C spec. Of the two it is the one I think most people will lean towards. The driver is a 460cc head. Nothing overly surprising there. Some of the tech Tour Edge is introducing is also pretty interesting. The biggest piece is their new sole design. The sole design on the club is very SIM-esque. The sole has rails which taper towards the back and ends with a massive weight which moves the CG low and deep. The face tech on the driver is also interesting. For the last few years they have been playing with a diamond shaped face pattern. They strategically place thin and thick diamond shapes behind the face to produce faster and more consistent ball speeds across the face. Its an interesting concept. It appears to work for them considering they take this tech into their higher end clubs as well.
The irons in the C spec are pretty standard game improvement irons. Thicker top lines, strong lofts and a piece of TPU that goes along the back named VIBRCOR to help with the feel. Again all pretty standard issue stuff.
Now that we talked C Spec lets talk the E Spec. The E spec is where things get SUPER Game Improvement. The most striking feature is the Houdini Sole. It catches attention with its name but what it actually does is pretty interesting in its own way. Its called Houdini because the way Tour Edge has shaped the sole it makes a massive amount of weight almost disappear into the club. Its actually pretty good design. They put that weight low and back so that it provides the highest possible launch. On the driver you will also find this, to be frank, ugly ass ridge on the crown. Tour Edge claims it provides structure for the face and will help increase ball speeds and works as a “unique alignment aid”. I would venture to guess a bunch of folks will be getting the C driver for this reason.
Final Thoughts
These are well built clubs. Are they built with the highest end shafts and grips? Not really but they are new clubs and the driver is literally sub $300. They arent something to just ignore because they could be a giant POS. They are at least worth a look. You can do much worse than these for damn sure. If you are in the market for new clubs and want to save some coin it doesnt hurt to give these a look!