Doing Things Differently – The PXG Story

Doing Things Differently – The PXG Story

What sort of golf clubs would you make if money were no object and you could start your own brand? This very question had been on Bob Parsons’ mind for years when the serial entrepreneur decided to start his own equipment company, Parsons Xtreme Golf (PXG) in 2013. As a golf enthusiast, he had spent tens of thousands of dollars on equipment but was frustrated that golf clubs never really seemed to get significantly better. Nothing offered him the ultimate combination of superb, superior playability with the purity of looks and feel traditionally only associated with better players’ clubs. 

Armed with this desire to build the ultimate set of clubs, he set about searching for the knowledge and expertise of some of the golf industry’s most reputed equipment engineers to help him. Most notably, he convinced his good friend Mike Nicolette, former senior product designer at Ping, to come on board. Parsons set no budget or time constraints. The goal was simply to make the best golf equipment possible, from drivers and irons, to wedges and putters.

In a short space of time, PXG has achieved what many said was impossible – a credible foothold in an already crowded golf market. Parsons believes that the product does the talking, but there’s certainly an awful lot to be said for the impactful marketing behind the brand. With clever slogans like “Nobody makes clubs better than us” and a strong, loyal military following (thanks to the charitable work the brand does for servicemen and women, a nod to Parsons’ own military days serving with the 26th Marine Corps Regiment during the Vietnam War), it’s easy to see why PXG has achieved such success in a short space of time.

It has more recently expanded into other categories outside of hardware, like golf balls and apparel, where the brand has forged a striking collaboration with singer-songwriter Nick Jonas. I sat down with Parsons at Scottsdale National, home of PXG, to talk about the strategy of the company, the wins and losses, the latest range of products and what the future looks like…

Golf Monthly: What was the concept behind the new PXG Gen6 range?
Bob Parsons: First, our philosophy is always to make whatever our existing clubs are significantly better. With our Gen5 clubs that was a pretty tall…