Wilson STAFF vs Wilson STAFF's reputation

[sean_miller]

I hit enough of the FG Tours to know that it's not the ball for me. Worst distance control of any "Tour" level ball. Might be related to the low compression. It would be a good "Tour" ball for slow swingers perhaps?

[titleistfan2016]

I have a wilson staff arch i3 putter and i loved it even though im playing an ping

[handlez42]

Originally Posted by luu5

I don't get it either, but this is the first time I've heard about this.

have you hit both GI cast clubs vs. forged as well? im starting to match my distances slightly better. when i first started hitting the FG tours i was hitting a 5 iron from 150 because i figured they were shorter. im getting much better at compressing the ball to avoid scrubbing off distance by "flipping". and now and i worked down in clubs from 6i from 150 to a 7i from 150. and in most cases im hitting a 7 from slightly behind the 150 mark vs. an 8 just inside the 150 mark.

I only say this because on really good hits with my Wilson Deep Red II distance irons i was hitting 9 from 150 and in cases where im "feelin' it" i was hittnig PW. i remember hitting a 160 yard par 8 and because i knew my distance was longer then, i tried to kill an 8 iron, and put it just off the left side of the green about pin high. now from that same hole im trying to push a 7 iron and hit a knockdown 6 if im able to do so.

Now i wont lie golf.com testers review the FG and said it didnt "exceed in any particular category" (including distance) and these clubs are much softer than most forgings so i wouldnt be surprised if im giving up a small amount of distance for control but they have been considered a workhorse type of iron company. they get it done. (and that has been wilsons "bread 'n' butter" with their forged irons for YEARS

[handlez42]

Anybody try the FG Tour wedge? im stuck between those and the Tour Edge Exotics Tour Black Xtreme Spin.

Originally Posted by sean_miller

I hit enough of the FG Tours to know that it's not the ball for me. Worst distance control of any "Tour" level ball. Might be related to the low compression. It would be a good "Tour" ball for slow swingers perhaps?

Srry for the "review"

but there are A LOT of people out there that are hitting the wrong products and i wont lie this ball could be a lower handicap, slow-mid swing speed, type of ball. And i think distance control is all down to how soft the feel is that makes it tough. I noticed when hitting the ProV1 that it was very solid at contact and gave you the feeling of control as well as spin....usually you could easily judge how much spin you were producing and see it react as it hit the green. (practice green). i dont like playing pinnacle balls (cheap ones) i dont mind their precision line, and i wish they still made the platinum feel ball. im one that believes its worth getting a ball that will give you the best chance of scoring lower. I'm not too willing to buy ProV1s on my broke-(explicit) college student amount salary. And even the RX i tested is still VERY pricey and i feel not as good as the FG

I also play in north west pennsylvania and its starting to get pretty chilly so a softer ball like the FG plays well.

[Bryan SD2]

Been using the same irons since the mid 1990's... and have no reason to change.  I'm admittedly biased and do love my irons.  What was called "midsize" back in the day is pretty much a standard sized clubhead today.  Great forged feel as well and I'm good to go.

New irons... or use that money to basically play for free all year(s)?

No brainer.

I was going to post that Wilson Staff has won more majors than any other brand, but was beaten to it.  59 is a ton.  My feelings on their current status in the game is this.  They fell behind on some technological advances, primarily perimeter weighted clubs when those took off 20-25 or so years ago.  Once the industry blasted past them, they responded with an economy line of irons, found just about everywhere - and called them "Wilson."  It's akin to buying a baseball glove at Wal-Mart.

The technology they did come up with were mostly duds - i.e. the "Fat Shaft."

Their forged clubs have always been great though...

[handlez42]

they have 61 now all thanks to paddy. but i was more surprised at whose in second in that category. macgregor? they have i think 58 or 59 majors now? and surprisingly they are making a climb back into the game slowly. primarily a company about the same as wilson and had a little run at glory when jack nicklaus was hitting them. and ive hit a 80s blade from around the same time, "Golden bear". some people on here said they couldve been a walmart version but when i hit this particular club (9-iron) it doesnt feel anything like that. it feels comparable to the Wilson Staff "Staff" blades i have that were from the 70s. diggers for sure.

ive heard that in the glory era of wilson, ram, macgregor, that they didnt pay their staff players? i also have heard the reason wilson is still in the game (not only because of their other products like tennis, or basketball) that wilson paid their staff players, while macgregor did not? and the reason macgregor isnt up there with mid-level companies like mizuno, wilson, and the techy adams, is because of them not paying macgregor staff players. they made good products (v-foil) and even in the nicklaus era but nicklaus was winning soo often that he didnt mind playing a good product for no money.

THIS is all a combination of what ive "heard" and my opinion of how it played out over the years of course.......

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by handlez42

Anybody try the FG Tour wedge? im stuck between those and the Tour Edge Exotics Tour Black Xtreme Spin.

Srry for the "review"

but there are A LOT of people out there that are hitting the wrong products and i wont lie this ball could be a lower handicap, slow-mid swing speed, type of ball. And i think distance control is all down to how soft the feel is that makes it tough. I noticed when hitting the ProV1 that it was very solid at contact and gave you the feeling of control as well as spin....usually you could easily judge how much spin you were producing and see it react as it hit the green. (practice green). i dont like playing pinnacle balls (cheap ones) i dont mind their precision line, and i wish they still made the platinum feel ball. im one that believes its worth getting a ball that will give you the best chance of scoring lower. I'm not too willing to buy ProV1s on my broke-(explicit) college student amount salary. And even the RX i tested is still VERY pricey and i feel not as good as the FG

I also play in north west pennsylvania and its starting to get pretty chilly so a softer ball like the FG plays well.

I think it was down to the fact that the ball doesn't what it's trying to be. Too expensive and too much spin for a beginner and compression too low for a decent ball striker with above average club head speed. In my opinion, compared to the other "tour level" balls I've played in that past 2 seasons, it's a dud.

[snowman0157]

Wilson Staff was probably the top brand in golf  and on the PGA tour into the early 1990's as I recall........ Not sure what happened to them exactly.... I like the look of some of their current irons, I havent heard any poor quality reports about their current models, but there are so few players using them, I probably don't know anyone that owns the brand...  Spalding was also a good golf brand at one time...There was golf before Taylor Made and Callaway.

[mrbillinoc]

All I can say is that I bought a set of the DI9's and LUV 'EM!!!!!!!! I tried all the most "popular" brands out there and kept coming back to the DI9's...and glad I did!!!

[handlez42]

My prayers have been answered!

Wilson staff releasing new 888 series in BLACK! my biggest peve about the original 888 series was that the classic 8882 version wasnt left-handed??? NOW IT IS! yess

on top of some beautiful new fg tour v2 irons...and even more attractive ci11 in PVD black! they look sick!

new superlight driver looks interesting and im glad they finally have a "cup face" technology driver in play....might have an actual hot face

new fybrid RS look weird...didnt read into it but im sure they are good. i like the no aim mark on crown too...looks mean!

I just hope they come out with some new wedges....the fgs are nice but pricey...maybe new tw12?

very excited for the new lineup

[handlez42]

a while back said that the fg tour ball was a very good ball and had not seen any issues involving durability. and id like to adjust my opinion.

i recently bought new Macgregor VIP forged wedges. they have pre-2010 grooves and apparently just as i bought them macgregor has come out with the same wedges with conforming grooves...my luck! either wayyy

i went to florida and played for the first time with these wedges and the FG tour ball. i remember hitting two particular wedge shots with my 58* from roughly 40-50 yards. i checked the ball out after and saw the cover starting to chip and "peel". i wont lie these grooves bite the hell out of the ball and the FG tour ball is VERY soft. made this way two compliment the new grooves rule. softer helps the ball become more engaged in spin.

FINAL THOUGHTS

i like this ball. i don't care for its durability too much anymore although knowing im tearing off a cover creates a laugh.

i also just realized that wilson promotes this ball not only as  "tour caliber" but specifically profiled as a "spin" characteristic ball.

the distance is very good but the spin might be holding me back as well as the compression rate, 73 comp.

ON THE +SIDE

wilson staff has responded to these issues with a new ball called the FG Tour X ball. almost an identical relation to the prov1 and the prov1X... comes in at 93 comp which should increase distance off the tee with the longer clubs significantly and with the same urethane cover in the short irons shouldnt lose TOO much spin.

only remaining issue is the durability of the cover of course.

interested in trying these out.

also interested in trying out the fg62s in my existing irons (fg tour irons) as a combo set. fg62s would be the pw-8 or 7 and the rest being FG Tours being the rest of the set....just wanna mix it up a bit

[badfish74]

I swung the Wilson Staff Progressives yesterday and felt they were just as good if not better than some of the more popular name clubs that I tried.  Didn't end up going that route, but I would reccomend someone take a look at them if looking for a GI club.  The hybrid 3 and 4 swung really nice for me as well from that set.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by badfish74

I swung the Wilson Staff Progressives yesterday and felt they were just as good if not better than some of the more popular name clubs that I tried.  Didn't end up going that route, but I would reccomend someone take a look at them if looking for a GI club.  The hybrid 3 and 4 swung really nice for me as well from that set.

Do you have a link, assuming these are new irons? The WS Progressives I picture were from > 15 years ago and didn't come with hybrid long irons. Compared to irons out today they'd be much closer to players irons than GI irons. Much more player friendly than something from Adams for example.

[badfish74]

Originally Posted by sean_miller

Do you have a link, assuming these are new irons? The WS Progressives I picture were from > 15 years ago and didn't come with hybrid long irons. Compared to irons out today they'd be much closer to players irons than GI irons. Much more player friendly than something from Adams for example.

Sure.  These are the clubs I was testing out.

http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11287351&010=9669673&cid;=CSE:&cid;=CSE:GooglePlusbox&003=3933188

[handlez42]

Originally Posted by sean_miller

Do you have a link, assuming these are new irons? The WS Progressives I picture were from > 15 years ago and didn't come with hybrid long irons. Compared to irons out today they'd be much closer to players irons than GI irons. Much more player friendly than something from Adams for example.

these came out at least a year or two ago...kinda wish they didnt change the progressive line from forged line...they had it right with the blade short irons, muscle blade mid irons, and cavity back long irons...nikes more successful line of clubs right now is just like that

wilson may not have disappeared for so long if they had kept going with that lineup

[inthehole]

My only contribution is with regard to the Wilson Staff Fybrid's.     I have owned Adams A4 series, taylormade R9 & a few other name brand hybrids and my Wilson Staff Fybrid 3h & 3w are far and away my favorites for a couple reasons ... first, on slightly fat hits, the ball still goes relatively straight, not predictably wildly off course like the Adams.     Secondly, the slight offset just works for me - it's not overdone, just helps straighten out the ball.     I'm not a long hitter, but get pretty impressive distance via a low penetrating ball flight out of that 19.5* fybrid with the V2 shaft - really good and relatively unknown clubs.

I also have the Wilson Staff TW9 wedges (50, 54 & 58)  - play very nicely if I do my part.

[handlez42]

I have a very confusing question for any and all Wilson staffers.

I have a 2-p set of the 76 "staff" blades. Nearly nothing online can be found about them other than the year they were made. I'm considering reshafting them as a nice extra set as well as a set for family to use while they are in town. Can anyone tell me what the tip diameter is? They aren't bore through so that's not an issue. I'm not even sure if the tip diameter was actually recorded or not at that time. I can't see why not but I've looked high and low. I assume they are a simple .370 parallel or something?

I hope somebody can help me out

[pidge rgj]

i have just bought the Di11 irons and they are superb for my game. i dont have much grounds for comparison tbh my first set were hand me down callaway big berthas, and mizuno mx20 hand me downs. the Di11's were the first set i bought myself, iv played 2 rounds with them so far, no complaints. some people say they are chunky, but what do they expect from game improvement irons? also in comparison to the ping G20's they are not that big. i would recommend them