When PXG were developing their ground breaking 0311 iron they used screws in the back of the head to vary the weight. These evolved to become part of the final design and are the ideal solution to moveable weights in wood heads too.
The PXG 0317 hybrid exemplifies this approach with 7 weights across the back of the head made up of 4 heavy silver tungsten screws and 3 lighter black titanium ones.
This not only gives the 0317 hybrid a dramatic look, but also enables you to move the heavier screws towards the toe to create a fade bias or towards the heel for a draw bias.
The two different weights of screws and the seven positions gives you 35 possible ways to fiddle with the flight of the club and this makes it easy to fine tune without any complex systems that would only take up extra weight or space.
The 0317 hybrid is named after the US Marine Core career code for a scout sniper, who would deliver long range fire on selected targets from concealed positions. Sounds an apt name for a hybrid and at address it also bears a slight resemblance to a Ping i20 hybrid.
This is maybe not altogether surprising given that PXG designer Mike Nicolette was formerly at Ping for many years and the toothless adjustable hosel has a familiar look about it too.
It works very well and offers a wide range of lofts from 17° to 28° which can be adjusted +/- 1.5° in 0.75° increments, so there should be a loft for every situation.
Both the weights and the hosel are subtle but effective ways of adjusting the 0317 hybrid to suit your game and it is a commendable achievement that PXG has done this with the minimum of disruption to the overall shape of the club.
The mid-sized head is compact and not too deep, so anyone from single figures up to around 20 handicap will be able to get the 0317 going easily.
With premium materials to hand PXG has done a great job in creating a hybrid that not only looks great, but sounds and feels excellent at impact.
In testing the 0317 felt like it wanted to play more like an iron than a hybrid as it went into the turf a little more than most. The rounded leading edge still bounces through it fine, so it just depends if this will suit your style of play and the types of courses you play on.
The flight was middle of the road for a hybrid and delivered exactly the trajectory most players will prefer.
Our version came with an Aldila RIP shaft which is quite low torque, but was ideal for a hybrid as it keeps things straight for higher swing speed players. However each PXG club has to be custom fitted so your local approved retailer, of which there are just a few, will be able to match the shaft and weights to get the most from your game.
They will also most likely get the most from your wallet too as the PXG 0317 hybrid is almost twice the price of most other premium hybrids. Therefore unless you find that it's significantly better, or you have the resources not to care, then opting for it over something else is going to require some heart over head stuff.
That said, the PXG 0317 hybrid looks and feels great and delivers consistent performance from a highly adjustable head, so it is worth trying out if your heart is strong.