Wilson Staff FG Tour V2 Review Thread

[hongman]

Hawk, great writeup and initial video's to set us all a drooling!! Your description captured all of the thoughts I had regarding the cool cavity and understated non garish graphics in the video. Thanks for your impressions, and hope you have fun hitting these. Keep up the good work!

 

[Tadashi70]

Hawk & War Eagle thanks the insight, pics and videos. You have both put some generous thought and prep into your testing. Very noice...
When I look at the pictures of the irons they seem to be a midsize iron. Is that just me or are they more like a midsize than a smaller headed club like say a TM MC or CB?
Hawk you mentioned your distances are a club shorter and that they felt shorter. Do you feel you have more control? If so do you think you could increase your swing speed and generate longer distances.
Also the ball flight is lower, do you feel it's easier with the Wilsons to hit knock downs?
Again great stuff guys, keep up the great work.


Kongfrontation

 

[TRyan]

Yes. Very.

Same Toad. These irons are so sleek I just want to stare at them. I'd be scared to hit them

 

[TC]

Hawk & War Eagle thanks the insight, pics and videos. You have both put some generous thought and prep into your testing. Very noice...
When I look at the pictures of the irons they seem to be a midsize iron. Is that just me or are they more like a midsize than a smaller headed club like say a TM MC or CB?
Hawk you mentioned your distances are a club shorter and that they felt shorter. Do you feel you have more control? If so do you think you could increase your swing speed and generate longer distances.
Also the ball flight is lower, do you feel it's easier with the Wilsons to hit knock downs?
Again great stuff guys, keep up the great work.


Kongfrontation

I wanted to echo the question and thoughts of tadashi b/c honestly, it's all I've thought about since this thread went up. I certainly know Hawk's game better than WE's and I know that Hawk isn't necessarily in a position to sacrifice distance so I'm really curious to learn more about this.

 

[Hawk]

Hawk & War Eagle thanks the insight, pics and videos. You have both put some generous thought and prep into your testing. Very noice...
When I look at the pictures of the irons they seem to be a midsize iron. Is that just me or are they more like a midsize than a smaller headed club like say a TM MC or CB?
Hawk you mentioned your distances are a club shorter and that they felt shorter. Do you feel you have more control? If so do you think you could increase your swing speed and generate longer distances.
Also the ball flight is lower, do you feel it's easier with the Wilsons to hit knock downs?
Again great stuff guys, keep up the great work.


Kongfrontation

They are smaller than the CB in pretty much every way. I can't say offhand how they relate to the MC. I'll try to get a pic next to Jrod's MB for you today if it doesn't pour rain. Not looking good

I wanted to echo the question and thoughts of tadashi b/c honestly, it's all I've thought about since this thread went up. I certainly know Hawk's game better than WE's and I know that Hawk isn't necessarily in a position to sacrifice distance so I'm really curious to learn more about this.

The honest answer is: I don't know yet. I'm not even sure how far I reliably hit them as I've only been to the range twice and played nine holes. I hope to know more soon. If I can control the 5 iron as well as I controlled the Redline 6 iron, then it's a wash I guess? Time will tell, but I'm committed to testing them in the long term either way.

 

[Hawk]

Sorry Tadashi - I didn't really answer all your questions.

I can definitely keep the ball lower and will work on some knockdowns for you to let you know!

 

[lemmiwinks]

Fantastic vid's and thoughts so far.
Real interested in your experience with these Hawk.
My game is kinda the same where I'm playing GI irons and don't really have the distance to give up to move towards an iron like this.
Keep up the awesome work guys - and good luck to those hitting the course with them today.

 

[Tadashi70]

Smaller than the CB answers my question, the distance worries me but I'll keep those worries at bay until you really have had a chnace to get used to the sticks. I hope these are at the outing, they have just made my list.

They are smaller than the CB in pretty much every way. I can't say offhand how they relate to the MC. I'll try to get a pic next to Jrod's MB for you today if it doesn't pour rain. Not looking good



The honest answer is: I don't know yet. I'm not even sure how far I reliably hit them as I've only been to the range twice and played nine holes. I hope to know more soon. If I can control the 5 iron as well as I controlled the Redline 6 iron, then it's a wash I guess? Time will tell, but I'm committed to testing them in the long term either way.

 

[mariusvt]

Some great feedback so far, especially Hawk. These are some very good looking irons and it sounds like the perform just as good as they look.

 

[Hawk]

First off, I really appreciate the kind words, folks. Thanks!

Ok i have a question for you guys. The leading edge looks really sharp, espicially in some of the pictures that Hawk posted next to his adams redlines. How do these clubs feel and react with the turf?

I was playing on very firm fairways today and taking small divots with ease. They were actually smaller than I expected, but the club feels really nice going through to turf. More will be said on that subject over time

Hawk & War Eagle thanks the insight, pics and videos. You have both put some generous thought and prep into your testing. Very noice...
When I look at the pictures of the irons they seem to be a midsize iron. Is that just me or are they more like a midsize than a smaller headed club like say a TM MC or CB?
Hawk you mentioned your distances are a club shorter and that they felt shorter. Do you feel you have more control? If so do you think you could increase your swing speed and generate longer distances.
Also the ball flight is lower, do you feel it's easier with the Wilsons to hit knock downs?
Again great stuff guys, keep up the great work.


Kongfrontation

MB on top - V2 on bottom

MB 4 iron on left - V2 4 iron on the right

Fantastic vid's and thoughts so far.
Real interested in your experience with these Hawk.
My game is kinda the same where I'm playing GI irons and don't really have the distance to give up to move towards an iron like this.
Keep up the awesome work guys - and good luck to those hitting the course with them today.

Thank LW - There has been a distance loss, but it hasn't become an issue for me yet. We will see how that works out over time.

 

[Hawk]

Well, rain shortened my outing today to nine holes. Could have kept going, but I really wanted to get some updates up on the site and it was pretty rotten out. I will have some detailed feedback up very soon from yesterday and today.

A quick report on my round is that I shot a 46, which is pretty average for me. I had 18 putts and hit zero fairways with my driver. The irons actually performed quite well for me today and I'll have some highlighted shots for you in my review.

 

[Jman]

Well, rain shortened my outing today to nine holes. Could have kept going, but I really wanted to get some updates up on the site and it was pretty rotten out. I will have some detailed feedback up very soon from yesterday and today.

A quick report on my round is that I shot a 46, which is pretty average for me. I had 18 putts and hit zero fairways with my driver. The irons actually performed quite well for me today and I'll have some highlighted shots for you in my review.

Damn weather! Sucks it was to crappy out Hawk, at least you got out for a bit though.

 

[jt2929]

Great vids and pics guys. Hawk, the comparison pics between the MB and V2 helped me out as well, thanks.

 

[Hawk]

I can see why some people thought they were bigger than they are, but they are pretty compact irons.

Great vids and pics guys. Hawk, the comparison pics between the MB and V2 helped me out as well, thanks.

 

[Jman]

I can see why some people thought they were bigger than they are, but they are pretty compact irons.

Small or big, those things are flat out SESSY. I keep harping on that but I really can't get over it.

 

[Minarets]

I can see why some people thought they were bigger than they are, but they are pretty compact irons.

Yes, to me they look double the size of the original FG Tours to me, in pics

 

[INgolfer]

Wow! Upon the original pictures posted on the homepage I thought the heads looked kinda big. Then after seeing the pics posted by the testers I realized they were smaller than I originally thought. Now, after seeing them side by side with the MBs I can't believe how compact they are! I am even more anxious to see these in person upon release now, they could be some very sexy irons.

 

[JB]

Yes, to me they look double the size of the original FG Tours to me, in pics

In my brief time with them, they seem pretty similar in size.

 

[TRyan]

Hawks thanks for the comparison pics. These things are gorgeous

 

[Hawk]

Testing Date: September 17, 2011
Driving Range and 9 hole executive course
Conditions: 65° with 10-15mph winds

My initial plan yesterday was to take the V2's to the driving range. After getting there and hitting about 40 balls, I grew tired of hitting out of crabgrass and decided to play nine holes on the executive (par 33) course at the facility. This actually was a great idea as it gave me the opportunity to hit the irons off the tee on all but two holes and by playing to a number I was able to get some good short iron shots into the green. I shot a 39 (+6) for the nine holes and felt like I hit the V2's well.

I plan on doing my reviews by talking about things that stood out to me - good or bad - during my sessions with them.

Thoughts on my abilities for the day

I struggled hitting ball at first, though I seem to always struggle in bad grass at the range. It just drives me crazy. After seeing my videos the other day I noticed a pretty huge ssway in my swing, so I focused on being a bit more compact and hitting down into the ball. Strengthened my grip a bit as I was pushing quite a few shots. Apparently, this was what I needed as I started hitting the V2's very well.

As I've said before, my iron misses tend to be fat or thin and these were my misses today.

Distance

Yesterday was still a feeling out period for me. My starting point with adjusting to weaker lofts has been to just take an extra club and that has seemed to work. Case in point was one of my first featured shots of the day.

Featured Shot 1 - First tee - 155 yard Par 5 - Callaway Diablo Tour - V2 6 iron - Hit the ball real nice on a mid trajectory and bounced about 10 feet ahead of the pin. This was the first time I'd played the course and I didn't realize that the greens were like cement. The ball bounce about 5 feet in the air and then continued to bounce off the back of the green. Not ideal, but the distance was what I was looking for and expecting. I switched to a urethane ball after this.

I had to work against the wind on some holes yesterday and found that I was losing another club or so of distance from that. Perfect example of that was what I'll call featured shot number 2.

Featured Shot 2 - 4th hole - 115 yards to the pin from the fairway - Srixon Z Star - V2 8 iron - This distance, without the wind, was my old PW. I subtracted another club due to the wind, hit it cleanly, and hit the green about pin high. The ball flight seemed a bit lower than I'd normally hit an 8 iron, which I appreciated in the situation. The ball stopped very quickly on this shot. Must have found a soft spot on the green.

I will need to be very careful to not let my ego get in the way when it comes to club selection. Just admitting in public that I hit an 8 iron that distance is pretty tough, but I did hit the green, so who cares?

Ball Flight

On my initial range session I noted that the scoring irons seemed the same height as my Redlines. I came away from my round yesterday actually noticing that they were a bit lower and more penetrating. It wasn't such a bad thing due to the wind and it didn't affect my ability to hold a green. Good example is featured shots number three.

Featured shot 3 - 2nd hole - 105 yard to pin from fairway - Srixon Z Star - V2 PW - This was an interesting shot to me as I was expecting some real height from the PW. The ball was hit clean and lower than I expected. I thought I thinned it, but it didn't feel thin. The ball hit the green and did that funky spin dance where the ball just stops. So, lower than expected, but spinny enough to stop almost immediately. That was surprising and interesting to me. Still not sure if I mis-hit it or not, but it was the right distance and I hit the green.

Forgiveness:

I don't know that I can give much information about forgiveness when it comes to missing on the toe or heel at the moment. However I hit some fat and thin shots yesterday. In fact, I hit one of each on one hole with interesting results. At times yesterday, I hit an extra ball or two. One time I did this was off the tee on the 2nd hole.

Featured Shot 4 - 2nd Hole - Srixon Z Star and Cally Diablo - V2 5 iron - I hit the first tee shot with the 5 iron just a bit fat. It had a small draw and stopped on the left side of the fairway. I re-teed and hit the next ball a bit thin. It had a slight fade and ended up about a foot into the right rough. The balls were in the exact same spot on opposite sides of the fairway. I lasered the spot I teed off from and it was 148 yards. I would normally think that the 5 iron would get me around 160, so I lost some yardage.

Forgiveness didn't really seem to affect me negatively yesterday. I'm accustomed to losing distance on fats/thins and these irons were no different in that regard.

Long Irons:

I was carrying all eight irons yesterday (3-PW) and I hit them all. I found that I was pretty comfortable with the long irons in my hands. Aside from one shot, I hit them lower than I would a similarly lofted hybrid, but I was sort of expecting that. However, I didn't have any trouble hitting the ball with them. I have two featured long iron shots to talk about.

Featured Shot 5 - 4th hole - Cally Diablo Tour - V2 4 iron I opted to hit a 4 iron off the tee for this hole. The hole was fairly short with a lake that cuts into the fairway, basically halving the size of it. At least that's the way it seems. Looking back, 4 iron may have been a poor choice. I hit the ball cleanly with a draw, it got up much higher than I expected - on a mid trajectory - and bounced twice into the lake. I wasn't mad to see the ball wet at all. I hit it really well and those things happen.

Featured Shot 6 - 7th hole - Srixon Z-Star - V2 3 iron This was a par 3 around 175 yards slightly uphill. I decided to hit the 3 iron on a guess. I hit it just a bit fat and the ball was pretty low. It had some slice spin and ended up about even with the front of the green in the right rough. Not a good shot, but the result was playable.

 

[Damaikis]

Great job Hawk! I love the featured shot part!

 

[TRyan]

Nice writeup Hawk. I love the featured shot, very cool

 

[Jman]

It'll be an echo, but the "featured shot" portions are super cool, excellent idea.

I agree with the ego getting in the way comment, the green is the green no matter what number club you use.

 

[#Cookie]

Nice start Hawk - was really curious how the long irons would work for you as I know you are a big fan of the hybrids. Sounds like it is a good start so far. Decent forgiveness on mishits but still get you in a position where you can save par, etc which I think is what us mid cappers look for when playing a long iron.


Tappin' from my iPad!

 

[Minarets]

In my brief time with them, they seem pretty similar in size.

I think it's the cavity. Awful lot going on in there. Not sure, maybe not.