PXG Xtreme Tour vs. Tour X Golf Balls: Life-Tested Review

I consider myself a do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do player when it comes to golf balls. I strongly recommend picking one golf ball and playing it exclusively, but I am notorious for changing up my golf ball every month or two. 

Part of that is because I’m often testing different balls to give you these unbiased reviews, and part of that is because I’ve become so convinced of a golf ball’s impact on one's game that I always believe there’s a better ball for my own game out there somewhere. 

The upside of this curse (curse is a bit dramatic but you get the picture) is that I’ve developed the ability to recognize subtle differences between golf balls better than I ever thought I could.

To uncover the subtle differences between these two new PXG golf balls, I played them both on the course and compared them head-to-head at the short game area at my home course.

Here’s how the PXG Xtreme Tour and Xtreme Tour X compare to each other. It’s important to note that these comparisons are relative to one another, and the actual discrepancies between the two balls are relatively small.

For example, we describe the trajectory of the two balls as “Penetrating” and “Higher” to illustrate which one should apex higher. However, the actual difference in apex with a 9-degree driver at 100 mph is about four feet. Similarly, the spin discrepancy between the mid-spin and mid-high spin profiles is less than 250 rpm with a 7-iron. 

Unless you have world-class consistency in your launch characteristics, I doubt most players would notice the difference just by watching the ball flight. Nonetheless, understanding these nuances can help you select the better ball for your game.

Both balls are 3-piece, urethane-covered balls. Some brands, Titleist for example, offer a 3-piece and 4-piece version of their tour-level balls, but PXG opted to differentiate these balls in other ways.

Regardless of which version you choose, they cost $49 per dozen or $99 for three dozen, which is on the low end of the industry standard range for a tour-level urethane-covered ball, about five dollars less than premium offerings from Titleist and Callaway when buying one dozen.

The PXG Xtreme Tour is available in white and yellow versions, while the Tour X exclusively comes in white.

PXG highlights feel as one of the differentiating areas between the two balls. The Xtreme Tour is the softer option, while the Tour X is firmer. 

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the authority on how a ball feels – I pay more attention to what it does in the air – but I didn’t leave my side-by-side testing preferring one feel over the other, and after playing rounds with the two balls a week apart, I certainly couldn’t have told you with any confidence which one was softer based on my on-course testing, so I’m happy to leave it to the folks who designed these balls to tell you which ball favors which feel.

Spin and trajectory are the areas where I noticed the most separation between the two balls, and for me personally, it’s the category that determines which ball I’ll choose to use moving forward.

I feel more confident playing a ball that flies straighter, and I certainly hit the Xtreme Tour straighter when I compared the two on the golf course. The difference was noticeable, and even though there were other variables at play, that result aligned with PXG's robot testing of each ball, so I have to chalk at least some of that up to the balls.

Even though the slightly lower spin of the Xtreme Tour, compared to the Tour X, trickles down to the short game, I still felt in control of the Xtreme Tour around the greens.

If you’re looking for maximum short game control, or you rely on the ability to work the ball (or both), then the Xtreme Tour X is a better option for you. 

If you’d rather see the ball fly straighter, I don’t think you will sacrifice much short game performance by opting for the Xtreme Tour to increase accuracy.