No, it's not Dennis the Menace calling to his next door neighbor, George Wilson. It is a switch in golf equipment. As you may have noticed, I have been partial to TaylorMade/Maxfli/adidas golf equipment over the past 10 years; everything from golf clubs to balls to shoes to gloves to headwear. But I recently decided that a change was in order. I still think
TaylorMade makes a very product, but I felt it was time to try something different. After some looking around, I decided to move to
Wilson Staff golf equipment.
Wilson doesn't get a lot of attention these days since most of the players on the professional tours are using equipment from the larger companies like TaylorMade, Callaway, Titleist and Nike. In fact, Wilson only has three players representing them on the PGA Tour:
Padraig Harrington, Jesper Parnevik and D.J. Trahan. Harrington, as you might recall, has won three of the last six majors played-- the 2007 and 2008 British Opens and the 2008 PGA Championship. In fact, Harrington, Wilson Staff member since 1998, just renewed his agreement with company for the third time. What Wilson does have is legacy. It has won 62 majors, more than any other equipment company. Players who have used Wilson equipment during their careers reads like a
"who's who" of golf: Gene Sarazen, Walter Hagen, Sam Snead, Patty Berg, Arnold Palmer, Hale Irwin, Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, Curtis Strange, Payne Stewart, Vijay Singh and John Daly, just to name a few.
I started moving toward Wilson about a month ago when I purchased one of their new Spine Drivers. The Spine has a square shaped clubhead, and has a hollowed out crown, ala the
Cleveland Hi-Bore Driver. This allows for more perimeter weighting and one of the highest MOI's (moment of inertia) in the game. According to Wilson's Website:
"The Spine achieves high MOI and low CG by redistributing weight from the center of the crown to the perimeter. The result is the industry's first truly perimeter weighted driver with a higher MOI and lower CG than traditional 460cc drivers." The Spine comes with a 46-inch
UST Proforce V-2 HMOI graphite shaft. So far, I have found the Spine to be a great driver. During the 18 holes I've played with it so far, I've hit 6 out of 11 fairways with it.
I moved further towards Wilson last night when I traded in my TaylorMade r7 irons, along with several old drivers, fairway woods and hybrids at
Golf Galaxy for a set of
Wilson Staff Di7 irons. I read many reviews of these irons before making up my mind to purchase them. These irons come with Wilson's proprietary Fat Shaft, which was introduced in 1997. According to Wilson's Website,
"The most important performance variable in an iron performance shaft is torque – less torque means less twisting, which equals greater accuracy. Fat Shaft technology provides a larger tip diameter (.500” versus typical .370” or 35% wider) providing 40% more torsional stability than skinny shafted irons for greater accuracy." The Website also states about the Di7 irons,
"Simply stated, the new Wilson Staff Di7 irons are not like other clubs. A lower profile moves the center ofgravity down for higher ball flight. A wider sole moves the CG back for greater stability and straighter ball flight. A wider tip shaft prevents twisting on off-center hits. If you want to hit it longer and straighter, play Wilson Staff Di7 irons. We're talking 'club longer,' not 1-2 yards." I look forward to working with irons through the winter.
I have also picked by a dozen
Wilson Staff Fifty Golf Balls to test. With a
compression of 50, "Wilson Staff Fifty now stands as the softest two-piece distance ball on the market today. Its unmatched combination of maximum distance and ultra-soft feel appeals to the widest segment of golfers," according to Wilson's Web site. I have also read very good reviews about this ball and look forwrad to playing with it, especially in the colder weather, when the softer compression will make the golf ball feel less like a rock. I also want to try Wilson Staff's new
Zip Golf Ball, but it has been extremely hard to find in stores, so I am probably going to have to purchase a couple dozen online.
In addition to the golf clubs and golf balls, I've also picked by a couple of Wilson ProStaff Golf Gloves to try out. I'll keep you informed of how this new equipment rates over the coming months, weather permitting. But I look forward to entering next season with Wilson Staff golf equipment in my bag.
There were numerous golf vendors at the show, including such retailers as RockBottomGolf, Edwin Watts Golf and Wheat Road Golf. There were plenty of bargains to be had on both new and used golf clubs. TaylorMade, Callaway, Nike, and Cleveland seemed to dominate the club offerings, with a few also offering Mizuno, Srixon or Bridgestone.
There also a few exhibitors offering information of golf packages and golf travel to places such as Myrtle Beach; Florida; Ocean City, Md.; and Williamsburg, Va., but there were fewer representatives from area golf courses and country clubs as I have experienced at past golf shows.
The show also offered the opportunity to try the latest equipment from the major manufacturers at an indoor Demo Range, and there were contests for closest to the pin, longest drive, and putting.
One of the neatest things I saw at the show was the Arnold Palmer Indoor Golf Game, which The Muni Golfer actually received as a kid from Santa in the late 1960s. A miniature Arnold Palmer is attached to the end of what looks like a club shaft, but by pulling on a trigger on the underside of shaft, you can make The King swing one of several clubs--Driver, 4-wood, two irons, a wedge and a putter. Arnold hits small styrofoam balls to a felt green, around which you can place plastic replicas of a water hazard and two sand bunkers. Once on the green, you putt a marble into the cup, complete with flag, which fits into a small round cut-out area on the green. Watching the man who brought this game back to the marketplace hit balls brought fond flashbacks to my childhood.
I went to the GP Golf Show, not looking for clubs, but for accessories, particularly Wilson Staff products. I was very disappointed that so few vendors carried anything from the Wilson Staff line. I did, however, find a slightly used Wilson Staff FwC 7-Wood at one vendor for $19.95. The club needed a little cleaning and re-gripping, but it was a bargain too good to pass up. It was my only golf purchase of the day.
