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Wilson Staff FG Tour V2 Review Thread

SuperStroke
Great write up war.eagle! Regarding the improvement in ball striking over the last few weeks, what do you attribute to that? Any one specific thing or just more time with the irons?


Tappin' from my iPad!
 
Man, war.eagle, that was an excellent little summary there. I love that you are using that PW in so many ways. You just inspired me to do the same dude. Awesome score! The 7 iron/7iron was a smart idea and again shows how much good course management and accuracy can keep you in the game.
 
Hawk said:
Man, war.eagle, that was an excellent little summary there. I love that you are using that PW in so many ways. You just inspired me to do the same dude. Awesome score! The 7 iron/7iron was a smart idea and again shows how much good course management and accuracy can keep you in the game.
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Hawk:

That's where I think a lot of mid-high handicaps lose a lot of strokes. Course management is so easy to overlook. For example... the 7 iron/ 7 iron is so obvious. Often a short par 4 where it is in reach or say on the fringe of a golfers max driving range is tempting. But say that golfer has not a bad short game but a mediocre one. If he/she isn't strong from 30-50 and in that short par 4 can lead to bogey or worse. Say I have a short 320 yard Par 4 it's tempting but I prefer to play the percentages. Take a 4 or 5 iron knock off 220 and leave a "dead hand" PW from 100 yds. More often than not that shot sets up a real legit birdie putt. More often than not within 10' or less.

By the way guys. Good input thus far on the testing. Nice to see progress. It can take a legit 6 months to a year to fuly adjust to and learn the in's and out's of irons.

Alex
 
mcook77 said:
Great write up war.eagle! Regarding the improvement in ball striking over the last few weeks, what do you attribute to that? Any one specific thing or just more time with the irons?


Tappin' from my iPad!
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Thanks Cookie. As far as ball striking goes, I attribute it to a few things actually. One being the amount of range time and practice with irons. The other is a slight adjustment I have had on my swing, specifically having a slightly slower take away on my swing. Not a huge change, but I feel with a slightly slower takeaway, I keep my swing a bit smoother and under control, allowing me to get a good club face on the ball.



Hawk said:
Man, war.eagle, that was an excellent little summary there. I love that you are using that PW in so many ways. You just inspired me to do the same dude. Awesome score! The 7 iron/7iron was a smart idea and again shows how much good course management and accuracy can keep you in the game.
Click to expand...
Thanks Hawk. I have enjoyed being able to hit it from different distances, and having the confidence in an irons (regardless of loft) from different distances is a nice thing to have. As far as 7iron/7iron goes, I felt a little like Tin Cup after that hole.
 
Testing Dates: 11/4 - 11/6
36 holes and a range session
Conditions: 50's/60's and windy-windy

I played two rounds at tougher courses this weekend. One was at TPC Deere Run, which was a nice treat. The conditions (wind ugh) really challenged me. Stayed in the 90's at least, but I wasn't happy with my wedge play at all. My iron game was 70/30. I either hit the ball really well or completely screwed up. For some reason, I was posting up on my front foot quite a bit and that leads to a nasty result. Nothing can save a shot that starts 4 inches behind the ball haha. I'm still struggling a little with distances right now. The combination of hitting the ball farther, wind, and cold has left me sort of confused at times.

A good example of that was my approach on hole 1 at TPC Deere Run. I was 140 from the pin straight into a 20 mph wind and the back of the green was 170 yards. I pick a 5 iron thinking it will get me to the middle. I hit it with a nice trajectory, it hits the very back of the green and ends hops about two feet off the fringe. The next approach I had I just ignored the wind only to be left 30 feet short of the pin (on the green). Granted, the second shot was higher, but I still need more experience with wind and how it affects each iron.

Regardless, I still hit some really nice shots that I've come to really love from the V2's. If I could have made some putts yesterday I'd have had better results, but that's golf.

I think my best shot of the day was a PW directly into the wind on 18. I had just put a 3w approach into the pond on the left of the green (yes, I am stupid) and my drop left me an even 100 yards out. Rather than trying to flight the ball low, I just clubbed up with the PW and hit a beauty of a shot that left me 6 feet from the pin.

The other shot that I really remember was on 6, which has probably the worst bunker complex on the course. I had to carry them 150 yards out with left-right crossing winds. Hit a 7 iron that really held up well to the wind and left me a 12 footer. This was after a pitch out from the woods, of course.

Like I said, I didn't have many slight misses. It was mostly feast or famine, but I do have two slight misses that are worth talking about.

1st one was on the first par 3. Wind was left-right and you have to carry 130 yards over probably the second worst bunker on the course. I always play this one to the back of the green, but as I mentioned, I am stupid. I choose the 9 iron, hit it about 2 grooves thin and miss carrying the bunker by a couple feet. I won't talk about what happened after that as it's too painful haha. Club selection and being smart doesn't go away even if you are hitting the ball better. I learned that one the hard way.

2nd shot was the tee shot on #4. There is a giant tree in the fairway that you can go left of right of. Missing here is bad news, so I take the 3 iron hoping that I can keep it lower and straight. I missed a couple grooves thin, but this time it was a good miss (club selection!). Ball was low and straight and I was left with a reasonable approach from the fairway. 3 wedge shots later I was able to putt :(

In all, I had my struggles and moments of brillance with every club this weekend. The V2's were part of that, but I hit them better than everything outside of my hybrid. Continue to really like the ball flight and performance off the grass. I need some range time this week to work on getting my weight shift back in order and I may try to hit up TPC again for some revenge.
 
The wind lately has been making things increasingly difficult, and at times it's just a guessing game. Glad you had a nice round with the V2s, even when the rest of the bag was acting up.
 
Catching up a bit as work and the weather have kept me off the course and away from THP for a few days now. I should be able to get out a few more times this week as no snow in the forcast here just yet.

WE - Great review and congrats on the round. Glad to see the PW treating you as well as it has me.

Hawk - Hope the conditions are better for you next time you get the chance to play Deere Run and getting the weight shift back in order.

WE mentioned that smooth under control swing which is likely something that can benefit golfers with any iron in there hand but for me this has been something I still need to remind myself about with the longer irons. I always seem to feel the need to muscle up on these clubs but if I remind myself to take a nice easy swing like I would with the PW I get the results I am looking for.
 
Good luck getting another couple sessions in, Howzat! I know that I've been cramming as much course time in as I possibly can.
 
Not the best day for me out on the course, but did take away some good thoughts on the V2s. Will post up more later, but just wanted to throw out a few things;
- I continue to struggle with the long irons. I try to swing harder and faster, and get too "snappy" in my swing. Bad results.
- With about 4 holes to play, I realized I was trying to muscle up a bit on my shots and was trying to kill the ball. Bad results.
- Towards the end of my round I started to swing smoother and a bit easier. Good results.

I put these down next to Tadashi's R11 irons, to compare. Next to those it made the V2s look identical to a blade. Both great looking irons, just interesting to see the two side by side.
 
11/10/11 - Thoughts from a round of golf & a range session

Had a round of 18 yesterday, and hit the driving range today. I really wish I could report a break through or something great, but unfortunately it's more of the same. I am still really struggling to find consistency with the longer irons, but continue to see good results with the 8-PW. It has been a while since I have compared these side by side to my 2.0s, but I placed them down next to an R11, and it realized I had forgotten how much smaller these are compared to the R11/2.0 style of irons. When placed next to the R11, it looked like every bit of a blade.

I posted up a few thoughts yesterday that I had about my round, and those thoughts still ring true. When I try to "muscle up" and swing harder, the results are bad. The feel is off, and I just have to remind myself to swing smoother and let the club do the work. Unfortunately, I reminded myself of this with about 3ish holes left to go. I still hold to the fact that a smoother swing is an absolute must for the V2s, without that the results are less than stellar. I still struggled at times with hitting high on the face, shot will go where I want it to, just noticeable distance loss.

Hit the range after work this evening, and while I was only there for a bit, I grabbed the 8 and 5 iron to carry out there with me. I wanted to focus on hitting consistent shots with each of them, and see what I could figure out. The 8 iron did what I expected it to do, I could, for the most part hit the shot that I wanted to, and aside from a few that I pushed left, I was pleased with the 8. The 5 iron was a different story. I am not sure the best way to describe it, but I feel that at times that I am almost slapping at the ball. Not sure if that makes sense or not. The feel almost has a "dead" feel to it, like I hit a rock. After hitting a few not so great shots, I started finding a bit of consistency, and hit a few shots I was happy with. I hit from the turf only, just hoping to work some of my kinks out.

I have a couple rounds this weekend and will have the V2s in play, as well as some additional range time. I am thinking I might bag both the V2s and the 2.0s to get some comparison between the two sets, to see how much of a difference the GI/GE sets work for me and my game.
 
Good thoughts WE. I still think these are one of the best looking irons on the market
 
Good info WE, I like the idea of the direct comparison between the V2's and 2.0's even if they are very different irons.
 
Kind of a crazy week, so I didn't get my usual mid-week practice session. Should be interesting to see how that works for me tomorrow. I'll be carrying two less irons tomorrow to make room for a couple other clubs I'm testing. My set-up will be 5-PW. I think I'm going to miss the 3 and 4 irons, but it's a good excuse to see how I play without them.
 
Hawk - I am looking forward to hearing how the transition goes for you between the V2 long irons you have had some success with and the direct long iron replacement clubs you will be testing.

My outdoor season is over and am having a tough time finding an indoor option that works with my schedule at the moment. I hope I can find something that works soon as I miss hitting these irons.
 
I may miss those long irons today. 25-30mph winds with gusts in the 40mph range!
 
Good luck out there today Hawk, and I'm looking forward to your thoughts on how the V2's perform out there today.
 
Looking forward to hear how the long iron replacement work out for you, Hawk.

I threw my 2.0s in the bag along with the V2s for my round today. Wanted to get them both out on the course for some comparisons.

After spending some range time with both sets this week and then playing today, I feel a set like the 2.0s that offer a bit more forgiveness over the V2s, is something that I need.

Will post up my full thoughts this afternoon.
 
I'll update this tomorrow, but I felt like I had another decent iron day with the V2's. It almost not fair to judge them with the beastly winds since it's almost blind luck and guessing where to aim so much of the time. Nonetheless, I had a pretty decent score today - 91 - considering the conditions and my game off the tee. I hit some greens and missed a few as well.

Once again, I either seem to miss big or hit them really well. I did have a couple slight misses I'll talk about, but for the most part I felt like I hit them well aside from some super-thins. I was able to punch out of trouble with the 5 iron, so I didn't miss the long irons too much, but I still miss them.
 
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Nice reviews (and videos) from all the 3 of you! Thanks!!!

What I'm wondering, is how these FG Tour V2's are compared to the ("old") FG Tour irons. Is it just the cavity in the V2 that is different, or is it the total set up of the irons (different materials in clubhead, shaft, etc.) that makes the difference?
 
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Faizel Joemrati said:
Nice reviews (and videos) from all the 3 of you! Thanks!!!

What I'm wondering, is how these FG Tour V2's are compared to the ("old") FG Tour irons. Is it just the cavity in the V2 that is different, or is it the total set up of the irons (different materials in clubhead, shaft, etc.) that makes the difference?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comment :) They are different in quite a few ways from what I've read. I've hit the original FG Tours, but it was quite awhile ago. They seemed to feel heavier to me, but I'd really have to try them out side by side.

Key differences:

1. Shaft is KBS Tour instead of the TT Dynamic Gold
2. The leading edge was changed in some way, but I'm not really sure I can explain it.
3. There is supposed to be less offset.
 
Man I want to hit these irons in the worst way.
 
One thing I wanted to do was highlight my iron shots in a little rundown. I'm doing this as much for myself as anything, but it should give some idea of how the V2's are working for me right now. I won't be offended if you don't read the whole thing. I just thought it might be interesting.

I started on the back yesterday. I'm going to give a bad/good/ok score to each shot in terms of how well I hit the ball. Not necessarily the result.

Spoiler
Hole 10 - Par 5
-Fairway Bunker - 7 iron thinned and short. Bad
-Layup - 9 iron high and right where I wanted it Good

Hole 11 - Par 4
-Rough and bad downhill lie - 6 iron thinned, but left me right by the green - Bad

Hole 12 - Par 3
-Off the tee - Hit too much club (5 iron) too hard and went over the green - Good

Hole 13 - Par 4
-Fairway Bunker - 7 iron on the green - Good

Hole 14 - Par 4
-Fairway - 8 iron on the green - Good

Hole 15 - Par 4
-No irons

Hole 16 - Par 3
-First shot went right into the tree I was aiming at. Hit well, but was expecting wind to push ball and it didn't - PW that bounced into hazard - Good
-Second Shot was a PW to pin high - 20 feet from pin - Ok

Hole 17 - Par 5
-First shot was a massive chunk (8 iron)for approach shot - Bad
-Second shot was a nice PW to the center of the green - Good

Hole 18 - Par 4
-No irons

Hole 1 - Par 4
-Maybe my best shot of the day. Played the wind right and put a 5 iron about 15 fee above the pin. Good

Hole 2 - Par 5
-Approach shot into the wind. Took extra club - 6iron - and didn't need so much. Hit it good, went long. Good

Hole 3 - Par 3
-Tried to play the wind, but hit a bit low and on the toe. 7 iron left me in a collection area almost pin high. Ok

Hole 4 - Par 4
-No irons

Hole 5 - Par 4
-Third shot from 120 yards. Tried to knockdown and 8 iron from downhill lie for some reason. Result was ball on front of green - Ok

Hole 6 - Par 4
-No irons

Hole 7 - Par 3
-Took enough club to get to the back and it paid off due to a ball a little on the toe. 5 iron landed pin high and avoided monster bunker which was the goal. - Ok

Hole 8 - Par 4
-Punch out from trees with 5 iron. Well executed and left me a wedge into the green. Good

Hole 9 - Par 5
-Low topper 6 iron from fairway on layup shot - Bad
-Thinnish 6 iron from light rough. Result was good, but average strike at best - Ok


The summary is:
Spoiler
9 Good strikes (clean)
5 Ok strikes (slight miss on club face)
4 Bad strikes (Very thin or very fat)

None of the Ok or Bad shots left me in serious trouble, which was good. I've said before that I'm very careful about club selection when there is big trouble to avoid. The ok shots either still made the green or were just off. Interestingly, my good strikes weren't always great results due to bad club choice, bad aiming decisions or the conditions.


I'm still a huge fan of the ball flight with these irons. It's right where I like it, and combined with the soft conditions, had me stopping hard-covered balls immediately on the greens. Love the sound and feeling of well struck shots as well. I also appreciate that I can keep the ball low if needed, though I'm still not utilizing it as much as I probably could.

If I could get me tee game and scrambling in order I'd be thrilled. Of the 10 chances I had at GIR's, I hit 4 of them. 2 of the 6 misses were well struck, but just too much club. I had a hard time guaging what to take with the wind most of the day. Not great numbers by some standards, but for me they aren't bad at all.

Taking these to the LM tonight, though I don't know if they'll be the focus since I have some other things to work with.
 
I saw these up close and personal last week and they are stunning looking irons. Much smaller than the R11s and really have the look of a blade. They also have that traditional Wilson heavy head feel. The KBS shafts gave me that high ball flight I have come to exepct. Really a nice looking set of irons
 
Hawk said:
Thanks for the comment :) They are different in quite a few ways from what I've read. I've hit the original FG Tours, but it was quite awhile ago. They seemed to feel heavier to me, but I'd really have to try them out side by side.

Key differences:

1. Shaft is KBS Tour instead of the TT Dynamic Gold
2. The leading edge was changed in some way, but I'm not really sure I can explain it.
3. There is supposed to be less offset.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'll put them on my wish list :)
 
Three great reviews, looks like the cold and wind is going to make good ball flight difficult. Have to give these a swing to get a feel for them.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre using Forums
 
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