Ben Hogan PTx Max Driver Review: The best value new driver of 2025?

Ben Hogan PTx Max Driver Key Features

• High MOI construction and weighting
• Carbon speed pocket enhances aerodynamics to aid club speed
• Variable thickness face provides extra distance and launch off the whole face

With more and more golf brands either emerging into or pivoting toward the direct-to-consumer place, Ben Hogan, a brand started by the nine-time major winner and one that boasts more than 70 years of heritage making clubs, feels uniquely positioned to appeal to players who want their clubs to look classic and perform as well as the modern-day giants.

While most DTC brands – think Takomo or Vice Golf – rely on sleek branding and flashy marketing to sell clubs, Hogan takes a slightly more traditional approach, cutting out the middle man of big box retailers while continuing to make clubs that embody a more classic look and aesthetic.

For a long time, Ben Hogan's approach has largely centred around its irons, which over the last few years have gained an increasing number of plaudits for their classic styling, pure feel and outstanding build quality. We actually reviewed their latest Fort Worth Cavity Back irons not too long ago, declaring them among the best players irons you can get at the price.

More recently, however, Hogan has been expanding its footprint to cover a wider range of clubs, making huge steps forward with their driver and wood offering in particular. Their latest release, the PTx Max, is the brand's first entry into rapidly growing affordable game-improvement driver category, joining newly released models like Takomo's Ignis D1 and Vice's VGD01. And despite all its promises of speed, forgiveness and the ability to attain that now-mythical 10K MOI figure, it still only costs £279.

Is the whole thing too good to be true? Thankfully, we were able to test the PTx Max Driver to find out for ourselves. 

Who is the Ben Hogan PTx Max Driver for?

The PTx Max is Ben Hogan's largest, most stable and most forgiving driver yet, delivering high MOI and ball speeds for a huge range of players who struggle with off-centre hits. If you prefer a larger-profile driver that maximises MOI and helps straighten out off-centre hits at a reasonable price point, this will be up your alley.

Looks and feel

The Ben Hogan PTx Max driver immediately stands out from the rest of the brand's range for the fact that it's, well, distinctly modern. The PTx Max is bathed in Carbon Fibre on both its crown and sole, with the all-carbon crown finished in a glossy polish and one of the club's main tech points, the carbon fibre speed pocket, sweeping underneath to cradle the toe-end of the club.

Outside of this, the PTx cuts a pretty minimalist aesthetic as a whole. Ben Hogan's signature scrawly branding sits neatly at the bottom of the sole, which is made from a proprietary high density composite and is finished in semi-gloss black. It's certainly a very handsome club in a classic sort of way, and thanks to its curves, colour scheme and rear weight, looks somewhat reminiscent of a first-gen TaylorMade M2. 

That being said, I'm not sure it'd stand out much if placed on a shop floor to compete with the latest and greatest from TaylorMade and Callaway in 2025 – although thankfully, this isn't something Ben Hogan really has to worry about.

Hogan have put an emphasis on customisability and adjustability in the PTx Max, offering the biggest range of shafts and flexes ever offered from one of the brand's woods before. It also features a sleek black adjustable hosel, allowing for two degrees of loft adjustment each way. This only adds to the PTx Max's premium air, helping it present as an excellent value proposition straight out of the box.

Performance

The PTx Max is testament to just how far forgiveness technology has come in drivers over the last 10 years, with even more affordable drivers such as this now incredibly easy to hit. Ben Hogan have created a truly forgiving, high-performing driver here, rivalling many of the big-budget brands out there in terms of forgiveness and dispersion.

The Ben Hogan provides a nice, balanced feel at strike, and does a great job of cleaning up off-centre strikes while rewarding well-struck shots with a crisp sound and a distinctly solid sensation. It packs plenty of forgiveness, launch and MOI into the overall package, providing the stability and confidence that'll help beginners and developing players grip it and rip it with confidence.

As is the case with many game improvement drivers in its class, the larger head, higher spin and higher MOI the PTx Max provides comes at the cost of overall distance. However for the vast majority of players the PTx Max caters for, we would always recommend prioritising accuracy and forgiveness over raw distance anyway.

Shaft choice arguably just as important as the head when fitting a higher handicapper into a driver, and thankfully Ben Hogan offers a wide range of different shafts from UST, Mitsubishi and Project X both as free options and additional cost extras.

Should you buy the Ben Hogan PTx Max?

There's always an inherent element of risk when it comes to buying a brand new driver online, particularly when you don't have the ability to test it out in store beforehand. Given its price and performance, however, the £279 Ben Hogan PTx Max is one of the best value drivers on the market, coming in £20 cheaper than the Takomo and £10 cheaper than Vice's equivalent driver.

The forgiveness, feel and overall performance the PTx Max provides is unrivalled at its price point, while the sleek looks will appeal to a wide range of golfers. 

We'd recommend consulting with Ben Hogan's customer care team to ascertain the right shaft for you before adding it to your cart, but if you have a vague idea of the shaft that's right for you, we think the PTx Max is an exceptional low-cost driver upgrade if you're looking to harness the performance benefits of a modern-day driver without dropping half your paycheque for the privilege.