Equipment
Tour Edge Exotics E8 and E8 Beta Fairway Woods
Our 2014 Gear Trials: Best Fairway Woods list included all the names you’d expect: Adams, Callaway, Cobra, Ping, TaylorMade and Titleist.
On our 2014 list with those industry behemoths was also a much smaller company, however. It was Illinois-based Tour Edge Exotics, which earned a spot in our Distance-First category thanks to big distance we saw golfers create with its XCG7 and XCG7 Beta fairway woods.
Exotics’ new E8 and E8 Beta are the direct replacements for the XCG7 and XCG7 Beta. The E8 has been improved with a lighter, stronger 475 carpenter steel cup face, while the E8 Beta has a forged titanium cup face. Both club faces are combo brazed to hyper-steel bodies to improve ball speed. They also have a slightly more forward center of gravity (CG).
Coupled with the right launch conditions, these faster, lower lower-spinning fairway woods have the potential to unlock even more distance gains for golfers.
Like the XCG7, the E8 has a low-profile head design that helps golfers hit fairway woods shots from the turf. The E8 Beta is tailored to golfers with higher clubhead speeds, with a deeper face that creates a lower launch and less spin. That also makes it a good choice for golfers who primarily use their fairway woods from the tee.
To improve forgiveness, the E8 and E8 Beta also have an updated “Power Grid,” which is an accordion-like structure located on the front of its sole. It now stretches farther from heel-to-toe on the fairway woods, improving spring-like effect in those areas to increase ball speeds on off-center hits. On the E8 Beta, the Power Grid is made thinner to allow more weight to be placed closer to the face, which makes the fairway wood even lower spinning.
Moving the CG forward generally lowers a club’s forgiveness, or moment of inertia (MOI), but Exotics countered with cut-away steps on the heel and toe of the clubs that improve MOI.
To please the pickiest of golfers, the E8 and E8 Beta have a removable sole weight that allows golfers to adjust the fairway woods’ swing weight. They come stock with a 9-gram weight, but golfers can order a three-piece weight kit that includes 6-gram, 11-gram and 14-gram weights for $49.99. Individual weight kits are available for $19.99.
The E8 ($249) and E8 Beta ($299) are expected in stores in early October.
E8 Lofts: 13, 15, 16.5, 18 and 21 degrees
Stock Shafts: Fujikura Pro, Fujikura Pro Tour, Mitsubishi Bassara E-Series
E8 Beta Lofts: 12, 13, 15, 16.5 and 18 degrees
Stock Shafts: Aldila Rogue Silver, Aldila Rogue Black
Equipment
Slab city on the Korn Ferry Tour — Lead Tape Report
This week, we have our Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, on the ground at the OccuNet Classic at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas, for the 14th event of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season. With that, we see some great things in the Lead Tape Report as we roll into Amarillo.
Joel Thelen
Monday Qualifier, Joel Thelen is in the field this week. He has played on the Korn Ferry Tour for a full season in 2023, and he is back in action this week. A couple of clubs caught my eye this week in his bag.
First off: His trusted Titleist 816 H2 hybrid. This club came out in October of 2015, and it still remains strong in the bag. Also, take a look at this Odyssey White Hot OG 7, putting a capital S in the 7S model. This custom neck has some impressive lean for an arm-lock-style putter. The bottom of the putter is covered in tape for optimal weighting.





Mitchell Meissner
Taking a look at Mitchell Meissner’s bag this week, we have some great lead tape coverage. Top to bottom working from fairway metals, irons, and wedges. We can see on the short irons and wedges that there is tape at the base of the grip, adding a little counterbalance. Along with that, some tape on the short irons and wedges as well. Moving to his putter, he rolls the Odyssey 7 Bird putter. Meissner putts left-handed and strikes the ball right-handed.






Whats in the Bag
Bud Cauley WITB 2026 (June)
Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament.
Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: Titleist GTS3 (15 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 70 TX

7-wood: Titleist GTS3 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 80 TX

Irons: Titleist U505 (3), Titleist 620 MB (4-9)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 8 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putters: Scotty Cameron Tour Prototype, Scotty Cameron GOLO 6.3 Prototype


Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Equipment
Name every set of irons you’ve owned – GolfWRXers discuss
In our forums, one user has offered up a prompt for the true sickos, inviting fellow forum members to share every set of irons they’ve ever owned. As to be expected, this is a lengthy forum topic.
@Lamosteve began:
Can you name every set of irons you’ve owned? Here’s mine
Spalding Dots
Spalding Eclipse
Ram Lazer FX
Lynx Parallax
Mizuno EZ Comp
Ben Hogans
Cleveland CG Red
Taylor Made R9s
PING i20
PING iE1
Taylor Made M6
Our members in the forum have been offering up their own collections. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- macedan: “Started with a hand-me-down Golden Bear set from my brother when I was in high school, never really played more than once a year or got into the game until about summer of 2017. First purchased a set of Cleveland CG4’s (I actually really miss this set sometimes, soft & not terribly large for a GI iron), moved into Nike Vapor Fly’s by the end of the year. Those lasted until spring of 18 when I decided I wanted new, so I traded them in for TM Rbladez. Honestly, although I liked the Rbladez, poor decision on my part, I think this was really about the only time so far that after a week or two I was kicking myself for not staying with what I had. Rbladez stayed with me until late last summer when I switched to P790’s and (knock on wood) I am hoping this will be my longest lasting set.”
- JimmyC59: “MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Triple Crown. Palmer The Standard. Still play these.”
- jgrzask: “Tommy Armour 845u
Mizuno MP-32
Mizuno MP-33 (2 sets)
Bridgestone J33cb – still own
Srixon i-302 (2 sets) – still own
Tourstage X-Blades – still own
Mizuno Hot Metal – still own
Nike Forged Blades – still own
Titleist 714 AP1 – still own
Cobra Forged SS – still own”
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Craig
Sep 10, 2014 at 1:40 pm
It really cracks me up when I hear or read about people not liking the graphics on the sole of the club. Who gives a fat rat’s ass what is printed on the sole? Besides taking off and putting on the head cover, when else are you going to see it? Now to that end, why do we need to see three photos from different angles of the sole? One pic from the address position would be nice so it would give me a better perspective of how the club will look while trying to play it. I guess if I ever have to hit my 3 wood left handed I would have a different opinion. Just sayin’…
Danny
Sep 10, 2014 at 10:53 am
I got a Beta 7 this year and swear by it. I’ve never could hit a 3 wood off the deck with consistency. Tried the 910F, 913f, RBZ Tour, SLDR, and X 2Hot – I was thinking about scrapping the fairway wood all together because it was costing me strokes when I pulled it from the bag.
I tried the TEE Beta at PGA Superstore one day and couldn’t believe how good it felt, and how easy it was to lift. I thought the simulator was off. I went home that day and couldn’t stop lusting after it so I bought it, 4 wood to be exact because the 3 wood went as far as my driver.
I’ve had it now for 2 months and can tell you it’s the real deal. It’s so easy to hit off the deck that I often hit it off the deck off tee boxes. They make GREAT clubs
Dane
Nov 11, 2014 at 12:58 am
Which store did you buy from? I work at the palm desert pga tour superstore and just got my E8 beta today and can’t wait to hit it. These guys might not be a Goliath but they play the David role so well. I CRUSH these fairways!
Don
Sep 10, 2014 at 10:20 am
I have never tried a tour exotics product. Based on what I hear about their performance, maybe I should. I just can’t, however, just can’t get over how toyish their sticks look. These woods look like playstation controllers.
Dale Doback
Sep 10, 2014 at 12:01 pm
I currently game the XGC6 driver 3wood and a 3hybrid. I tested everything and from my rocketballz 3wood with the TEE I picked up 10 mph of ballspeed. The ballspeed margin has shrunk to about 4mph with the x2hot and 6mph with the SLDR. The feel on the drivers and fairways are really good. The XGC6 fairway looks similar to a titleist FD but is hotter and much more forgiving although the new 915s are supposed to longer than the 913s. Even though the tour edge fairways produced the highest ballspeeds consistently and it holds true for the xgc7 betas as well, they are tied for the longest distance so you have to be smart in what you are looking for a fairway to do. The Callaway X2hots are actually just as long maybe even a little longer and with lower ball speed because they spin a lot less. My xgc6 spins around 3200 rpm but the X2hot was around 2500. I went with the TEE because I still use it off the fairway and with super low spin with the X2hot or SLDR at 2200 rpm I couldn’t hold a green. If I were looking for a fairway wood to use primarily off the tee It would be hard to pass up the x2hot. Also TEE shafts are very light and while good aftermarkets for sub100mph swing speeds they did not work for me at all. I picked up the xgc6 because it performed better than anything else on the market and at $150 on sale I put my money in finding the right shaft combo for the club. I can’t say enough good things about one of the new woods TEE is making and if you aren’t at least comparing them when making a possible purchase you are doing yourself a disservice.
Gonzo God
Sep 10, 2014 at 12:27 am
Let the watered down Rogues flood the market!
ams165
Sep 10, 2014 at 1:58 pm
Just like the Speeders they put in the CB Pro…..
Real watered down….
Chuck
Sep 11, 2014 at 12:08 am
That one was a real deal only because they charged 499 for it