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Wilson Staff Duo review


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I've been using the Duo as my winter ball, (4 rounds so far)and since this ball has caught others attention. I wanted to let fellow golfers know what i thought of the ball.

First off, i use the pro v1x during the year, so naturally ill be comparing the Duo to my regular gamer. I  understand that those two balls are really quite different in many ways, but who wouldn't want to be compared to the best. Here we go; first, on the green the ball is very soft, there is no "click" at impact. Not even a hint of it, were as i can feel a slight "click" at impact with the prov1x. I feel the Duo might be the softest ball I've ever rolled. Green side chip shots felt just as good on the club face as the putter did, and the ball had similar tendencies to check and roll a few feet like any high end multi piece urethane model. Partial wedge shots from 60 yards, and full wedge shots from 100yards had the ball behaving just like i had expected, it dropped and stopped within a foot or two of the pitch mark. It also felt really soft with short- mid irons,but the low compression did mask some of the feel, and made feedback less obvious. The long iron's and hybrid launched the ball noticeably higher than the Titleist, but the impact was now really vague, and i had to look at the ball mark on the face, to really know how centered the strike was, were as with the pro v1x i can deterime the quality of the strike instantly because of the higher compression given more feedback.

Here was my problem with the Duo: Tee shots, and I'm not a bomber either, i have 140-145 mph ball speed with my 3 wood (numbers are from my trackman fitting from Dec). That's the club I've been using of the tee on the shortened winter layout im playing, and even thought I'm not using the big dog, the Wilson Duo still felt like a tennis ball at impact. If there wasn't any sound at impact i wouldn't of known i actually hit a ball, it just felt like a practise swing. It was weird, and that really turned me off because not only was the sensation at impact non-existent, that awesome "pured" feeling wasn't there either. I hit the prov1x of the tee to compare, and i was longer with the prov1x, but the Duo looked like it went further because the ball flight was to the moon, and i prefer a penetrating ball flight for the control. The Duo didn't really peak that much higher then the titleist, but it peaked much, much sooner and fell to the ground with less roll. The ProV1x peaked much further down the fairway, and landed with a flatter angle that resulted in more roll.

In conclusion, great ball, really soft, lots of green side control, drops and stops from wedges', but can be a detriment to higher swing speeds of the tee. I'm still Geeked about the Duo, and its been a long time since a ball besides the pro v1/prov1x has gotten me this excited, so until my scores go up from the slight distance/accuracy loss, ill be gaming the Wilson Duo for sometime to come...So, all you lower caps give them a try, and share your thoughts!

Hit'em Long and straight!!

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I tried them during the winter months last year and I lost about 5-10 yards, lost spin around the greens and generally thought they were junk. The only redeeming factor was that they flew straight. I did not make it through the dozen I bought. I give them a two thumbs down.

Michael

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Thx for the input!

Interesting. I have never played the Wilson ball during the summer months, but i wouldn't expect it to behave the same way on hard, fast greens like it reacts on the bushy greens, greens that barely get cut or rolled during this time of the season.

For the price of the Duo, you cant go wrong. Against a high end ball, i guess it's not much competition, but compared to other "crappy" balls, i believe it should get 2 thumbs up.

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  • 1 year later...

I played Wilson Duo yesterday versus Pro V1x.  I thought I'd try two balls at the opposite ends of the Compressions spectrum to start to try to determine which ball is best for me.

My swing is not consistent enough to truly compare the two, but I need to start somewhere.  I have a driver swing speed of ~115mph.  Most of my long drives yesterday were with the Duo.  312 off the first tee (on in 2, but three putted for bogey), and at least two other 300+ drives.  I think my longest with Pro V1x was 285.  But it could just be that I took better swings with the Wilson balls.  I have flashes of brilliance and just as many of mediocrity.

From 100 yards out I was very consistent.  Soft sand wedge and I was near the flag on 5 or 6 approach shots.  But my 8 and 9 irons blasted the duo.  I have to get used to that.  My 8 iron (usually 160) went about 170 and the 9 iron (usually 145-150) went 160-165.  And I was not taking massive swings.

My short game in general needs DRASTIC improvement.  I have been spending a lot of time at the range working on my swing (usually start with sand wedge and work up to driver), 50 balls during lunch break.

Now I see that I need to spend more time around the chipping/putting green.  I was in position to score well yesterday, but really ate crow when it counted.

Not done experimenting, but I think I will play the Duo for a while to see how I can adjust.  The Pro V1x is too expensive for me to play regularly.  Maybe once my swing becomes consistent enough I can get more reliable feedback.

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I tried it just because I had an expiring $20 DSG rewards cert and couldn't find anything I needed so I decided to use it on $20 balls due to the commercials. Felt like a marshmallow and I definitely noticed some distance loss. They got the soft part correct with their advertising but it is anything but long.

Dave :-)

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  • 7 months later...

I know this is an older thread but I found this and was going to start a thread about this golf ball anyway and instead of that I'll just post here......I live in Maryland and it has gotten really cold lately, winter is here for sure.  Winter golf kind of sucks, but it beats not playing at all.  This is my third winter of golf and as I have improved each year, I'm no longer able to play just any ball.  I can tell the difference now with my clubs and especially my putter.  I use Bridgestone B330RXS exclusively during the spring/summer and I love that ball.

I'm learning more and more about the game and have been reading as much as I can about cold weather golf, distance loss, and how golf ball compression can affect ones game.  I decided to try the Wilson Staff Duo because it has a ridiculously low compression of just 40 which is about half of other balls including the one I play.  Supposedly this was going to make playing in the cold better as distance loss would not be as extreme.  Also, with such a low compression, it should make the ball landing on a frozen green bounce less due to the lower compression (in theory).

I've now gotten in several rounds with this ball and I can say for certain that it makes a huge difference.  It's hard to quantify distance loss because of wind/temperature/lie.  Also, "distance loss" really should be "carry loss" because ultimately the ball is just not carrying as far but can still go the same distance if not further because of the hard ground.  Thus it's really how far the ball is carrying that matters.  I wish I could specific exact numbers but to do that would be just guessing and I do not want to throw out numbers that I cannot verify.  What I can say is that based on the "eye test" the Duo and it's low compression definitely carry longer than the B330RXS which has a much higher compression.

With that being said, it has taken some getting used to with my putter.  While the Duo is very soft, it seems to come off the putter face much hotter (which is kind of odd, i was expecting the opposite actually).  The ball flight characteristics as far as side-spin is also different and I'm still getting used to that as well.  All in all considering that the ball definitely carries further in the cold weather versus the B330RXS and the price is half that of the B330RXS, I plan to keep playing this ball for the winter.  Balls get destroyed much more in my opinion in winter and it's nice to pay less than $20 for a ball that reduces the distance loss and lands a bit softer because of it's ridiculously low compression.

I could not see myself playing this ball in the spring/summer but as a winter ball it works fine for me and I am a 5.5 handicap.  I'm not sure what my swing speed is but it's right around 100 or so with my driver.  My avg drives in the spring/summer go 250-260.  I noticed the above comment mentioned about problems with this ball if your swing speed is too high.  I'm not sure at what speed that starts but for me I believe it's okay.

The thing I like the least about this ball is the ball flight with my driver but I have gotten used to that and have compensated now that I know the ball a little better.  It also takes a while to get used/compensate while putting.  Hope this helps for those looking for a winter ball.

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Also, with such a low compression, it should make the ball landing on a frozen green bounce less due to the lower compression (in theory).

Actually, low compression means it should bounce more. This may seem backwards, but "low compression" means it actually compresses more at lower speeds. That is, it takes less force to compress than a high compression ball.

With that being said, it has taken some getting used to with my putter.  While the Duo is very soft, it seems to come off the putter face much hotter (which is kind of odd, i was expecting the opposite actually).

Which is why it's hot off the putter. The putter is low speed.

The thing I like the least about this ball is the ball flight with my driver but I have gotten used to that and have compensated now that I know the ball a little better.

The driver is probably the only club where your speed might be a bit much for a "low compression" ball. You aren't swinging 100 mph with your other clubs. Curious what the ball flight issue was, though. A little ballooning, maybe?

By the way, this is why they marketed that ball with those silly "bounce test" commercials. The "bounce test" really only matters if you are swinging about 13 mph. If the balls were hitting the floor at 100 mph, the higher compression ball might bounce more.

In general though, worrying about matching compression to swing speed is probably a bit overdone. You might see some distane differences with a mismatch, but they are often small, and other factors can be more important in whether you like or dislike a ball. Many higher swing speed players still like the Duo, many lower swing speed players still like the ProV1x.

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Fantastic post.  Thank you so much.  I learned quite a bit and it now makes sense why the lower compression ball bounces more and is so hot off the putter face.  I am noticing some ballooning with the driver but mainly more side-spin with the Duo versus the B330RXS.

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I've been playing the Duo last few times out in near freezing weather.    It's a good ball, especially in the cold ... and surprisingly long (won the long drive contest with it in a scramble outing).    No complaints ... well only one, the color of the yellow ball is very dull by comparison - not as optically bright as every other yellow ball on the market (and I've played most of them).

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John

Fav LT Quote ... "you can talk to a fade, but a hook won't listen"

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I played three rounds with the Duo to make a comparison with the Callaway Super Soft that I had been playing for the previous 5 or so rounds.  Overall, I have to say that the Super Soft is a better ball.  It was about 8 to 10 yards longer off the tee than the Duo and the Super Soft played a bit better around the green.  The Super Soft also feels a little better on the putter.  Note though, that I am a 18 handicapper so not an expert by any means.  Also, the cost of the Duos was $17.99 a dozen while the Super Softs were $19.99 a dozen.  On a side note, the guy at he golf shop said they sell a ton of the Super Softs and that he understands that Callaway will change the name next year and probably raise the price a few bucks a dozen.  Don't know if that is factual, but that is what he said.

Roy

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I've been playing the Duo last few times out in near freezing weather.    It's a good ball, especially in the cold ... and surprisingly long (won the long drive contest with it in a scramble outing).    No complaints ... well only one, the color of the yellow ball is very dull by comparison - not as optically bright as every other yellow ball on the market (and I've played most of them).


Yep, I agree about the color.  I usually use yellow balls from late fall until spring when the fairways green up. The Wilson yellow is just too "muddy" a yellow. I can hit a yellow Pinnacle or Titleist to the (beige) fairway and easily tell the difference from a Wilson. Too bad, because the Wilson would work okay for me otherwise (at my low skill level).

Craig
What's in the :ogio: Silencer bag (on the :clicgear: cart)
Driver: :callaway: Razr Fit 10.5°  
5 Wood: :tmade: Burner  
Hybrid: :cobra: Baffler DWS 20°
Irons: :ping: G400 
Wedge: :ping: Glide 2.0 54° ES grind 
Putter: :heavyputter:  midweight CX2
:aimpoint:,  :bushnell: Tour V4

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Honestly I tried to play the wilson staff duo,and I thought I would like it in the cold weather but it just compresses so severely that I don't even notice when I hit the ball. This however is not unusual because most soft balls feel that way to me but this one more so. The weird non-hit feeling and the sponginess of the golf ball is very uncomfortable for me to play. I just feel like this ball is not very conducive for swing speed that I have and I require a kind of middle-of-the-road ball to play in the cool weather rather than the super soft ball. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone that has a swing speed faster than 105 miles an hour with their driver regardless of weather conditions.

"My ball is on top of a rock in the hazard, do I get some sort of relief?"

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I like them. I play vintage clubs a lot, and the Duo is good with the wood heads. I may like the Callaway Supersoft a little better. I get a couple yards more distance with the Supersoft. The Supersoft stops a little better on a 3/4 to full shot, but little finesse shots around the green they are about equal. I like the soft feel of the Duo off persimmon; the Supersoft is a little more clicky, but still good. For putting, I get the opposite from a couple of other posters; the Duo feels really soft to me off the putter. I play the DT Solo, the Wilson Duo, or the Callaway Supersoft most of the time. All are 19.97 at the local Wal-Mart. Right now, for me, I would say Supersoft, Solo, Duo in order of preference, but I really like them all with vintage gear.

I have not played the Duo or Supersoft with modern gear, but have played the Solo and it has been my standard ball for a couple of years. If I use a premium ball, it is usually one of the B330 series. I have been meaning to try the Wilson Staff FG Tour with vintage gear, but haven't gotten 'round to it.

Don

In the bag:

Driver: PING 410 Plus 9 degrees, Alta CB55 S  Fairway: Callaway Rogue 3W PX Even Flow Blue 6.0; Hybrid: Titleist 818H1 21* PX Even Flow Blue 6.0;  Irons: Titleist 718 AP1 5-W2(53*) Shafts- TT AMT Red S300 ; Wedges Vokey SM8 56-10D Putter: Scotty Cameron 2016 Newport 2.5  Ball: Titleist AVX or 2021 ProV1

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Note: This thread is 3411 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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