At the end of the 2023 golf season, it was time to replace my 20-year-old irons. I went to PXG for a fitting and ended up with a new set of 0317 T’s and I’m sharing my experience with them in this review.
This model was originally launched as the “0317 T”, but PXG also refers to them as the “0317 Filled Cavity”. “0317 T” and “0317 Filled Cavity” are the same club.
You can read about my PXG fitting experience here.
I’m certain you’ve heard it before – “a proper fitting is always the best approach” – and in my case, it was. I would have never considered the 0317 line had I not gone to a fitting. They’re “players irons” and being an 8 handicapper, I didn’t think I had any business playing anything other than a “game improvement” club.
What I found is – The PXG 0317 T’s offer a great balance between performance and forgiveness. And they feel amazing! They have somehow combined the performance of a blade with the forgiveness of a game-improvement iron.
First Impressions of the 0317 T Irons
Had a @pxg iron fitting today, clubs felt great!! Unfortunately we weren’t able to finish everything in the hour we had scheduled, going back Sunday to finish dialing everything in.
— Tyler (@BigTeesGolf) September 21, 2023
The new 0317T was incredible. Looks great, feels great, and performed! pic.twitter.com/Ar13Qy67d8
According to my PXG fitter, I was the first golfer to hit the 0317 T irons in the St. Louis area. He had just gotten the club head the night before my fitting.
When I first picked the club up, I could feel and see the quality. Before I even took a swing, just holding it as I set up and gripped the club – it just felt different than what I was used to. As I looked down at the ball with the 0317 T behind it, I thought, wow this club looks awesome!
As much as I’d like to say I pured every shot, it certainly looked like it, I didn’t. I was pretty consistent on my strike location, but definitely hit a couple a little low on the face, or a bit out on the toe. What impressed me the most was that even with those bad shots, it still produced a really good result.
I was hitting them accurately, and the distance control was exceptional. And again, they just felt great! Even hitting it low on the face, you can still feel that it was a low strike, but it’s not stinging your hands. As we progressed through the session, it became very clear these were the right irons for me. From the numbers on Trackman, and how they felt and looked to me, it was a clear winner!
PXG 0317 T Technology & Marketing Claims vs. Reality
PXGs Claims – The 0317 T’s have a hollow body with an ultra thin face. They have added a polymer fill, which they claim increases spin performance, consistency, and control. The internal tungsten toe weight brings the center of gravity to the center of the club face, and helps improve performance of off-center hits.
My Experience – Off-center hit performance is exceptional! I have experimented with purposely hitting out on the toe, on the heal, low on the face, high on the face…The results were absolutely incredible. The distance and accuracy loss was minimal on those bad hits.
When you hit the ball in the center of the face, the results are EXTREMELY CONSISTENT. Since having a simulator, I consistently do distance control work and have immediate feedback on exact numbers. Since having the PXG 0317 T irons, my dispersion has improved considerably.
Using my PXG 0317 T Irons
After about 4 months of use almost daily in the simulator, and about 20 rounds of golf as weather permitted through the winter, here are some of my results and findings.
Accuracy & Dispersion
I periodically do a 50 shot challenge at various distances. I try to see how consistent I can be during those 50 shots to the same distance. Here are two of those sessions comparing my old golf clubs to the new 0317 T irons.
BEFORE
AFTER
These were taken from my FSX Live account, and data captured with a Foresight Sports GC3.
Obviously I’m not a Tour Professional, but you can see the differences in dispersion. These two sessions were done only a couple of months apart, and the only thing that has actually changed in my golf game are my clubs.
Workability
When I first took them out on the course, I realized pretty quickly that I was going to have to recalibrate my club selection and get to know my yardages again. Everything I hit was going further. I don’t know if it is the lofts, hollow body, thin face, polymer fill or all of the above, but every shot just seems to go a bit further than I had been used to.
It didn’t take too long to recalibrate though and I tested their “workability” very early. I have been able to execute shots that I would have never attempted before.
For example, I was on a par 4 and hit my drive into some trees on the right side of the fairway. I was about 150 yards out and didn’t have a shot at the green. And we had OB on the left.
I would have normally punched out, and the angle I had would have left me with about 75 yards if I got it to the middle of the fairway. If I was going to get to the green, I needed to massively fade it. Basically slice it. And if I didn’t execute it, the ball was going OB.
Since I had my new clubs, I thought, screw it, I’m going for it. I couldn’t have hit it better. The ball started on a line that was certainly headed OB, and next thing you know the thing curves right down the fairway and ended up just off the edge of the green.
On another hole, I was about 100 yards out and had some tree limbs in my line to the pin. I could only get to the right edge of the green and the pin was all the way to the left side. I aimed for the right edge and tried to draw it as much as I could and I ended up right at the pin. It was a pretty wide green too, so that draw covered some ground for sure.
Anyway, I’ve been extremely happy with the workability of the 0317 T’s. I am executing shots that I wouldn’t have even attempted with my old clubs.
Downsides and Things to Consider
So far I am thrilled with the new 0317 T irons, but there is always a downside. I had to think about this section a bit, it was going to be difficult to come up with anything solid here, and I’ll keep this section updated as I continue using them.
Wear and Tear
Maybe it’s just me being fussy because my beautiful new PXG irons are showing some wear…I want them to keep looking brand new. But I do feel like they are showing just a bit more dings and scratches than I would expect after this much use.
Almost everything I see to date could easily buff out, so it’s nothing major. It’s mostly scratches on the sole of the club, which I would definitely expect over time. Again, I might just be a bit fussy since they are brand new, but I’ll update more on this as I continue to use them.
4 Month Update – I am not seeing any issues with durability. I think the initial observations I had were simply due to the fact that the clubs were brand new and I was pretty sensitive to keeping them perfect. They are holding up nicely for me and I will update again in the future.
Club Configuration
Something to consider in the fitting process – You may not want a full set! I ended up with 4 – G and went with an 0311 3-Hybrid. I generate plenty of swing speed to get the 4-Iron in the air (my 7-iron swing speed is 90mph). But what I am finding is – I’m not sure I’ll ever use the 4-Iron. I am loving the hybrid and in hindsight I would have gone with 2 hybrids and skipped the 4-Iron.
Obviously every golfer is going to be different here, but it is something to consider.
Another consideration is the swing weight. With the “precision weighting” in the 0317 irons, you can make the irons much lighter or heavier. If you purchase the irons without a fitting, I do not believe there is a way to choose, they will simply default to the 8 gram weight. During the fitting process for me, we found the 10 gram weight felt better and produced better results. It was a subtle difference, but just another good reason to do a fitting.
Cool Facts About the 0317 Irons
The founder of PXG, Bob Parsons, is a Vietnam Veteran and served in the Marine Corps. PXG irons are named using Marine Corps nomenclatures for job classes. 0317 is a Scout Sniper, which is very fitting for this lineup. Precision & Accuracy! You can read more about their meanings here.
Launched on 9/19/2023, the 0317 T, “T” for the tungsten weight in the toe, was only referred to as the “0317 T”. At some point between Nov and Dec 2023, they started referring to them as “0317 Filled Cavity” on their website.
I reached out to PXG about the name change and got some clarification. PXG wanted to “better differentiate this model from the standard t models in the 0311 line” and it helps to “keep in line with the rest of the 0317 line in how clubs are being created”.
Final Thoughts
From my wonderful fitting experience to how amazing the 0317 T irons feel, I am truly impressed with PXG all the way around. The 0317 irons look great behind the ball, they look great in the bag, they perform really well, and I am confident I’ll be playing them for many years.
They have increased my accuracy and have given me the ability to hit draws and fades at times I would have never attempted previously. It is a huge boost of confidence and I am excited to start the next golf season with them.
There is no question the PXG 0317 line is targeted for “elite” players, but I believe PXG has sort of bridged a gap with the 0317 T irons. They are extremely forgiving and I think a lot of mid-handicappers who can hit the ball consistently could absolutely play these clubs. I am an 8 handicap and these clubs are performing extremely well for me.
If you love PXG, check out my PXG golf balls review.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out in the comments or shoot me an email.
Good luck on the course!