The Quick Take:
The Wilson Staff D7 fairway wood is a superlight, high-launching bomber of a fairway wood that is designed for speed and forgiveness with a heavy emphasis on speed. Whether it is off a tee or from the fairway, the D7 delivers distance in a consistently high-launching package. The super-lightweight design, which purposefully stripped away excess grams from the design while maintaining a D1 swing weight, promotes easy swings that deliver surprisingly high clubhead speed.
Wilson D7 Fairway Woods
Wilson Staff has given a lot of love to its metal woods this year. What started with the successful launch of the Cortex has continued in earnest with the release of the D7 line. Primarily designed for what Wilson Staff calls its “D” players, the D7 delivers loads of forgiveness in a superlight package. For those unfamiliar with the FCD classification system, the “D” player is one that needs extra distance and a straighter ball flight to play their best golf. Wilson Staff sent us a 15-degree 3W and I set out to take my own little D7 Challenge.
At first glance, it’s clear that Wilson Staff made a lot of changes between the D7 and its predecessor the D300. Gone are the days of the bright red color and the appearance of medieval armor on the crown (i.e., micro vortex generators). Moving away from this, the D7 has a much more traditional design with subtle blue accents. The crown has moved back to a glossy finish and the face features well-defined scoring lines that frame the ball perfectly to aid a proper setup. To further help you line up correctly, Wilson added an alignment aid on the crown this year too. All in all, the head design is subtle, confidence inspiring, and should appeal to the masses.
My first swings with the D7 came on a launch monitor and, after a few swings in what was essentially my personal D7 Challenge, it is clear this fairway delivers on the needs of the “D” player. Easy swings resulted in better than expected distance through an effortless launch paired with low to mid 3000s RPM spin. Although that might seem low to some, the D7 was in the middle of the pack for spin in my head-to-head testing against other current fairways. The launch and spin characteristics resulted in near driver-like numbers that caught me completely by surprise in the best way possible.
Based on the design and technology, it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that the D7 fairway delivers big on distance and launch. The Carpenter Custom 455 Face produces solid ball speed and the sweet spot is plenty large and easy to find. The larger head design also provided plenty of room to move the CG low and back, and Wilson Staff’s plan to strip away discretionary weight was expertly executed across the entire club, not just the head. For example, the stock UST Mamiya Helium shaft, the Lamkin MicroLite grip, a non-adjustable hosel, and weight saving thin-cast pockets in the crown all shave discretionary weight from the total package to deliver a true “superlight design” that promotes faster speeds.
Having spent a few weeks testing the D7, I think that the weight savings translate into one of the easiest swinging clubs I’ve tested. That is to say that easy swings produced the swing speed I expected to see from harder swings. When I tried to swing all out, I was seeing swing speeds higher than expected. As a result, easy swings produced the expected 3 wood distance but with far more consistent center contact.
Despite the superlight design, the D7 comes with a reasonable D1 swing weight. Although I feared it would, the weight never became an issue in my testing – my concerns of losing the feeling of the club in my swing quickly subsided after a few swings and my fears never manifested on course. Best of all, the UST Mamiya Helium shaft could handle anything I could give it despite its lightweight design.
I found the D7 really shined off the tee, and it proved to be a fairway finder – one that rewarded easy swings and good tempo with manageable distances remaining for a second shot. I saw plenty of high launch and low-ish spin shots that provided driver-like distances on easy swings, and although I am not a master of the 3 wood off the deck, I was still impressed with the D7. Even with imperfect contact, the ball consistently got up in the air quickly and the sole design provided good fairway interaction.
The D7 fairway wood is a great addition to an improved Wilson Staff line designed to help nearly every player regardless of your talent level. If you can forget that the club is “superlight” and just play golf, the D7 will reward you with long, high, and hopefully straight shots. It is no surprise that golfers of all skill levels have been raving about the distance and performance of this club, and I hope you will give it a few swings to put it through its paces. Join me over in the forum to continue the conversation or ask any questions you have – I want to hear from you about whatever is on your mind.
The Details:
Availability – In stores now
Cost – $199.99
Heads – 3W (15°), 5W (18°), 7W (21°)
Shaft: UST Mamiya Helium
Grip: Lamkin MicroLite
You can find this club at retailers across the nation and online, including at Budget Golf where THP readers can use a coupon code to receive 15% off (see code at the top right of this article).
