Tour Edge Exotics CBX Iron-Wood

Not an iron.  Not a wood.  An iron-wood.  The new Tour Edge Exotics CBX Iron-Wood blends the best of both worlds into their new utility club.  Designed to give you the workability and feel of an iron with the performance of a hybrid, the Tour Edge Exotics CBX Iron-Wood is great for players who don’t get along with a hybrid, but need some help with their longer irons.

The Looks

The Tour Edge Exotics CBX Iron-Wood essentially looks like a large-soled player’s iron at first glance.  (If that even makes sense?)  The size of the sole, due to the hollow body design, would lead you to think “game-improvement” club, while the sleek, cavity-less back gives off that muscly look.

In terms of topline, the CBX Iron-Wood does a great job of hiding the large sole, and is still able to give off that “player’s club” topline.  In terms of finish, the CBX Iron-Wood comes in a standard chrome steel finish or the sleek Black Pearl finish pictured in this review.

How Does it Feel?

I’ve hit a lot of driving irons in my day and I’ll be the first to say that they’re not the best feeling clubs when you miss one.  That, coupled with how difficult they can be to hit, is why a lot of people might tend to shy away.  I’ll admit I skeptical heading into this review but I was pleasantly surprised with how great the Tour Edge CBX Iron-Wood feels.

Strikes on the center of the face feel really soft on the hands.  Since the body of the iron is hollow, it’s going to have a similar feel to a well-struck shot with a hybrid.  Mishits, however, are where a club like this typically falls short.  The CBX Iron-Wood, however, does not.  I’m not saying you won’t realize you missed off of the toe in the hands at all, ’cause you definitely will.  However, it’s going to feel a heck of a lot better than missing a forged 3-iron off of the toe.  It’s not quite as forgiving on the hands as a miss with a hybrid, but I’d say it’s in between the two.

How Does it Sound?

Similar to the rest of this review, the sound of the Tour Edge Exotics CBX Iron-Wood is in between a hybrid and an iron.  I’d say it has a deeper tone closer to a hybrid due to the hollow body, and less like a forged carbon steel iron.  Think a deeper “ting” mixed with a slight “crack.”  If you can’t tell, it’s sort of hard to describe the sound of it, because I honestly feel it’s a very unique club in the market today, and has a much different sound than any driving iron I have hit.

On-Course Performance

Ok, ok, let’s get on to the good stuff.  The meat and potatoes.  How does this club perform?  Well, let me tell you, the Tour Edge Exotics CBX Iron-Wood is an absolute BEAST.  It’s long.  It’s straight.  It finds fairways.  It’s the best.  Let me elaborate here a bit.

For starters, let’s talk distance.  The Forged L-cup face is the new distance technology for the Exotics CBX Iron-Wood, and essentially, it provides a larger sweet spot that also flexes on impact.  This “flex” is a spring-like effect that explodes the ball off of the face.  I’ve said it before, I’m not one for gimmicks, but I saw big distance gains from the CBX Iron-Wood.  So much so that my 3-iron Iron-Wood is longer than my 2-hybrid off of the tee.  Off of the tee, fairway, or rough, the Exotics CBX Iron-Wood sends out low, penetrating missiles.  This is by design, however, as the stock shaft is the low launching, low spinning HZRDUS Black shaft.  If you need a higher ball flight, you might want to try a different shaft in this club.

Now that we have distance out of the way, let’s jump to accuracy and forgiveness.  The low, penetrating flight puts minimal spin on the ball, minimizing my misses so I can find more fairways.  It’s also definitely more forgiving than a typical driving iron-type club.  Even when I miss the center of the face, I still get plenty of distance.  Again, I attribute this to the L-cup face, as the flexing of the face seems to still spring the ball even if it’s not hit in the sweet spot.  Even with that forgiveness, however, you still can work the ball both ways without issues.

Lastly, the rounded sole with sharp leading edge allows you to play the Exotics CBX Iron-Wood from anywhere.  While I prefer it off of the tee, you won’t have any problems hitting it from the fairway or the rough.  This makes it an excellent replacement for either a hybrid or long iron in your bag.

Final Thoughts – Tour Edge Exotics CBX Iron-Wood

I don’t think I need to sugar coat this, not that my glaring review won’t already tell you it.  I love the Tour Edge Exotics CBX Iron-Wood.  So much so that I put one in my bag immediately.  It’s a fairway finder that has solid forgiveness for a driving iron, and it’s LONG.  The perfect combo.  So if you’re like me, and never really get along with hybrids but need some added distance and forgiveness compared to a long iron, you’re going to want to check out the Exotics CBX Iron-Wood.

Stock Tour Edge Exotics CBX Iron-Wood Specs (Driving Iron)

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