Wilson Staff FG Tour Wedge

What do you think?

Wilson…for me that name takes me back to my youth when companies like Wilson, Macgregor, Ram and Hogan ruled the fairways. No fancy paint jobs or flashy badges. Just superb looking forged irons and woods that were judged on the grain pattern on the head, and not their adjustability.

One of my first sets of irons as a kid were the 1969 Wilson Bulletbacks. Still in my opinion one of the finest looking blades ever made. My last set of Wilson irons were from the late 70’s. The Wilson Staff Tour Blades. It’s been years since I’ve looked at Wilson as a company whose clubs I wanted to play. I guess the fat shaft years weaned me away from them. They seemed to be playing catch up instead of leading the golf industry as they did for years. Just looking at the PGA tour, seeing that familiar red/white Wilson bag was a rarity.

Now, almost 30 years later, I’m looking at the Wilson brand again. Ricky Barnes, Padraig Harrington and this year Kevin Streelman joining the team are familiar faces on The Golf Channel and they’re using Wilson. How about that! Those three will surely help bring Wilson back in the limelight so there are no more questions regarding the company that has won the most Majors in golf.

Wilson has come out with some great stuff this year. I haven’t played a blade in years but the FG62’s they’ve produced are some of the sweetest looking blades I’ve seen this year. Their new Wilson Staff FG Tour Wedge also caught my eye. Its sleek simple classy looks fit perfect to my eye. No fancy colorful badges, or multiple stamps everywhere you look from the flange to the face. The sleek dark satin mirror finish and black paintfill accomplishes so much in its understated tone.

Wilson means so much to me because I started golf with them and the FG Tour wedge was so pretty, I had to try it!

Review-

Wilson Staff FG Tour Wedge

Shaft- True Temper Wedge Shaft

Grip-Lamkin Crossline

Loft- 58*

Swingweight- D5

Metal- Cast 431 Stainless….CNC milling, hand finished

In short…….

Pro’s

Super looks, cnc milling, superbly ground sole, soft touch and great feel.

Con’s-

Most loft options that anyone would want are offered but compared to the competition like Vokey, some may prefer more bounce options.

Bottom line-

Wilson Staff is coming back strong! If the FG Tour wedges and the new FG62 musclebacks are their entry into what we GolfWRXer’s have been looking for in a brand that is filled with tradition and history, then the future is extremely bright for them.

The long….

Looks- Wilson really got the shape of the head right. When you think about it they should since they’ve probably been in the wedge business longer then all the other brands around. I actually still have an original R-20 by them that’s probably over 40 years old. The FG Tour is not too tear dropped or round in shape.

The dark colored head with slight satin finish looks almost to pretty to be slamming into a bunker or hardpan. The sole grind is very well done. The thicker sole and the trailing edge relief allows quite a bit of versatility and the heel grind is perfect for opening. With many wedges, there just doesn’t seem to have enough heel grind and I’m left staring at the sole thinking of how I’d fix it if I was the grinder. This 58* is just right in the sole for me.

The mill marks across the whole face are gorgeous. Wilson has added to the already maximum depth of grooves allowed under the new rules of competition, what they call a “micro mill” texture , which runs at a bias on the face. These grooves are to assist in gaining spin on open faced shots, wet grass and from deep rough.

Performance/Playability- The Wilson Staff FG Tour wedge offered a great level of predictability in how the ball would perform. Initially I would have expected less spin due to the conforming grooves but found that the grooves provided a great amount of spin. The combination of micro-milling and the cnc’d grooves, works very well. The wedge doesn’t chew up the ball but it definitely makes it spin well from close shots near the green and from full shots outside of it.

From the bunkers, the thicker sole worked very well. I had thought I might have a problem from tight lies at longer distances in the fairway but the curvature on the sole worked very well. For a 58* I found that I was able to play it front and back in my stance with great results. I actually checked the loft after my initial round with it thinking it might be off because I was able to loft the ball so well with it closer to what I’d expect from a 60*+ wedge. I was wrong as it was spot on. The heel grind on the 58* is done very well. Again, I thought because of the thicker sole I’d have problems opening it up and flopping it but was proven wrong. I was very pleased with how this wedge performed for me.

Feel- The FG Tour Wedge is cast from 431 Stainless. The faces are then milled flat, grooves milled to maximum depth allowed and then the face is micro milled. The head is then hand polished.

Initially I had expected these to play similar in feel as a Ping wedge but 431 stainless is softer than the 17-4 that Ping uses. I was curious as to why Wilson chose stainless over most of the competitions carbon steel and found out that they chose it for durability. Basically the grooves and finish on the wedge would last longer. This makes sense if you’re playing the new conforming grooves and unlike the Pro’s can’t get a free one every week, you’ll want the grooves to last longer.

Through testing I was thoroughly pleased with the feel on the FG Tour’s. Like I said, I had initially thought they’d play hard but as with many things on this wedge, I was proven wrong. The feedback on the FG Tour was excellent. From shots close to the green and far, the feel was very alive with this wedge. No dead feeling and questions about how far the ball would actually go.

Overall Bottom Line- Wilson Staff's return to the competitive club making market with clean designs in their iron lines and now a super looking wedge to match up with them takes me back to my youth where they were one of the kings of companies on the PGA tour. The FG Tour wedge is a great wedge with all the looks, feel and performance that you would expect in a wedge. It will definitely help all the young golfers who have no clue about Wilson realize what a great company they were before and how they’re once again returning to that greatness today.

Already gaming the 52 and 56 degree FG Wedges, thanks to your review I'll have to seriously consider either the 58 or 60...

You were very thorough and I'd like to add a couple small personal observations. I previously played the TW9 54 degree, which performed very well. My only reservation was that the head was a little larger than I like and I had some issue with hitting it in tight lies off the fairway. I'm hardly a technician but it felt a little shovel like in those instances although I loved how it performed from 100 yds in on normal fairways, and the rough. The FG does everything the TW9 did well and the compact head (along with it's gorgeous shape) makes my confidence with tight lies off fairways much more predictable. Truly a home run for Wilson.. I know Vokeys are "right" club to salivate over (and probably well deserved), but the shape, size and performance of the Wilson's do everything I ask and are the beautiful to boot. Had played Cleveland's previously but never warmed to the shape of their wedges. The FG is great as far as squaring up and aligning.

These look better than most wedges out today and have a terrific feel. Going to replace my Jaws wedges with either these or TaylorMade xFT wedges.

I just ordered a 54 and 58 degree and can't wait to get my hands on them. I have been looking for something similar to my beloved original Mizuno MP wedges. These have a nice, traditional look to them and I hope they perform for me as good as they look.

So far I have to say that I am underwhelmed by the FG Tour wedges. I am surprised/disappointed that the wedges are cast since the FG Tour irons are forged. I just assumed (yes, I know what happens when one assumes) that the FG Tour wedges would be forged like the rest of the FG line.

I got the 50, 54 (bent to 55) and 60 with the DG Spinners in them and honestly do not think they are an upgrade over the Tw9's. Off the bat I think that the Tw9's actually have a bit more feel to them and are easier to control. Even the dulled "illegal" grooves seem to have more bite to them than the new conforming grooves.

I also think they are a bit on the heavy side, but I'll probably take them to my clubfitter to port them to take some of the weight out of the heads.

My 50* needed to be replaced so the FG Tour 50* will stay in the bag, but I'm not 100% convinced that the 54 and 60 will be keepers.

I liked the fg tour wedges but,i still prefer the TW9's in every category except looks. I was very excited about getting new fg tour wedges but i just didnt get the same feel,performance and confidence that i get with my TW9's so,i plan to just reload with 3 new TW9's before they are all gone. The fg tours are nice tho and maybe i will get on better with them when i hit them again.

I feel the need to edit my initial review. Now that I've had them in my bag for over a month I am coming around on these. My initial review stated that they didn't spin nearly as much as the Tw9's. After making a ball change, I have to change my feeling on that as they do spin as much as the Tw9's. I do like the look of the FG Tour a bit more as the topline seems to be thinner than the Tw9s.

[quote name='luxman' timestamp='1308400215' post='3316402']
I feel the need to edit my initial review. Now that I've had them in my bag for over a month I am coming around on these. My initial review stated that they didn't spin nearly as much as the Tw9's. After making a ball change, I have to change my feeling on that as they do spin as much as the Tw9's. I do like the look of the FG Tour a bit more as the topline seems to be thinner than the Tw9s.
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Thats great to hear because i really want to like these and i want them in my bag,they are so beautiful. The next time i get to have a range session with them i hope i hit them good enough to justify replacing my TW9's with them. I will hit them onto a practice green and check out the spin also,i have not had a chance to do that yet.

I'm beginner and i think I buy this wedge. This is good for me, but I'm not sure is 8 or 9 bounce best for me? What you think?

I'm beginner and i think I buy this wedge. This is good for me, but I'm not sure is 8 or 9 bounce best for me? What you think?

I'd actually look more to the PMP wedge. If you're a beginner, I would lean to a high bounce wedge. That alone will help you navigate wedge shots with more forgiveness. Where you might run into an issue as you improve are the delicate shots around the greens requiring less bounce to pick the ball clean. But start with a higher bounce option, at least 10 degrees.