Collaboration fosters sustainability, circularity at Butterfield Bermuda Championship

PXG (Parsons Xtreme Golf), founded by billionaire-entrepreneur Bob Parsons, made an immediate mark in the golf industry by offering golf clubs that sold for relatively enormous prices in the domestic golf market. The barrier to entry for becoming a PXG customer, however, is shifting. Parsons has described the company’s products as the “Ferrariâ€� of golf clubs, and its prices have reflected that. PXG’s original 0311 irons sold for $300 per iron, and its 0811 drivers sold for $850. The company’s newest Gen2 0311 irons, released in March 2018, upped the ante even more, selling for $400 apiece. The new Gen2 drivers, however, which released in January 2019, came with a reduced price of $575 each because Parsons said the company was able to reduce manufacturing costs through scaling. Now, PXG is bringing a drastically lower-priced set of irons to retail with its 0211 irons that are priced at $195 per club with steel shafts, and $210 with graphite shafts. PXG recently tested the theory of making more affordable irons available to the public, and it passed. “After we introduced our Gen2 irons and pretty much sold through our Gen1s, we did a test,â€� Parsons told PGATOUR.COM. “What we did was we ordered a new run of our Gen1 irons and didn’t have the R&D that we needed to recover, so we were able to sell those at a lesser price. What we learned was there’s a big demand for that, especially from our brand, and sales of that were very well received.â€� The price difference between the Gen2 0311 irons (at $400 per iron) and the 0211 irons (at $195 per iron) comes from the different constructions, and the cost of making the clubs. PXG’s recently released Gen 0311 irons are triple-forged from 8620 carbon and feature the company’s trademark weight ports around the perimeter. The 0211 irons, on the other hand, are investment cast from 431 stainless steel, and they do not feature PXG’s traditional screw weights. The investment casting process is less expensive than the forging process. The new 0211 irons do, however, feature the company’s new COR2 material – a “proprietary high-speed polymerâ€� – in the space between the HT 1770M faces and the 431 stainless steel bodies. This design allows the faces to be constructed thinner for more ball speed without sacrificing feel, sound and durability. “What we did was we took our Gen2 technology, which we already have the R&D paid for with the Gen2 irons, and we put that in [the 0211 irons] as much as we could,â€� Parsons said. “We used a less expensive manufacturing process, but still, the way we do it, these irons cost us more to make than other companies pay for their forged irons.â€� Parsons also says that because they have the same COR2 technology that was introduced in the Gen2 irons, the new 0211 irons perform better than the forged Gen1 irons that did not have this material. “Our 0211s, when it comes to our Gen1 irons, they outperform them considerably,â€� Parsons said. “They’re longer, they have faster ball speeds, launch higher, got a higher peak height, steeper landing angle and they’re more accurate. So we made these as good as we could.â€� While PXG’s flagship Gen2 0311 family of irons consists of four different head models (0311T, 0311P, 0311 XF and 0311 SGI), the 0211 line has just one head model. The 0211 irons (4-PW, SW, GW, LW) have a progressive makeup where the short irons have less offset and smaller profiles and the long irons have more offset and larger profiles. Also, the Gen2 0311 irons have a slew of shafts available at no upcharge, but the 0211 shaft options are more limited; they come stock with True Tempers Elevate steel shafts, and Mitsubishi’s MMT steel or graphite shafts, with other shafts coming with an additional upcharge. For those who may question the relatively cheaper price tag of the 0211 compared to its previous iron releases, Parsons had this to say: “While these irons are significantly less compared to our 0311s — our forged irons, our flagship products — when you compare them to other investment cast products [they’re] pretty expensive,â€� Parsons said. “$195 for a casted product, that’s pricey. That’s still in that upper price range. But for the performance that you get, the value is totally there.â€� PXG’s new 0211 irons, which come with a chrome finish, will be available everywhere that PXG’s current 0311 Gen2 irons are sold, including its website.

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NAPA, Calif. - Lisa Cink grabbed her husband Stewart by the shirt front Sunday morning and pulled him in close with some vigor. "Do you know how good you are?" she asked firmly while staring him down. It was a slightly aggressive move but it was done with nothing but love. This was a wife who knows a thing or two about fighting tough battles trying to inject some confidence into her man. And it was a kick in the butt moment Stewart needed as he contemplated heading out to try to break a win drought spanning over 11 years. RELATED: Final leaderboard | 18 things to know about Stewart Cink It also wasn't the only thing Lisa imparted on her husband before he would ultimately go out to Silverado Resort and Spa to shoot his second consecutive 7-under 65 to win by two shots. Her words came after Cink had confided in her, saying "I'm really excited for today and I’m really scared." "She had some great words. She said, “You know what? You’re loved no matter what you do. No one expects anything out of you. I know you can do it and you know you can do it ... you're with your son ... so just go out there and have a great time." It helped Cink feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude to even be in a position to win again after what had stretched to a 4,074 day drought. Indeed, son Reagan was acting as his caddie this week. It was also his other son Connor's birthday. Reagan had recently become engaged. Things were good in life. Prior to his two-shot triumph over Harry Higgs, the last win for Cink was his 2009 Open Championship victory at Turnberry where he famously overran 59-year-old Tom Watson in a playoff. Watson had been a final hole par short of a famous victory but when he faulted, Cink stepped in to seal the win. It was his sixth TOUR win and looked like it could be the start of something big. But his life would get topsy turvy from there. Over the 11 seasons from 2010-2020 Cink had just 15 top-10s, none of which were victories. But it was in 2016 where things got really rough as Lisa was diagnosed with breast cancer. Thankfully she made it to remission. Just a few years ago Stewart had his own cancer scare, needing to have cancerous cells cut out of his face. More reasons to feel gratitude as he closed the front nine with a fourth birdie to join the lead. A chip in birdie on the par-3 11th had him top spot to himself, but it was a moment with Lisa off the 14th green, after he'd just missed a 16-foot birdie chance to press his advantage, that was just as critical. Instead of being annoyed, he was content. "I definitely had a lot of emotions out there today. I just was overcome at a few times with a feeling of gratitude and just feeling like how fortunate I am to be in the position that I’m in," Cink confirmed. "We call it when the bullets are flying out there. The last four or five holes of a PGA TOUR event your name’s on top of the leaderboard, but think about it, I’ve got my son caddieing for me, my wife is in almost five‑year remission now and she’s walking out there just on the side of the ropes, and at 47 I’m able to compete at the highest level and now not just compete, but win," Cink beamed. "I walked over to the side of the ropes after 14 and I grabbed Lisa by the arm and I just told her how grateful I was at that moment. I always try really hard to keep my heart in the right place when I’m competing, that’s just one of my main goals. I want to win, but I don’t want winning to be something that I have to do to like fulfill myself." Cink admitted he had come to terms with the possibility he might never win again during his long drought. The calmness at that moment was in fact a huge factor. As he heard a roar behind him that came as Higgs made a long-range birdie on the 14th, Cink responded with a 20-foot birdie of his own on the 15th. He then birdied the 16th. "I came to terms with the possibility that it might not happen, I did, but it’s not something I was settled or content with. I still compete to try to win and I work hard on my game and I just try to squeeze every little bit of juice I can out of my golf game, out of that lemon," Cink said. "In that regard, I’m no different than a 20‑ or 25‑year‑old kid out here who’s still got like his entire career ahead of him. I’m still working like crazy to try to be the best golfer I can be, but there was probably a time where I felt like maybe age might have caught up with me and maybe I might have had my last win out here, but I wasn’t ready to concede that. I just knew that if I got back into position again, that if the time’s right, I can hang in there." It wasn't without some nervous moments. Higgs turned a good bounce off some trees and a cart path into an eagle on the 16th to pull within two. And he made sure to walk all the way up to the green at 17 as Cink left his six-foot par putt short to cut his lead to just one. Cink dodged one when Higgs missed an eight-foot birdie soon after and another by hitting the fairway off the 18th tee and hitting his 7-wood through to the back of the par-5 finisher with style to allow a relatively simple up and down to make another birdie. "If you go out there thinking you’re not going to lose it, then you’re wrong and you’re going to be shocked. So I was prepared to lose it. I mean, for crying out loud, I left a five‑foot putt short on the 17th hole that I needed to make," Cink explained. "That’s not like what a champion does, but a champion does get back up off the mat when he gets knocked down and I got knocked down a little bit there and I went and played the 18th hole the best I’ve played it in my whole life." While Lisa had the golden words prior to the round, son Reagan had the gilded tongue during the round. The 23-year-old is not a regular caddie, in fact this was just his fourth time carrying the bag. As they came off the second green Reagan said, "Dad your tangibles are really, really good right now. Your club, your ball, your tangibles, like your ball’s doing what it’s supposed to do, you’re putting, your ball’s starting online. Let’s just take care of the intangibles today." Cink was impressed. And he relaxed. "That is like great advice like for someone who’s caddied three or times in the PGA TOUR and hasn’t played in a golf tournament I don’t think since high school golf," Cink said. "But he made a good point; my driver was doing what it’s supposed to do, my fairway woods, my irons, my wedges, my putter, everything was really doing what it was supposed to do and it was up to me to take care of the rest. "He did a great job keeping me positive and keeping me loose out there. We just had a really great time from the get-go all week. He’s not just a ceremonial caddie. He understands golf to the very, very highest level. It was really a great experience." The win will see the 47-year-old now fully exempt through this season and two more after it meaning he will get through to his 50th birthday when he becomes PGA TOUR Champions eligible. He will also find a place in the 2021 PLAYERS Championship and Masters tournaments and the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Maui. As such he will have to cancel a family ski trip in favor of one in the sun. Lisa wasn't complaining. "This is the culmination of so many things. It’s so special to have Reagan and Stewart do this together. I’ve watched him work so hard for so many years without the results, so for those to show up now is just an amazing blessing," she said. When her husband and son came off the 18th green and the win was officially secured after Higgs was unable to hole out a wedge shot for eagle Lisa grabbed Stewart's shirt again. She also grabbed Reagan's. This time she pulled them in for a well deserved massive hug.

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