Experience with Wilson D300 Driver

[James the Hogan Fan]

Hey all,

 

A shop near me is closing these D300’s out at $109.99 and though I’ve watched the standard Shiels reviews and the like, I noticed there isn’t much on this club. Anyone play it? Did anyone compare it to the M-series of Taylormade or tried playing it and hated it? Just wondering before I plunk the cash. I currently employ an R15 or 2014 Big Bertha Alpha. Thanks guys!

[lenman73]

I am curious in this as well. I just picked one up locally ( while cheap but not quite that low) and have not had it on the course yet. But it looks nice in the bag with my staff irons.

[boggyman]

With the price drop on the C300 line, I’d opt for it personally. The d300 was a so so driver, for me at least. The C300 kept up with anything I’d tried at the time. I still have it in fact, need to drag it out and put it against my m6.

[James the Hogan Fan]

Update:

My friend works at the shop and was able to get me his 10% discount. At $100 flat I had to go for it and did. We’ll see how it goes!

[mahonie]

> @"James the Hogan Fan" said:

> Update:

> My friend works at the shop and was able to get me his 10% discount. At $100 flat I had to go for it and did. We’ll see how it goes!

 

Be interested to hear how it goes against the Big Bertha Alpha...my current gamer.

 

 

[Chadwickog]

The d300 is a lighter club head, one of those with the thinking that lighter club head will help speed... generally for the slower swinging players.

[grm24]

> @"James the Hogan Fan" said:

> Hey all,

>

> A shop near me is closing these D300’s out at $109.99 and though I’ve watched the standard Shiels reviews and the like, I noticed there isn’t much on this club. Anyone play it? Did anyone compare it to the M-series of Taylormade or tried playing it and hated it? Just wondering before I plunk the cash. I currently employ an R15 or 2014 Big Bertha Alpha. Thanks guys!

For the price you got it for it's a no brainer. FWIW it's a driver that has won on the PGA Tour (Troy Merritt, 2018).

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/the-clubs-troy-merritt-used-to-win-the-barbasol-championship

[launcher]

> @boggyman said:

> With the price drop on the C300 line, I’d opt for it personally. The d300 was a so so driver, for me at least. The C300 kept up with anything I’d tried at the time. I still have it in fact, need to drag it out and put it against my m6.

 

I just ordered the C300. I already have the C300 3 wood and hybrid, so taking a chance on having the same success with the driver as well. I should be here today, so I'll be posting a review. I'm somewhat concerned about the sound and spin, but we'll see how it goes.

[James the Hogan Fan]

> @mahonie said:

> > @"James the Hogan Fan" said:

> > Update:

> > My friend works at the shop and was able to get me his 10% discount. At $100 flat I had to go for it and did. We’ll see how it goes!

>

> Be interested to hear how it goes against the Big Bertha Alpha...my current gamer.

>

>

 

I’m gonna hit the range either today or tomorrow and I’ll let you know. I won’t be able to do a head to head vs the BBA (it’s at my dad’s house; he’s been borrowing it) but I’ll see how the feeling compares, and do a better head to head when I can get the club back.

[James the Hogan Fan]

So I did manage to get to the range today. I warmed up with some full wedges and then got down to business: D300 vs R15. First I dialed in my driver swing with the R15, consistently delivering range balls to the 200m mark (220 yd). These range balls are typical for Finland (very short) and in one test with a sacrificial Chrome Soft, about 30 yards shorter than my typical drives. (I'm about 100mph, mid-high 140's ballspeed, 240-50 carry). The R15 is a 9.5 head set to +1 with the weights fairly neutral. The shaft is a Matrix Ozik Red Tie in X flex.

 

The D300 has the stock 44g stiff shaft and when I played with the lofts, the straight up 9 degrees neutral worked the best. It's the full 46" long and of course, very light. As all the other reviews have said, you do notice the lightness, but after a few swings it doesn't feel that strange anymore. It does feel like you are using less effort to swing the thing. These things combined produced results that I was pleased with; namely a high, arcing flight that _was consistently longer than_ the R15. My mishits were typically low heel, and still made their way to the 200m mark. Unlike the R15 (or the BBA for that matter), there was no harsh feeling in the hands on mishits. You still knew you mishit, but there was less feedback. On the other hand, mishits were punished less severely when center contact was not achieved. Once I was in the groove with the D300, I didn't want to stop hitting it. I was not finding it difficult at all to get the club back to the ball, even though my swing felt faster, it never felt wild or out of control.

 

@mahonie : I last hit the BBA in January. I love the solid thwack it puts into the ball and the low, penetrating flight I get (I play it 9 degrees head standard, 7g toe, 3g heel, gravity core up). That said, I have a tendency to smother-hook it, and/or fire low runners. With the Wilson I hit one bad smother-hook, but even that had more steam than coming off the Callaway. If you miss low on the face the D300 is (to me) much more forgiving; you still get a decent launch. I didn't have a launch monitor but I do suspect that the D300 is higher spinning than the Alpha, and less workable side-to-side. It does feel both longer (possibly because of lightness+longer shaft), and that distance is better retained on off-center hits. The D300 has at the very least kicked the R15 out of the bag (for now) and I'm going to play it tomorrow to see how it goes on-course. If you have the chance to demo it though, I would take it, I would say this is surprisingly good.

[mahonie]

> @"James the Hogan Fan" said:

> So I did manage to get to the range today. I warmed up with some full wedges and then got down to business: D300 vs R15. First I dialed in my driver swing with the R15, consistently delivering range balls to the 200m mark (220 yd). These range balls are typical for Finland (very short) and in one test with a sacrificial Chrome Soft, about 30 yards shorter than my typical drives. (I'm about 100mph, mid-high 140's ballspeed, 240-50 carry). The R15 is a 9.5 head set to +1 with the weights fairly neutral. The shaft is a Matrix Ozik Red Tie in X flex.

>

> The D300 has the stock 44g stiff shaft and when I played with the lofts, the straight up 9 degrees neutral worked the best. It's the full 46" long and of course, very light. As all the other reviews have said, you do notice the lightness, but after a few swings it doesn't feel that strange anymore. It does feel like you are using less effort to swing the thing. These things combined produced results that I was pleased with; namely a high, arcing flight that _was consistently longer than_ the R15. My mishits were typically low heel, and still made their way to the 200m mark. Unlike the R15 (or the BBA for that matter), there was no harsh feeling in the hands on mishits. You still knew you mishit, but there was less feedback. On the other hand, mishits were punished less severely when center contact was not achieved. Once I was in the groove with the D300, I didn't want to stop hitting it. I was not finding it difficult at all to get the club back to the ball, even though my swing felt faster, it never felt wild or out of control.

>

> @mahonie : I last hit the BBA in January. I love the solid thwack it puts into the ball and the low, penetrating flight I get (I play it 9 degrees head standard, 7g toe, 3g heel, gravity core up). That said, I have a tendency to smother-hook it, and/or fire low runners. With the Wilson I hit one bad smother-hook, but even that had more steam than coming off the Callaway. If you miss low on the face the D300 is (to me) much more forgiving; you still get a decent launch. I didn't have a launch monitor but I do suspect that the D300 is higher spinning than the Alpha, and less workable side-to-side. It does feel both longer (possibly because of lightness+longer shaft), and that distance is better retained on off-center hits. The D300 has at the very least kicked the R15 out of the bag (for now) and I'm going to play it tomorrow to see how it goes on-course. If you have the chance to demo it though, I would take it, I would say this is surprisingly good.

 

Thank you for the feedback - much appreciated.

 

I switched to the BBA from the 910 D3 and found that it had a lot less spin which better suited me...that low penetrating flight and controllability you mention gives me a lot of confidence but I find it hard to resist a bargain.

 

If the D300 spins much more it may be an issue. My club stocks W/S and I’m playing tomorrow so I may get an hour to get on the range and give it a try...and I have some vouchers to cash in!! Also, I’ve always had a soft spot for W/S and am intrigued by the light weight technology.

 

Cheers