Gear: Tour Edge Exotics E722, C722 drivers
Specs: Titanium frame with carbon fiber and sole elements, moveable weights and adjustable hosel. Lofts: 9.5, 10.5 and 12 degrees (E722); 9.5 and 10.5 degrees (C722)
Who it’s for: Golfers who want a high-tech driver without forking over ultra-premium cash
Price: $399.99 at GlobalGolf/PGA Tour Superstore/touredge.com for Exotics E722 with Fujikura AirSpeeder, Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw Orange, White or Blue shaft and Lamkin Crossline 360 grip. $429.99 for Exotics C722 at GlobalGolf/PGA Tour Superstore/touredge.com.
The Skinny: Thanks to the massive carbon fiber pieces on the top, sides and bottom of these drivers, these drivers look very similar. But the Exotics E722 is meant for players who want forgiveness and stability, while the Exotics C722 is designed to increase ball speed and reduce spin for more distance.
The deep dive: Last summer Tour Edge released the Exotics C721 and touted its extremely high moment of inertia. This makes a club resistant to twisting on off-center hits and more forgiving. The company also released the “straight from the tour” Exotics Pro 721, a low-spinning option for fast-swinging players.
For 2022, the Batavia, Illinois-based company has two new offerings that borrow some design elements from those clubs, along with the company’s Hot Launch E522 and C522 drivers.
The crown of the Tour Edge Exotics 722 drivers features a titanium beam surrounded by carbon fiber pieces that wrap around the head. (Tour Edge)
The new Exotics E722 and C722 both feature massive carbon fiber pieces that bracket a titanium spine on the top of the club. The carbon fiber extends around the sides of each head and wraps into the sole. Because carbon fiber weighs less than titanium yet is extremely strong, it saves a lot of weight that can then be repositioned to other areas of the head.
In the Exotics E722, much of that went into a 30-gram adjustable weight in the back of the sole. That mass pulls the center of gravity down and back, boosting the moment of inertia and encouraging a higher launch. For slow-speed and moderate-speed players, extra distance typically can be gained by increasing carry distance rather than depending on more roll in the fairway, so the higher-flying Exotics E722 could be a solid fit for many golfers.
The Exotics C722 has a dual-weight system and comes standard with a 5-gram weight and a 20-gram weight. With the heavier weight in the front, the C722 produces 300 rpm less spin than when it is in the rear, which results in a lower-flying drive and more ball speed. Shifting the 20-gram weight to the back increases the spin and moment of inertia with a higher ball flight, but the E722’s moment of inertia is still higher. Custom fitters have access to 10-gram, 12.5-gram and 15-gram weights to help golfers fine-tune spin rates and launch angles.
Both clubs also come standard with an adjustable hosel that allows players and fitters to increase or decrease the loft by as many as 2 degrees.
The Diamond Face 2.0 system helps protect ball speed on off-center hits. (Tour Edge)
For the past several seasons, Tour Edge has touted the benefits of Diamond Face, the company’s variable-thickness face technology. In the Exotics 722 drivers, there are 61 diamond-shaped areas on the inside facing portion of the hitting area, individually optimized to broaden the sweet spot and protect ball speed on mis-hits.
Finally, to improve sound, Tour Edge designed a pair of ribs inside both the Exotics E722 and C722. Drivers that are designed with a lot of carbon fiber often sound odd to golfers who are used to titanium constructions; the addition of the ribs breaks up the sound waves created at impact to produce a more familiar sound.
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