The new 522 Series from Tour Edge represents the sixth iteration of the company’s best-selling Hot Launch line, employing key technologies from the tour-preferred Exotics brand, including Diamond Face 2.0 and Vibrcor, while also upgrading current innovations like the Houdini Sole.
“This is a running upgrade over the 521 Series,” said David Glod, founder and chief club designer. “We’re bringing as much technology to this line from Exotics so we can extend performance benefits to every golfer type.”
Glod and his colleagues are offering two distinct ranges in the 522 Series, the E522 and the C522. Clubs from the E (for extreme) range boast low centers of gravity as well as shallow faces and offset designs with shorter shaft lengths so that it is easier for players to launch shots into the air. Then, there is the C (for competition) range, which features a higher moment of inertia in classically shaped clubs that sit square at address.
According to Glod, the E522 irons put an emphasis on ease of launch, playability and correcting off-center hits. He also has endowed these with the Houdini Sole, which is fashioned to make it easier to get balls out of tough lies by reducing turf interaction by some 35 percent. And hollow-body perimeter weighting is designed to produce in an iron the distance properties of a metalwood. By putting the CG low and back, Tour Edge engineers say they have made the faces forgiving and powerful, with the offset design and heel weight added to reduce the chances of a slice.
As for the C522s, they are promoted as “maximum distance and forgiveness irons in a traditional cavity back design.” Made of soft 431 stainless steel, they also feature Vibrcor, which is a high-grade TPU strategically placed in the deep undercut pocket to bolster speed and enhance feel.
In addition, a 360-degree Undercut Cavity is employed to increase forgiveness and performance as well as ball speed. A wide sole lowers the CG in order to improve turf interaction, while an advance of the toe weighting is intended to stabilize the club at impact and elongate the sweet spot.