PXG Black Ops Hybrid Review

PXG Black Ops Hybrid Key Features:

• High-strength stainless steel face: 10.5% thinner and more flexible than the 0311 Gen 6
• Carbon fibre crown: saves mass, allowing it to be redistributed low and to the club's perimeter for optimal CG positioning
• Precision weighting technology: allows spin and bias settings to be adjusted
• Squared face design: shifts perimeter skirt more vertical to boost forgiveness and deliver faster ball speeds

Kaboom baby, the PXG Black Ops Hybrid has landed, and it's packed full of game-improvement technology designed to help you hit the ball longer, straighter and more consistently.

So, what's under the hood this year, we hear you ask? Well, a bevvy of new features have been integrated into this hybrid, including a new thinner stainless steel face, a weight-saving carbon crown, and precision weighting technology that fans of the brand will be very familiar with. 

All wrapped up in a new high-gloss finish, this hybrid certainly looks the part, but can its performance match up? 

To find out, we took it out to sunny Spain for some green grass testing at the beautiful La Hacienda Links Course before putting it through its paces on a GC Quad launch monitor at Custom Golf Works in Woking.

Strap yourselves in because the results we discovered may shock you.

Let's get into it. 

Player Level

PXG Black Ops Hybrid: Looks and Feel

Upon first holding the Black Ops, three distinct characteristics immediately caught our attention: it stands out as one of the tallest hybrids on the market, featuring a significant height from sole to crown; it boasts one of the squarest profiles; and it maintains a notably shallow profile from front to back. These design elements align with PXG's innovative squared face design, a deliberate choice aimed at increasing the face's surface area to enhance forgiveness.

The amalgamation of these three profile choices results in a head that exudes a compact, almost club-like appearance. In contrast to the prevalent half-moon shape found in other hybrids of 2024, the Black Ops distinctly leans towards a more rectangular silhouette. 

Turning attention to the crown, PXG has adhered to a high gloss finish seen across the family of clubs. The crown prominently features a carbon fibre underlay, with silver and grey detailing near the perimeter. Although, for a cleaner finish, we would have done away with these details— they don't detract too significantly from the overall aesthetic.

Flipping the head reveals one of the cleanest soles in the market, comparable to the Cobra Darkspeed as a favourite for 2024. Two black panels are separated by a stream of silver, complemented by chromed-out PXG branding, presenting a sleek and attractive design.

Thanks to the stainless steel face on the Black Ops hybrid, the feel at contact is distinctly metallic, which aligns with the audible impact, characterised by a pronounced and healthy crack. 

Across the face, the Black Ops exhibited a high level of responsiveness, effectively communicating feedback on the quality of each strike. The head's ability to convey when a less-than-optimal shot is made adds to its overall appeal. However, when striking the ball dead centre, despite the metallic sensation, the Black Ops maintains a consistently satisfying hitting experience.

PXG Black Ops Hybrid Performance and Forgiveness

It's quite fitting that PXG products all have military-themed names because this hybrid is a weapon of ball destruction. 

As you can see from the data above, this hybrid is potent. So potent, in fact, that it has taken the top spot as the longest flagship hybrid of 2024. 

This distance increase has been one of the most striking discoveries from our testing in 2024, and the engineers at PXG deserve a big pat on the back for their efforts, as this is one of the most impressive performing clubs of the year. 

Combining low spin, a high flight and excellent speed retention across the face has resulted in a club that is half hybrid, half rocket launcher. 

When distance reigns supreme, typically, there is a bit of falloff in terms of forgiveness, but alas, PXG has done the unthinkable and created a monster that will not only send your ball long but straight, too.

Did we hit some shots that missed the green or the fairway, absolutely. Did the majority of our shots find the target? Also, yes. No hybrid is going to prevent you from ever hitting a bad shot, but what the Black Ops does very well is work as hard as it can in order to keep your clubface square and stable through impact. 

The result of this hard work is, you guessed it, very friendly offline dispersion. 

In case you haven't already picked it up from this review, this hybrid is one of our favourites from 2024. Devastatingly long and reassuringly forgiving, it's one hell of a club and well worth getting fit for if you get the chance. 

Should you buy the PXG Black Ops Hybrid?

If distance is what you need, then PXG has you covered. This hybrid is a powerhouse that can add instant yards to your long game. 

Combined with good looks, a solid feel and more forgiveness than a priest on Sunday, Black Ops is the real deal, and we would highly recommend heading down to PXG's new flagship store in South London to give it a hit for yourself. 

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