TOUR EDGE Sharper Than Ever

Chicago-area company coming off record-setting 2012

It’s the week before the holidays, but Jay Hubbard is still holed up in the office, not on a well-deserved tropical trip or golf getaway.The longtime Vice President of Marketing/Public Relations for Batavia-based Tour Edge is busy building on a sensational, record-setting 2012.

Clearly, there’s no rest for one of golf ’s very best.

The impressive XCG6 3-wood improves on the fastest club ever built.

The impressive XCG6 3-wood improves on the fastest club ever built.

“Certainly, (2012) was really good,” Hubbard said. “We continued to grow U.S. sales. And we had some success on Tour. It’s pretty well known that (Brandt) Snedeker was using the CB 4 fairway wood throughout the season, including when he won the FedEx Cup Championship. That was a great thing for us.”

The accolades didn’t stop there, though.

“We had a couple other good things happen — Maurice Allen, a long drive competitor, broke the world record for ball speed, 211 miles per hour, using the Exotic XCG5 fairway wood — not even a driver!” Hubbard said.“He was able to just crank it through that record. It’s a great accomplishment, and we’ve got the Guinness certificate hanging proudly in our office.”

That a Tour Edge fairway wood set a world record should come as no sur- prise to anyone who’s ever played one. Long known as the quiet giant in the clubmaking industry, Tour Edge makes the kind of clubs that pros will play for free (which may be more impres- sive than a world record). In return, the company doesn’t kiss-and-tell, and keeps the names of Tour players using the clubs out of the headlines, so they don’t conflict with their paid endorsements.

“Week in and week out on Tour we have probably five or 10 fairway woods in play, even though we’re not paying them,” Hubbard explained. “That’s a real tribute to our Tour rep, Andy Harris. But when you’ve got a great product, that helps a lot, too.”

The secret, Hubbard says, isn’t exactly rocket science.

“The concept is pretty simple,” he said. “You bring technology to market that’s ahead of its time, and it’s not replicated because it’s difficult to reproduce. We use titanium faces, not steel, which costs more. Our clubs use a combo-brazing process, and aren’t welded. This vacuum brazing process is pretty much unparalleled in the business. Gives you better feel, and better rebound.

“It gives you benefit of the spring you get from the driver, but you’re getting it in the fairway wood.”

However Tour Edge isn’t fine with just fairway wood success. The company’s breaking out the big dogs in 2013, with a new driver designed to compete with the best in the business.

“For us, we’re really excited about 2013,” Hubbard said. “We’ve got our first adjustable driver in the Exotics line, the XCG6. It can adjust four settings in the hosel, set for closed, upright, neutral and open. Basically it helps you to dial in your ball-flight.

“On the fairway front, we have the XCG6, and a new CB5 Tour.”

The new fairway woods are hotter than ever, too. With a titanium face, tungsten sole and steel body, the new XCG6 has already proven its mettle against the com- petition, Hubbard says.

“We received some test results back — we tested it against all the top clubs, and the carry distance was at minimum 18 yards longer, and maximum 36 longer,” he said. “That’s the reason we use titanium, you hit the ball further. The reason more companies don’t use it is it’s expensive.

“But that’s been our strength. We’re kind of the Ferrari of fairway woods. They’re not cheap, but they perform, and that’s why we’re successful.”

The XCG6 driver retails at $349, while the XCG6 fairway woods start at $299. For more information, visit www.touredge.com.