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What’s new? How much does it cost? And how does it perform? Jack Backhouse brings you the low down on the new Wilson Staff Model Driving Iron
How does Wilson’s wind beating, fairway finding driving iron perform? Find out in our Wilson Staff Model driving iron review.
Wilson’s 2023 line up is brilliant. The Dynapwr has been a real success and the irons have been excellent for a few years now – the Wilson Staff Model utility iron is no different.
The head is big and weighty enough so that off centre strikes still perform, but its not too big or too offset to not be pretty to the eye. It delivers great ball speeds and distances down a firm fairway to the point it made me question why I bother carrying anything else to use from the tee.
Wilson Staff Model Driving Iron Review: First Impressions
Every club in Wilson’s 2023 Staff Model line is beautiful. From putter to wedge to iron, and driving iron they all look good, and draw the eye of your playing partners. There’s something about the shiny chrome and simple design that makes you feel like a player.
Wilson’s stock shaft is the KBS Tour hybrid shaft and it comes with a Golf Pride Tour Velvet grip logo down, so there’s also something very stealthy about the build. Going off looks alone, I would definitely be happy carrying this around in my bag.
NCG Verdict
I am in the market for a new driving iron. My current gamer has too much offset and I’ve gone off it for some reason (probably not the clubs fault), I’m hoping that a new driving iron will offer some relief to my tee shot woes.
This will be primarily a tee shot club for me, as generally a low launch player my shots with this type of club go low and run forever which is not suitable for approach shots. I am very pleased however when my first centre strike with the staff model launches pretty high with an appropriate amount of spin.
The Wilson Staff Model driving iron has sole weighting which brings the CoG of this hollow head lower, which makes it more forgiving and delivers optimized launch angles. I’ve never hit one of these clubs up in the air very much so I am very impressed.
The flightscope data this produced is okay, the fastest ball speeds over 140mph which is really strong, and the longer carries at 210 which is also pretty good. FlightScope doesn’t seem to calculate roll very well so take no notice of the average 3 yards of run it suggests.
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The real test happened out on the golf course. Sand Moor is playing really firm and fast at the moment, and with the rough growing up there’s never been a more appropriate time to have a fairway finding low chaser in the bag. My first shot on the course with it went a measured 281 yards. That’ll do.
I was able to stand over the ball with confidence that the ball was going to come out low and fast, and generally on my desired start line. The ball flight is amazing and I was looking to hit it off as many tees as possible as the fairways are a nice place to be at the moment.
Wilson’s hollow body club head design make this a very playable long iron despite the low loft, and high-strength C300 face delivers greater ball speeds across the whole face so all shots just go further.
You are going to see this club in a load of tour players’ bags in the upcoming Scottish Open and The Open Championship. In fact, this club was originally just designed to be a prototype for tour players, and it was such a success they decided to roll it out for general use too.
This is a brilliant long iron replacement club, I wouldn’t dream of putting in a bladed 2 iron that matches the rest of my set after hitting the Wilson Staff Model driving iron. There’s too much forgiveness to be gained and with tee shots being so important I don’t think you can give that up for the sake of looking cool with a blade 2 iron.
This absolutely might end up in my golf bag for the 2023, it needs further testing, on a blowy day to see how the spin fairs in the wind, but it stands a good chance of becoming a permanent fixture. I love the shaft and head combo, and the head isn’t actually as oversized as other driving irons on the market so it suits my eye nicely.
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If you are looking for a new driving iron for the upcoming dry summer months, at this price, you should absolutely get one of these in your hands and give it a go.
